Monday, November 17, 2008

 

Research Final Draft post due Nov. 26/Dec. 3


Comments:
Dion Cade
Eng 201b

Kirsten Tobey Research Essay

What does a community need? A community needs someone or some people who really care for humanity and wants to do something that will make it better and also make more people happy as well. They tend to help out their community in one way or another whether it is a small change or a big one. Every community needs people who are ambitious in making those communities better than their current state. In a little town called Alameda, there is a woman named Kirsten Tobey who is committed to helping out her community and making it healthier in the future. The issue is that there are way too many children now who are overweight because they are not eating properly and junk food is more accessible to them. There diet consists of too many sugars and fats which can leave them overweight and they have a risk of getting diabetes. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 16 percent of children who are ages 6 through 19 are overweight which is an increase from about two decades ago. Kirsten Toby and her partner Kristen Richmond’s goal is to teach children and even there parents to make healthy choices and not always depend on high-fructose corn syrup and processed fats. She has started her company with her partner called Revolution Foods and has been doing it since 2006. School lunches should not only be in good quality but they also should be healthy so that kids know what is right for them and how they can live a healthy and longer life.

In May 2000, Kirsten Tobey graduated from Brown University with a BA in development studies. She also attended UC Berkeley and got an MBA. She began her career in coordinating and teaching of educational programs at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts and she was also in Ecuador coordinating with Amigos de las Americas. She also participated in education programs in California and Rhode Island. During her time in college, she liked to work with children and learn more about what they are eating and their current health. She eventually wanted to help out the community and discuss health from there so she ran on a campaign called Earth justice. She worked in numerous other places like the United Nations Hunger Task force and the School for Field Studies in Mexico. She also worked with the McDonalds Corporation and helped feed the hungry in Ghana. Tobey met her partner, and co-creator of Revolution Foods, Kristen Richmond at the Haas School of business at UC Berkeley. When they first met in class, they formed a partnership and immediately knew that they should make something together, and that is how Revolution Foods came to be. "After grad school, we both had an interest in food and had this entrepreneurial spirit, but we also wanted to make a difference in our local schools," Tobey recalled. "We saw how bad school lunches were and immediately knew that's where we should start." They talked to parents and teachers and developed plans on what they would do to start an organization where they can produce healthy foods for children. Then, Revolution Foods took off in 2005.

Revolution Foods, which is located in Emeryville CA, has been around since 2006 and produces only the best quality food for schools. The main targets that this company is reaching out to is low-class or low-income kids because those are the people who have less access to good food and junk food is usually less expensive so that is the type of food that they get the most. Revolution Foods wants to impact kids in the society in a good way and make them want to switch over to healthier choices. They also joined forces with the supermarket Whole Foods so that they could have access to the organic farms and dairies. And they also have support from the Haas School of Business, which is ranked the second best business school by the Wall Street Journal. All of Revolution Food’s meals are at least 60 percent organic which is pretty good, and the meals arrange from a wide variety of choices like soft tacos, sandwiches, chicken quesadillas, and pastas. Every meal served comes with fruits and vegetables to fulfill child’s healthy needs because they are not getting enough supply of fruits and vegetables. Revolution Foods are hoping to expand and serve more than 10,000 kids a year. With their meals they provide, they keep the kids active and energetic for the whole school day and not sleeping and getting tired in class. “A well-balanced diet can be challenging for kids. We believe that healthy food choices are key drivers of wellness, education, and future productivity of our youth,” says Kristin Richmond. They also make sure that the children’s parents are involved too. They give them nutritional charts and they also provide tips on how to make healthy meals at home as well so that children can be more focused and alert in school. Revolutionary Foods is doing an excellent job on expanding their company to a lot of different schools and not just chartered schools because those are the type of schools that they began with. “In less than two years, Revolution Foods has grown from serving three schools to over forty across the state, about half of which are low-income.” These statistics are very startling and shows how much this company is actually growing and continuing to reach out to schools all around.

Kirsten Tobey wants only the best for children and their lunches for school. She and her company has already made extraordinary efforts to bringing healthy food to more schools and making it easier for children to access them and stay away from all the fats and the sugars that can lead to diabetes and obesity. Together she and her partner have come up with a great idea that is definitely getting put to work and so far being liked by each community that it interacts with. Revolution Foods is the first food company to cater to schools in a much better way by providing real food that is not processed or artificial. The kids love the new but great tasting food and that is always a good sign that their definitely is progress happening. This company is spreading rapidly as well. They have expanded to Los Angeles and with the help of Whole Foods, have their own organic snacks. Tobey says, "In every aspect of our business we try to operate in a responsible manner. We have a strong commitment to responsible business practices. We pay all workers above livable wage, offer full benefits, operate in a green building, compost and recycle. We hope we can be an example for entrepreneurs, or corporations, or investors, proving that you can have a business with a social mission, and make a profit."
 
Dion, where are your sources? You don't indicate how you know this.
 
Dion Cade
Eng 201b

Bibliography

Revolutionary foods- http://www.revfoods.com/browse/our_team

Fighting hard for healthier lunches- Alameda Journal-http://www.mercurynews.com/alamedacounty/ci_11104913

Cal Business feature story- http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/groups/pubs/calbusiness/summer2007/profile_tobey_richmond.html

Our Team-Corporate Headquarters- http://www.revfoods.com/browse/our_team

Redefining Good Business-Fall 2006- http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/responsiblebusiness/Fall2006Newsletter.html

Meet Kristen Groos Richmond and Kirsten Tobey- http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=1201

Cafeteria Crusaders- http://www.cfbf.com/magazine/MagazineStory.cfm?ID=99&ck=AC627AB1CCBDB62EC96E702F07F6425B
 
Melissa Mah
Professor Sabir
English 201A
1-2:50 PM
Glenn Levant
Everyday more and more teens are being pressured into taking illegal drugs. Many youths today do not have the guidance and aid needed to know of the effects of drugs. Most parents work day and night to support their family, leaving them barely any time to discuss the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol with their children. Glenn Levant, a concerned police officer, wanted to give young adults the education needed to know about drugs. Which is why he and fellow officers started Drug Abuse Resistance Education, also known, as D.A.R.E. D.A.R.E. is a non-profit, police run organization dedicated in teaching youth the positive effects of staying drug free.
D.A.R.E was started in Los Angeles California, in hopes of reducing the amount teens that took drugs. Silja J.A. Talvi, a journalist for Alternet, recalls a moment in her junior high school life, which took place in 1983 in Los Angeles, “[…] I saw cigarettes, drug and alcohol use everywhere, all around me, whether at the hands of rich kids buying and selling pills and powder for weekend parties, or self-destructing teens trying to flush trauma out of their bodies with copious amounts of Olde English malt liquor” (Talvi par.3). A fellow schoolmate, whose name was requested to be left unknown, had said, “ When my mom was about our age in the 80’s, the popular drugs taken by teens were cocaine and marijuana”. It is shocking to think that teens as young as twelve were taking drugs. This issue concerned many educators, parents, and law enforcers. D.A.R.E was created because of this crisis. D.A.R.E was started in 1985 by a group of educators and police officers that wanted to do something about the drug use in teens, but the main founder of this organization was Glenn Levant. Officer Levant often arrested teens for possession of illegal drugs. He later then discussed this problems with the local educators and found that the teens who were taking drugs were often unfocussed in school. D.A.R.E. is a police led class that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives. D.A.R.E. started out as a small organization but later grew into a nation wide phenomenon.
When D.A.R.E. started they did not have the many luxuries that the present D.A.R.E. program has. In the beginning this organization did not have video’s songs, or mascots to catch the youths attention. They could only rely on facts about drugs and how they effect ones mind. After a year they found out that the only way to get youth interested in this program was to commercialize it. Presently D.A.R.E. has commercials, songs, websites, and even a mascot, named Darren the Lion. These new additions have made the D.A.R.E. program more intriguing to children and schools who are hesitant in adopting this program. This program reaches out to children, disregarding ethnicity and gender, and gives them the education and self-confidence needed to stay drug free.
Soon the small D.A.R.E program became D.A.R.E America, which allowed all schools, by choice, an opportunity for their students to learn about the harmful effects of drugs. The D.A.R.E program then “spread throughout the nation, populating about 75% of school districts throughout the United States of America” (dare.com). Adults wanted to have a safer and more structured environment for their children to learn and grow in. To attract the attention of the modern aged child, D.A.R.E has even set up a websites just for kids. Which includes various games, activities, and projects so children can have fun and learn too. This program is not just a lectured class, but also provides after school events and activities to further persuade children to not take drugs.
. With the D.A.R.E program in effect, many parents now feel a lot safer knowing that their children are educated about drugs. Children across the nation have participated in this program, and many have had fun. Parents feel a lot safer letting their children out, knowing that they have learned the effects of illegal drugs. Police runs the D.A.R.E. program because they have the skills and the experience to teach about this issue, and to answer sophisticated questions often asked by youth about drugs and crime. D.A.R.E has helped millions of young adults stay drug free for over twenty years. Since this program started, the amount of teens doing illegal drugs has gone way down. Levant stated in 2001 that “the amount of teens doing drugs have gone down 4.5% since we first started”.
D.A.R.E has been serving the AUSD school district since 1986. D.A.R.E is taught to all fifth grade elementary classes. In my own personal experience with D.A.R.E I learned many facts about drugs. What really stood out to me during this program was the catchy D.A.R.E song. I also remember learning about peer pressure and the importance of the word “no”. In an interview with former classmate and fellow D.A.R.E. graduate, William Liang, he showed a nostalgic tone when he spoke to me about his experience,” I remember the Officer coming in a lot to talk about drug abuse. I learned a lot, back then I didn’t even know drugs existed. The only real vivid memory was probably the Graduation and making the poster for the Graduation. That was fun”. D.A.R.E. was a wonderful experience for myself. I am proud to say that even after four years, I am still drug free. After ten weeks of learning, D.A.R.E hosts a graduation usually taken place in the spring, in honor of the children who participated in this program
From this program Officer Levant has gained the title of president of the D.A.R.E. America organization. He also has the gratitude of many parents because he had kept their children safe from drugs. Also, with his organization, he has diminished the amounts of drugs being used by teens. In addition to his success, last year, former President Bush had declared the tenth of April national D.A.R.E. day. Levant has kept kids drug free for over twenty years, and his program is still going strong in many school districts across the nation. Officer Levant has accomplished a lot since the D.A.R.E. program first started. He deserves to be proud.

Sources

http://www.dare.com/home/about_dare.asp
D.A.R.E., DARE America,

http://www.dare.com/officers/Officers_StartaDAREProgram/Default075b.asp?N=Officers_StartaDAREProgram&M=43&S=0

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n17127152

http://www.dare.com/home/HomeTownDAREUSA/StoryPage685e.asp?N=HometownDAREUSA&S=8&S=5&St=5

http://www.dare.com/kids/index_3.htm

http://www.alternet.org/rights/105677/california%27s_prop._5_could_change_the_course_of_america%27s_drug_war/

Liang, William, Personal Interview, 2 December 2008

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20081202-NEWS-81202034

Uknown, Personal Interview, 2 December 2008

http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2008/1203/front_page/006.html
 
I had forgotten to post the date along with my other post

Melissa Mah
Professor Sabir
English 201A
1-2:50 PM
3 December 2008

Glenn Levant
Everyday more and more teens are being pressured into taking illegal drugs. Many youths today do not have the guidance and aid needed to know of the effects of drugs. Most parents work day and night to support their family, leaving them barely any time to discuss the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol with their children. Glenn Levant, a concerned police officer, wanted to give young adults the education needed to know about drugs. Which is why he and fellow officers started Drug Abuse Resistance Education, also known, as D.A.R.E. D.A.R.E. is a non-profit, police run organization dedicated in teaching youth the positive effects of staying drug free.
D.A.R.E was started in Los Angeles California, in hopes of reducing the amount teens that took drugs. Silja J.A. Talvi, a journalist for Alternet, recalls a moment in her junior high school life, which took place in 1983 in Los Angeles, “[…] I saw cigarettes, drug and alcohol use everywhere, all around me, whether at the hands of rich kids buying and selling pills and powder for weekend parties, or self-destructing teens trying to flush trauma out of their bodies with copious amounts of Olde English malt liquor” (Talvi par.3). A fellow schoolmate, whose name was requested to be left unknown, had said, “ When my mom was about our age in the 80’s, the popular drugs taken by teens were cocaine and marijuana”. It is shocking to think that teens as young as twelve were taking drugs. This issue concerned many educators, parents, and law enforcers. D.A.R.E was created because of this crisis. D.A.R.E was started in 1985 by a group of educators and police officers that wanted to do something about the drug use in teens, but the main founder of this organization was Glenn Levant. Officer Levant often arrested teens for possession of illegal drugs. He later then discussed this problems with the local educators and found that the teens who were taking drugs were often unfocussed in school. D.A.R.E. is a police led class that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives. D.A.R.E. started out as a small organization but later grew into a nation wide phenomenon.
When D.A.R.E. started they did not have the many luxuries that the present D.A.R.E. program has. In the beginning this organization did not have video’s songs, or mascots to catch the youths attention. They could only rely on facts about drugs and how they effect ones mind. After a year they found out that the only way to get youth interested in this program was to commercialize it. Presently D.A.R.E. has commercials, songs, websites, and even a mascot, named Darren the Lion. These new additions have made the D.A.R.E. program more intriguing to children and schools who are hesitant in adopting this program. This program reaches out to children, disregarding ethnicity and gender, and gives them the education and self-confidence needed to stay drug free.
Soon the small D.A.R.E program became D.A.R.E America, which allowed all schools, by choice, an opportunity for their students to learn about the harmful effects of drugs. The D.A.R.E program then “spread throughout the nation, populating about 75% of school districts throughout the United States of America” (dare.com). Adults wanted to have a safer and more structured environment for their children to learn and grow in. To attract the attention of the modern aged child, D.A.R.E has even set up a websites just for kids. Which includes various games, activities, and projects so children can have fun and learn too. This program is not just a lectured class, but also provides after school events and activities to further persuade children to not take drugs.
. With the D.A.R.E program in effect, many parents now feel a lot safer knowing that their children are educated about drugs. Children across the nation have participated in this program, and many have had fun. Parents feel a lot safer letting their children out, knowing that they have learned the effects of illegal drugs. Police runs the D.A.R.E. program because they have the skills and the experience to teach about this issue, and to answer sophisticated questions often asked by youth about drugs and crime. D.A.R.E has helped millions of young adults stay drug free for over twenty years. Since this program started, the amount of teens doing illegal drugs has gone way down. Levant stated in 2001 that “the amount of teens doing drugs have gone down 4.5% since we first started”.
D.A.R.E has been serving the AUSD school district since 1986. D.A.R.E is taught to all fifth grade elementary classes. In my own personal experience with D.A.R.E I learned many facts about drugs. What really stood out to me during this program was the catchy D.A.R.E song. I also remember learning about peer pressure and the importance of the word “no”. In an interview with former classmate and fellow D.A.R.E. graduate, William Liang, he showed a nostalgic tone when he spoke to me about his experience,” I remember the Officer coming in a lot to talk about drug abuse. I learned a lot, back then I didn’t even know drugs existed. The only real vivid memory was probably the Graduation and making the poster for the Graduation. That was fun”. D.A.R.E. was a wonderful experience for myself. I am proud to say that even after four years, I am still drug free. After ten weeks of learning, D.A.R.E hosts a graduation usually taken place in the spring, in honor of the children who participated in this program
From this program Officer Levant has gained the title of president of the D.A.R.E. America organization. He also has the gratitude of many parents because he had kept their children safe from drugs. Also, with his organization, he has diminished the amounts of drugs being used by teens. In addition to his success, last year, former President Bush had declared the tenth of April national D.A.R.E. day. Levant has kept kids drug free for over twenty years, and his program is still going strong in many school districts across the nation. Officer Levant has accomplished a lot since the D.A.R.E. program first started. He deserves to be proud.

Sources

http://www.dare.com/home/about_dare.asp
D.A.R.E., DARE America,

http://www.dare.com/officers/Officers_StartaDAREProgram/Default075b.asp?N=Officers_StartaDAREProgram&M=43&S=0

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n17127152

http://www.dare.com/home/HomeTownDAREUSA/StoryPage685e.asp?N=HometownDAREUSA&S=8&S=5&St=5

http://www.dare.com/kids/index_3.htm

http://www.alternet.org/rights/105677/california%27s_prop._5_could_change_the_course_of_america%27s_drug_war/

Liang, William, Personal Interview, 2 December 2008

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20081202-NEWS-81202034

Uknown, Personal Interview, 2 December 2008

http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2008/1203/front_page/006.html
 
Dalena Tran
English 201A
Final Draft
3 December 2008
Officer Robert Sayaphupha is not like any other Oakland Police Officer. He has been a hero to many individuals. As he immigrated to America, Officer Sayaphupha began living on his own. He began working hard in school and had a job at the same time. Becoming a police officer was never his first intention, however, as he became an officer, Sayaphupha’s one and only intention was to influence as many lives as he can. He was inspired to influence the younger Oakland generations. Because of the situation Sayaphupha was in, examining the Oakland area and patrolling areas that were surrounded with poverty and violence, especially young teens being under the influence, Sayaphupha wanted to help the young children and create a safe environment for the community. Serving for the Oakland Police Department for 23 years, Officer Sayaphupha has achieved his goal to an extent. By doing so, he was the co-founder of the Asian Youth Service Committee, which reached out to many young children in the Oakland community.
He and his officer friend, together created AYSC, which involves with many young children in Oakland that have gone through things that not many has experienced, such as gang violence and dropping out of high school. Sayaphupha wanted to reach out to the Asian youth in a community that was surrounded in a poor environment and was facing difficulties was adapting to the American culture. AYSC has been one of Officer Robert’s greatest and influential project.
Born and raised in a small city in Laos, Robert was the fifth child out of seven. Living in Laos, Officer Robert and his family had always seeked for a new life in America. Due to the communism in Laos, the Sayaphupha family decided that it was a perfect timing to move to America. In order to escape, Officer Robert recalls a time when he and his four elder brothers were responsible to help the family seek a safe escape. “We all split up one by one because it was very dangerous. I happened to be the last eldest son to leave my family to find help. I was only 12 years old at the time,” he recalls. Sayaphupha and his family made it into Thailand, living in a refugee camp. After two years, they were sponsored by American citizens in San Francisco, in which the whole family had immigrated to. Although living in a new world was complicated for Robert, this was an even more difficult situation that Sayaphupha was put in because his family expected a lot from him and his four other brothers. However, he was optimistic and knew that his family was depending on him and his four other brothers to help the entire family to seek for freedom.
Even as a refugee, Officer Robert was aware of his education and continued at Washington High School in San Francisco. He was a very hard and dedicated student because of struggles he had faced. Robert stated, “It was tough to learn a whole new language while keeping up with work and homework.” After graduating from high school with high honors and most valuable player title for soccer, Robert Sayaphupha had a choice of college between San Francisco State or the city college of San Francisco. His decision was the city college of San Francisco because of his acceptance to the police academy. After his acceptance, he continued his education and the pathway to becoming a police officer. Officer Sayaphupha stated, “I became an officer because I wanted to help my community. Police officers are strong and powerful. They have the will to help others in so many ways.”
It was until 1990 that Officer Sayaphupha and co-founder Walter Y. Chinn created the Asian Youth Service Committee. Chinn has said, “Robert and I felt strongly that there was a great Asian youth social need, one where the needs of the recent Asian immigrant youth were not being met”(Chinn 4). Oakland was filled with young people revolving around gang violence, shootings, and dropping out of high school. Both officers wanted to create a program that could help motivate and aid each individuals as much as they can.
The AYSC is a community service organization that helps others and funds various events. The members grow self-esteem and a sense of camaraderie with other youth that experiences similar obstacles. AYSC is composed run by middle and high school students with the help of adult advisors. This organization provides many activities and sponsors large events where the members are taught to analyze, organize, and write projections and budgets. Members are taught how to delegate and encourage others to participate and get involve. This begins to help members become skillful leaders.
AYSC members have come from different backgrounds, socially and economically. The goal is to develop trust with one another. Today, AYSC has made a difference and been very fortunate to have an increase amount of members participating. Youths around the Bay Area and Police officers have continued to participate in AYSC.
A.Y.S.C has continued today since 1990. Although Officer Sayaphupha has been busy with keeping up with patrolling and raising his two daughters, he has still dedicated his time to be involved with A.Y.S.C. Sayaphupha’s goal was to influence as many children as many people had influenced him. He would like to continue this program to influence the future generations. You don’t have to be alone, Sayaphupha believes, Everyone needs hand.

Works Cited:

1. Martinez, Luis. "Why Bad Kids Can Go Good." Juvenile Violence. 16 Nov. 2008 http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/juvenile/structure/asian.html

2. Chinn, Walter Y. "About AYSC." Asian Youth Services Committee. 16 Nov. 2008 http://www.asianyouth.org/aysc/page.php?2

3. "Board of Directors." Oakland Police Officer's Association. 16 Nov. 2008 http://www.opoa.org/open_board.htm

4. "Asian Youth Services Committee." GeoCities. 16 Nov. 2008http://www.geocities.com/aysc4ever/home.html

5.Hart, Angela. "More East Bay bikers, pedestrians face dangers of car commuters." C.I.C.L.E. 23 June 2008. 16 Nov. 2008 http://www.cicle.org/cicle_content/pivot/entry.php?id=1936

6. Chin, Frank. "Bulletproof Buddhists and Other Essays." Google Book Search. 16 Nov. 2008 http://books.google.com/books?id=t0fi04ek1yoc&pg=pt200&lpg=pt200&dq=robert+sayaphupha&source=bl&ots=ftiqhtylms&sig=kbbfa3w3ot0iu45jlwhlwcyb7ki&hl=en&sa=x&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

7. "Student Safety Patrols Saluted." Oakland Net. 13 May 2004. 16 Nov. 2008 http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/news/051304b.asp

8.Wong, William. "Yellow Journalist." 16 Nov. 2008 http://books.google.com/books?id=7gvew5osdcac&pg=pa217&lpg=pa217&dq=robert+sayaphupha&source=bl&ots=wqhl4tvpmw&sig=grknvz8ez6aywtdx5hssj0cgcie&hl=en&sa=x&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result

9. Sayaphupha, Robert. "Officer Robert Sayaphupha." Personal interview. 17 Nov. 2008.
 
Andrew Nguyen
English 201
8-8:50AM

Introduction:
Racism, friends dropping out of school, violence, whatever. These issues roam through my mind day after day after day. I used to ask others, "how come no one is there to deal with these things?" No one knew what to say, but "Oakland sucks that way." I myself did not know what to say either. Even if I was a victim of either racism or violence, or knew people who had encountered those issues, I did not know what to do. I was ignorant. In 2004, a friend of mine asked if I would want to go to a barbeque at Alameda's Washington Park. I said yes. That day at the barbeque was the start of a path I continue to walk on. As I entered the park, there were a large group of people having fun. I got together with my friend and we socialized, until a woman got everyone in the group together. Her name is Tiffany Eng. She began talking about a group called AYPAL and that the people I was with were a part of it. She began talking about a campaign that they were working on for improvements in the Oakland schools like ensuring qualified teachers, and decent books for all students. There were also mention of political campaigns as well, like the laws regarding Deportation and the California Youth Authority's treatment to the youth. She continued on with the issues that roam around the Oakland schools and how AYPAL could change them. As fast as I could blink, I was interested. As soon as everyone went to play games, Tiffany approached me. She asked me if I was interested in the group and all. I said I was, and she then invited me to come to the organization's meetings. I went. The meetings were large, filled with other youth. Tiffany filled me in so I could be up-to-date. She told me that AYPAL stands for Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership. They are a non-profit organization founded by John Fong in September 1998, that works with community organizing, addressing issues like inadequate facilities , lack of materials, and unqualified teachers in Oakland public schools, the California Youth Authority that are established throughout California, and many more. There were other AYPAL groups as well, and that the one I was in was OASES for the Chinese and Vietnamese. Throughout the meetings, Tiffany and her interns educated me and the other youth about issues that continues to roam in the Oakland community, such as the different types of abuse, racism, and even the Government itself. The way AYPAL was organized during the meetings, and how Tiffany inspired many people, including me, to be more active in the community, I knew I wanted to become an intern as well. Through my years with AYPAL, I have met with numerous of inspiring people and worked with life-changing campaigns. Yet, even through these years, I have not really seem to understand why I felt so compelled to work hard in this organization. Was I under the influence of inspiration from the adults who work there?

Body:
I believe I should keep you up-to-date about AYPAL too, to show you how everything works on the inside. AYPAL works within the Oakland community. It has a total of six groups that the managers, called site-coordinators, work with the interns they hire. Each group has a certain race for them, but not everyone has to be of that race to join that particular group. These groups as of this year are: ACMHS (Asian Community Mental Health Services) (Khmer), which is led by Carina Lieu, CO (Campaign Organizers) (Veteran Interns), led by Armael Malinis, FAA (Filipinos for Affirmative Action) (Filipinos), led by Jean Tolentino, LIMCA (Lao Iu Mien Culture Association) (Laos and Mien), led by Mey Saechao, OASES (Oakland Asian Student Educational Services) (Chinese and Vietnamese), led by Vay Hoang, and PIKA (Pacific Islander Ki Association) (Pacific Islanders), led by Janine Moa. (Blogspot. 22 November 2008 http://aypal510.blogspot.com). There are actually no difference within the group in terms of workload. Everyone has the same amount except for CO due to the fact that they are veteran interns, organizing the campaign and reporting back to the other groups. It was founded by John Fong, who explained the efficiency of the group when he answered a few questions for me. "AYPAL also has lots of data that shows that community organizing is one of the best youth development models around, because when young people work to improve their communities, they also end up improving themselves. We have data that shows AYPAL youth gain a lot of positive attitudes toward others and about themselves, and also avoid risky behaviors like drugs, violence, stealing, etc." As of this year, there are two directors who are Jay Conui and Tiffany Eng. Previously, Claire Tran was the director, along with Jay Conui. Those two are in charge of the most stressful situations, such as Grants for all the groups, organizing speakers for speeches that they will arrange, calculating the budget, and so much more. When I joined AYPAL as an intern in 2005, I worked with Tiffany Eng when she was the OASES Site-coordinator at the time. With her, she allowed the other interns and I to grow and challenge ourselves into the leaders that we are today. Tiffany actually inspired me to do my first speech in my first year of AYPAL. It was 2005 in San Francisco, and it was about the California High School Exit Exam, which was our side campaign, and how it was unfair to other schools without the same opportunities as other schools do. What I remembered were site-coordinators, whom I did not get to know more personally from the other groups, encouraging the other speakers and I to do our best. And I did. For that year, we'd chose a campaign to focus on. For 2006-2008, the youth chose to work on OFCY (Oakland Funding for Children and Youth), which helps fund after school programs and youth centers. For our campaign, we want more money to be added for OFCY in the 2008 ballot. Throughout that year, the site coordinators and directors educated the youth about, the history of OFCY, the many forms of violence within the community, and how after school programs can decrease violence. In return, we interns return that knowledge and give it to the youth we educate during the meetings we hold. The interns construct the meetings themselves, while the site-coordinators give the interns guidelines. With this process, it allows the interns to grow and learn skills to facilitate meetings. During that year, we have had block parties and press conferences in Oakland. One particular one was at the Oakland City Hall, where we address OFCY, along with the issues of violence in the community. As my year ended, I wanted to reapply for internship at the OASES site once again. Tiffany helped me realized that even though I was growing fast, I still have room to grow in AYPAL. Tiffany herself, became site-coordinator for the OASES site for four years. She explained to me with a question I asked which was why she rejoined AYPAL as a site-coordinator, "I loved the program and working with youth. I saw how much change it created, not just in the community but in the lives of all the young people that became a part of AYPAL. A lot of youth (like you) have not only been interns, but wanted to take the teachings and values and work that AYPAL does, and do it even more. That inspires me."

My second year as an intern helped me grow more with the help of the site-coordinators and others. Not only was the year beneficial to me and the others to grow, it also became stressful, especially for the adults of AYPAL. We continued our OFCY campaign, even with a dramatic session of AYPAL history. One Halloween night of 2007, a girl from Alameda High School named Iko Bayarsaikhan was killed in Washington Park. AYPAL gave condolence to the family who lost Iko and had hoped that the police catch the shooter. A few days later, our youth were arrested and questioned by the Alameda Police. They apparently received a sort of "tip" regarding the youth responsible for the death of Iko. The police received this tip from someone and apparently jumped the gun, arresting these youth in the morning, as well as entering their homes without showing the parents search warrants. Newspapers showed the youth's names, regardless if they were minors, as well as showing where they live on the news. I tried to pull out an article online regarding the leakage, but apparently it was no where to be found. The negative feeling the news had on our youth gave the audience the assumption that they had done it. In an Oakland Tribune article, police also told reporters that "Police said all three have gang affiliations." (Find Artlcles. November 23, 2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n21087194). False, unless they considered AYPAL as a gang. Jay Conui, Claire Tran, and the rest of the adults of AYPAL stressfully worked hard with the parents of the youth to assure the youth's innocence and safety. Speaking of safety, Jay and Claire, along with the other adults of AYPAL formed an emergency meeting for the youth for a "Know You Rights" workshop for precaution. I went of course. At the time, the door knocked and Jay checked it. He told the youth that armed Alameda Police came to the meeting, looking for a girl who was apparently not part of the group. When news came that the youth were released, due to the fact that the Alameda Police found the "real" person, they did not give redress to the youth, nor their family. According to the Oakland Tribute, "We were very specific at who we were looking at and the locations that we responded to," Fuentes said (Find Articles. November 23, 2008/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20071222/ai_n21190713/print?tag=artBody;col1). Jay Conui, Claire Tran, and the rest of the adults organized a rally in front of the Alameda Police Department for the redress of the family, regarding the trouble they have caused, especially with the media. I was motivated, along with another co-intern, by others, to become an emcee for the rally. Speakers spoke with passion to address their thoughts and personal experience with the situation. The police did not respond to our rally. I had wanted to know how the people of AYPAL felt about the situation personally, but out of consideration, I did not want them to stress about it any longer then it has with interview questions. There has been a lot of negative criticism on us. As well as inaccurate information regarding the case. Perhaps, the people who wrote those negative views did not research the details correctly. Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods said "Charged as the trigger-puller is 16-year-old Oakland resident Quochuy "Tony" Tran... An agency with the ungainly name of Asian Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership (AYPAL) called a demonstration against the police... AYPAL is teaching Asian youth that casual killers should be above the law – if they happen to be Asian. AYPAL is playing the race card." (Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods. November 23, 2008 http://www.orpn.org/Alameda2.htm). The adults at AYPAL taught us not to take it personally. It is hard to take it in though. To us, we are not playing the race card. We were not defending Tony. We were defending our youth because of misconduct with the police, not because they were Asian. But then again, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

On a more positive view, everyone within AYPAL, along with other organizations, worked vigorously with the main campaign, if you still remember, was OFCY. At this point, I have grown even more with the program due to the help of Tiffany Eng as my site-coordinator. During Oakland's Planning and Oversight Committee, my co-intern and I challenged ourselves to make a speech for OFCY and how AYPAL benefitted for us. At the same time, many of our youth came to support us. With so many people helping and inspiring me, what is there not to talk about? Press conferences at the Oakland City Hall were held to show our promotion to OFCY, resulting in at least one hundred people attending the conference. My second year of internship at AYPAL OASES ended in a bittersweet way. Majority of all of our interns, but one were seniors in high school and we were going off to different colleges. It was sweet because of how much work and stress we had went through to reach to where we were at in the campaign, not to mention the personal connections we had with everyone else. After two years of internship, I did not think I was going to do another year after graduation, until my co-intern persuaded me to do another year as a Campaign Organizer with her.

I continue to work with AYPAL after high school as a Campaign Organizer with Armael Malinis. Armael Malinis was influenced to join AYPAL when he was organizing in the union, "I was influenced to be in AYPAL when I was organizing at the Union cause I was working with the young workers, but there was a big disconnect with the labor organizing with young people. So, I wanted to do something that works with young people and is related to social justice and community organizing related." Armael Malinis worked in AYPAL for four years, around the time I had joined the AYPAL OASES meetings. He continued to be a site-coordinator in AYPAL "Because I think this is where you can make the biggest impact is like really train young people how to organize and work on particular campaigns that changes the community. So, it's inspiring to see how young people start from the summer and y'know become organizers toward the end. So that inspired me, the growth in young people." For me, I felt like I could take up more responsibility and wanted to grow even more then I already have. We continue to work with the campaign with the new interns. As a result of our hard work, in 2008, people voted yes on OFCY's Measure OO and it passed.

Conclusion:
Year after year, the people of AYPAL continues to grow into charismatic individuals and leaders. Through these years, I have seen AYPAL contribute their hard work and effort to making Oakland a better place to live. I have seen the frequently occupied Jay Conui work through his busy schedule to give his time to help the other youth in whatever campaign we are in. I have been awed by the inspiration the site-coordinators give to youth to join their groups and to apply for internship. I am grateful that Tiffany Eng gave her time to talk to others about their personal life and motivate us to grow into inspirational leaders when we were interns. I still work in AYPAL as of now. Tiffany Eng took a higher position as well. She is now co-director along with Jay Conui. "At the same time I wanted to grow personally and take on more advanced leadership. I saw ways in which we could improve the structure and systems within our organization and wanted to take the lead on those internal improvement projects. Be more systematic, be more organized, have systems in place. because the bottom line is the better the organization, the better the staff are; and the better the staff are, the better we can serve the youth of our organization with high quality programming." Through her years of AYPAL, Tiffany is quite proud of how AYPAL turned out, "I'm proud of all the youth! I'm proud especially of all the AYPAL OASES interns because I know you guys the best. I'm proud of the staff, and the great work that they do. I'm proud of all of us. I'm very proud of the young people that do community organizing and social justice work after they get out of AYPAL." Armael told me in a short interview we had during work, "I'm proud of myself because I am the greatest of all time!" Obviously, laughter filled the room I was working in. "I'm proud where young people start in the beginning of summer and toward the end, they are able to speak in rallies, facilitate meetings, check site-coordinators on anything." John Fong himself is proud of the organization, "I've said this to some friends and colleagues before. When I lay on my deathbed, AYPAL will no doubt still be around, and it will be one of the key things that I can point to and say that I led a life worth living because of whatever role I played in helping it get started and survive through its first few years." As I continue to work in AYPAL with Armael Malinis, I continue to see myself growing from the help of the site-coordinators and directors. From the start of the barbeque in Alameda's Washington Park, to where I am right now, I am proud to be in AYPAL. I am grateful that John Fong founded AYPAL. John Fong told me in an email regarding his philosophy with influence, "One of my personal core beliefs, and I believe one of the shared values of AYPAL, is that any movement, including the youth movement that AYPAL is a part of, has to be about more than any charismatic leader - it has to be about the soldiers who are on the ground, doing the real work of making their communities better... Every single adult who works or volunteers with AYPAL believes that AYPAL belongs to the young people who are in it." Wherever I see myself in the future and as I look back, I will remain grateful to those who had helped grow to be who I am.

Bibliography:
-Youth Voice in AYPAL/Blogspot/blogspot.com/ October 6, 2008/retrieved 22 November 2008 http://aypal510.blogspot.com

-Oakland Tribune /Find Articles at BNET/findarticles.com/ November 6, 2007/retrieved December 1, 2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n21087194

-Oakland Tribune - Alameda cops fail to justify 'witch hunt,' critics claim/Find Articles at BNET/findarticles.com/ December 22, 2007/retrieved November 23, 2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20071222/ai_n21190713/print?tag=artBody;col1

-Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods - City-Funded Agency Demonstrates Against Police/orpn.org/ December 27, 2007/retrieved November 23, 2008 http://www.orpn.org/Alameda2.htm

-Update: 3 teens face homicide charges in death of Alameda girl (Oakland Tribune)/Find Articles at BNET/findarticles.com/ November 6, 2007/retrieved December 1, 2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n21087194

Thank you to:

-Malinis, Armael. Personal Interview. 1 December 2008

-Fong, John. Email Interview. 23 November 2008

-Eng, Tiffany. Email Interview. 25 November 2008

For sparing time out of their hectic schedule to answer my interview questions.
 
Lou Saechao
8am-8:50am
201A

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

My social entrepreneur is about Lao Family Community Development Inc. (LFCDI) and what they do to help the community and the environment to become a better place. They also work with lower income customers and host a senior program (high school senior) with their future and planning. They host a conference every year during summer time to show their way of saying take a chance and work hard. Be the change and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make a difference. Most likely, Lao Family is a hand on hand job so you can experience it in front of you. This situation points out to what Lao Family can do to help the people around them and the social life of other.



One thing that Lao Family does that is important to the community is to help youth and adult make a better environment. How this work is that they have an intern for the youth and the adult to help develop skills such as business and social contact. This shows that Lao Family help out by developing help to the community through social and business. Also, Lao Family is help people develop leadership skill, reading skill, math skill, and even help other assist them on how to get a job. This shows that Lao Family have been helping out the community and doing their job as a social worker to improve there community. Most likely, Laos Family is working on creating another building around town to help out the community expand into a better, peaceful hood.



Lao Family planned on contributing to the community by working with their intern to go out and observe the situation around the hood. The way this is done is by going to other conference and meeting to discuss and talk about the world and people around us. Laos Family is almost like AYPAL (Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership) going around and seeing how we can improve by changing the life around us. Lao Family help their intern develop a resume as in guiding them on what to say and put to give them good chances of getting a job. They also help other with resume too and developing lesser unemployment and more suitable time of day for people. Lao Family is strong do to the bond of their companionship and fellowship of hard effort in developing a new environment. This is the reason why Lao Family is working on showing the world that we need to improve to a better face.



In my point of view, Lao Family is very helpful in every ways like future planning such as college and goal. They taught me how to develop a resume and cover letter when I was an intern. They told me the entire thing I needed to do to get into colleges around the bay. We did a lot of extra curriculum such as volunteer helping at school, cleaning the streets on earth day, getting involved with protest of violation of racism of the way we look, and more. We also go over what we did in the past and what we learned from other and used it as influence in helping out our own community. We share the important to other and let them used it too to show our help to them. To tell the truth, I really understand a lot about what they do and appreciate them for their help and hope that one day I can return a favor to them as a token of my gratitude.



For my conclusion, this shows that Lao Family is working on developing to work with people on improving the world. They are helping other changing the world of life we are living in and developing a new day for everyone. This is infect an entrepreneurship in helping developing and changing from bad to good and worst to better. If anyone needs advice, they can definitely get some help from Lao Family. Contact information: (510) 533-8850.
 
Dung Nguyen
English 201A
800-850
EBAYC

What would you do if you see someone need help? Would you just standing there and do nothing because you know no one going to pay you? Or you are willing to help without any benefit from them? We are living in the society where money is the most important thing in our lives. People willing do anything to earn money, from good things to bad things. In our daily life, we use money to buy almost everything. That is the reason why people just want to earn and save as much as they want instead of giving out. But not everyone likes that. There are many people in this world that help making changes to the communities and the people that needed help. They contribute their strength and mind to make the communities become better. Those people are called Social Entrepreneur. They formed organization to help the community. EBAYC is one of the organizations like that.

The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) is an independent community organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering young people and their families to be life-long builders of a just and caring multi-cultural society. EBAYC has a membership of over 500 working families who reside in Oakland’s largely immigrant San Antonio community. EBAYC was started in 1976 by a small group of Asian American Berkeley High School students. They wanted a place where Asian youth could come together and get support from each other and get involved in the community (David Kakishiba, executive director). EBAYC is a private non-profit community-building organization based in the San Antonio neighborhood district of the city of Oakland. Oakland is the eighth-largest city in the state of California with the population of almost 400,000. EBAYC’s work organizing parents at three neighborhood schools; Franklin Elementary, Garfield Elementary, and Roosevelt Middle School in the San Antonio neighborhood. Oakland today is facing with a lot of problems about crimes and poverty. Oakland has more than 60 ethnic groups, and most of the people are immigrant and low-income families. EBAYC was founded to build a racially and ethnically diverse membership of families in low-income neighborhoods and provides after school programs for kids. EBAYC also helps to strengthen and improve the schools and neighborhoods. They also provide high school student member’s comprehensive internships as reading coaches, sports coaches, social action researchers, and documentary video producers. EBAYC after-school learning centers support parents to be effective advocates and providers for their children.

I first know about EBAYC from my friends, they were doing internships for EBAYC by helping kids with learning activities after school. For many of these immigrant parents, who face language barriers themselves, it can be difficult to help their children with homework. When kids do homework, new immigrant parents mostly don’t know any English, so when they finish their homework under the supervision of high school students, like one of my friends. EBAYC has many programs for youth to help them such as: The Street side Production and Case Management Program provides intensive video production training, and counseling and case management to high school youth. The program uses digital video as a medium to engage the youth, particularly juvenile offenders and youth in danger of school dropout.

When the program grew more bigger, EBAYC need more help because by themselves it would be impossible for them to do all the works. EBAYC turned to Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) and asked for help. By working together, members of both organizations had achieved many goals: In 2002, the two groups worked together to secure a commitment from the Superintendent of Schools and the City Mayor to provide funding to ensure 10,000 kids are in after-school programs throughout Oakland. And In 2004, members convinced city council members to work with police to hire an additional foot patrol officer in the San Antonio neighborhood.

Today, EBAYC works not only with the Asian population but seeks to build multi-cultural alliances among Asians, African-Americans, and Latinos. EBAYC continues to provide services and opportunities for young people, and encourage more and more people in the community to join in the organization to help benefit the community.

Some People saying that Oakland is a bad city it will always stay the same and will never improve but only getting worse. Those people are the one that only care about them. Why do I say that? Because if they do care about the city and the community that they live in, they could do something to help the community such as join a nonprofit organizations to help improve and change the face of the city. EBAYC is one of many organizations that are helping making the changes for city of Oakland. It runs by people who actually care about the community and people that live in it. If you still think Oakland is a bad place to live then why don’t you take a part in the community and start to make changes.

Works Cited:

1. The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC)-
http://www.ebayc.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhoWeAre


2.Child Trends 2004http://www.childtrends.org/what_works/city_scan/Oakland/East%20Bay%20Asian%20Youth%20Center%20(EBAYC)%20expanded.htm


3.Leader Ship for Changing The world- http://www.leadershipforchange.org/awardees/awardee.php3?ID=226

4.Volunteer Match-https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org78717.jsp

5.Oakland Tribune, Oct 12, 2004,Paul T. Rosynsky, Asian youth organization gets award
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n14587603
 
Andrew Nguyen
English 201
8-8:50AM

RE: Lou Saechao

Where's your sources???
 
Joshua Johnson
English 201A
Mon-Thur 8-8:50
There are many people in the world who you creative business practice to start social service organizations. These people are called "social entrepreneurs". The people usually aim to bring hope and help to places in need of assistance – usually in areas with high levels of poverty. In my community there is a man who is not just trying to help my community, but actually the entire nation. This man goes by the name of Ise Lyfe and is a veteran to the streets of East Oakland, raised in a neighborhood field with drugs, prostitution, robbery, rape, and lots of violence (gun violence being most known). Some would say that growing up in an area like this make it almost impossible to steer clear of taking part in any of these paths, but Ise Lyfe proved that it can be done.
Ise lyfe chose to send his message through poetry that people in his community could relate to by making songs and such through a mix of spoken word and rap. Because of the fact that he grew up around these issues that he touches on in his music, people tend to listen more because he's not an "outsider" to the life they're living themselves. He is a "spoken word artist", who educates, acts as a role model, visionary artist, community leader, and so much more. He is not what you would call a "sell out", because he is not known to talk down on his roots, but instead just embrace the fact that there is a problem in his community that needs to be mentioned, with hopes that he can help people one day surpass some of the things that are happening and acknowledge that what they are doing is wrong.
Ise lyfe admits that he was not always so into the politics and the uplifting in his community, on the contrary he was just like most of the kids growing up in his neighborhood getting caught up in the lifestyle around them. He says that it wasn't until he was 15 years old and witnessed a murder at a concert that he realized how "numb" he was to it. Murder is one of the biggest topics that he speaks on, because of how high the number of homicide victims there are in Oakland every year. In 2003 Oakland's murder rate was 3.5 times the National Average. He now works toward stopping the violence and reaching out so that people don't become insensitive to it as so many around him already are.
Now he does much community work, working with organizations addressing educational, social, and political needs of today's youth. He taught social history and spoken word at The School for Social Justice and Community Development, in Oakland, CA. He also was the Senior Arts-in-Education Associate at Youth Speaks, known as the top literary arts association in the US. On top of all that, he wrote a theater piece titled, "Who's Krazy?" that debuted in 2007 in New Orleans at a national Black Theater Festival (it sold out). In an interview with HipHopDX he explained what this piece was about by stating,
"This story is a story about a man who is born in the hood, goes corporate, and then fizzles out on his own hype. The hood is the 80's, his corporate career is the 90's, and when the piece ends with him on the ground moving his legs but going nowhere, he personifies and embodies the current state of this vast Hip Hop culture spawned from love, hunger, hopes, and bad decisions….Who's Krazy speaks to reaction from environment and the way we struggle to define ourselves in an assertive self driven way, but are still reacting to the system that we grow up under. I believe that Hip Hop is a reaction to poverty. That break dancing jumped off originally on cardboard because poverty stricken communities didn't have dance schools. That graffiti went up on trains because the people doing that art came from communities where no one would pay attention to them, thus their name being blasted on a train that went all over the city commanded that attention."
In all of his efforts, he has a lot to show for himself, meeting on stage with Actors and artist such as Dave Chappelle, Lauryn Hill, Dead Prez, E-40, Talib Kweli, Harry Belafonte, KRS-One, Saul Williams, Ben Harper, Erykah Badu, and many others. He also received many awards such as being named one of the top "101 Black Men In California Making A Difference", by the 12th Annual African American Excellence in Business Awards (and being at age 24 in 2007 when this took place, he was the youngest being honored).
Ise Lyfe inspires many people, including myself; to also do our part to help the community around us and fight for what is right. I listen to his music and realize that I can make a difference by just not contributing to the negative things happening around me. I respect his ways and hope to one day be able to send a message to people like he does, so that can help heal my community and the communities around me. I will do what I can to "Spread the World" (the title to his most famous album) in artistic ways that communities dealing with the struggles that I face can relate to. People take his words and teachings, and learn to grow and look at different things in the community that are holding them down. This is not just a message, this-is-a-MOVEMENT!!


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/ise-lyfe-spread-the-word/
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7165/title.bay-rapper-ise-lyfes-play-appears-at-naacp-theater-awards
http://www.wiretapmag.org/stories/38887/
http://speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=422
http://www.blackpublicmedia.org/project/masculinity/media/103
http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Oakland&state=CA
 
Lou Saechao
8-850am
201A

i have read Andrew essay and like Lao Family, AYPAL are almost alike but in different organization.i was an intern in Lao family for 2 year and we work with AYPAL before. like i said and probably Andrew said we are not many but one to insure the good of our community and aint no power like the power of the youth cause the power of the youth dont stop wsay what!! right Andrew!
 
Lou Saechao
8-850am
201A

Works sited:
• “Lao Family Community Development Inc.(LFCDI)”
http://www.laofamilynet.org/
- sorry, this is the only source I've gotten because most of the info i go is from Laos Family.
 
Andrew Nguyen
English 201
8-8:50AM

RE: Lou Saechao

Ahhaha, you funnay, how you so funnay? Yeah, we've worked together as Allies. That chant is so old but so good.

If I say _(1)__ you say _(2)__
(1)! (2)!
 
Andrew Nguyen
English 201
8-8:50AM

RE: Dung Nguyen

Oh yeah, we worked with EBAYC too. One of my co-intern worked with them at the same time she worked with AYPAL with us. We got lotsa of EBAYC people coming to support our conferences, yay.
 
Lisa Ryan
English 201A
MW 1:00-2:50
Professor: Sabir
Final Reseach Paper

What is a social entrepreneur?

Social entrepreneurs are organizer for their communities they are advocates for fair and equal rights of others, they take risk and are determined to uncover solutions to the social problems that people are faced with.

What is a philanthropist? A philanthropist is someone who has an abundance of financial resources and shares it with people who are less fortunate. The goal of the philanthropist is to contribute to the welfare of mankind.

Outline:
1.Who is the social entrepreneur profiled? Gloria Lockett, Former Prostitute and HIV/AIDS Advocate

2. What problem did the person profiled identify?The lack of HIV/AIDS education in the African American community.

The lack of health services in the African American community.

The need for safer sex education for Prostitutes in the Bay Area.

3.What is the name of the organization they started?California Prostitutes Education project

4. Describe their relationship to the community that they serve?

Gloria was born and raised in the Bay Area and was a prostitute for 20 years before founding her organization. She felt that she was the ideal person to go back into the community where she grew up to educate her peers about the prevention of HIV.

Why they decided to address this issue?

Because initially African Americans were being mislead about their risk for contracting HIV.

HIV was seen initially as a gay white mans disease which contributed to a level of denial in the black community. Eventually later in the epidemic African Americans and Prostitutes were scapegoated as the perpetrators of HIV transmission.

Gloria wanted to increase HIV testing and awareness in the black community through health services and education so that African American’s and prostitutes would know how to protect themselves and receive care if they were positive for HIV disease.

5. What is the local component?

She involved and hired other former prostitutes and community members as peer educators and employees.

6. How does the community own the process?

The community utilizes the services, gains employment and are active members on her board of directors.

Planning sheet:

Subject: Social Entrepreneur

Why do you want to write this paper?

I want to write this paper to show and inform the audience of the community problems and the solutions that were implemented to address them.

Audience: African Americans at risk for contracting HIV.

My research paper will show how entrepreneurs have a positive effect on the communities that they serve.

I want my research paper to show that anyone can turn their lives around and become a positive force in their communities.

Writing Strategies:

I plan to use description and problem/solution strategy in my paper.

Sources:
Books
Newspaper article Interviews
Agency Training manual

“A Hero’s Journey to The Finish Line”

In 1984 a thirty seven year old African American woman named Gloria Lockett decided to make a change in her life and in her community. For 21 years Gloria was a prostitute who traveled from Oakland to Alaska exchanging sex for financial gain. She was not the typical street walker with the pimp standing near by she was what many referred to in those days as a “Professional Prostitute” with her five inch heels, seductive attire and furs when the weather called for it, she was in great demand. Her life was a good life and for years she was enthralled by the wealth that afforded her the finer things in life, a big home, fancy cars, a nanny to care for her kids and enough money to take care of her and her man for years to come. Even as a prostitute she was an advocate for others.

In 1982 Gloria became a member of an organization called Call off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE) who mission was to legalize prostitution. During this time the African American community was not responding to the messages being conveyed to them through the media and the health care system about the prevention of the Human Immunodefiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immunodefiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system and destroys a persons fighter cells AIDS is a collection of different diseases and symptoms and is a direct result of the damage that HIV has done to the immune system.  HIV is transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids such as blood, breast milk, semen, precum and vaginal fluids.  In the African American community there was a lack of African American health educators and a great level of mistrust for the government. Although Gloria is well known for her work with prostitutes she is also a strong advocate for African American’s that are poor, disenfranchised, drug addicted, unskilled or simply forgotten by society. During this time HIV and AIDS was a disease that was mainly being found in gay white males. Gloria knew that the scapegoat population would include prostitutes, drug users and African Americans because they were considered to be sexually uninhibited and less likely to practice safe sex.

In 1984 Gloria rallied for better treatment of African Americans at risk for HIV disease and the fair and equal funding for HIV and health services in the African American community. She had a plan and together with a member of Coyote she co-founded California Prostitutes Education Project. Her first grant was awarded from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for $30,000, to conduct outreach and group education to prostitutes. Over the years CAL-PEP has amassed a budget of well over 2.2 million dollars with funding coming from the State Health Department, Alameda County Health Department, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Universitywide AID’s Research Project and other private foundation and government sources. Initially, CAL-PEP’s primary focus was the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and education for prostitutes and their sexual partners. CAL-PEP’s philosophy is centered on meeting high risk people where they were in their lives whether they were actively using drugs or exchanging sex for drugs, money or shelter, it doesn’t matter CAL-PEP’s services are delivered in a nonjudgmental manner.

Those most at risk for HIV are involved in high risk behaviors sharing injecting drug using paraphernalia, mother to child through breast milk, unprotected vaginal sex and anal sex and sex with someone who is HIV positive. The agency’s client demographics are majority African American drug users who are at risk because of their addiction, lack of obtainable treatment services and the sexual risk that many of them are faced with as addicts. The staff provides community members with information about the transmission and prevention of HIV/STD infection, safer ways to have sex and safer drug use which would in turn allow them to make informed choices about their behaviors and reduce their risk of HIV infection as well as reduce the risk to the community. This method is known as the harm reduction approach and allows people to not be ashamed of themselves because of their choices. CAL-PEP’s mission is to deliver obtainable health education, sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, and risk reduction education in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.

In 1995 CAL-PEP was funded by the State Health Department to purchase its first HIV/STD mobile testing clinic and funding to conduct comprehensive HIV/STD and pap smears testing. The clinic was a 35 foot motor home converted into a four room clinic on wheels equipped with an exam room, a waiting area, restroom and three counseling rooms. The staff was inclusive of a nurse practitioner who conducted pap smears and pelvic exams as well as administered STD treatment on the spot. The clinic would regularly park in some of the highest risk areas such as prostitute’s strolls,hotels or community centers and remain there until they exhausted there testing efforts. Once they finished one area they would relocate to other high risk areas and repeat the same process. Those that were diagnosed with an STD were treated on the spot and encouraged to return with their partners so that they could be treated as well. Others that tested HIV positive were immediately connected to a case manager who would ensure primary care linkage. CAL-PEP was also the first organization to go into crack houses to conduct health education and HIV testing, this intervention was known as “House Parties”. During outreach the staff would recruit gate keepers in the community that were drug users and ask them to host a safer sex party with a group of their friends and sex partners. The host would invite no less than 6 of their friends and be compensated with $25 cash and all of the participants would receive a hot meal ,HIV/AID's education and safer sex and safer drug using information. These parties were held at client’s apartments, hotel rooms, under freeway overpasses in parks or wherever clients called home. CAL-PEP was focused on educating the community by any means and providing them with life saving information. These services were delivered through role-play, candid safer sex discussions, prop demonstrations on the proper use of condoms and dialogue on how to negotiate safer sex with their partners.

Also in 1995 CAL-PEP partnered with a group of volunteers and implemented the Alameda County Exchange (ACE) which was the first needle exchange program in Oakland serving as ACE’s fiscal agency and overseeing the coordination of the program. CAL-PEP was prohibited from actually participating in the exchange of syringes because this practice was not allowed by there federal funders. While the volunteers were exchanging syringes the staff of CAL-PEP would stand at the end of the block and as clients left the exchange the staff would give the clients harm reduction information. The staff would also talk to them about how to clean their works and provided them with safer drug using supplies such as bleach, water, cookers and cotton balls. The needle exchange increased the client’s practice of not sharing their works or cleaning them if they did share, which was one of the leading causes of HIV transmission. The rates of new HIV infection among injection drug users eventually decreased because of the efforts of CAL-PEP and the Alameda County Exchange.

Because of the devastation that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has had on the community and the expansion of funding to include multiple populations of people CAL-PEP expanded its focus to include the entire community at risk. As a result, CAL-PEP chose to adopt an alternate name, California Prevention and Education Project so that it would be more inclusive of its expanded population. However CAL-PEP is still recognized as California Prostitutes Education Project. Their target population has grown and now includes: injection drug, crack users, and other substance users, youth, gay/lesbian, transgendered, homeless and ex-offenders. Gloria is unwavering in her objective to prove that street level HIV/AIDS/STD prevention and education can lead to increased testing and an increase in the awareness of risk in the African American community. Which she believes will lead to a decrease in denial an a reduction in new HIV infections.
According to the Alameda County Health Department statistics, HIV/AIDS has had an
overwhelming impact on communities of color in Alameda County with a primary force in Oakland and more specifically in African Americans. Between 1980 and 2005 there was a reported 6,860 documented AIDs cases of this number most were African American at 44%. The 2005 case rate for African Americans (35.2 per 100,000residents) is disproportionately higher than rates for Hispanics/Latinos (7.0) and Whites (6.5). Although African Americans are 14% of the population in Alameda County they make up 47% which is nearly half of the AIDS cases (www.alamedacounty public health.gov).

The HIV crisis in the African American community in Oakland has become so severe that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 1998decided to proclaim a State of emergency in the county, because of the growing number of AIDS cases in the African American community.

CAL-PEP’s outreach and testing team canvass the streets of Oakland six days each week between the hours of 8am-2am in teams of no less than two, distributing condoms and safer sex messages to those at highest risk for HIV. They also reach the community in there two 35 foot mobile HIV testing clinics, which allows them to not only test people on the spot and connect them to care but the mobile clinic also serves as a safe haven or resting place for sex workers, who may need a minute or two away from the elements. The mobile clinics also serve as a place to provide group level and/or one on one educational sessions.In my interview with Gloria in her office while she was between meetings she shared “CAL-PEP’s work hours are determined by the needs of the community, we cannot keep Health Department hours which is 9am-5pm because people aren’t just using drugs or putting themselves at risk between 9:00am- 5:00pm, we are available to the community when they need us” (Interview 17, Nov. 2008). Not only does CAL-PEP work early mornings and late nights they take their services anywhere there is a need for HIV/AIDs testing, harm reduction and safer sex education as a clients needs for services. If a client needs to be
accompanied to doctor’s appointment or simply need advocacy when dealing with the judicial or medical system, CAL-PEP’s staff will escort them.

Additionally, CAL-PEP has been the fundamental link for college students who are studying social work, public health or issues related to African American women. Each year an influx of majority White and Asian interns spend a minimum of six months at the agency being taught some of the most vital and crucial information that they won’t learn in a classroom but information that will assist them in obtaining their desired degrees and hopefully a level of understanding and empathy that they didn’t have when they came.Many of them prefer to work side by side with Gloria while others hit the streets with veteran outreach workers getting a glimpse into the life of a community of people that are not being afforded the same options as their non African American counterparts. CAL-PEP has also served as a training base for not only students but other community based organizations, community members and Gloria has traveled nationally and internationally to speak and present the best practices of CAL-PEP.

For the past 24 years CAL-PEP has significantly increased HIV awareness and testing in the African American community through HIV testing, safer sex parties, street outreach and case management for people at risk for HIV.CAL-PEP has tested more African Americans for HIV in Oakland than any other community based organization. According to CAL-PEP's Demographic Information 990 Report in 2002, 22,807 contacts were made during street outreach, HIV testing, HIV awareness in group sessions and case management services in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and Hayward. Of the 22,807 contacts made 17,815 were African Americans, 52% were men, 47% were women and 1% was transgendered (CAL-PEP Training Manual 2004). Gloria states “CAL-PEP has successfully trained and employed well over 200 ex-prostitutes, ex-incarcerated, ex-gang members and ex-drug users (Interview 17,Nov. 2008) ”. Gloria contributes much of CAL-PEP’s success to the hiring of community members. In the book “Women Resisting AIDS” by Beth E. Schneider and Nancy Stoller, Gloria states “I guess I could say one overall thing that has made CAL-PEP work, its peer model.” CAL-PEP hires ex-prostitutes, ex-drug users and ex-gang members to become outreach workers and case managers because they are the greatest example of change. They return to those same communities where they once prostituted or used drugs to educate their peers about the prevention of HIV and to offer them other life options. The peer model has proven to be effective over 40% of CAL-PEP’s current staff is from the community. This model has been replicated throughout prevention work locally and nationwide with great outcomes.

Gloria has served on many boards and councils through her 24 years as Executive Director of CAL-PEP including: San Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallihan’s Task force on Prostitution,1991-1994, St. James Infirmary 2000-2008, Governor George Deukmaejian’s California AIDS Leadership Task Force 1987-1988, Alameda County Prevention Planning council 1993-1996 and 2004-2007. Additionally she has traveled to many of the International Conferences on AIDS where she has spoken to hundreds of doctor’s, researcher and people of all ethnic backgrounds about African Americans and AIDS, prostitution, drug use and harm reduction. Now in her early sixties she continues to carry the needs of her community on her shoulder and admits that she is tired and looks forward to the day that she can retire but she continues to put it off because as she says, “we still have more work to do.” She is adamant when she states that “HIV is 100% preventable.” She plans to stick around a little longer until her community believes that they have the power to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Today CAL-PEP struggles with maintaining the adequate funding of their programs and keeping the agency open. Under the existing government administration prevention programs have taken a beaten and continue to suffer through our current failing economy. CAL-PEP has reached thousands of people in the community through street outreach, HIV/STD testing and the pioneering of successful prevention strategies. They have been an example for effective prevention models and have trained doctors, students, researchers and laymen nationally and internationally on how to efficiently reach prostitutes, African Americas and other people at risk. Unfortunately CAL-PEP like many other community based organization are faced with an uncertain future. However the staff is hopeful and confident in their leader, a relentless and fearless woman name Gloria Lockett who is not known to walk away from a fight without exhausting all of her efforts. The staff is solid in their belief that they will make it to the finish line.

Sources:

Schneider, Beth E., and Nancy E. Stoller. Women Resisting AIDS: Feminist Strategies of Empowerment. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994.

Locket Gloria. Personal Interview. 17 Nov. 2008.

CAL-PEP California Prevention and Education Project, Street Outreach Training Manual. 1st ed., 2004.

Bowser, Benjamin P., Shiraz I. Mishra, Cathy J. Reback, and George E. Lemp. Preventing AIDS Community Science Collaborations. Binghamton, NY: The Hawthorn Press Inc, 2004.
International Journal of Drug Policy 19 (2008) 492- 495
Richey Sonya. Personal Interview. 24 Nov. 2008

www.calpep.org/g_lockett.html

www.alamedacounty public health.gov
 
Francisco Marcial
English 201A
MW 1-2:50pm
Ms. Sabir

“IGNACIO DE LA FUENTE”

We have had many leaders that have been recognize for a change that they have made, but there are also many other leaders in our communities that have not been recognize for their hard work yet. These leaders are called “Social Entrepreneurs”. Social entrepreneurs are people that have identified a problem in their community and they spend some or most of their time trying to solve it. There are many social entrepreneurs in my community, but the social entrepreneur that I choose was Ignacio De La Fuente. The problems that Ignacio De La Fuente found in my community were; not enough good public schools, not enough clean streets and parks, and finally safety. With all of the work that Ignacio has done to try to make my community a better place; Ignacio De La Fuente has really made a change in my community.

Ignacio De La Fuente was born in January 1, 1949 in Mexico city. He immigrated to California at the age of 21 and later on he became an American Citizen. When Ignacio came to California he had settled in the city of Oakland where he still lives right now. Ignacio started working in a foundry as a machinist. While he was a machinist he experienced how bad workers were treated because they did not have any benefits like health insurance and some other more benefits, so he decided to do something about this. In 1977 Ignacio’s career as a social entrepreneur started when he was first elected as the union representative for the “Allied Workers International Union”. As the representative Ignacio was trying to help workers like him get the benefits that they deserve. Later on Ignacio was first elected as the Oakland City Council in the year of 1992 until 1999. In the year of 1999 Ignacio was first elected as the president of the Oakland city council in 1999and he has been re-elected in this position every two years since then. In the year of 2006 Ignacio ran for the Mayor of Oakland, unfortunately he got second place on the race and the first place was “Ron Dellums” which is still right now our Oakland Mayor.

Since Ignacio De La Fuente came to the city of Oakland, he saw that there were some issues that had to be solved. So he decided to do something about it because he wanted to have a city that was safe, clean streets and parks, and services. In the year of 2004 the Fruitvale Village was opened. This village used to be part of the Fruitvale Bart and it was used as a parking lot. With the help of the community Ignacio got to rebuild this parking lot as we call today the “Fruitvale Village”. This Village was built so there could be more affordable housing for low income family’s and to make Oakland look much better. The Fruitvale Village was a success because the Oakland community has used the village very well. The community uses the village to do events, community gatherings, and they also use the services that it has such as the clinic, library, senior center, and the small stores. The Fruitvale Villlage consists of two phases and one of them has been done. In the second phase there are going to be more affordable housing for low income people.

In the year of 2004 Ignacio helped develop the new building for the small public school in the community called “ASCEND”. The school was opened in the year of 2001 and it was a small public school from Kinder to Eight grade and it was establish in a really old building that was almost falling. Like I said before in the year of 2004 the school was rebuild and it got bigger and now they have a playground for the kids to play and they have more after school programs for the kids so they could stay out of trouble. In the year of 2001 Ignacio with the help of other organizations such as “Oakland Community Organizations” (OCO) helped develop another school which is called “Urban Promise Academy” (UPA). Before this school was built, there used to be an abandoned building right there that was called “Montgomery”. This school was built as same as the “ASCEND” but the only difference is that “UPA” has a soccer field that local soccer teams use to play as well as the students from “UPA”. Both of these two schools were build with the same purpose; to have more good and safe public schools that have good teachers, good after school programs, and a playground for the kids. People have been using the services that these two schools provide.

The community has been using all of the services that are provided to them that Ignacio has helped build. The kids and youths from the community have been using the services like the library at the Fruitvale Village and going to one of the two public schools which are “ASCEND”, and “UPA” and the children that attend these schools have been using the after school programs very well because the after school programs at these two schools are full. Family’s from the community have as well been using these services that are provided to them. Some family’s live in the “Fruitvale Village” and some of them use the clinic, library, senior center, and most of them shop right there and make events there.
Now with all these new things that the community has, people could see that Ignacio is really making a change in our community; he has found the solution to our problems and now Oakland is getting better than before with the new schools and village that we have.



“SOURCES”

1. De La Fuente, Ignacio. OaklandNet. Nov 24, 2008 http://www.Oaklandnet.com/government/council/coun_mem/fuente

2. De La Fuente, Ignacio”About Ignacio”.24 Nov, 2008
http:// www.idelafuente.com/about.html

3. Dan, Ashley. ABC. (April, 2006). Nov 24, 2008
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=4112460

4. KTVU.“ De La Fuente Wants Second Vote On Youth Ballot Measure” Nov. 2008. 24 Nov. 2008http:// www.ktvu.com/news/17935802/detail.html?rss=fran&psp=news

5. Smoothe, V.“Ignacio Open To Charter Reform”. A Better Oakland 2 July.2008. 24 Nov.2008
http://www.abetteroakland.com/ignacio-open-to-charter-reform/2008-07-02

6.Wikipedia “Ignacio De La Fuente”. Nov,2008. 24 Nov. 2008http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Ignacio_de_la_fuente
 
Nina Wooten
Eng.201b
8-8:50 am
SOCIAL ENTRPRENEUR

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. A philanthropist is a person who makes an effort to promote human welfare; the effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations.
I chose to profile social entrepreneur Kevin Grant who has designed and enforced the Crime Intervention Workshop for the Alameda County Juvenile Probation Department. Mr. Grant has 14 years experience in working with groups, individuals and organizations tackling the challenges of making life changes, including designing, implementing and managing state licensed and certified programs. He is the founder of Kevin Grant Consulting, who has also provided services to juvenile, youth and adult parole and probation departments, staff, and clients.
Mr. Grant is a motivational speaker, who inspires individuals with everyday challenges to reach and maintain their goals. He is a mentor, who, through workshops, focuses on self empowerment through various methods and an advocate for troubled youth. Growing up, Kevin was a troubled youth, who contributed his share of wrong doings. He’s spent time behind bars and now he serves his community. Kevin Grant Consulting provides services to at risk boys and girls through weekly workshops in Alameda County. He assists the city of Oakland by extending a helping hand to the McCullum Youth Court of Oakland, to reduce the violence. Kevin provides service to youth but as well as adult who are on parole.
In addition to rehabilitating juveniles and adults, he also offers employment services to ex -felons, parolees, and substance abusers. His services include job development and placement, career counseling and resume development. The community definitely takes advantages of these opportunities because it hard for convicted felons and parolees to obtain a job let alone maintain the skills and meet all requirements. Take Billy Washington for example, who demonstrated his gratitude through a sincere letter to Kevin. Billy writes: “I would like everyone to know that Kevin has been a true friend and mentor. I owe much of my success to Kevin, as he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. He was always there when things became tough, to assure me that I would overcome my adversities if I merely stayed focused. Like always, he was right. I could write a book on how wonderful a person Kevin is and all he has done for me. At this point I think I merely want to say; Kevin is a true blessing to my life and all the lives he has touched. In closing I’ll assure you that the world needs more people exactly him. Yes, I want to assure you that I am grateful and enjoy every opportunity I have to be in your company. You’re truly genuine and unique. Remember; continue to reach back, to assure that you’ll never go back.”
Another testimony shared comes from Shirley Poe, who is a Regional Parole Administrator for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations Divisions of Adult Parole Operations, who writes, “I first met Kevin Grant in my position as a Parole Administrator for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in Alameda County in 2000. Kevin worked for us as a motivational speaker at our weekly Police and Corrections Team (PACT) Orientation meeting's in Oakland, California. PACT is a partnership between Parole, Oakland Police Department and Community Based Programs. The goal of this program is to provide re-entry services to recently released parolees from prisons throughout California. I was immediately impressed with Kevin's ability to connect with this population and articulate a vision for success. Kevin has the ability to captivate his audience, often using a story telling approach. He has provided motivational speaking for us in Parole Districts located throughout Northern California, such as Sacramento, Richmond, Vallejo, Stockton, San Francisco, Modesto, and Yolo County. Kevin's contributions to our mission, goals and objectives have been invaluable…”
Mr. Grant’s first hand experience with the law has formed him into a man who has decided to make a change and give back to the community that he once took from. Kevin Grant has been very successful at reaching out to his community and making a difference in the lives of many people. Most are surprised at how far he is willing to go to assist people during there troubling times, yet very thankful.


http://www.kevingrantconsulting.com

http://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/Docs

www.acgov.org/sleb_query_app/gsa/sleb/query/vendordirlistnaics

www.acgov.org/cda/redevelop/projects/ed/steering_071906
 
Dung Nguyen
English 201A
8.00-8.50

RE: Andrew Nguyen

I know alot people that work for AYPAL. I still remember the protest in front of Alameda police department. I was working at 76 gas station, about 1 block away from the protest spot. I saw alot of people walking by, and i saw couples of my friends so i asked them what they doing. They said they protest Alameda police because the arrested highshool students based on little evidence the had. they arrested students without noticed the family of those studetns.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?