Exam 1: Review Questions

Student Leadership
Contrast the “traditional” definition of leadership with how Astin & Astin think about leadership. What are some the barriers (i.e. limiting beliefs) that keep students from leading/engaging in the classroom or on campus? Relate these ideas to the “silent treatment” exercise I subjected you to in class.

Engagement at Simpson
Use the highlights of the Spezio article as a jumping off point; “grade” the current level of engagement at Simpson and think about what we could do to get students more engaged (see handout on Campus Assessment of Civic Engagement, as well as Simpson Survey data).

A New Engagement, Chapters 1-2
Use your reading of Zukin (PowerPoint outline is linked to my web page) to answer the questions below. What is the main theme/thesis of Zukin’s book? How does he define “civic participation,” and what are the most important findings from his study about it? Know the 4 generations and their profiles, and be able to talk about events that shaped GenX vs. DotNets.

A New Engagement, Chapter 3
What are “public voice” and “cognitive engagement,” and can they substitute for other civic/political responsibilities of citizenship? Zukin claims about 50% of Americans are “disengaged”; how does he know this? Note the gaps in engagement between the old and the young, AND any areas where youth actually show high levels of engagement.

Individualism & Social Capital
Is Hudson right that radical individualism is a dangerous part of American culture? Explain why or why not. What does the “American creed” have to do with this? If you could propose 3 solutions to promote more “community” (vs. individualism) in the U.S. based on Putnam’s work on social capital, what would the solutions be, and WHY? What other positive effects might this have on society (see Putnam article)?

Buyology
Be ready to discuss (in depth) three findings of interest from the video on the psychology of spending.

The Overspent American, Ch. 1
Schor highlights several negative societal problems tied to our culture of materialism and consumption; describe three of these problems. Given special attention to the way we define luxuries vs. necessities, and use the handout on this issue to supplement Schor’s analysis.

Consumption and Happiness
Using the readings, wrestle with the following questions. If some choice is good, why isn’t MORE choice always better? Explain the logic of Schwartz’s arguments on this point, with examples. Then connect and extend this idea to Frank’s discussion of wealth and happiness. What do think is his main insight?

Simplicity and Generosity
Review Schor’s 9 Principles for stopping the “upward creep of desire.” Apply three of these principles (those that “hit home”) to your own life, and illustrate how you might practically use them to change. Other issues: Do you think you could “downshift”? How do you grapple with Singer’s idea on poverty?

Rising Income (1950s to 2000s)

Someone asked today about how much income has grown in the last 50 years in the U.S. Here is a report from the U.S. Census Bureau that shows the upward trend (the figures account for inflation already, by using constant 1997 dollars). See just the first few pages of the report for an answer...

FYI: the income gains have not been equal by race, with incomes of some minority groups lagging. But the overall trend is income growth since the 1950s for most socioeconomic groups / classes...

Consumer Spending/Saving Rates in 2008

There's been a lot of talk about consumer spending recently, including how this latest economic downturn might influence it. Well, now we have a better idea of what the impact has been. From today's A.P. News article...

...personal consumption spending dropped by 1 percent in December. That was slightly worse than the 0.9 percent decline economists expected. The government also revised its November estimate lower to show spending fell 0.8 percent rather than 0.6 percent in that month.

At the same time, this seems like it's having a beneficial impact on the personal SAVINGS rate, which for the last few years had hovered not far above zero...that's right...zero!

Americans worried about the possibility of more job cuts boosted their savings rate to 3.6 percent of their after-tax incomes in December. That was the highest level since tax rebate checks temporarily pushed the rate up to 4.8 percent in May

What do you think? Have your spending habits changed, as you look at your own budget? Are you saving more, if at all?

Individualism vs. Collectivism

First-year Student Engagement is Up!

Take a look at the above graphic. It confirms the solid positive movement of the DotNets in 2004 and 2008 that we discussed in class. For more interesting news on college students' civic engagement (and other aspects of "who is the incoming college freshman today?") -- see the Higher Ed Research Institute survey for 2008.

What does the 2008-09 freshman class think about issues like politics, diversity, drinking habits, and other issues? Check out the article to find out. Feel free to comment on anything you find interesting or surprising.

Are Young Voters Tied to Obama?

Here is the article.

It's written by a poli sci professor from Drake. Here are some of his concluding thoughts:

If Obama is seen as effective in putting us back on the path to prosperity, if he can organize and govern as creatively and effectively as he campaigned, the loyalties developed during this campaign could build a political base of support for the Democrats to draw upon for decades.

You can sound off on what you think by commenting below...

Leadership Models

Worst fears about (RED) campaign realized

Just a sobering "watchdog" update on a topic we addressed earlier in the semester -- the economics of the "Red" campaign...

http://adage.com/article?article_id=115287

Key quote:

...you'd expect the money raised to be, well, big, right? Maybe $50 million, or even $100 million. Try again: The tally raised worldwide is $18 million. The disproportionate ratio between the marketing outlay and the money raised is drawing concern among nonprofit watchdogs, cause-marketing experts and even executives in the ad business

How to Evaluate Charities...

I expect this web site will be very informative for you, as it has been for me in making decisions about where to give charity $ where they will be spent wisely...

Charity Navigator
(registration req. to get the good stuff)

From wikipedia...

Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit group that evaluates American charities. Their stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities…"

…with the mission of helping "donors make informed giving decisions and enabling well-run charities to demonstrate their commitment to proper stewardship" of donor dollars…Charity Navigator currently evaluates over 5,000 charities in U.S.A., in addition to hundreds of organizations with international operations.

The site also features opinion pieces by Charity Navigator experts, donation tips, and top-10 and bottom-10 lists which rank efficient and inefficient organizations in a number of categories.

The Materialist Generation?

See this article for some interesting findings from the latest CIRP survey of college freshmen. Do you think this describes Simpson students, or are we different than most? A key excerpt:

...nearly three-quarters of those surveyed in 2006 thought it was essential or very important to be "very well-off financially." That compares with 62.5 percent who said the same in 1980 and 42 percent in 1966, the first year the survey was done.

As shown above, what is striking is not just the raw numbers (see the full story), but how our generation's priorities seem to differ from the values of our parents and grandparents. Or did our parents "sell out" their idealism somewhere along the way? (This is a common charge levied by social scientists against the baby boomers.)