Arsh's State & Local Government Blog

Mission, Values, & Engagement Reflections  3) Have any ethical issues arisen for you during your time here as a member of the NDNU campus community? Did any of these arise out of your Community Engagement activities? Have you been challenged to assess your own ethical stances in any way? In what ways, if any, have these ethical considerations involved issues of justice or peace? In what ways, if any, have they caused you to change the way you think about your own future career choices?             Personally, I feel very fortunate that I have not had any ethical issues during my time her at NDNU or with my community partner. Both of the communities that I have encountered at school and at my CP have been very kind and considering. Moreover, both of these communities have always been about helping others and helping other communities, which makes me feel fortunate enough to be a part of these communities. Even th...

My CP & Budgeting In regards to budgeting, my CP spends the majority of it’s budget on providing care for foster children. For example, CASA of San Mateo County created the Academic Success Program. This program was actually a big part of their budget because in this program, CASA is able to help dependent children achieve better education and do better in school. For example, this program provides foster children with one-on-one tutoring and help with their work. Hence, each volunteer that is assigned with a child helps that child do better in school and ensure that he or she’s educational needs will not be overlooked. This clearly shows that my CP values the idea that every child should be able to receive a proper education and a has the right to do well in school. Moreover, it shows the value that every child deserves to receive help and guidance to ensure for a better future. Hence, the work of CASA even connect to the seventh NDNU hallmark that “We develop holistic learnin...

My CP & Local Government  My community partner, CASA of San Mateo, operates county-wide. However, the entire CASA organization operates on a national basis with different branches in different counties. Since, my CP operates county-wide, there are over 20 cities within San Mateo county and they all operate with different types of mayors. However, my CP does interact with many of the government officials to gain support and help for the organization. For instance, CASA operates and works with the Superior Court of San Mateo County. They have judges that help and work with them while handling different cases for the foster children. In other words, CASA and the judges of San Mateo County make sure that the children in foster care are placed in a safe and secure home environment. 

California State Legsilature Preserving State Values Ever since the 2016 presidential elections, California has continuously preserved state values while fighting against the Trump administration. For example, California is known to have some of the strongest environmental laws in the nation. Even now, California is fighting federal efforts to roll back environmental regulations. While fighting these regulations, California has argued that federal irrigations projects must comply with state laws due to the 1902 Reclamation Act. Also, the Trump administration is taking actions that aim against wetlands protections by making changes to the Clean Water Act; however, California’s State Water Board argues that this is unacceptable and are creating stricter regulations to surpass the federal actions. Moreover, California clearly has reason to fight against the federal when it comes to environmental values, for California's Sacromento-San Joaquin Delta is one of the biggest forms of ...

Challenging State Constitution Court Case: Mapp v. Ohio  The court case of Mapp v. Ohio that occurred in June 1961 was clearly a case that challenged a state constitution. In this court case, the police had received a tip that a bombing suspect might be located at Dollree Mapp’s home in suburban Cleveland. And like any other rightful citizen, Mapp refused to let the police in without a warrant. So, the police used a piece of paper as a fake warrant and illegally gained access to her home. Even though the police were unable to find a bomb in her house, they did discover sexually explicit materials and arrested Mapp under state law that prohibited the possession of obscene materials. Later, Mapp was convicted of possessing obscene materials and would face up to seven years in prison. However, she later appealed the case, and her lawyer argued that evidence collected from an unlawful search should be excluded from her trial. In the end, Justice Tom Clark’s majority opinion incorp...

Blog #4 The concept of subsidiarity has to do with the levels of authority and which level of authority should make a decision that they best understand. In other words, subsidiarity has to do with levels of authority which level of authority is the appropriate level for a particular decision. For an example, a school has different levels within their administration, which can range from a dean/principle to the teachers/staff. Now, when it comes to making a decision for the school, the principle seems to be the right choice for deciding a point of action. Whereas, if one needs to make a decision about a group of students in a class; clearly, the teacher would be the more better choice. Hence, subsidiarity has to do with which level of authority would be the better choice to make a certain decision.                 On the other hand, subsidiarity can relate to the concept of devolution. For, devolution is the idea of letting powe...

Blog Topic #2 The relationship between my Community Partner and the citizens seems to be very strong, for CASA of San Mateo is a great non-profit organization that helps find advocates for foster care children. They have strong ties within the community, especially schools, because they look for ways that foster care children may benefit and succeed within their lives. For instance, CASA of San Mateo explains on their website that foster care children suffer the most within society and education because they often suffer from emotional trauma. Hence, they attempt to do everything they can by providing a better future for the children within the foster care system.  Citizen participation is a huge part of my community partner, for they always need the support of the community in order to help these children achieve a better future. For an example, they need the support of the community and volunteers from the community in order to be able to provide healthy relationships to...

Blog Topic #1 It is always known and witnessed that there is some political tension between state and local governments. There is always this sense of imbalance between the two. Yet one of the biggest reasons that there is always this barrier between state and local government has to do with new changes, trends, and new directions. People continuously change their minds and their desires. Especially when newer generations emerge into the political atmosphere, there are always new demands for change. Most of the time, this creates tension between the two levels of government because of gaps capacity, unfunded mandates, corruption, etc. For example, one of the biggest examples is corruption. There is always some sort of corruption within politics, and this corruption can often cause tension among the citizens.             However, this political tension of corruption may also be beneficial at certain times. In other word...