Hello Ink Foundry!

Tyler MacDonald

333 Aspiring Student Street

Productivity City, CA

To the members of the Board of Trustees,

I feel compelled to write this letter. No longer can I sit back and idly wait as the threat and fear that I feel consume me. The fear that I talk about, is the fear of violence at City College.  The fear of violence happening, at night. I believe that we face a serious problem. There have been more and more threats of violence recently and specifically threats of violence against women here at City College. There have been sexual assaults and muggings that the women of City College’s (Ocean campus) have been subjected to. This is a horrible reality, and one that we should not just sweep under the rug.  As members of the Board of Trustees, and with the most direct authority over our community college, I urge you to see the severity of this problem.

The reason that I bring up the problem is extremely relevant, even if it is not directly obvious. The reason being that not only has there been an increased danger to the women on the City College campus at night, but in the surrounding areas as well. There have been instances of rape, violence, and increased crime in the surrounding city college area. City College is after all, an open campus, with a multitude of access points. Not all of these access points are as safe as others. The women of City College face a serious danger. These are the same women who are the students and mothers, etc of City College. Their success at City College is directly affected by this.

There are certain distinct causes to the problem we face, one of the main ones being night itself.   Darkness equals lack of visibility. As a result, it is much easier, and much more likely for someone to fall victim to the crimes that can occur at night. Because one cannot see one’s surroundings, it feels less safe to move about at night, and actually there is less safety, as people who would wish to cause others harm understand as well that they cannot be seen. In addition to this, there is also a lack of people walking around, and hanging out at night. There are simply a lot less people present on campus. It is much less safe for the students of City College’s night classes; for the mothers, workers, and young women who can really only afford to take these classes at night because they have to earn their living during the day. These are women who are only able to advance their education at night. There is, however, hope for the problem to be fixed: there is a solution. This is exactly why I write this letter, as a proposal to do something about this and to offer a solution. Although the women of City College of San Francisco currently face the threat of violence and sexual assault on a daily basis, what I propose is not difficult, and is in fact easy to implement, and will make a drastic improvement to this situation.

The first call to action that I propose is easy. It is to simply have the police who are stationed at City College and in the surrounding area, to simply become more visible at night. This alone would dramatically improve the situation. By having the police more visible on the different walkways and paths around campus, the likelihood of crime would drop, especially the types of violent crimes that the women of City College fear.

In addition to this, we could increase the number of police stationed on campus; although, this may not even be necessary, assuming that the ones who were stationed on campus and around campus were visible enough. By perhaps both simultaneously increasing the stationed police force, as well as making them more visible, the violent crimes of City College would be a thing of the past.

In addition to the added emphasis of the police force, and their increased visibility, there is another very simple solution. We could have a system put in place that would ensure the safety of our students at night time. By creating a buddy walking system, we could empower students to feel safer at night time. The way that this could work for instance would be by having a group of students form at certain distinct points around campus, at different times of the evening and night. By setting up groups of students in pairs or in larger groups, perhaps accompanied by a student group leader, or a police officer, a general feeling of safety would increase. As students were able to form groups at certain access points around campus, they would be able to get from any part of campus, to any other part of campus (or the surrounding area), without fear of falling victim to violent crimes. The women of City College would greatly appreciate this, and would be of direct benefit of this service.  The ‘Buddy Walking System’ would also be a tool of ‘leverage’ to get people to perceive City College to be a cool place to study at night. A little bit could go a long way.

What all of these various, although very similar solutions promise to do, is to create a safer campus for City College of San Francisco. Not only would there be a safer campus, but there would be an increase and improvement in the feeling of safety that would be promoted. City College would be perceived as more and more of a cool, decent place to study and take classes at night. Subsequently, more women of all ages would feel safe, and would enroll in more night classes. Continued education and academic advancement would not only be possible, but would (most definitely) occur.

These are the steps that I have come up with, after much thought on the topic, to be able to solve this very real and serious problem. These are some of the most viable, practical solutions that I have been able to come up with.  Any of these solutions will do, and considering that they are all interrelated, it would make sense to try to implement them all, or in various degrees. That is for you to come up with, as The Board of Trustee’s.  Even if for some reason it was not possible to enforce these policies, you could make it publicly known that you took the stance of strongly encouraging them. This is your call to action.  It is important that I stress the point, that if you do not do what you can to implement these action strategies, any problems that continue to occur will be (indirectly) your fault; “ Caveat Venditor” ( Latin reference).  The next time a mugging occurs late at night on the Ocean Campus, or a sexual assault takes place, it will be on your conscience.  As members of the Board of Trustee’s, you have the power to change this. You have the power to act.  Due to the fact that you are also elected officials, taking a stance on this issue would also only help to ensure the probability of reelection. But even more importantly, do what you were put on the Board in the first place to do, as outlined in the City College mission statement: to create “a responsive environment in which student needs are met in a friendly, caring, and timely manner, and a working environment for all faculty, staff and administrators in which everyone is valued and the climate is supportive, positive, and productive.” Take a stance, and help to keep our wonderful campus, a safe, dependable, learning environment, in which all students can flourish and thrive both academically, and in life.

As part of our study of politics in political science, it is important to study and to understand the different social groups that have an impact on the political processes that run our country. One type of these social groups is special interest groups. Special interest groups can be defined as “an individual or group who are concerned with some particular part of the economy and who try to influence legislators or bureaucrats to act in their favor.” One such interest group that is of significant importance to me is the organization Greenpeace.

Greenpeace is an environmental organization, with influence and chapters that span internationally across the world. As their website states in regard to their mission “Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.” Greenpeace is a wonderful organization that does great social and environmental work in as many countries as their influence can reach.  Greenpeace uses non-violent confrontation to raise the level and quality of public debate. They do their work by raising public awareness of environmental issues and what is taking place in the environment, that the public may otherwise be unaware of.

Greenpeace was started more than thirty years ago, in 1971, by a group of caring, thoughtful citizens who wanted to make a substantial difference in the environmental policies that were being put in place by legislators and politicians.  A few very committed individual activists was able to lease a small ship, which they called the Phyllis Cormack, and used it to sail to the coast of Alaska. Once there, they were on a mission to protest nuclear testing that was taking place off the Alaskan Coast.  This brought tremendous attention to their cause, and brought attention from both the public and the media that led to their continued development as an organization.

Greenpeace has many different endeavors that they work on in their pursuit of helping the environment. They work to ban commercial whaling, to convince the world’s leaders to stop nuclear testing, and to protect Antarctica. They also work to help save rainforests, especially the old growth forests of the world (this is, by the way, where we get the majority of our breathable oxygen from). Greenpeace also works to help save endangered animals, and to protect the oceans. All of this stuff is what really helps to ultimately make the world a much better place for everyone, animals included.

In order to understand the complex web of dynamics that forms the foundation for politics, it’s important to understand the role of the House and the Senate. To encourage our development and understanding, we were told to research a congressperson that represents our specific geographic district. The congressperson that represents my district of San Francisco, California, is Nancy Pelosi.

Nancy Pelosi represents the Eighth District in the House of Representatives, which consists of four-fifths of the City and County of San Francisco, and has so since 1987. Although she has certainly climbed up the political ladder, partially due to her own abilities and talents, she does come from a relatively elite background. Having graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, a Catholic all-girls high school, and then from Trinity University (in Washington), she was given a good start at life. Her father, Thomas D’Alessandro, Jr, was a U.S congressman, as well as the mayor of Baltimore. She married the man she met while attending Trinity University, named Paul Frank Pelosi. Later on, after they had been married, they moved from New York to San Francisco, where her husband’s brother, Ronald Pelosi was a member of the City and County of San Francisco’s Board of supervisors. So in a nutshell, Nancy Pelosi has had her foot in the political door, essentially since birth (her family also has a net worth of around $19 million.) There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it’s an important detail to put emphasizes on, since being an elite is a key part of the backbone of her political structure and development.

Nancy Pelosi is a democrat. She is the first woman in US history to lead a major party in the U.S congress (the Democratic Party). She is the first female speaker of the United States House of Representatives, which is a pretty big accomplishment. Since she is Speaker of the House, Pelosi is the second in the line of presidential succession, following Vice President Joe Biden, which makes her the highest ranking female politician in American history.

With the political power and prestige that she has gained (and been given), there are certain things that she has and has not done for the people she represents. One of the first legislative victories she has had was the creation of the Housing Opportunities for People With Aids program. She has also worked to help with other HIV/AIDS programs that have been vital to people either living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS. Another action step she has taken from her position, was in helping to lead the defeat of Social Security privatization. Social Security privitazion was a legislative policy that President George W. Bush had pushed for, but with Pelosi’s leadership in Congress, Bush’s plan was foiled. As Speaker of the House, she has also lead and successfully pushed for the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 as part of the 100-Hour Plan. The Act successfully raised the Minimum wage in the United States of America.

Although it seems as if Pelosi is on the side of “the people”, and especially those that her policies hit most closely to home for (the people of San Francisco), I really don’t think that it’s that clear cut. As she gained more and more political clout, her policies and agendas have not appeared to benefit the “community” the way they always have. It seems as if Pelosi does not particularly stand to represent all of the interests of the people in her regional home district, by virtue of certain political decisions that she had made that have gone in direct opposition to what people in her state and region want (basically, she isn’t doing all of what the people want). For instance, in the wake of George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004, several House democrats believed that Democrats should pursue impeachment proceedings against The president. She was firmly against the procedures. (Which actually lead to her seat being challenged by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan).

On top of that, while it’s true that she has indeed voted against former president Bush to go to war In 2002, she has voted for almost every single war appropriation bill, which goes in direct opposition of what her San Francisco constituents voted for. As well as this, she has made a stance on renewable energy that does not exactly go hand in hand with the feelings of most San Franciscans; she voted against increasing funding for renewable energy on June 25, 2004. She also voted against allocating$52 million from fossil fuel to renewables on June 21, 2001. Something just as upsetting to members of our wonderful city, is that Pelosi voted on April 10, 2003 to effectively ban the popular dance parties called “raves”. Pelosi has also voted again and again to increasing military spending. In specific, in 2002, she voted for a bill that allocated billions of dollars for the development of new low yield ‘usable’ nuclear weapons. In 2003, she voted in FAVOR of a bill that exempted the military from the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Although the details of a candidates personal life shouldn’t always be the top concern when contemplating whether or not that person is suitable for office, the fact that Pelosi is a multi-millionaire real estate tycoon is obviously going to have some effect on her political and legislative decision-making. Her status as fabulously wealthy may explain why she has voted at times with Bush on tax cuts and wars that benefit only this nations’ extremely wealthy and powerful, and not all of her loyal San Francisco constituents. It’s something to think about.