One of my favorite things about being here at Brown for the summer is my constant productivity. I woke up early today to work on my group project. I went to the Science Library with my friend, Gurrein (from India), and worked on my PowerPoint presentation until Andrew showed up. We did research on huge Mac computers for three hours until we completed a hefty third of our slideshow. We are going to work on it more tomorrow. Through our research, we have uncovered a lot about the California budget deficit and how it is affecting the diverse population. Andrew and I chose to change our solution plan from raising taxes to cutting spending. I had a similar topic for my service learning project in the spring which was about cutting elementary school music programs. Some of my statistics branched over to this topic and they are very helpful in the process of creating a presentation for my class.
Andrew has been a great partner to work with throughout the macroeconomics course. We are learning a lot and helping each other with anything and everything relating to economics. I talked to a summer medical student here and he was jealous that I was taking macroeconomics. We chatted about how the concepts and logic of economics can relate to anything. Macroeconomics are the structural necessities that we base our production and advancement on. I am very content with my course and all the material. I have been scanning through my book to take a sneak peek of future graphs and charts. We have one more week to uncover everything.
After cleaning my room and doing some laundry, I ran into my friend, Olga, who looked a bit stressed out. I asked what was wrong. She was trying to find a printer to print out her tickets to take the train to New York City in the morning. Unfortunately, all of the libraries were closed for the 4th of July and no one in the program brought their own printer. My first thought was to print them at Hotel Providence (which is a mile away from campus). I did more research on Yelp and then decided to call a convenience store in desperation. My friend, Eric, walked me to the store to pick up the tickets (always use the buddy system). In Providence, there is always someone to turn to who is willing to help you out. In Olga's case, I was totally fine with hunting down a printer. In my case, the store manager realized how important the tickets were and provided us with the equipment needed to print them at no cost.
I have less than one week left on the east coast. I web-cammed my parents today and it was the first time I've seen their faces in weeks. I gave them a tour of my hall and introduced them to all my floor mates. They told me that they would be fine with me going to the other side of the country for college.
I think they may just be saying that, but I love their encouragement. I would not mind living on another part of the country for a portion of my life. I have been in California for too long. Adventure is out there, even in Providence.
I like this post except for your sentence about changing the solution from raising taxes to cutting spending. :(
ReplyDeleteI realize that some cuts will probably have to be made in real life (they have been made, they are being made, there's a 99.9% chance they will be made) but how much can we cut *without* also raising taxes/other state income before services collapse? You're a public school student and a band student to boot. You know firsthand what those cuts mean to people "on the ground." Why would you choose that solution? I really want to know, it's not a rhetorical question...
Erin, Erin, Erin.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I going to do with you? I have been so impressed with you up until now but after this blog I'm afraid that I'm falling out of love with you.
Listen to Irene, Erin. Listen very carefully because she's a wise and experienced person.
There's nothing wrong with spending cuts but they have to be strategic cuts--cuts where the services cut would have a minimal effect.
Cutting arts, music, libraries and sports has a much more serious effect than most people understand. As Irene wrote, you of all people should appreciate what music programs have done for you--and all of the little kiddies that have come before and after you. Surely you don't think that the bake sales and car washes actually pay for the uniforms, buses and instruments used in your music programs?
If cuts need to be made, you need to make sure that the financial savings will make a real difference. In the grand scheme of things music programs are a relatively small part of the budget. Cutting them at any one school would only be something akin to window dressing while the impact could be significant on the students involved.
You write early in your blog that you want to slash and burn elementary school music programs here in California and you wrote later that you want to leave California. Might there be some sort of nexus?
Perhaps when you come to your senses perhaps we can revisit my affection for you. :-)