Outside Assignment #3
PLSC 201
Due the day of the Final Exam
There
are more ways to participate in government than just voting. For this outside assignment, I want you to
find an issue that you care deeply about and contact a person or organization
that can help you with this issue. The issue
itself does not matter to me! Let's say that your mother is a blind Hungarian who you
feel is being discriminated against. I
guarantee you that there is an "Organization for the Advancement of Blind
Hungarian Women Living in
You
are to identify your
pet
issue and find an association or person (perhaps an elected official) that can
help you with it. Write a letter
expressing your concern, asking for help, requesting literature,...whatever. Bring me the typed, business style letter
with an unsealed, STAMPED,
envelope addressed to the organization or person whom you wish to contact. Be sure
to put your return address on the letters…if I don’t know who sent it, I can’t
give you credit!!! If you email your
organization, print out a copy of the email and turn it in to me (do not
forward or "cc" it to me).
Here
are some examples from past students.
One woman was concerned for
the safety of her children and wrote her state Senator suggesting legislation
to require seat belts on school busses.
One woman had a sister who
was in an abusive marriage and wrote an organization requesting help on how to
talk to her sister about the situation, and get her out of it.
One young man wrote to an
organization requesting help on how to start an AIDS awareness campaign.
One young woman wrote her
city councilman asking that he work toward putting a stop light at a
particularly dangerous intersection in her home town where several of her high
school friends were killed in an accident.
Several students have written
anti-drunk driving organizations for various reasons.
MANY students have written to
extol the virtues of, or criticize the values of, Chick-fil-a.
Many students have written to
praise (or criticize) Walmart.
One young man, apparently
caring the most about his belief that men are the objects of "discrimination"
in our society, wrote an organization called "Save the Males."
In
order to find an organization that deals with your issue, I suggest looking in
the Encyclopedia of Associations, which may be found in the reference
section of the library. In order to get
the address of any political figures, you should consult your friendly
reference librarian or search on the net.
The reference librarian can also help you find the addresses of any
elected officials you wish to contact.
You
may also search for and contact your organization via the internet and e-mail, but you must print out the full sent
email and give it to me. If the
organization has an "email/comment box," then print the web page that you sent
your email from AND copy and paste
your ENTIRE letter onto another page in MS Word (or another word processor
program) and turn both in (the "text box" for most websites where you submit a
letter will not display the entire letter at once). Staple the two together before submitting it
to me.
Here
are two links to lists of interest groups:
http://www.idealist.org/
But
these can be tough to navigate. If you
are not an experienced surfer, I suggest going to the Encyclopedia of
Associations. Use search engines at
your own risk.
You must do two
of these letters to receive full credit; the letters may address distinct or
related topics (For example, you may send two different letters about two
different topics to two different people/organizations or you may send two
different letters about the same topic to two different people/organizations).