Ranger Special Edition: Civics Week March 2019

101 Reasons What’s yours?

1 Week | 1 Vote March 25-28

101 reasons to make a difference

By CLAIRE EKAS Editor-in-Chief

A group of Amarillo College students and staff are striving to boost social awareness and civic engagement with a week dedicated to showing people they can make a difference.

The 101 Reasons Week will be held March 25 through 29 on the Washington Street Campus.

“I want students to walk away feeling empowered and that they have an idea of what our local issues are,” said Aaron Faver, 101 Reasons coordinator and social services instructor.

A committee of AC faculty, staff and students, led by Faver, put together the week of activities.

Funding came from a Title V grant and planning began at the end of 2018. “This is something I have been wanting to do for years. I want to be able to do this every spring,” Faver said.

Throughout the week, activities tied to art will

be used to engage students in politics and social issues. Interactive booths will entertain and educate from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Oeschger Student Mall.

The week will end with a special presentation and workshop for students from noon to 2 p.m. Friday.

“This week has a lot of importance because it's gently forcing people to consider their actions, or inactions, in regards to the future of our city and—eventually— our country,” said Zoe Osteen, a psychology major and a 101 Reasons Week student adviser.

Thursday’s focus will be a campus voter registration drive. In preparation for 101 Reasons Week, some of the AC Presidential Scholars studied and tested to become certified to register their classmates to vote.

“It’s a good way to help out in the community. It is an important aspect of our society, and vital to any level of government because it’s one of the best ways for the general public to be heard,” said Lauren Ebben, a general studies major and Presidential Scholar.

Osteen said she hopes to see her fellow students walk out of the week with a more positive outlook on voting.

Organizers said they want to ensure that AC students know they have the power to improve their community. “We want students to understand it doesn’t take money to have a voice in your community,” said Becky Burton, dean of academic outreach and support services.

Faver seconded that statement, saying, “You just have to reach out and get involved.”

A letter from the editor:

This special edition of The Ranger coincides with the first 101 Reasons Week and focuses on the importance of voting and the social issues in Amarillo.

I, myself, am a graphic design major with a love of art and an admiration for journalism. I believe that design can help communicate messages in a clear and creative way that words can’t always convey on their own. I feel that design and journalism together, can cause people to act where action is needed.

Whether we notice it or not, design can evoke an emotional response in people or cause someone to make a choice based on a more appealing design. Design causes us to make small choices throughout our everyday lives and make big choices that can influence the future, not just for ourselves, but for the world.

So, use this special edition as a steppingstone to learning how you can improve your community and the world around you, because visual communication can quite literally, change the world.

-Claire Ekas

Page 1

Student Speak Do you think it is important to vote, why or why not?

“Honestly, yes it is important to vote because your decision means a lot to the world. Your vote counts; basically you’re deciding who you want to run as president. So, you want somebody that’s good to run as president.”

—Khalila Stevenson Biology

“I think it is. If you don’t participate in the elections and stuff like that, who is going to participate?”

—Hrang Thang

“I think it’s important if you want to see a change in your community, especially with local elections since they affect you more. Lots of times, people think their vote doesn’t matter, but in the bigger picture it does. I think it really builds up after time.”

—Hector Casonova

Business

“Yes, it is important to vote because you’re just not doing your part if you don’t.”

—Zoe Escalante

Theatre

Engineering

Do you vote in local and national elections, why or why not?

“Yes, because I think every vote counts.

I think everybody should vote and it is a big part of being a U.S. citizen to me.”

—Kade Harred Radiation Therapy

“Yes, it’s important that you know who’s running where you live, and what decisions they are making for your community.”

—Berkli Dawson Biology

“Yes, I feel like the world I live in is important to me, and I seriously need to have a voice in what goes on and what I’m going to be doing in my future.”

—Allie Collins Nursing

“Yes, it is important because if we don’t vote, we don’t have a voice. It was the whole reason our country was founded and it’s our civic duty.”

—Evan Wilcox Business Administration

Page 2

Your vote

matters

Fewer Amarillo College students exercise their right to vote than other U.S. college and university students.

By SALVADOR GUTIÉRREZ Staff Reporter

According to a report prepared by The National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), about 30 percent of AC students enrolled at the time of the 2016 election, actually went to the polls. In contrast, nearly 50 percent of the U.S. college and university students that the NSLVE studied voted in 2016, which is the most recent data currently available.

Numerous factors impact low-voter turnout among AC students, Former Amarillo mayor, Debra McCartt said the problem concerns her. “So many people are not voting or they don’t feel represented or they don’t think the vote will count,” she said.

On the other hand, current candidate for Amarillo’s City Council Place 1, Hayden Pedigo, said he believes that is very easy for younger generations to get informed about local issues. “I agree the current system is serving older, wealthier residents and not younger people who want to stay in Amarillo,” the 24-year-old candidate said.

“I think having more younger candidates running would be a good start for this city to progress and start hearing their concerns,” Pedigo said.

McCartt said that getting younger people to go to the polls has always been a problem. “I think it has to do with how we are raised. If families don’t break that cycle of not voting, we are going to be in a lot of trouble especially on a local level. Those who are elected are the ones who are going to be making decisions for your life.”

Political polarization is another factor that plays a role in students’ low voter-turnout,

Page 3

according to Aaron Faver, social sciences instructor and 101 Reasons coordinator. In the past few years, polarization in politics has led students to get emotional and develop “a sense of helplessness,” he said.

Josephine Rodriguez, a criminal justice major, said she agrees that polarization keeps students from getting involved in politics and local elections.

“The media only focuses on two political parties, plus we only get a one-sided, altered version of the reality,” Rodriguez said.

Regardless of this issue, Faver said he wants to encourage students to participate in local elections. “I want to help them understand they do matter and realize that if they want to change things, they can,” he said.

Pedigo also said he wants more students to go to the polls in upcoming elections. “I cannot stress enough how important it is for millennials, especially in Amarillo, to vote in local elections,” he said. “If we want Amarillo to be a progressive, forward-thinking town, we have to make our voices heard.”

Pedigo noted that students often are more focused on national rather than local politics and fail to realize the impact of decisions made in and about their own communities. “Local politics may have more of an effect on their day to day life,” Pedigo said.

Events such as 101 Reasons Week that encourage people to vote can be part of the solution, according to McCartt. “Sometimes it’s just asking. It just takes someone to single you out and ask.” Altogether, Faver said he wants students to realize, “If you don’t like something, you can change it by voting.”

Social awareness starts here

By STEVI BRESHEARS Staff Reporter

The city of Amarillo faces numerous social issues — everything from pet overpopulation to a lack of educational attainment and domestic violence. There are conflicting opinions about which problems are most prevalent; however, many local residents express concerns about downtown homelessness and crime.

According to former Amarillo mayor, Paul Harpole, the revitalization of downtown is also driving out crime. “We know when we develop downtown that a lot of the crime problems move away because they don’t want to be in the center of attention,” Harpole said.

In addition to new shops, housing and the baseball field, downtown Amarillo also attracts homeless people.

According to Harpole, Amarillo has plenty of

beds to accommodate the homeless, but providing somewhere to stay doesn’t resolve all the issues. “It intersects with the concerns we have about mental health issues and drug rehabilitation, alcohol rehabilitation,” he said.

Another widespread issue in the city is lack of educational attainment. According to the United Way Community Status Report, 33.2 percent of graduates in Amarillo were not college or career ready at the end of the 2015-2016 school year.

“In the Texas Panhandle, I would say that economic diversification is something we need to look at, and increasing educational attainment levels,” said Kyle Ingham, executive director of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission.

“It’s kind of a chicken and egg sort of situation as far as education and economic development,” said Paige Witthar, community and economic development program specialist at the PRPC. “It’s trying to figure out that balance of having the jobs here, but you need to have an educated workforce to encourage those jobs to come here.”

Sometimes, however, external factors get in the way of obtaining an education. At AC, some of the main issues that affect students are housing issues, food insecurity and transportation problems. The Advocacy and Resource Center, also known as the ARC, offers several resources for students who need a little bit of help to overcome these problems.

“I really hope students know that we’re available, even if it’s just for them to come in and ask questions,” Leslie Hinojosa, a social services coordinator, said.

Help others, help yourself A recovering addict reaches out to others in crisis.

By LAUREN EBBEN Staff Reporter

When Rachel M., a legal studies major, first heard Kari Roberts share her story at the Downtown Women’s Center, she was amazed at how many similarities she and Roberts had. “My soul felt drawn to her,” Rachel said. “I remember walking up to her afterwards and saying, ‘Do you think you could help me?’”

Roberts, an education major, knows exactly what women like Rachel are going through. She has been in recovery for the past six years.

When she was 29, Roberts was in a severe car accident that left her with a shattered pelvis. Her doctor prescribed her medication to help with the pain, one being “the famous horseman,” hydrocodone.

Having overcome drug addiction 13 year before, she immediately relapsed. She described coming to the realization at work, when she started showing signs of withdrawal one to two days after not taking the pills. She started to feel nauseous and sweaty, so she did something about it.

“I took two of them,” she said about the pills, “and I started to get the kind of euphoric feeling, but more so the ‘fast talking, the typing really fast, everything was normal again’ feeling.” She believed it wasn’t a big deal, however, thinking she would eventually come off the medication.

Soon after, she began to drink as well to help fight the pain. From there, her addiction escalated to the point that she ended up handing over her two sons to their father, who said as soon as she got sober again she could have them back.

Sobriety didn’t happen for three and a half years, however, and Roberts became homeless during that time.

“You never know when you’re going to cross that imaginary line where you can’t turn around and go back,” she said. “And I crossed that line. It was ‘I had to have it.’”

She ended up getting sober in Lubbock, saying that there are services there that provide meals three times a day. There is even a clothing closet open every single day for people in her situation, as well as shelter readily available.

“No one has to sleep homeless,” she said.

Roberts’ positive experience in Lubbock inspired her to help others, and, once she moved back to Amarillo after “six months clean and sober,” she began working with the Downtown Women’s Center, helping women to overcome their addictions and homelessness.

“The best way to ensure you’re going to stay sober is to help someone else,” she said.

When asked whether she fears a potential relapse, Roberts replied that she has “a good support system” and she stays involved with that system so it isn’t something she thinks about every day, but “a healthy fear is a good thing.”

Although Roberts said she sometimes wonders what her life would have been like if she weren’t an addict, she doesn’t regret her decisions.

“I get to help people all the time,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know what that feels like. It’s an incredible feeling to watch someone’s face light up, and see a sparkle come back in their eyes. A lot of people don’t know what that’s like. I do it every day.”

Rachel said Roberts showed her how to continue to succeed in sobriety.

“I think God put me in Texas for a reason,” Rachel said. “And one of those reasons was to meet Kari.”

Roberts said if anyone at AC is struggling, they can to reach out to her at kjroberts24@gmail.com and she can get them the help they need.

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Podcast promotes positive problem solving

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The week’s events Monday through Thursday events will be held in the Oeschger Student Mall from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

The Amarillo College social and behavioral sciences department has created a podcast series that will coincide with 101 Reasons Week.

The series, hosted by Aaron Faver, 101 Reasons coordinator and social sciences instructor, and Beth Rodriguez, psychology professor, will launch March 25.

Titled, “Life in Bomb City,” the series will feature interviews with local social services agency representatives and community leaders. “The podcast is designed to encourage positive civic discourse that brings people together and inspires them to want to solve problems together,” Faver said.

“I hope the podcast will encourage democracy as a dialogue – a relationship with give and take,” he said.

The podcast will be available through the FM90 website, iTunes and all major podcast subscription platforms.

It will be produced at the FM90 and Panhandle PBS facilities on AC’s Washington Street Campus.

Credits:

Editor in Chief and Art Designer: Claire Ekas

MONDAY

Writers and Page Designers: Stevi Breshears, Lauren Ebben and Salvador Gutiérrez

TUESDAY

Photographer: Carter Hall

Adopt an Issue — Student organizations will offer interactive booths on a range of social issues.

Engage an Issue — Local community organizations will share what they do to help the people in our area.

WEDNESDAY

Canvas the Issue — Students will work together to create artwork that captures the importance of social awareness and civic engagement.

THURSDAY

Voter Registration Drive — Students have the opportunity to register to vote.

FRIDAY

Guest Speaker David Kelly — A special presentation and workshop for students from noon to 2 p.m. Friday in the Oak Room on the second floor of the CUB. Page 7

Special thanks to:

Communications and Marketing Department Maddisun Fowler Derek Weathersbee 101 Reasons Student and Staff Committee: Aaron Faver Zoe Osteen Becky Burton Jill Gibson Amber Hamilton Jenna Welch Wesley Condray-Wright Catherine McGovern Pamela Madden Sami Landers