“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” Ben Franklin PAF 101 Module 2, Lecture 1 “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” Ben Franklin

Class Agenda Announcements Community Service Selecting a topic –Ex. 2.6 Quick Intro. to Ch. 3 Exercise 3.1 Fighting Procrastination Assignment for Next Class

Lunch with Coplin Monday and Wednesday from 11 to 11:30 Email me to determine which day and meet me at 11 in 102 Maxwell We can talk about anything We pay for our own lunches

Competition Points Winners Losers Group # Total 17 6 1 5 3 12 4 7 9 13 11 8 10 14 15 16 18 19 2 Winners Losers As of 09/15/2017

Policies and Requirements PAF 101 Community Service Director Sarah Hamilton sahamilt@syr.edu

Community Service 5 hour requirement Prospective e-mail to TA due 10/11 Final Community Service Form due 12/4 More info on the PAF 101 Website: https://paf101.expressions.syr.edu/community-service/

Westcott Street Cultural Fair Volunteers needed! Westcott Street Cultural Fair Sunday, September 17 Westcott Street- Business District Area Sign up at: http://gcr.syr.edu/community%20relations/westcott-street-cultural-fair.html 

Volunteer Work Opportunity 8-10 students Saturday, 9/30, 12 pm at Damia’s house Prepare lunch bags Food provided by Damia You can also bring fruit and other sealed food Take the bus downtown Distribute bags to the homeless for 1- 1.5 hours Questions? Email Damia at dbmendoz@syr.edu

Introduction to Module Two Exercises for Chapters 2-4 Due 10/6 One of Seven Topic Areas from Module 1  Take notes-remember that exercise 1.4 is good for the topic for Module 2.  Not Too Specific

Introduction to Module Two Chapter 2: Use the library (guest lecture on Monday) Chapter 3: Find players to interview Chapter 4: Design a survey on a societal problem or policy in a specified geographic area

Getting specific is hard to do… Exercise 2.6 requires you to select a societal problem WITHIN YOUR TOPIC Exercise 3.1 requires you to choose a local geographic area: Syracuse, Onondaga County, or your home town or county

For Exercise 2.6: A Societal Problem is Not A Policy You Don’t Like Gun Control Gun Related Crimes

DON’T BE A LOSER NEVER define a problem as some policy you don’t like Always start with some condition in society that needs to be ameliorated as the problem. Starting with the problem rather than the solution is the essence of ???

Problem Selection Ex. 2.6 Choose a specific societal problem within the one of the following topics: Crime Education Environment Health Housing Jobs and Economic Development Poverty

Focus on Specific Problems for 2.6 A problem is an undesirable societal condition that is at an unacceptable level Either too low (such as graduation rates) or too high (such as unemployment rates) Be sure to indicate geographic location

Crime Too many arrests for homicides, drug sales, theft in the City of Syracuse DWI/DUI arrest rate is too high Too many incidents of police brutality

Environment Recycling levels are too low Air Pollution is too high Carbon footprint is too big

Education High school graduation rates are too low Too many students fail state- mandated tests Students are late too frequently

Health Too many adolescent pregnancies STD rates are too high The nursing shortage is too great Too many people don’t have access to health care $30 a month of children in NYS who make as much as $60,000 a year is a fact and raises questions about health care coverage

Housing Too many vacant lots Not enough low income housing Too many mortgage defaults in the City of Syracuse

Jobs/Economic Development Loss of jobs is too high Not enough workers with the necessary skills Too many business bankruptcies

Poverty Too many food pantries run out of food Too many people live under the poverty line Too much welfare fraud

Focusing on a Societal Problem Very difficult because “to generalize is to be an idiot.” -Wm. Blake, 18th century poet What’s wrong about this quote? Which leads to the two most important quotes of the course…

“Life is an aggregation problem.” Quote #1 “Life is an aggregation problem.”

Dealing with “Life is an Aggregation Problem” Canada Goose– a beautiful bird versus a flying crap machine Notes Who can give me an example? Compare Liberal Arts from the brochures and the words of the Dean to your actual experiences. Public Policy Analysts must talk to stakeholders, players, and experts.

When you can take a 3 page paper and: Reduce it to 1 page Reduce that to 3 paragraphs Reduce that to 1 paragraph Reduce that to 1 sentence, or in the case of POTUS, a tweet You will understand that life is an aggregation problem.

Be Both Kinds of a Person Correctly decide when to be: A Tree Person A Forest Person

Quote #2 Second Most Important Quote “Everything is B.S.” This is reality; learn to deal with it. Hint: Ask yourself why do cows defecate and what are the consequences?

Example: The Magna Carta QUOTATION OF THE DAY "The myth of Magna Carta lies at the whole origin of our perception of who we are as an English-speaking people, freedom-loving people who've lived with a degree of liberty and under a rule of law for 800 years. It's a load of tripe, of course. But it's a very useful myth." NICHOLAS VINCENT, a professor at the University of East Anglia and author of a book on the document.

Create Respect for BS BS is as essential to the human condition as air is to human life Respect for BS restores faith to its proper place

BS is the fertilizer of life Good It serves as play It drives business-a.k.a. known as advertising It drives do-gooders It is coin of the politicians realm One person’s truth is another person’s BS Substitutes for warfare except when it causes warfare Bad –too much: Pollutes the political atmosphere Interrupts TA programs. Destroys the news media Makes brown spots in lawns and stinks

Antidote to BS Excesses Avoid groupthink Protect yourself against cognitive dissonance Use analysis rather than emotion Be ???? ??? –pragmatic

How to Write an Effective E-mail Proofread and proofread again No fancy typefaces or background crap Keep subject short and to the point Do not open with “Hey” If you do not get a response within two days, email again; within a week, call As soon as you get a response, send a thank you or reply. When responding, keep the thread Email Advice

Procrastination -Everyone stands to end procrastination -lead group in declaration “My name is ________ and I am a procrastinator.”

What are the causes of procrastination ? Fear of failure Fear of success Priorities are a bitch Thinks it is more efficient and …

Peer Pressure is EVIL There is a solution to your problem

The Ultimate Vaccine If your friends told you to stick your head in a bucket of $#!+, would you?

Travis Mason Chief of Staff, Google[x] Engineering & works on their Public Policy and Government Affairs team University of Michigan MPA, Class of ‘07 through PPIA Syracuse University, Class of 2006, took many policy studies courses Harry S. Truman Scholar Former President of the Student Association Founder of Orange Seeds

For Next Class Read Chapter 2 for next class Bring a copy of Module 2 to follow along with the librarian lecture New seats