In class this week, we discussed the legislative branch of the Texas state government. We examined the formal qualifications to hold a post as either a Representative or Senator, and we also looked at the informal criteria, based on the demographics of the legislature.

There are several stereotypes, from education attainment to race/ethnicity, occupation and gender. For example, there are 31 women in the Texas House of Representatives and 6 in the Texas Senate, at present. Out of 181 seats available between the two chambers, that means roughly 1/5 of our state legislature is female. We’ve made a lot of strides since Edith Wilmans paved the way as the first woman elected to the state legislature in 1922, but ~20% is hardly representative of our population.

We discussed some of the reasons why this number remains so low, and here are some of our findings:

• The legislature meets for 140 days every two years, so it is difficult for the average working adult, much less a mom (working outside the home or not) with traditional gender-role responsibilities, to up & go to Austin for four-and-a-half months (plus special sessions, if need be).
• Texas state legislators earn $600/month, plus a per diem to help cover travel expenses while in Austin. The “pro” to offering such a low salary (more like a stipend, if you ask me) is that it fosters a sense of volunteerism; people don’t run for office because of the financial package. The obvious “con” is that no one can actually live on that salary, so most people who work for a living are unable to participate. (By the way, that salary was set in 1975 and hasn’t changed since.)

I think it was an eye-opening discussion for the students, but it’s also disconcerting. We hear a lot about needing better representation, but the system itself precludes many people (like me) who otherwise would be interested and are (if I may say so in all modesty) reasonably qualified for the job from serving in that capacity. Consequently, we end up with a legislature disproportionately comprised of white males (’tis true) who are lawyers and CEOs (because they can take time off of work), retirees and the independently wealthy (because they don’t have to work).

Furthermore, the [wo]man on the street is skeptical of the government because s/he doesn’t see her/himself represented in the group. We tell our kids that they can dream big and do or become anything they can imagine, and yet even in the 21st century amid unprecedented accomplishments everywhere we turn, we still have a leadership indicative of generations past.

*sigh. Don’t even get me started on higher education (where women lead 1/4 of universities and 1/3 of two-year schools) and church leadership …

I had a surprisingly in-depth economics conversation in the car tonight with the boys. They wanted to know why so much stuff is made in China instead of here. We talked about a variety of topics ranging from national debt to labor laws and manufacturing costs. The older ones knew a little about the federal debt/deficit, but the little guys were perplexed that we would actually borrow money from other countries. They were even more shocked to learn that of all foreign holders of U.S. debt, China holds the most of it ($1161.5 billion, as of October 2012). If I have my decimals right, I believe that’s $1,161,500,000,000.

I tried to bring it down to their level by suggesting that you can pay $5 for a stuffed animal made in China or $10 for one made in the USA. That’s where the part about labor laws and manufacturing costs came into play. I told them that without labor laws, I could make them quit school and go to work everyday but not even let them keep the money. In Communist countries where they have few or no such laws, then you don’t have to pay workers very much, so it’s less expensive to manufacture things.

I explained how it’s cheaper for companies to ship all of the materials overseas, pay people there to make the products and then send it all back to the USA than it is to manufacture it here, from scratch. “We” in the USA want stuff cheap, so we buy it. If “we” were willing to pay more and demanded that it be made domestically, then perhaps more stuff would be made here, and more jobs would stay here.

In typical fashion, as soon as they’d heard enough of an answer to satisfy their curiosity, they immediately switched gears and went on to a new topic. Apparently, they are planning to go into business together to build a resort/hotel/museum. It is going to have a shark theme, with a salt water aquarium (with “baby” sharks, so as to not scare the guests) and a swimming pool in shape of a fin or shark tooth. They are also going to sell shark teeth in the gift shop and have a museum for people to learn about sharks. They aren’t quite ready to take reservations yet, but this will be one must-see place to visit one of these days! 🙂

A quite unflattering impersonation of Prof. McGonagall, but it got me toward the front of the line for the HP7 midnight book release!

There is something that I have wanted to do ever since I returned from China in the mid-90s … and no, I don’t mean sing karaoke or eat stir-fried scorpions. (I would be open to karaoke, but scorpions are a never-again, forever and ever, amen.)

What I’ve really wanted to do is teach a bona fide college class! I have tutored, taught a non-credit ESL (English as a Second Language) class and guest lectured, but it’s not the same as being the “teacher of record.” Besides, when I finish my doctorate, it will carry more weight if I also have teaching experience.

(Every time I hear the word “professor,” I think of Minerva McGonagall, one of my absolute favorite literary characters and a mother-figure heroine in the Harry Potter tales.)

I submitted my resume to the local community college after I finished my master’s degree in 2008, but I think the Lord had my back by not letting me get my foot in the door at that time. After all, my life went topsy-turvy in 2009 (the backstory is in the Grief category, if you are unfamiliar and care to peruse it), and then I got the hair-brained idea to start my doctorate in 2010.

After all this time, I decided to update my resume on file and basically reapply earlier this year. Lo & behold, they had an opening for an adjunct (part-time) Government instructor! One thing led to another, and I’ve known for a few weeks that I would be teaching in the spring, but I didn’t want to say anything until it was officially-official.

Instructor’s edition!

Well, today I picked up my faculty ID card, so I’ll say that’s official! 🙂 I’m going to be a real prof!

I will actually be teaching a dual-credit course in Texas Government at a local high school two early mornings a week. I am looking forward to it! It feels a bit like a pay-it-forward opportunity, since I began my college experience as a dual-credit Economics student the summer before my senior year. This will be a real college course; it just so happens to be on the high school campus, and the students will also get credit for h.s. Government. Win-win!

Today was a wonderfully geek-tastic day for two big reasons:

1) I received an “A” on my Research Proposal! It is my hope that this paper will morph into the basis for my dissertation, so getting kudos like the following note from my prof is a huge boost! 🙂

“Very well written. Methodology was particularly thorough and the explanation of anticipated statistical analyses to be conducted was right on point. Excellent proposal!”

2) Several months ago, I applied for a full-time Government instructor position at the local community college. They decided not to fill the f/t post, at that time, but they contacted me a couple of weeks ago to see if I’d be interested in adjunct (part-time) teaching. I met with them today, and it sounds promising! We talked about the spring schedule of classes, and the dept chair gave me an instructor’s edition of a textbook to take with me to peruse, so I’ll say that’s a good sign! 🙂

I realize that teaching on top of my normal juggling act will take some finesse, but it would be tremendous experience (not to mention some extra $, which is helpful in these times).

I’m very excited about both of these developments!

Woohoo! I got approval for my two spring courses (Innovation in the Public Sector and Governmental Budgeting & Finance. Fun, fun! ), which will leave only ONE ELECTIVE to take in the summer!

And then, I officially* begin my dissertation in the fall. (*I’m already working on the framework for it. If I make a lot of headway this semester and in the spring – like tying in class assignments to my dissertation topic – then I might actually be able to start writing in the spring/summer and FINISH in the fall!)

OMG. I can’t believe the end is [almost] nigh!!

P.S. “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne came on my iHeartRadio channel as I was typing. How appropriate – ha!

I think I have the grad school version of senioritis. My course this semester is more self-paced than I expected, which gnaws at the tempting edges of my procrastinating tendencies. I have got to get on the ball!

I have only three courses left before the formal dissertation course next fall, but I’m already making some preliminary steps toward my topic research, especially the literature review and methodology. It’s the methodology that is tripping me up. I know some of the things I want to explore, but trying to narrow them down into numerical hypotheses or even qualitative research questions is proving more difficult than I envisioned.

I think I will go to bed and try to think happy thoughts so I don’t have more nightmares about physical therapy beginning tomorrow morning. At least I get to see some of my favorite ladies for breakfast & prayer at our weekly Life group before my doctor’s appointment, so that will be a nice start to the morning.

I found out that the behind-the-scenes work that I’ve put into a journal article (auditing interview transcripts, editing, wrangling faculty, etc.) is going to be rewarded! The lead author notified me that I’ll be included as an author! That is certainly not a must-do (after all, I’m doing my job as a research coordinator), so I am humbled and honored at the same time.

I know that in the grand scheme of academia, this is probably a “token” in some people’s view, but I, for one, am positively beside myself and totally giddy about it!
🙂

My modest Curriculum Vitae (the academic version of a resume) is only four pages – and most of that is presentations and professional development – so it will be awesome to have something to list as a publication!!

Next step: Get my OWN article published! Woohoo!

I felt like sharing my latest discussion post for my Comparative Public Policy class concerning American Exceptionalism. The question was whether we agree with the notion that the U.S. is exceptional and whether we believe that public policy will reinforce that concept into the future.

I absolutely believe that the United States is exceptional, not only for the ideological reasons Lipset cited, but also because of the entrepreneurial spirit that is woven throughout the business sector – and, by extension, philanthropy.

The Gross Social Expenditures, 1995 chart on p. 2 of our lecture notes stood out to me, not so much because of the low public spending in the U.S. toward social causes, but because of the exceptionally high level of private spending toward such issues. The U.S. practically triples at least five of the sample countries, nearly doubles another and is at least a third higher than the remaining three. As someone who has spent the bulk of my career in Development, that is fascinating news to read. Private philanthropy underpins American society like no other place in the world, and that is something of which I am very proud.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals reports that in 2011, private foundations in the U.S. contributed $46.9 billion, and $5.2 billion of that came from corporate foundations¹. Giving USA reports that in 2010, total charitable giving in the U.S. exceeded $290 billion². To put American generosity into perspective, $290 billion is more than the budgets of the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and State, combined³.

It seems that public policy (such as proposed increases to estate taxes) is shifting away from rewarding hard work and generosity; on the contrary, such measures penalize people for building assets that they might otherwise leave as an inheritance to their families and charitable causes. However, I do believe that the notion of American Exceptionalism will continue into the future, partly because of De Tocqueville’s observation regarding “the strength of religion in the United States,” as cited in our lecture notes. There is a spirit of individualism in the U.S., but it is coupled with a congregational sense of neighborly obligation to help the less fortunate, tax break or not.

1 – http://www.afpnet.org/Audiences/ReportsResearchDetail.cfm?itemnumber=11783

2 – http://www.nptrends.com/nonprofit-trends/giving-usa-2011-report.htm

3 – http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch

There I was, staring at my eyeball three inches from the magnifying mirror applying mascara (as is my practice, since I have 20/400 vision uncorrected) when an idea hit me. Thankfully, I didn’t jab myself in the eye with the mascara wand!

What if the solution to virtual currency philanthropic contributions is to consider them non-monetary donations, like giving a bag of clothes to Goodwill or canned veggies to a food pantry?

Although I contest that virtual currency is, in fact, monetary in nature just like traditional paper-and-coin currency, the non-monetary/in-kind tax option could be just the ticket to deal with this emerging technological issue. With other in-kind contributions like clothes, etc., the onus is on the donor to determine the value of the gift and to maintain their own financial records when a receipt is not provided.

Likewise, if the donor of virtual currency was responsible for calculating the value of the contribution, then that would alleviate a complicated reporting burden from nonprofit organizations. It would also reinforce privacy by making the donor responsible for record-keeping, rather than the recipient organization.

Hmm … this gives me much to ponder.