First Day Post 11: Educating Students About Human Services

This year at California State University of Fullerton executive director of the Whittier First Day Coalition, Ted Knoll, has taken on a position as a professor teaching Human Services. During one of his class sessions Knoll had guest speaker, Maria Alcala, from First Day share her experience of homelessness with the class. After the class the students were expected to write papers on what they learned from Alcala’s story and how her story had changed their perception of homelessness.     

       

Many of the students admitted to being afraid of the homeless because of society’s stereotypical view of them as dangerous, filthy, and mentally unstable. Once hearing Maria’s story it appeared as if a barrier of ignorance dividing the students from compassion and understanding came tumbling down.

This change in perception is fairly common when educating people on a subject that they are not sure of. Educating people on some of the personal backgrounds of the currently or formerly homeless can break down the stigma brought on by society’s portrayal of the homeless. Although some of the homeless may be mentally unstable or dangerous, people should not come to the assumption that all the homeless people they come across are like that.

Stereotypes may prove to be fairly accurate because they are based on how the majority of a certain group behave. In this aspect stereotypes serve as a tool for people to find others that they can confide in or stay away from groups that may harm them. Still, stereotypes can also cause people to neglect others who may be in need much like how many ignore the homeless they see on the streets. 

In life we have to pick and choose our battles. If there is someone that we see in need that we feel we can help then maybe it is worth it to offer them help. When the opportunity presents itself do not turn your back without a legitimate reason. 

By teaching younger generations how to go about helping others we can make way for better judgment and help more of those in need. Bringing awareness to these issues can lead to change that will make this world a better place

Quaker Campus Article: A Designated Driver

As college students many of us like to celebrate the end of the week by partying, and at these parties it is no secret that there may be some drinking. For those who drink, it is important to do so responsibly. Not only is it important to monitor your drinking, but if you know that you are going to need someone to drive you back home after a party it is important that you look for someone you know you can trust. Maybe find a friend who does not drink or take turns being the designated driver among your group of friends.

A designated driver plays an important role by assuring that everyone makes it back home from a party safe and sound. If you take on the role of a designated driver, it is crucial that you stick to your promise and avoid drinking.

Once you agree to take on the role of being the designated driver, you should not go back on your word. If you go back on your word, the consequences can be dire. I myself lost my cousin because his friend did not live up to his part and drank more than enough which impaired his driving. 

In 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that in that year alone 10,000 people died in alcohol-impaired car accidents. They also estimated that approximately every 51 minutes a person lost their lives in a car accident due to drunk driving.

Now depending on who you are, you may think that something like this can never happen to you or that you can handle driving impaired. The truth of the matter is you never know what will happen to you, and if you take the risk, then you are not just putting yourself in danger but also the people around you.   

My suggestion to all of you is to assign the role to someone ahead of time. Do not do it the night of the party because by then nobody may want to take on such responsibility. Talk it over at least two days before a party. Also find a back up, preferably someone that does not drink and will not be at the party. Notify a friend that can come to the rescue if your designated driver cannot pull through for you. I always tell my friends that if they are going to a party and I am not there that they can call me to pick them up if things go wrong. Of course I tell them to tell me they are going to a party beforehand so I can be sure my phone is on in case I get a call.

If you cannot find a person who can drive you home after a party there are several taxi services you can contact. Some of the taxi services you can contact within the Los Angeles County are the Yellow Taxi Cab, 1-800-Taxicab of Los Angeles County, and The Happy Cab of Downey.          This all may seem like a lot, but realistically it is better to think these things through. When you go out to party you do not want to end up at the end of a night looking for a way to get home or doing something that you might regret. The only way you can truly party without a care in the world is if you know that somebody will be there to have your back. 

LUSH Against Animal Testing

LUSH is a cosmetic company that is well known for heavily emphasizing the importance of being environmentally friendly. All of their products are organic and have labels explaining what ingredients were used and gives a brief description of the person who made the product themselves. On the products’ labels LUSH also points out to their customers that their products are strictly made without any sort of animal testing. So if animals are not being used to assure these products are safe to be used on living beings then how are these products tested? Well, there are alternatives to testing products and either people do not know of these alternatives or they do not care to switch their testing methods for the sake of animals.

Seeing that most of their customers do not understand the significance of using alternative methods instead of conducting animal testing LUSH took on the challenge of showing what animal testing would look like if done on humans. In London, LUSH set up a “Live Human Testing” demonstration in their shop on Regent Street. Jacqueline Traide, a performance artist, volunteered to spend ten hours enduring the “testing” to help LUSH get their point across.

All that was done to Traide in the demonstration was not real and did not cause her pain whatsoever, but seeing what kinds of things mankind does to animals had a crucial impact on the audience. The overall response of the audience was positive though some protested against the fact that a woman was used for the demonstrations claiming that she looked as if she was overly sexual.

LUSH responded to the negative feedback concerning the woman by explaining that they felt using a woman would create more of an impact since most of their customers are women.

The company has been fighting against animal cruelty for 30 years and plans to continue to encourage people to stand with them in the fight against animal testing. LUSH found that many people think that animal testing is something that is legally required for cosmetic products, but the truth is that there are many different ways to go about testing these products that do not include animal testing.

Three-dimensional human skin models can be used to replace rabbits for skin irritation, genetic mutations, and other harmful effects. By educating people on the alternatives that can be used to take the place of animal testing LUSH hopes other companies will follow in their footsteps and fight against animal testing.

Zack Hummel

Over the summer Zack Hummel, a sophomore at Whittier College decided to spend his free time raising awareness for cancer research, and he did so by participating in the 4k for Cancer’s 2014 Run Across America. Now to clarify this run was not 2.49 miles, which is the length of an actual 4k. The length of this run was actually 4,000 miles exactly with the starting point in San Francisco, California and the end in Baltimore, Maryland. It took a total of 42 days for Hummel to complete the run.

Hummel explained that the main reason he took on the challenge of running across the country was his mother. As a child, Hummel watched as his mother battled skin cancer, uterine cancer, Leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a cancer that begins in the cells of the immune system.

Aside from his mother Hummel explained how several other members of his family have had or currently have cancer. His maternal grandmother had skin cancer, his paternal grandmother had breast cancer and his maternal grandfather currently has kidney cancer that has spread to his lungs.

“After seeing what they have gone through, I became involved with events that raise cancer awareness and have been a very active member in Relay for Life,” Hummel said. “I am currently looking to find an internship for a cancer research foundation and hope to one day be a cancer researcher myself and find a cure.”

Since many members of his family have had cancer, Hummel admitted that he is concerned for his own health and well-being. “It does scare me because cancer is so hereditary,” Hummel said. “Knowing that so many members of my family have had cancer and that I may one day have it as well is just nerve-wracking. If I never get cancer then I will be so lucky, nobody deserves to go through that.”

As a cross country runner Hummel had the endurance to handle long distance running, though at times it was exhausting he said what motivated him was all of those who have had or currently have cancer. He advises the students of Whittier College to educate themselves on how to check for signs of cancer. “Learn the ways of self examination,” Hummel said. “Learn how to look for breast cancer, testicular cancer, and skin cancer. And if you notice something wrong don’t assume it will go away, go and have it checked out by a doctor.”

For Hummel, the most important thing people should do is to be aware of their bodies and take care of themselves. By doing so he believes people will have a better chance of fighting the disease if they ever are to encounter it.

A Man's Loyal Friend

*The following story is fictional, the information is not based on any particular person. This is a story that is meant to show how humanity seems to be nonexistent in some people's lives.*

My back aches as I try to get as comfortable as I can on the freezing cold bench out in the park. I am hoping the cops don’t pay me a visit and tell me to get off the bench. This bench is the most comfortable thing I can find to sleep on and it is away from all the noise and the people.

Daisy, my dog, sleeps on the patch of grass to the right of the bench.  Her fur is matted up and I am afraid that her health is poor. I don’t know what I would do without her… she is the only friend I have left in this world.

That dog was the only one happy to see me when I came back from war. She did not care that I suffered brain damage and lost my ability to speak the correct way. When my wife left me after she saw no future with a mentally disabled man Daisy stayed by my side.

After mom died and I ended up on the streets she followed me. Some people may think that I should have given Daisy up to a better owner, one that could support her. But Daisy would get depressed. One time before I ended up on the streets and before I decided to fight in the war, I took a trip to my friend’s beach house in Malibu which was about two hours away from where I lived. Two days into my vacation I see Daisy running on the beach towards me.


Sometimes I wish people could have the same compassion and loyalty as a dog.

First Day: Post 10

We all reserve the right to live our lives the way we choose to. Sure, our choices are not always the best but they are our choices. Others may not agree with the way we live our lives but they are our lives to live, not theirs.

When people are walking past a homeless man or woman they most likely look the other way pretending as if they do not see them. Some of these people are simply greedy and unwilling to share their hard earned money with someone else no matter how deeply that other person may be in need of a meal. Other people however, feel guilty not helping the person they had just chosen to ignore but at the same time they are not sure if they can trust a stranger.

I am not going to lie I have been in these situations myself. I know how it feels. You fear that if you give them money they will blow it on drugs or alcohol. When I was little many people told me not to give money to someone who is homeless because you do not know what they will use it for. So when I would see someone begging for change I would look the other way and every time I did that I felt absolutely horrible about myself. In some instances I had food on me or gift cards to food places and I would give them that, but when all I had was some cash I felt useless.

It was not until I was in my church’s youth group that I was told something that completely changed my perception of giving the homeless spare change. I’m not sure how the subject came up but I am truly grateful it did.

Unfortunately I do not remember the name of the man. He was a guest speaker for my church that night and he talked to us about how he would help the homeless people he came across on the streets. He brought up the fear of giving away money to those we barely know and told us that if someone claims to be in dire need of spare change then it is up to you to help them with what you can. Give them any loose change you have or if you can give them enough money to buy a meal. He told us to not worry about what they chose to do with the money just be proud of yourself for giving them the opportunity to buy themselves a meal.

At First Day I have come to see the importance of giving others an opportunity to better their lives. When going through some reports I saw how important it was for the residents to make their own decisions that would better their lives and that all they truly needed was a helping hand and support. Many of them described that the neglect on the streets left them isolated and feeling as if they were not as valuable as other people.

This made me think of what the man in church said and I thought that maybe if we give people the tools they need to get back on track they will be more likely to do so. Instead of treating them as if they are invisible we should treat them with respect and offer them support. By shutting them out and pretending that they are not there is only going to tear down their self-esteem and cause them to lose faith in humanity. But if we show them that they can still turn things around and give them the help they need then maybe they will take it upon themselves to reconnect with the community.

So to all those who feel as if they should give a homeless man or woman the spare change in your pocket but are scared they will waste it, don’t be. As long as you do your part that is all that matters. Leave it up to that person to make their decision and hope that they make the right decision. You can let them know that you want them to use it for what they truly need, but leave it at that. Not all the people you see on the streets waste the money they receive, and for those that do, maybe providing them with small words of advice will help them make the right choice.

Do what you know is the right thing to do. Help those around you in any way you can. Give your advice and hope people use it. Provide people with the necessary tools and hope they do not abuse them. That is all we can really do, the rest is up to those we try to help. 

First Day: Post 9

Stereotyping is simply a part of human nature. Although some may attempt to avoid stereotyping others or may take offense to stereotypes about certain groups of people, stereotyping is a way in which people attempt to find their way around. It is a way to try to separate the good people from the bad, the selfless and the selfish, friends and acquaintances.

When I met with Ted Knoll, the executive director of the Whittier First Day Coalition, we discussed the issue of homelessness. In our discussion he brought up the stereotypical assumptions made by the public. He mentioned that the goal was not to eliminate the stereotypes of what it means to be homeless, instead we had to expand on the stereotypes or alter them.

At first I questioned this tactic, but when I thought about it more thoroughly it made sense. Why? Well to be honest if you think about it the stereotypical idea of someone who is homeless is someone who is either mentally ill, an addict, or a veteran. These are the types of people who make up the homeless population, however, there is more to the story.

You see many people assume that approaching someone who is homeless is something scary. They fear that they may be attacked or be mugged. Others do not give the homeless spare change with the fear that they may waste the money given to them on drugs or alcohol.

What people need to understand is that not all homeless people are a threat and not all of them wish to waste the money they come across on drugs. Some of them want an opportunity to turn their lives around and leave the isolation of the streets to reconnect to society.

When people think of homelessness they should not think of people who have hit rock bottom and have  not way of getting back up. Instead they should think of homelessness as something that can be overcome given the opportunity.