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Community Relations Archive
AA09069
Deresiewicz, William THE END OF SOLITUDE (Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 55, no. 21, January 30, 2009)
Currently available online
The author notes that where “the camera has created a culture of
celebrity, the computer is creating a culture of connectivity.” As the
two technologies merge, they are feeding a common urge to become
recognized and visible. Deresiewicz writes that it is becoming
increasingly difficult to be alone; in fact, the proliferation of
social-networking web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are ways that
modern humans stave off loneliness. He notes that solitude was not
always stigmatized; in earlier times, the ability to be alone was
recognized as a necessary part of the religious experience, or to be
able to appreciate nature. The modern age has cast solitude in a
harsher light, and the spread of suburbia, which has put more distance
between people, coincided with the spread of telephone and television,
technologies that enabled connectedness. Deresiewicz worries that we
are losing the ability for introspection –- “no real excellence,
personal or social, artistic, philosophical, scientific or moral, can
arise without solitude.”
VOLUNTEERING IN THE UNITED STATES, 2008. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. January 2009.
Full Text [HTML format, various paging]
About 61.8 million people, or 26.4 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2007 and September 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Both the level and rate of volunteering were essentially unchanged from the prior year.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
AA09037
Murata, Mitsuhei TIME TO BUILD A NEW CIVILIZATION (UPI Asia, October 24, 2008)
Available online
The author, professor of comparative civilizations at Tokai Gakuen University in Tokyo, and former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, writes that the deterioration of the environment, and the current economic crisis, are symptoms of a crisis in human civilization, of a world that “has lost its ideals.” He argues that the mantra of economic growth “has eroded the ethics of the present generation, which out of self-interest is building prosperity at the expense of future generations ... this lack of ethical values is rampant on a global scale.” In his view, it is imperative that humanity create a new civilization, based on ethics and solidarity, respectful of the environment and the interests of future generations, and that a new civilization must depart from the present material-centered one to a spiritual-centered one. He believes that we “confronted by three important tasks: establishing global ethics, forming true leaders, and counterbalancing the supremacy of the economy with culture.” A common ground between world cultures is the shared belief in the existence of a greater being, or providence, says Murata; leaders must also be accountable for the future of humankind and for the biosphere, and should be “equipped not only with intellect but also with sensibility.” Despite our unprecedented challenges, he writes that he believes “in the existence of a force that will bring the reality closer to the ideal ... it is this force, transcending human power, that allows us to have hope for the future of humankind and the world.”
SOCIAL NETWORKS GROW: FRIENDING MOM AND DAD. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Amanda Lenhart. January 14, 2009.
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The share of adult internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years. While media coverage and policy attention focus heavily on how children and young adults use social network sites, adults still make up the bulk of the users of these websites. Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared with just 7% of adults ages 65 and older.
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COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE-LEARNING IN AMERICA’S SCHOOLS. Corporation for National & Community Service. Kimberley Spring and et al. November 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 44 pages]
The report shows that community service in America’s schools has reached a new peak, with 68 percent of all K-12 schools offering or recognizing service opportunities for their students. It finds that the prevalence of community service has risen in K-12 schools, up from 64 percent from a similar study conducted in 1999. High schools are especially supportive of community service, with a whopping 86 percent of high schools recognizing student service, up from 83 percent in 1999. While school-based community-service has remained robust, the percentage of schools with service-learning declined from 32 percent in 1999 to 24 percent in 2008. [Note: contains copyrighted material]
DO FOUNDATION GIVING PRIORITIES CHANGE IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC DISTRESS? Foundation Center. Steven Lawrence. November 2008.
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Despite concerns among some nonprofits that the economic downturn may cause foundation funding priorities to shift, the study suggests that grant making priorities in most areas, such as health, the arts, and international affairs, do not shift suddenly in the face of reduced resources and are remarkably consistent over the long term.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
CAPITALIZING ON VOLUNTEERS’ SKILLS: VOLUNTEERING BY OCCUPATION IN AMERICA. Corporation for National and Community Service. Web posted September 9, 2008.
Full Text: [PDF format, 16 pages]
The study places strong emphasis on pro bono volunteering as a strategic and cost-effective way to tap into the skills of volunteers and reinvent the way they serve with nonprofits. It looks at the prevalence of volunteering among people in various occupations and shows how often they use their occupational skills when they volunteer. The study is designed to help broaden and deepen public and private sector partnerships, and allow nonprofits to take full advantage of the skills their volunteers have to offer.<br />
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
SHARED VALUES, SHARED FATE: MUSLIM IDENTITY IN THE GLOBAL AGE.
Muslim Networks Conference, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Web posted July 23, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 4 pages]
This paper is a summary of a one-day conference held at the Center. “The conference brought together a broad range of scholars from a wide spectrum of disciplines, with expertise stretching around the globe.” The purpose of the conference was to better understand the forms of Muslim identity, how non-radical networks function, and how identities shape Muslims’ views.
[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
STRENGTHENING AMERICA: THE CIVIC AND POLITICAL INTEGRATION OF MUSLIM AMERICANS: REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON MUSLIM AMERICAN CIVIC AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT.
Task Force Series, Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Web posted June 21, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 59 pages]
The task force was convened in February 2006, and consisted of 32 Muslim and non-Muslim Americans. The Task Force was charged with examining the Muslim American experience and providing a roadmap for accelerating Muslim Americans into civic affairs and political life.
The report’s main conclusion was that more “Muslim American civic and political engagement is urgently needed to prevent alienation in a community that is vital to U.S. security and relations with the Muslim World.” The report also found that although Muslim Americans are a highly educated, diverse group, they lack strong institutions and effective voices to gain access to government and media.
[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
BUILDING MODERATE MUSLIM NETWORKS.
Angel Rabasa, Cheryl Benard, Lowell H. Schwartz, and Peter Sickle. Center for Middle East Public Policy, RAND Corporation. May 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 217 pages]
Due to networks in the Muslim communities in North America and Europe, radical Islam has grown in recent years. Moderates Muslims do not have similar networks. The authors argue that the “United States has a critical role to play in leveling the playing field for Muslim moderates. The authors derive lessons from the U.S. and allied Cold War network-building experience, determine their applicability to the current situation in the Muslim world, assess the effectiveness of U.S. government programs of engagement with the Muslim world, and develop a “road map” to foster the construction of moderate Muslim networks.”
[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
MUSLIM AMERICANS: MIDDLE CLASS AND MOSTLY MAINSTREAM.
Pew Research Center. May 22, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 108 pages]
Summary
This study presents the results of a comprehensive nationwide survey of Muslim Americans. The survey found that Muslim Americans are “largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.”
The survey also found that:
- 65% of adult Muslims in the U.S. were born elsewhere;
- Muslim Americans have a positive view of U.S. society; and
- Muslims in the U.S. reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than Muslim in Western European countries.
However, younger Muslim Americans are more likely than older Muslim Americans to have stronger Muslim identity and are more likely to say that suicide bombings are justified when defending Islam.
[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
AA06454
Kasper, Gabriel et al. COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS; SPECIAL SECTION (Foundation News & Commentary, vol. 47, no. 4, September/October 2006, pp. 14-23)
View articles on publisher's website
In “Staying Ahead of the Technology Curve,” the first article in this series, Gabriel Kasper, Lucy Bernholz, and Katherine Fulton discuss tools for collective intelligence, community building, and mobilizing resources, technologies that could change “where and how communities define themselves and come together to address local issues.” “Staying the Course” by Francie Ostrower is based on a study of community foundation approaches to effectiveness, which analyzed the characteristics, challenges, and opportunities faced by over 1,000 foundations. Concluding that community foundations cannot be all things to all people, the report recommends that they enhance their effectiveness by focusing on bringing together different parts of the community to address their specific community needs. Finally, Lauren Norton describes how the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta collaborated with local leaders to bring the historic papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. back to Atlanta in “The Ultimate Philanthropy.”
AA05135
Nielson, Scott; Kasper, Gabriel; Chao, Jessica DEMOCRACY IN ACTION (Foundation News & Commentary, vol. 45, no. 6, November/December 2004, pp. 46-50)
View article on publisher's website
During the 1970's a drive to strengthen community foundations as a way of moving organized philanthropy closer to local communities met with great success, yet many marginalized communities continued to feel excluded. Today, the growth area for community philanthropy, the "focus funds" movement, seems to be making a difference -- reaching minority women and gay/lesbian communities throughout the United States, say the authors. Focus funds are grassroots philanthropies established by groups of people with common experiences and culture. These publicly supported community funds both raise money and make grants by drawing on local leadership, networks and resources.