Entry 7: CAS
In this entry, I will be discussing an event that occurred when I was asking for donations for the silent auction for the Walk for Water: my big CAS project. After delivering the letters to the businesses from whom we were asking donations I received a call from one of the business owners who had been a huge supporter of the Walk in past years. After confirming that he was going to donate to the silent auction, the business owner started talking about how he had noticed that school clubs were more than happy to ask local businesses for donations every time they had events but rarely supported them in turn by purchasing items from local businesses rather than buying items such as school merchandise and apparel from online sources.
This revelation greatly surprised me. I had only become leader of the We Team last September and was still getting used to running the team and other responsibilities associated with the role. That was the first time I really developed an appreciation for the complexity of the role and interactions within the community. Before that point, I had never considered or fully appreciated just how much local businesses do for schools and other organizations.
After this realization, as requested by the business owner, I wrote letters to the SAC and AU politely suggesting that they consider purchasing apparel from local businesses the next time Weldon Wear/Weldon Athletic Wear was sold. I also brought the issue forward at a We Team meeting and we decided to purchase our team shirts from a local business this year rather than outsourcing it to Me to We. While Me to We makes fair trade shirts, as a team we have a commitment to our local community just as much or even more than our international community.
This issue deals with many WOKs and AOKs that are a little obscure. The primary AOK is, of course, ethics as the issue when applied to the We Team shirts weighs the ethics of buying local versus buying fair trade items. The issue also deals with math as an AOK as the money donated by local businesses and money spent by school clubs are very central to the heart of the issue. The issue is very much related to reason as when considering the issue, the logic of buying less expensive items to maximize funds raised by the sale of school apparel must be considered when making purchasing decisions (this is where I become conflicted in this issue, but I still believe that buying local is best whenever possible).
Considering the AOKs and WOKs that can be applied to this issue the following knowledge question can be formed:
How does math affect the process of choice?
This issue could easily be applied to any economic, geographic, and political situation as a few examples. One in particular is the SARS outbreak in Toronto in 2003. Despite the fact that many people were being infected and killed during the SARS outbreak, the government of Toronto did not take many measures to control the outbreak but instead focused on trying to prevent a loss of business and profit for Toronto businesses. While both sides of the issue are math-related, the government focused on the side of the issue that they felt would affect the largest number of people for the longest amount of time. The math of the matter was what swayed their choice.
This revelation greatly surprised me. I had only become leader of the We Team last September and was still getting used to running the team and other responsibilities associated with the role. That was the first time I really developed an appreciation for the complexity of the role and interactions within the community. Before that point, I had never considered or fully appreciated just how much local businesses do for schools and other organizations.
After this realization, as requested by the business owner, I wrote letters to the SAC and AU politely suggesting that they consider purchasing apparel from local businesses the next time Weldon Wear/Weldon Athletic Wear was sold. I also brought the issue forward at a We Team meeting and we decided to purchase our team shirts from a local business this year rather than outsourcing it to Me to We. While Me to We makes fair trade shirts, as a team we have a commitment to our local community just as much or even more than our international community.
This issue deals with many WOKs and AOKs that are a little obscure. The primary AOK is, of course, ethics as the issue when applied to the We Team shirts weighs the ethics of buying local versus buying fair trade items. The issue also deals with math as an AOK as the money donated by local businesses and money spent by school clubs are very central to the heart of the issue. The issue is very much related to reason as when considering the issue, the logic of buying less expensive items to maximize funds raised by the sale of school apparel must be considered when making purchasing decisions (this is where I become conflicted in this issue, but I still believe that buying local is best whenever possible).
Considering the AOKs and WOKs that can be applied to this issue the following knowledge question can be formed:
How does math affect the process of choice?
This issue could easily be applied to any economic, geographic, and political situation as a few examples. One in particular is the SARS outbreak in Toronto in 2003. Despite the fact that many people were being infected and killed during the SARS outbreak, the government of Toronto did not take many measures to control the outbreak but instead focused on trying to prevent a loss of business and profit for Toronto businesses. While both sides of the issue are math-related, the government focused on the side of the issue that they felt would affect the largest number of people for the longest amount of time. The math of the matter was what swayed their choice.