Blog Post 5:

Blog Post 4: Communicating With a Representative

Plans for communicating:

-       Figuring out exactly whom we should contact.

-       Finding telephone numbers and addresses for these representatives.

-       Getting them to talk!

(What are some process methods they feel are flawed?)

(What plans do they have in the future for the Welfare System.)

(How can they make improve the welfare system.)

(What suggestions can be made to us as students in trying to make a difference and have our voices heard?) 

WIC South Philadelphia Office

1536 South Broad Street, Philadelphia PA

(215)-463-5571

It was no surprise to my partner and I that the representatives at the welfare office weren’t much help to us at all. We contacted them by phone. We spent most of our time on hold or we were given the run around. We weren’t able to get much information on the subjects of our questions that we presented to them. I can’t necessarily say they were rude it just seemed as if they had better things to do. The feedback they did give us wasn’t at all helpful because they didn’t feel as though their system had many flaws. Neither do they believe that there are ways around there system, which was one of our major concerns. I think that maybe if we had shown up in person that it would have been a lot harder for them to ignore us and easier for them to understand how serious we were about changes for the best in the welfare system. 

Ashley Hinton

Blog Post: Bureaucracy Reflection

            The bureaucratic task that Brianna and I selected was obtaining a homosexual marriage license in the state of Massachusetts. At first we thought the topic would be difficult to take on, only because gay marriages aren’t accepted in most states. After finding that it is allowed in more than five states in the U.S, we were able to continue our research at ease.  After finding which states were legal and which weren’t, we then choose to focus mainly on the process of obtaining a marriage license in Massachusetts only, being as though the process is slightly different in each state. We found that the first step to becoming a homosexual married couple was to request very crucial paperwork. In Massachusetts, you must have a notice of intention of marriage, given in compliance of the law, which is a document that provides the names; genders, citizenship, age, race and occupations of both parties and along with other needed information. The paper work was pretty straightforward. There was some information we felt as though was unneeded. We also felt as though there was a lot of extra work we had to do because we were a homosexual couple getting married.

            If I could change one thing about the bureaucratic process, it would be of the last few steps in our flowchart (step 6). In step six of our flowcharted process it states that your marriage license will only be valid for sixty days. This is the only part of our process I would change. I feel like homosexual couples work so hard to get to this point and they shouldn’t have to go through the process all over again if they feel they aren’t ready in sixty days. I think this system in particular is so complicated because gay marriage isn’t something that’s necessarily accepted everywhere. It’s not something that’s happening everyday and so the process will never be easy. After completing the research on this project, I found that a flowchart is a great way to represent information that is difficult to understand. The flowcharts that were designed in our class were extremely helpful in understanding different bureautic processes and helped us to understand the systems of our world and how they function. 

1.)  

Do you vote every election? I don’t. This year was the first year I came out to vote. My mother never did it because it was against her religion and so I never got accustomed to doing so.

2.)  Do you know why we vote on Tuesday? I don’t.

3.)  What motivated you to come out and vote? My daughter motivated me to come out and vote. She just turned 18 last week so she was super excited to get out here and so I decided to come with her.

4.)  Where have you encountered the highest amount of campaign advertisement?  Definitely the radio. When I’m in the car that’s all I hear. I don’t watch much tv.

5.)  What was the most memorable campaign you encountered? The most memorable one would have had to be when Obama was elected into office. I don’t consume my time with city council as much. I hardly ever know whats going on.