College of
Business
Administration
College of
Business
Administration
GROUP MEMBERS:Jennifer GillespieEXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Nancy Rojas
Barbara Schmidt
Yvette Tesorero
Our objective was to assist in the foundation for the ongoing Student Run Credit Union project in the City Heights area and more specifically targeting Hoover High School. This project which started in spring 1999 as a Community Enrichment Project, provided information for the community at large. According to Rawls, compensatory justice is concerned with past injustice or making good some harm suffered by someone in the past. We need not look too far into our country's history to discover the biases that plagued our society. A key question is why was this High School targeted over other high schools? Hoover high is situated in the City Heights area where a high percentage of minorities reside. These historically disadvantaged students generally score below the district average in both total reading and total math on the SAT9 test. Most of these students are in a lose/lose situation. First many students suffer from language barriers and lack a quality education from an early age. Second, they are caught in a poverty cycle where physiological and psychological needs may overshadow learning needs. James Rachels points out that underprivileged students contend with obstacles such as "ill trained teachers in crowded, inadequate schools, so that by the time [they] reach college [they'll be] far behind other students and despite [their] best efforts [they] never could quite catch up." With 47 percent of the Hoover High School students having limited English proficiency the possibilities of them doing well on these exams is highly unlikely. Faced with these hurdles they will likely skip college and enter the labor market earning minimum wage or attend junior college and drop out. These disparities, most importantly, can also be found in the workplace where minorities encounter a "glass ceiling". The Student Run Credit Union compensates these students by creating an array of opportunities.
According to ethics of virtue, discussed by Rachels which focuses on "trait of character, manifested in habitual action that is good for a person to have." San Diego State University students would serve as mentors to Hoover students by emphasizing the proper behaviors and teaching the values of professionalism, self discipline, financial responsibility, honesty, and the importance of teamwork. Ultimately, they would function as ambassadors to the university by encouraging higher education.
We took on the task of assisting in the business plan by formulating a survey, surveying Hoover High School students, and compiling demographic information for areas corresponding to Hoover High School. We also distributed the survey to Wilson and Monroe Clark Middle Schools, the results are still pending. We contacted the school principal, Doug Williams, he in turn granted his permission to survey the students. Our findings revealed the students' support for the project and the need for financial responsibility among other things. We were not surprised to find 81% of the students did not have savings accounts since 33% of their parent(s)/Guardians do not have any bank affiliation. These results helped to determine which types of services to provide and to whom, and incorporate this information into the formal business plan to submit to the National Credit Union Association.
In the end, we see the benefits outweighing the time and resources allocated. As we learned about this community, we agreed that this project could provide these students with the tools necessary for future success. The "right actions are those that produce the greatest possible balance of happiness over unhappiness, with each person's happiness counted equally important." With this in mind, let us look at the analogy of a woman walking along the beach, she sees an older woman picking up starfish and tossing them into the sea. The young woman, thinking the older woman's efforts futile, asks, "why do you do that? There are so many starfish, and the sea's waves unceasingly beat up against the shore. You toss a few back, what difference does it make?" The old woman picks up a starfish, flings it into the ocean and says, "it made a difference to that one!" Our society is filled with many underprivileged communities. This project specifically targets the Hoover High School students and their community's future, where together we can make a great difference.
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