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Learner's Permit, License & Registration

Posted by Alexis Beckton in American Government - Laufenberg on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:36 am

For the bureaucracy project we had to pair up and choose a task. The overal driving process wasn't difficult however it took a lot of research to understand some of the forms and to really be able to identify what has to come before what in the process. In my partnership first we assigned the roles for each other and then we both started looking for paperwork. I created the flowcharts while my partner filled out the forms and went back and made suggestions so that I could edit. The paperwork is very straightforward once I understood the process in which they needed to be signed and also what the different abbreviations for forms were.
If I could change anything I would change the registration process because even though it's very simple finding the papers making sure you have them all is the difficult part.

Here is a link to our Lucid Chart for receiving a Learner's Permit & a Driver's License.
Here is a link to our Lucid Chart for how to Register your Vehicle.

Income tax flow chart ( Tyler & LaMaya

Posted by Tyler Hankinson in American Government - Laufenberg on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:34 am

here it is flow chart

Briefly summarize the bureaucratic 'task' that you selected.

My partner and I filed income tax returns in order to report all of our income and to determine how much of our total income will end up being taxable income. The taxable income will be subject to the income taxes at marginal tax rates. We also file this income tax to keep the services that the government has provided for us. The government use the revenue that comes from the amount of income taxes of the tax payers.

Reflect upon the paperwork that you needed to fill out. Was it straightforward, easy, difficult, perplexing, etc.

The paper work that we had to fill out was the w-2 fors and the w4 forms i think that the forms could have been much more straight forward instead of asking for estimates and then to add line 6 to line 5 and divide number 9 by 1 and 2

If you could change one thing about the bureaucratic process that you flow charted, what would it be and why?

I think that if i could change one thing about to process I would make the process papers more straight forward and less time consuming it makes it so that you need every paycheck or credit card report

Why do you think the systems have become so complicated?

I think that the systems have become more complicated because thats the way government like to make things i think its a way to discourage people not to do them so in the end they still end up getting more money.

Other thoughts, reflections, feedbac

I enjoyed this product i feel as if now i know what my grandparents go through when they sit on the phone for hours with the tax people with the music playing

Chart- Passport Lauren and Rafiq

Posted by Lauren Gore in American Government - Laufenberg on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:33 am

Reflection:

My bureaucratic task that I had to perform was applying for a passport. The process is fairly easy when renewing a passport. Basically, your passport has to be in excellent condition and mailed to the office. But before that a form DS- 82 has to be filled out. it would take about 5-7 days for processing.The paperwork was pretty straight forward to fill out. Easier that filing out the first time applicant. All the steps seem like they all should be there as a security measure. I figure some process has to be difficult because they have to be very detailed and it makes it that must harder for people who are trying to commit fraud. Especially for the traveling section, I think it has to be complex in some way to stop illegal and potentially dangerous people from entering and for citizens in other countries to make sure they are protected. This project could come in handy in my future if I would want to renew my passport, since it goes out in June 2012.

Here the link to the project

Income Tax Flow Chart (LaMaya Mapp + Tyler Hankinson)

Posted by Lamaya Mapp in American Government - Laufenberg on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:32 am

Link to Flowchart:

Income Tax Flowchart

The task that we selected to do research about was Income Taxes using the 1040 and W-2 form. During this process Tyler and I decided to come up with a definition of this process. We both tried to figure out why we file income tax in order to understand it better. We both came up with, "We file income tax returns in order to report all of our income and to determine how much of our total income will end up being taxable income. The taxable income will be subject to the income taxes at marginal tax rates. We also file this income tax to keep the services that the government has provided for us. The government use the revenue that comes from the amount of income taxes of the tax payers." Learning and understanding the 1040 and W2 form was long and hard but it was worth it because we will be using this information soon enough in the future. Making the flowchart was difficult because there were so many things to talk about and so many directions to follow, so instead, we summarized the process. The paper work was easy but LONG. It required basic information of payments that was given to us. I would only change the fact that it was long and the math needed to do the work. It's probably long and complicated because many people cheat on their taxes when filing for income and when they do, they will be sued by the government.

Flow Chart - Passport Rafiq Robinson, Lauren Gore

Posted by Rafiq Robinson in American Government - Laufenberg on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:31 am

The process to get a Passport.

Blog

Posted by Alexis Beckton in American Government - Laufenberg on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:30 am

Blog Post 3

Posted by Jasmine Gladden in American Government - Laufenberg on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 5:06 pm

Many of my elected officials have agreed with the curfew law from looking at the many sources I used. No one tried to beg the difference or go against it. However, parents are disapproving of this curfew law. I feel as though the parents should have a say so I this because majority of the time it’s not their fault and giving the curfew fine is not getting the parents any power of what should be done. Having this as a law is making more of our youth have unnecessary things on their record that doesn’t need to be there at all. There have been policies trying to stop what I’m stating as well.

We all need to find people with higher power and authority other than our mayor and governor who is agreeing with the curfew. Finding these people can help us fight for the curfew law to be a bit more reasonable. If not I have no choice but to find people who feel the same way and I do and try to persuade them to see things from our perspective. I honestly think that this is a not only a fight for our youth but for the parents as well. I think the parent’s perspective will be as more powerful than anybody else. Majority people who voted for this bill or more so on the pros side other then the cons. And the people with the power (mayor and governor) are all for it.

There are a lot f concerns and questions about this bill, but we are not sure who are actually working on getting these questions and concerns out. People in my class that are doing this topic as well are also not sure about who is working on it. There are really no more up to date meeting and anything about the curfew right now either. In my opinion it seems as though this is just up in the air and the people with the actual power doesn’t really care.

Here is a video from youtube talking about curfew in Philadelphia: Video
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Blog Post #3

Posted by Zillah Hernandez in American Government - Laufenberg on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 10:52 am

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111105/OPINION03/311050016/State-s-curfew-meets-constitutional-standard

Curfews have reemerged recently as a popular option for policymakers in their efforts to deter juvenile victimization and delinquency. Imposed on and off since the turn of the century, curfews tend to receive increased attention when there is a perceived need for more stringent efforts at social control. For example, curfew ordinances were originally enacted in the 1890's to decrease crime among immigrant youth. During World War II, curfews were perceived as an effective control for parents who were busy helping with the war effort. More recent interest in juvenile curfew ordinances came as a response to growing juvenile crime during the 1970's Curfew laws vary with respect to the locale affected, timeframe, and sanctions. Most restrict minors to their homes or property between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., with some jurisdictions allowing exceptions for weekend nights or summer months. Many curfew ordinances provide exemptions for youth who are going to or from a school-, religious-, or civic-sponsored event. Youth traveling from places of employment or responding to emergencies often are excluded from curfew provisions as well. Several ordinances allow unrestricted mobility for youth who are married, accompanied by an adult, or traveling with a parent's permission.

In addition, some curfew laws impose more stringent curfew parameters in specific zones of the city, usually in targeted high-crime or commercially important areas. A recent example of this type comes from the city of Austin where, in 1994, the city council took action to limit youth activity in the nightclub district of the city. In that area, the curfew begins at 10 p.m. each night, compared with the 11:30 p.m. curfew for the rest of Austin. This isn’t a good year because there is still problems going on with this issue, there are people under age still outside pass 10:00 pm. They can get in trouble if they are being seen out side under age with a crew, they can be blamed for flash-mob or any other thing out there that kids are being blamed for. Teens can be fine with being in the house at this time but they just chose not to listen and follow what there friends are doing, and that’s what will screw them up. I didn’t notice anyone working on this currently since this law has passed on October27th.

Theirs really nothing anyone can do at this point but if anything do come up they can always address it to someone. I just think curfew is important because is respectful of the responsible party's time. For example, if a curfew is set by your parent or guardian, it is respectful to the them to be home by it. Otherwise, they are left worrying about you and left to decide if they should start an emergency search for you, etc. If a curfew is set by city officials, it is important because it allows law enforcement officials the ability to know right off that someone out after curfew is most likely causing trouble. It would also allow the city quiet time, in which residential folks could count on being able to sleep without noisy cars, yelling or other disruptive behavior.

Lobbying Blog Post #3

Posted by Delesha Jackson in American Government - Laufenberg on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 6:24 pm

According to several different sources that I saw it looks as though many elected officials have agreed with it because I don't see many of them who tried to stop it. And as I look at some of the comments on the websites I see that some parents are furious and don't approve of the curfew. They should have a lot of power because from the looks of things there are many people, not just youth, who don't agree with the new curfew going on. They are saying that it is going to have more youth in jail with unnecessary things on their record then they need. People have written policies to try to stop it and yes they were about what I am addressing, and more.

I need to have some people in higher power because the mayor and the governor are all for the curfew. So either I get people who are higher then them or a lot of people who can try and persuade them. I think I have the support of parents. The mayor and governor have the most power in this situation and I'm not totally sure how to stop them, or make my point known for that matter. I think I need to move every decision maker because if I'm not mistaken the most of the voters that voted on this bill were pro instead of con.

I'm not sure who all is working on it but I do know that there are a lot of concerns. I know a couple of my classmates are doing the same topic but I'm not sure who they are. I don't see anymore dates for meetings about it or anything. From the looks of things it seems as though they don't want or care about the publics opinion anymore.

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Philadelphia Curfew Law Update

Posted by Sade Skelton in American Government - Laufenberg on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 4:03 pm

My lobbying topic was Philadelphia Minor Curfew. Since the summer is over and school has resumed the curfew hasn't had the same publicity it had in the summer time. Beings though less kids are out during the school year at unreasonable hours the curfew law isn't pushed as hard as it was in the summer time. Just recently the curfew was just passed as a law and would not only apply to University City & Center City but throughout the entire city.Within the next 2 years the city has to prove the effectiveness of the curfew law to the City's Council. The Mayor agrees that this curfew will not stop the violence in the city but it's a good start towards it. Many of the city's residents disagree to this law says it's just a way to punish the youth.

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/viewer?url=http://www.phila.gov/pdfs/curfewBill.pdf

http://articles.philly.com/2011-10-28/news/30332379_1_new-curfew-mobs-minors

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