Looking at State Patty’s Day it is easy to make a quick judgment on how horrible it is for anyone related to Penn State, and to a point I agree, though at the same time I do enjoy it’s festivities. You may also realize that on that day bars and shops around State College make equally if not more money during that weekend than any football weekend. From selling green beer to green hats, shirts, glasses and socks local stores benefit greatly from State Patty’s Day here at Penn State. Unfortunately that is not how outsiders will at all look at the events of that weekend in February in which case we will heavily be judged as the crazy alcoholics that people already think we are. Being in the top five party schools in the United States both reaps a benefit and major disadvantage to the school itself. As a high school student you always look forward to college as being the greatest time of your life, which you are told by your teachers, peers, family and pretty much everyone around you. What that means is very unclear because no one really ever tells you just what is so great about it. Thus based upon the stereotypes given by the media kids always look forward to the partying and the lack of supervision when you are away at college. Look at the commercials today where they show a kid spending away on there credit card to throw a huge party in her dorm the first night of college only to realize with a knock on her door that her parents never left. High school kids want to party and that is what we are known for here at Penn State University, and thus it helps our admissions. Yes the school may not want these partiers at our school though with such an amount of applications flowing into the Shields Building they love the amount of options they get which will always benefit. There is no way we can cancel the main event of our social year, State Patty’s Day has been cemented into our school beyond any attempts to stop it. The police and university have tried and failed. The only way we could stop State Patty’s Day is to organize a school wide student effort in which people agree to go about their day without participating in the holiday. Unfortunately that will never happen because as I have mentioned before a large percent of the students who are at Penn State came here to party and are the ones who organize and carry out the insane holiday that our students have created. Most freshmen, some sophomores and transfers have never participated in State Patty’s Day and would never be willing to never experience it at least once. At the same time seniors would never want to say they didn’t get a State Patty’s Day, God forbid. The people who participate in the events are the ones who will never let it go, and those who never participated in the events will be the ones who were always trying to stop it and will try even harder now though the only true way to stop it would be to get those of us students who do host and attend the events to not, something that would NEVER happen.

I could never say what I would do nor would anyone because no one fully understands what type of situation that is until you are in that situation and will react in ways that you may think you would never react. Though I would like to think I would tell people and not hide from is but do something about I seriously cannot say whether I would, though I do know what I would take into consideration. I think one of the most important things would be my support structure, how close my family is, how close I am with my family, maybe only with my siblings or maybe only with my parents. Another big part of my support structure is my friends, and given my current situation I know I would have as much support as I could possibly get given my girlfriend and all of my best friends that I have here at school and back at home. Another major part of my decision-making would come from whom the person committing the rape would be. Depending on who they were, and what relationship they had with myself, anything with my parents or my friends would also severely impact not only if I told and when but who I told about it if I would’ve decided to. That would be a major factor because you never know what could result of your decision and if there would be a better way. I feel as if it was someone in my family I would have the guilt of breaking up my family, I understand now from this perspective that it would really their fault for breaking any moral structure or guideline as well as the family but as a little kid I would feel very guilty sending one of my family members to jail. Another thing would be that I’m not sure my family would believe me one hundred and ten percent. Kids say things all the time, though this would be a hefty claim kids do also exaggerate things. With that being said it also would be hard for a family member to believe that someone they know and love, some grew up with, one married, or whose son or daughter married, or whose their father or son or mother or daughter, everyone is related to people and it would be heartbreaking for me to be the cause of pain in other peoples lives. Although the perp would be the one responsible, what they don’t know can’t hurt them and me putting it out there would certainly make me feel very guilty. On the other hand if it was someone random I would go straight to my family for support because they would be backing me with all they have, once again they might not completely believe me at first because of what kids do say but I know they would do everything they could to protect me and bring the perpetrator to justice. With that being said I would like to sympathize with the victims of these crimes as just thinking about responding to this blog was extremely tough and I can’t imagine what they are going through. I will definitely never forget about them.

This scandal would definitely not be anywhere remotely close to the size that it is at now if it were not for social media. Through social media anyone and everyone can express their views whether they have any credibility or not with very little barriers to posting those views. A few years ago the only people who would be able to get their message spread are those on TV & radio and other types of communication. Today people are able to make their messages public regardless of how ignorant they are without any type of screening. With that being said I think you can also look at it from the other side where the Penn State student body’s reaction would have been completely different if it were not for the technology that we have today. Word would not have spread about any riots or any public gatherings because people would not be able to communicate with anyone they don’t know. Now, people from all over the world can see what other people are saying about situations across the globe. Users in China can see what a Penn State student was saying about our situation when they have never even heard of the Penn State student. Students can also see posts by other users on campus even though they have never met each other, ever. People can coordinate rallies in a matter of ten minutes or fake holidays just by putting one message online. Users can also forward the message on by reposting the same message or also posting about such event. Once people actually get to the event, many people will take pictures or want to post more stuff about it so that others can see what is going on. Thus many people show up with their camera phones and start taking pictures of the fun or destructive or moving events that are taking place, thus bringing more people to such events and giving it even more publicity for better or worse. The national media also likes to take advantage of the grassroots type of media where random people can upload videos in which news programs on national TV like to show to give their viewers a view of the scene without their news cameras having to be there. Unfortunately with such a selection of videos to choose from, TV stations will often like to pick out the most extreme clips out of such videos to entertain their viewers and keep them watching for another five minutes. The job of the media is to report the news though with the ability to use user clips they are able to get a 360-degree view of what happen and select the angle they would like to see on the TV based upon what they think their viewers would like to see. This nation has become all about the numbers, the ratings and most importantly it is all about the money. The greed of TV stations and newspapers has led us down a road of corruption in the presentation of the news due to the availability of news and an infinite number of sources.

Coming from an economic point of view, you would be crazy not to hire illegal immigrants, why? Because they are cheap labor and many of which are stereotyped to do the job most efficiently, though some may argue the quality of the product drops; Pure profit maximizing strategy. On the other hand if you look at hiring illegal immigrants on a ethical or legal point of view, you would be crazy to hire illegal immigrants. The reason why they are called illegal is because that is what they are, illegal, just like some drugs, and texting while driving. Whether they are a good person or not, they are illegal and are not suppose to be here. While some may hire them as people do use illegal drugs, and text while drive, they are still breaking the rules of which this country is based upon. Because I would take the economic point of view, I would hire illegal immigrants if they could do the job I would need them to do, if my service or product remains constant. Yes they may take other Americans jobs but the last thing I want to do is have to pay workers more money. The mission of a business is to maximize profit by reducing costs and maximizing revenue. The easiest way to cut costs is to reduce your workers pay, which goes to show how idiotic it would be for a business trying to maximize profit to say no to cheap labor. But as I qualified I would definitely need my product or service to remain constant for if an part of production lacks and my product is not of equal quality I would need to rehire the workers who established such a product because consumers would want the most out of their purchase. If my buyers are not fully satisfied with the product I am selling that is now made by cheap labor they might not come back again to purchase my product therefore rendering cheap labor useless. I would destroy my name in whatever industry I was in and fewer and fewer people would buy my product thus lowering my profits and demolishing my company. The only reason why an economist might think twice before hiring illegal immigrants is because of the fact that they are illegal…and it is illegal in most places to hire them, and pay people off the books. Thus I could get caught and be in deep trouble with the government and the IRS. On one hand I could get an ethical slap across the face in a jail sentence or probation period which will not affect my company though it will affect me personally, or I could get an economic slap in the face in the case of a fine. If the fine is heavy enough it could raise my costs of hiring illegal immigrants and therefore outweigh the benefits of hiring them. With such a theory and looking at my personal experience with tax evasion and illegal immigrant hiring, I would take the risk and hire them for the sheer benefit of lowering my costs of production given my product or service remains constant.

I don’t think the appropriate question to ask is whether or not we are in the same stage as our family and friends or even what stage we are in. The better question would be to ask how we would react in a certain situation. Such stages only categorize and stereotype the way people feel, which is exactly the opposite of what we try to do in this class. By saying that people only fit within six categories is absolutely ridiculous, and the fact that they are in a ladder are absolutely ridiculous. With a class about free thought it’s hard to believe there is a system or process in which one goes through regarding race. People will have different experiences throughout their life, which will cause different reactions, and different feelings, which will affect their view on race. Not everyone will feel white guilt before they accept all races, some may feel it before, some after, and some may never feel it. Likewise, one may grow up in a very diverse neighborhood and be brought up with multicultural acceptance from the beginning, which is not up to some ladder to decide but based on the actions and thoughts of such a child. You cannot fit peoples views on race into six categories because if you set seven people in a room they will all have a different view based upon their past experiences, family, neighborhood etc. Everyone is different and has their own perspective, not one of six, and according to Sam only five because He, Lori, and God seem to be the only ones at level six, figures. Yes it may be an educational tool to promote the point of how people progress in race relations but that does not mean it at all needs to progress in such an order form. Regardless no such stage is inclusive to all situations, as we discussed in our recitation group, things change, and things change often. Based upon the situation we may feel more comfortable dealing with race relations than in others. As some people have mentioned we could range between three or four different stages based upon who, what, when, where, why, and how. I may not normally be on the same ‘stage’ with my family and friends in certain situations though in others we may feel the exact the same way and that is what the stages to not take in to account. Everyone is different, thus they follow different thought sequences and actions and will fit into a bubble somewhere and may float around from different stages based upon their surroundings in which they will adapt to and decide how comfortable with race they are, which may or may not mean they will react in such a way the next time they are put in that position, or in another position because it is all situational in which the stages that Sam has presented are not. They are conclusive and stereotypical stages in a situational subject matter.

I think every white person has felt white guilt whether they realize it or not. At some point every had to look at a situation where they had the upper hand in something and looked back at the situation and said damn that's not right. Unless there are some super psychotic racists who do not feel any emotions except hate for other races besides whites, I think everyone has to feel somewhat guilty for what has happen to this free nation where whites almost always have the privilege over any other contender in anything. I certainly feel it every time I see something racist happen whether its people making an off color joke or seeing some sort of discriminatory act on television I always get the urge to say wow that is not right at all, though I never really do because I feel like it will only accelerate the situation or the focus will turn on me or both of us if such a thing is happening in person. Sometimes I just know the best way to defeat race conflicts is to ignore race, but in order to do that we must talk about it which sends us in circles for us only to spend a lot of time and money to end up in the same place we started in. Although we may not see any day to day huge steps, we clearly have been making progress through such talks as we now have a black president in the white house. When we feel that white guilt few of us will say anything because we don't feel like getting involved especially if it doesn't pertain to ourselves yet that would probably be one of the best times to share our feelings and hopefully get people to accept each other. I think my first really powerful feeling of white guilt was when I was applying to my job and I interviewed with a black guy who was much like me and going for a similar position at a retail store doing some retail and some inventory managing. After getting the job I found out that he didn't and I didn't think much of it until I was talking to my boss one day when he mentioned that the kid I interviewed with "wouldn't relate well" to customers. In a very competitive industry out in East Hampton you need every edge you can get, and need the best staff you can get though I was amazed at the cost. My boss may have been right that the mostly white clientele wouldn't relate well to him, but why? He lives his life the way he wants to, not by what the color of his skin tells him to do. He goes out to the clubs just like all the white kids his age, what will he say in that conversation with a customer that will make them feel uncomfortable, and then I realized nothing, which I think is even worse. I've never felt so guilty for something I had no part in nor had the choice to be in one side or the other which is a weird and certainly hard situation to be in.

Being white, it is easy to look past racism because we don’t face the world as if people are out to get us as other races may feel. Being the majority many of us look down upon the rest of the world simply because we simply have the most amount of people on the earth. It is because of that people feel the need to believe they’re better than others. With those feelings being instilled in ourselves from the times people settled in the land we live in today it clearly effects and to a point defines the way we think. For better or for worse people act based upon their race regardless of what race they are, and often times could be reverse racism though reverse racism is just racism. There is also a stigma that we must act certain ways because of the race we are often associated with stereotypes, which may or may not be true. The only way we can see past it is to not look at things through color. We must look at people as being people not color. Regardless of what position we take we have to look at people as people otherwise it is like supporting the difference. The way you can take power out of racism is to ignore the races themselves and just be humans because we all are and deserve the same respect as each other. Unfortunately what the world should be like and what the world is like are polar opposites, thus we have a world with a white male domination. We see the whites on top with the power and everyone else below. Many people believe being white will guarantee a better and easier life which can be true in some instances but does not necessarily guarantee anything because there are successful minorities, though not proportionally many, and there are poor white families that are facing the poverty line or below the poverty line. Regardless people still think about race and it effects the way they think because regardless of money, job status, or anything else some people think they are better than others because they are white. On the other side people also think that other whites are better than minorities, which is clearly shown in the labor market. When employers are more often to hire a white man with a criminal record before a black man without a criminal record and the same resume you know there is and inequality and clearly effects the way most of us think. Personally I think it is better to see past color in a colorblind world where race is ignored because if we don’t see it, it won’t exist. The more attention you give it the harder it will be to fight it, thus I think to take the power out of some races it would be best to ignore race.

Though I am from the north shore of Long Island, and went to a high school that was nicknames “Jewicho” from Jericho, I am not Jewish. With that being said, I think the stereotype that I disagree with the most is that Jewish people are cheap. In fact I believe the cheapest people are the ones who make fun of Jews cheap, as I have seen it. Coming from a predominantly Jewish area it was strange for me to see them as a minority here at Penn State and being the target of racism. I was quick to see that I was not at home as even friends would make pretty harsh comments about the one or two Jewish people of the group and when called out on it would quickly respond by say they were joking, though most of us knew that was not the case. Being around people like that I have come to notice that they in fact are the ones who are cheap, possibly looking for a scapegoat for their own doing. As they feel cheap themselves, I believe those non-Jews feel as if they always have someone to downgrade and because they feel above them. They compare themselves to the Jews and say well I’m broke but at least I’m not that cheap as I’ve seen it done. Whether it is here at school or back at home, it may just be whom I am comfortable with, but my Jewish friends are some of the most generous people I know who always offer anything without expecting something in return for what they have given. I have seen Christian’s turn down a friend’s request for a water bottle though that same person will always ask for one in my Jewish friends room. Regardless no one should care how anyone spends their money except themselves, they can complain all they want about how rich or poor other people are but what really matters is the way people handle it and some people certainly are very immature. No matter how people are raised, if people had money everyone would spend it in ways that other people would disagree with just as people blame Jewish people for doing. Another stereotype that really annoys me is the whole Italian-Jersey Jersey Shore stereotype, mainly because of the ignorance involved. Yes every stereotype is based off of ignorance but the fact that almost everyone in the MTV show the “Jersey Shore” is not even from New Jersey, nor are they even Italian. It would be funny if the show was a mockery of people who went to the Jersey Shore as a satirical comedy but it is in fact a reality show that tries to be real, though completely rehearsed and written, thus people believe that it is real, yet it is in fact nothing like what is shown. Most people who go to the Jersey Shore are not Italian nor do they fist pump and get wasted every night of their lives. Yes the show is funny but when people take it for more than a TV show it just makes them look stupid and ignorant, which they are.

I think that it is obvious that SAT scores will rise with a rise in household income, its just the basic fact of life that the wealthier you are the better chance you will receive a better education, which the SAT measures, rather than IQ. The more work you put towards the SAT’s the more prepared you will be for them thus when a rich family hires a tutor for their son or daughter who is going to give them several hours of work every night they will put more of an effort to the test and achieve a better score. Such tutors are insanely expensive which gives only the rich such an advantage because they really are very effective though there are cheaper options for families that still are wealthier than average to get an advantage over those with lower incomes. Kaplan provides an awesome class for those who can afford it, it certainly is not a one on one tutor session for a few hours but it does push students further and help them achieve better scores on the SAT’s than those who do not have the ability to pay for such services. I think another huge separation is in the neighborhood schools that people attend; regardless of if a school is public or private, if it is in a wealthy area it is going to be a better school than one in a low income area, just to begin with. There will be nicer books, better teachers, nicer computers, and better facilities but most importantly many good schools offer aid on SAT & ACT prep. A few or reduced price service to help students learn not only what is on the test, but how to take the test because the SAT was formed in a way that you could achieve a good score by knowing how to take the test rather than knowing the information. With a repetitive test cycle it is easy to guess what will be on the test which is what tutors will be able to help you realize and understand thus when it comes time to take the test those who have been able to cheat the system will be better prepared to take the test and will score a higher grade on the test. By having a test that makes teachers and tutors teach towards the test you narrow down what really needs to be learned to only what is going to be on the test rather than what should really be learned and seriously distorts what we learn in high school, before college. We are one of the few countries to use such a distorted system and should move to more performance based testing through projects, activities, and works of writing which will give a less skewed result with certainly a lot less pressure put on students to perform on a test such as the SAT and will give those who do not have high family incomes a chance to receive similar scores.

I think there are three reasons why we can not just be Americans that really stand out to me. The first being the fact that we all have different backgrounds as well as the fact that America is such a young nation, and the other being the nature of ‘Americans’. Americans are very competitive and do not like to stray from their group, they think their group is better than everyone else, and although they may believe their group of ‘America’ maybe better among countries, people also compete within the ‘American group’ and have to be the best of the best. Therefore no body will ever get along on any level whether they’re both Italian American Humans and African American Humans because they will then compare the Jersey Shore to Bensonhurst or Brooklyn to the Bronx. The other reason why we can’t just be American is because we are a young country that comparatively has very little history, most Americans have parents, grandparents or close relatives that grew up, or were born in countries all over the world that have immigrated to the United States for a better life. With that being said the next few generations are still going to have the foreign culture that is not totally ‘American’ and will not consider them selves ‘American’ but often times say “Italian-American” or “Asian-American” to describe themselves. Over time people who have their roots grounded into America will be more likely to say that they are American as they will loose their family’s past culture that would be Americanized. The third reason why we could never just be considered Americans is because people associate themselves with far too many groups than just American. People belong to churches, temples, synagogues and such which gives people a religious label. People who have gone to college often consider themselves part of a fraternity with the college much like Penn Stater’s always stick together, even more specifically Greek fraternities and sororities. Fans of different baseball, football and basketball teams also often stick together which gives teams in New York, Philadelphia, & Boston the best fans in the world, though also dividing such cities from just being American cities. To put it in perspective, say two White American Catholic Penn Staters from Alpha Beta Gamma got into a fight over a baseball game whether the Phillies or Yankees were better, which happens very often. In such a case both people belong to the same country group, the same religious group, the same college fraternity, as well as ‘frat’ and they still manage to find something to argue upon, it is for reasons such as that, that we will never just be “Americans,” because we will never want to just be “Americans.” Some one will always think they’re better and associate themselves in a group that puts them above other Americans.