en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2398038 Comments by Chuck_Lawson2_3 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment145265188 I also think that this lecture was a wakeup call for many of us because most of us are here due to illegal immigration. Many of our parents, great grandparents, great great grandparents, etc. came to America illegally and many of us are here because of this. Many students didn’t realize this and therefore were surprised when they realized they too have benefited from illegal immigration. What most of us also don’t realize is that we took this land from the Native Americans. We’re all immigrants in sense. We came here and made them assimilate into our culture. Instead of complaining about all these foreign immigrants that are entering the country, we need to be more accepting. I’m not saying let all the immigrants into America, but we should be more accepting of immigrants. Hopefully in the future someone comes up with an excellent policy to deal with illegal immigration. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:40:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment145265188 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment145265155 My point is that we American always complain about illegal immigrants when in reality as Sam said the costs and the benefits of illegal immigration are equal. Not one outweighs the other. I sort of felt like I should have realized this when Sam was talking about it. It’s obvious that businesses need immigrants because they want those low wage workers. It’s better for those businesses because they are saving money that way. People may argue that this takes away jobs from us Americans, but in reality I don’t many of us American would do some of these dirty disgusting jobs anyway. Many of us think we are too good for that type of work. Why do you think many illegal immigrants have what we call “low-skill jobs”? I don’t blame these businesses because as a CEO of a large business I would probably do the same thing. The crazy thing most of these illegal immigrants are much harder workers than all of us. This is why businesses would rather have these immigrants than most Americans because many Americans are sooooo lazy and are not willing to work hard at all. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:40:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment145265155 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment145265112 I really enjoyed Sams lecture on illegal immigration. I know a little about immigration, but Im still a little naïve about the whole topic. Illegal immigration has always been perceived in a extremely negative way in America. Honestly, when I used to think of illegal immigration, the pictured that would form in my mind was Mexicans climbing a fence, swimming across a river, and running across the border. I know that sounds very bad and very stereotypical, but thats what many people think of when they hear illegal immigration. I was never against illegal immigrants in no way, shape, or form. In fact it bothers me when Americans complain about immigration and try to blame everything on illegal immigrants. For example, Sam was telling us about a town (that I forget the name of) where illegal immigrants were settling in. The crime rate there had risen and everyone wanted to blame the immigrants when in fact over the last eight years these illegal immigrants only accounted for three percent of the total crime in that town. These people were simply looking for someone to blame and they chose the immigrants. In reality nothing really changed in that town at all. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:39:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment145265112 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143275984 Especially with us college students, because we are looking for ways to get our name out there so we can have connections when we graduate. What I mean is that we will make any connections we can that can possibly help us with our future. We’re not going to say “Umm I can’t take your offer because there are other students in this school who are more qualified than I am. I’m sorry.” Like I said before “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” In the end, I know nepotism is unfair, but I am not just going to let someone else take something that could help me. It’s selfish, but we live in a cruel world and sometimes you go to be like that. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:55:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143275984 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143275936 I never knew exactly what the correct term was for having “connections”, but I now know it is called Nepotism. This question is one of those things where it is easier said than done. I will honestly admit that I would never turn something like that. This may sound selfish or mean, but I will never turn down any connections that I have that can possibly be to my advantage. I wouldn’t just give that up for someone else to have. A prime example of this is how I got my summer job. My stepdad is working as a public officer at an amusement park called Kennywood this summer and he is getting me a job at this amusement park. I don’t have to go to an interview or anything; I just automatically get the job. I know I might be taking someone’s job, but that would put me out of a job and that’s not an option for me. Unfortunately the saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is true. I know many people who are really talented in many different things, but they don’t get the chance to show people because they don’t know the right people. If someone were to tell me that they would say “no” to nepotism, I would say “You’re full of shit!”. There’s no way someone would turn down an opportunity like that. If someone is offering you a job without you even having to go to an interview at all, there is no way you going to say “No, because someone out there is more qualified than I am and they deserve the job more than I do.” Yeah Right! When it comes down to it, we all will think about ourselves and do whatever is to our advantage. That’s just how we are. Many people might say they would avoid nepotism, but only a small percentage of these people would actually follow through with it. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:55:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143275936 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141129686 In both videos they thought what they did was funny. In the video where they smashed the guy’s car I recall one of the soldiers saying something similar to “This is how we do it in America.” Last time I checked that definitely is not what we do in America. We do not smash people’s car for stealing something in America. It was just ridiculous. Overall this class made me take a step back and look at everything from the Muslims point of view. I don’t hate America or our military in any way now. I’m just saying that we should get rid of the idea that America is this angel of a country while the Muslims are pure evil. They are people just like us who are just trying to make a living. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:58:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141129686 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141129508 What the media fails to make us realize is that the Muslims in many ways are just like us Americans. They go to school, work, hangout, and even use facebook just like we do. They are people trying to live their lives just like us. This is why the video where the soldiers crushed the two men’s car for stealing wood and the video where the soldiers ran the truck off of the road for “driving to slow” upset me. I understand that the two men technically stole wood, but that doesn’t mean they should have smashed their car as a punishment. What made the situation even worst was that one of the men was a taxi driver and that car was his taxi. So now one man is out of a job and both of their families are going to be cold because they have no fire wood. That’s not right. In the other video there was no reason for the soldiers to purposely run that truck off the road. It seems to me that the soldiers was simply taking advantage of their authority and doing whatever they wanted. The people in that car probably were injured, but the soldiers thought it was funny. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:58:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141129508 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141129419 For starters, this class provoked me to view the war in Iraq in a different way. I think Sam having us imagine we were Muslims really helped us to see this issue from a different point of view. By no means am I big on politics or the war so I don’t know much about the war. All I know is we are in Iraq to find oil and I also know that we were trying to help them by changing their government structure. I was never really a supporter of the way because I never understood why we were in Iraq. I still don’t understand why we are over there. In the United States we have this image that Muslims are violent, dangerous, turban wearing suicide bombers. If you say the word “bomb” in America, I am willing bet any money that one of the images that comes to an American’s mind is a turban wearing Muslim. The reason for this way of thinking that exists among Americans is the mostly because of the media. The media gives us this idea that it’s us against them. We are the good guys while they are the dangerous enemies. They make it seem as if the only thing Muslims know how to do is be destructive. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:57:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141129419 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/has-the-class-on-the-needy-penis-made-you-uncomfortable-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139269558 Another thing that made me feel really comfortable with the lecture and that I thought was very cool was that Sam and his wife were the ones who gave the lecture. I thought it was really cool that they were comfortable enough with each other to stand up there and talk about not just sex in general, but their sex life too. They were very open with us and I respect that. I think this made everyone comfortable because they saw that Sam and his wife were up there joking and laughing about it. You know having fun. I never thought I would know so much about my professor’s sex life. I felt that the people who weren’t comfortable with this lecture were the people who aren’t comfortable with talking about sex at all. Otherwise anyone would have loved this lecture. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 02:31:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/has-the-class-on-the-needy-penis-made-you-uncomfortable-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139269558 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/has-the-class-on-the-needy-penis-made-you-uncomfortable-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139269543 Especially for us men. I know we live in a male centered world, but it just gets to me that everything in life is based on actions of males. The ways females behave are because of males. When we were talking about how most females don’t even receive orgasms during sex I felt bad. It’s like as long as we get ours it’s cool. It makes us males seem really selfish. For me I want the female to get hers as much as I want to get mines. It’s sad that we live in a society with double standards. For example, if female has sex with a bunch of different guys she is called a slut, whore, hoe, etc. If a male does that he’s the f*$king man! This is how our world works. It’s not right, but it happens. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 02:31:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/has-the-class-on-the-needy-penis-made-you-uncomfortable-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139269543 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/has-the-class-on-the-needy-penis-made-you-uncomfortable-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139269521 Has the class on the “needy penis” made me uncomfortable and why? Well for starters I think this lecture had to be one of the best ones yet this year. After all the hype this class was getting about being the best out of all the classes, I can agree. Did this lecture make me feel uncomfortable? I would have to say not at all. I am very comfortable talking about sex. In fact I talk about it all the time. I wish more people were open to talking about things like sex. It’s a beautiful thing when a group of people can talk openly about sex because we can learn so many things from each and it can be fun too. I think I have been more uncomfortable about other topics that we have discussed in other lectures. I also think that the fact that there was a lot of humor in the “needy penis” lecture made everyone feel even more comfortable if they were already comfortable in the first place. This lecture was very eye opening for many of us. It gave each of us information on the opposite sex. It helped us understand the opposite sex’s body better. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 02:31:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/has-the-class-on-the-needy-penis-made-you-uncomfortable-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139269521 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137630167 They were told it was wrong and that’s why they won’t do it. Many responses said that their families would disown them. I find this very shocking because I can’t believe we still live in a society where people are judged like this. So what if your daughter likes black guy? Or an Asian guy? Or Mexican guy? Or whoever? IT DOESN’T MATTER because your family should accept them for them. If the guy is a good guy or girl is a good girl, they should be happy for you and it’s crazy to me that we still live in a society where we still judge people in this way. And even if your family doesn’t want to accept the fact that you’re dating someone outside of your race you shouldn’t feel discouraged because as long as you’re happy that should be all that matters. I know this is all easy to say especially for me because of the way I was brought up, but I still believe people shouldn’t let anyone discourage them from dating someone because of that person’s race. When it comes down to it, you’re the person who has to date the person and if you’re happy then that’s all that should matter. Overall I think interracial dating is great thing and it shouldn’t be frowned upon in our society. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:58:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137630167 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137630117 What do I think about interracial relationships? First of all I think it’s quite sad that some people still look down on interracial relationships because they believe mixing with other races is wrong. That’s a shame. I am totally all for interracial dating. To me, it doesn’t what race you are. If you like someone then you like someone regardless of what color they are. I have no animosity toward interracial relationships at all. As a matter of fact, I am a strong proponent of interracial dating, mainly because I have dated many girls outside of my race. I think it’s great to go out and date across all races. You experience new things and you learn new things. I grew up in a single parent home with my mother. My mom always told me it “I don’t care who you date as long as you like them and they like you.” That was general attitude my whole family had with dating. To them it didn’t matter who you were. They always accepted people for who they were. Many people judge others without even getting to know them. As I was reading some of the responses from the “Would you ever date a black guy?” question it amazed me on how many girls said they would not date a black because that was how they were raised. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:58:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137630117 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135959214 At first Penn State lived up to my expectations, but then I started to realize that Penn State is not as diverse as I thought it was. I believe that the only reason I thought Penn State was very diverse at first was because I had my mindset to look for people of other cultures and that’s all I saw at first: People of other cultures. But then as I thought about it Penn State is not really that diverse. Every day when I walk to class I look down the road and see so many white people and only some black, Asian, Arab, etc. Don’t get me wrong I’m not disappointed or anything with my decision to come here I love Penn State. It’s just not as diverse as I thought it was. I solely think this is because I come from a neighborhood of many backgrounds and I’m used to seeing many different cultures. There still are many cultures at Penn State, but not as many as I thought. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:15:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135959214 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135959186 First I must mention that I am from Pittsburgh. I grew up in a pretty diverse neighborhood. My neighborhood consisted of blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, and some Middle Eastern people. I was used to seeing all types of background in my area. Everyone interacted with each other. Of course there were some racial tensions, but these racial tensions were definitely kept to a minimum. Everyone was pretty cool with each other. With that being said, coming to Penn State I expected there to be people of different cultures everywhere. I just assumed that that’s how Penn State would be so when I made my decision to come here I was under that impression. I expected Penn State to be extremely diverse. I didn’t really think much of it. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:14:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135959186 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135959133 What did I think of the diversity at Penn State and did it have an influence in my decision to go here? I think this a very interesting question because everyone with have different answers depending on where they came from. To some people Penn State is just like their high school and to others Penn State is totally different. I know some people who have told me that they were totally “shocked” when they came to Penn State because they either came from an all white neighborhood, an all black neighborhood, an all Asian neighborhood, etc. As I said before everyone’s response will directly depend on their background and will pay a big part in their answer. I must say that at first I thought Penn State was pretty diverse, but now that I have taken been to many Soc 119 classes and thought about I don’t believe Penn State is diverse as I once thought it was. Actually I don’t believe Penn State is that diverse at all. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:14:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135959133 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment134365056 I think that we ought to take the time to learn about these other cultures. We as Americans need to be more accepting as people. Too times I have witnessed people discriminating against other cultures because of the simple fact that they don’t anything about them. If we actually take the time to sit and talk to these people we will come to realize that we are all the same. We all have our own beliefs, but in the end we are all people. We shouldn’t be discriminatory towards anyone because of their beliefs or anything. We all need to be more accepting of everyone. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:00:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment134365056 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment134365025 I really got to thinking about this during the class when we were talking about Muslims. After seeing the video experimenting with Muslim discrimination in America, I really couldn’t believe that we as Americans think of ourselves after SO much better than people from other countries. We put ourselves on a pedestal and act like America is the most perfect country in the world when in fact America is not. Why do we act like we are so much better than everyone else? Why must we put ourselves on a pedestal? When one man told the Muslims women in the video that she wasn’t an “American” I sort of became offended. What defines a American? What is a typical American?? Someone please tell me! When we see people that are different from us we go into defense mode and set a wall to block them out. We discriminate against them because we cannot come terms with the fact that they people just like us. I think that people are scared of realizing how much we and “them” might have in common. Because if Americans realize that we are all the same then that means America cannot be the “best” anymore and that is the what Americans are all about in the first place, right? Because we’re SO much better than everyone else, right? Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:00:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment134365025 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment134365000 Why do we think of people from other countries as so different from us? I think that discrimination and racism stems from the fact that we as people are scared of what’s different from us. It goes back to the whole “scared of the unknown” thing. As I sit here and type this I am thinking about the countless number of times in class where Sam has made me step back and question myself. He has made me ask myself at least a thousand times “Why do I think or act like a certain way sometimes?” He has proven my way of thinking wrong so many times and I know everyone else’s way of thinking has been challenged by Sam too. We all make assumptions based of our ignorance. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:00:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment134365000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/22/do-you-think-in-today%e2%80%99s-society-people-are-more-racist-toward-muslims-or-blacks-119-blog/#IDComment130742344 That aside I believe right now in today’s society Muslims are discriminated more against than Blacks. After watching the video in class experimenting with racism against Muslims in America it really hit me. I thought it was awful how the Muslim girl was treated in that video. Everyone no matter what color deserves to be treated with respect. The way these girls were being treated was terrible and it’s a shame that they had to go through that. To say that Muslims aren’t “American” is wrong. What’s American in the first place? Muslims are treated so badly in America because people are afraid of what is different from them. “Towelhead”, “Terrorists”, etc. These names are part of the daily abuse that they go through. If only we could accept everyone as they are then America would truly be the land of opportunity. Unfortunately I don’t see this happening anytime soon because people are too scared of finding out how alike we actually are. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:58:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/22/do-you-think-in-today%e2%80%99s-society-people-are-more-racist-toward-muslims-or-blacks-119-blog/#IDComment130742344