Would I hire an illegal immigrant over a legal immigrant? Yes I would yes there is a lot of problems with this but I am not going to sit here and lie to you just so I sound like I would do the right thing. For starters illegal immigrant workers will work harder second illegal immigrants will never have sick days third illegal immigrants will never complain about their hours. Now U. S. citizens who have a problem with this it is understandable but let us be honest are you going to work an eight hour shift cutting grass or cleaning toilets, absolutely f*****g not so please stop complaining and open a classified look for a job and stop with your monthly checks because “ I can’t find a job.” As wrong as this may be or seem I would bet most if not all who respond to this question would hire at least one illegal immigrant. Face it, it will save you with labor cost and it is not like you are hiring them for a manager position or CFO position, if you are well that is whole new topic of discussion. You are hiring them for a night cleaner, a yards men or women, custodian whatever most likely the job you give them is not one of very much significance. Now is this wrong, well I look at it this way if the government does not think it is wrong the way they are throwing millions to billions of dollars out the window and most of that comes from duplicate checks by the way, why not hire an illegal immigrant. A big reason why most immigrants come over here is due to our government sending guns over to third world countries to get their rich resources. They go down there to keep things under rap so no words get out but it happens. So in return immigrants come over to the U.S. to start over make a better life so if they ask me for a job sure I will see what I can do for them. In a way we are all immigrants it is just that some people got here before others our whole country was established by immigrants, immigrants who had an opportunity to make their lives richer and more successful. I am sure if we just had a president who took charge held his own balls instead of others in the background we can make things work not only within our own country but throughout the world. Every problem has a solution you just have to find it. United we stand divided we fall.

Schools being more segregated now than in the 1970’s shows how the race barrier still exist and is very much alive. Although it may seem like it is not there is this false standard that we believe in that racism has gone away. I think for our present time the segregation is not as straight forward it is more under the radar, people will not just come out and say to a person not of white race, that you cannot attend this school. They will avoid that conversation all together and use their words in ways to avoid insinuating that. It is quite disappointing to find out that our schooling system is still segregated. You always hear schools talk about how they are not segregated but when hear news like this, it makes you wonder is or society ever going to get over this segregation barrier or are they just going to keep telling the us and the media that the United States is not one to segregate and there is equal opportunity for everyone. After hearing this news I went back and thought about the one day in class where we went through the Penn State pamphlet and had some students count all the students as they appear and another count black students, and Asian students to see the difference. Now the whole point of that was to see the difference but realize the geographical location of Penn State, its farm land and a primarily a white area. If our society does not fix this segregation problem we will never be able to continue forward as a nation and prosper. Every person should have an opportunity because you never know who is going to be the next person to find a cure or invent cheaper energy models or even new ways to fuel the economy without natural gas. If we keep hindering opportunities from people of a different race it will make it that much harder for us to fix other problems in society. I look at segregation as one of the many roots to societies problems. A lot of things stem from racial segregation such as hindering opportunities from people, you can even look at post 9/11 I bet middle eastern people had a hell of time trying to get into school around America. Although I understand why people get like this you have to realize some individuals make mistakes or are just bad people but that does not mean every person of that same race are the same way.

Putting yourself in the shoes of an Iraqi person was a huge eye opener for me and my views on the war. I thought Sam did a really good job explaining that there are some rogue soldiers after showing that short clip of them running over the Iraqi mans car. During that clip when you put yourself in that mans shoes you realize that he lost a huge part of his life. That was his taxi cab, which is how he provides for himself and his family. What really was interesting to me was the Christian Crusader videos. I was a born and raised catholic went to a catholic grade and have catholic values. What those clips depicted was not what I was raised to be. But I do not want to judge those people, because everyone has the right to their beliefs and no one should say otherwise. But yet that happens every where. Exactly one of the reason we are fighting this war. It is amazing how you can hear things being preached such as freedom of religion yet some of those same people go and try to preach their religion and if people do not want to convert they persecute them. Religion has always been associated with violence since its beginnings. Now I feel it has gotten far worse, especially now when we see clips of children being persuaded to “fight” for their religion. When I saw the Christian Crusader bible camp video It was disturbing. When I see and eight year old kid speaking in tongues calling himself a warrior for god crying because he believes. Well I believe that lady who organized such a camp may have a few brain cells missing. It just makes me giggle a bit to see someone feel so strong about something that is so disturbing. I mean a plus on the commitment but negative on the idea. In all it was hard to put myself in the shoes of an Iraqi but once I did it made me realize that it is rough to be in a place with such violence everywhere. Going through everyday not knowing where it will occur when it will occur or if you are going to be involved in it. When Sam told us that ratio of civilians they would kill for one person it shocked me but it is war and innocent lives will be taken regardless.

For starters I feel the “needy” penis lecture was enlightening. Secondly this class and topics discussed in it are borderline uncomfortable topics but they are real life topics that everyone should discuss. Upon entering this class I heard it will make you uncomfortable at times but after hearing the lectures and the way Sam describes it in a down to earth manner I became more and more comfortable. If anything this class has made me aware and at this point if you are still uncomfortable with some of these topics, you need to look yourself in the mirror and say, fuck it, these topics are everyday life. That was not intended to be mean or anything it was intended to rude that we are young adults now and these topics should enlighten us and make us think a little more. These topics have gotten me to apply them to real life and see how relevant they really are The needy penis lecture was very interesting and very true. Everyone knows that men definitely got the better end of the deal when it comes to sex. A guy can sex with so many different partners and not be a whore or slut, but on the other hand if a woman does that she is labeled. Laurie was describing Sam and her relationship how it was love, friendship and passion and how after awhile her need for sex was diminishing and it made her feel guilty because Sam, just like any other guy didn’t feel this way. As she thought about it more she realized she was fine and it was natural. Sam and Laurie explained that men can be aroused by a single thought and women may need four play after awhile. So as couple evolves in a relationship they should talk about these feelings when they occur it will only help. This where I can see it gets uncomfortable for some but it is sex and it is natural and if you are in a serious relationship with someone you care about you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable talking about it. This is also coming from a Male perspective and generally I am a pretty open person and some females along with males are not, so it is different for everybody. Basically I can see how some may feel uncomfortable but we are old enough now where we should be able to discuss these things.

This is a good question, I have not been involved in any racist situations myself but I have been around some people who talk and are very racist. I honestly have never really acted on the situation which is I don’t really say anything to that individual who is being racist because I never really thought about it. Most of the time I barely recognize it but after this class I feel I have become more aware of racist talk and always find myself thinking of ways to approach it. Honestly I still have trouble putting in my opinion to those types of situations because I feel everyone is entitled to their own views but yet another part of me views it as hurtful to those they discriminate. As of late I began asking people who makes such comments why? What makes you feel that way about this particular race and there is never a really justified response. For example I worked at the Bryce Jordan Center today for the PIAA basketball championships as security and one of my co-workers say a bus of African American students walking towards the entrance an immediately ran over to me and said here comes trouble. I asked him what do you mean and he replied “those black kids look at all them, it is going to trouble.” I simply replied how so man and he said they all are. So I waited till they all went through line, and they did so with no problems what so ever, and then I said to him in a smart remark, “ya dude whole lot of trouble there.” Basically I have found that there is no reason for someone to make such remarks because there is never a good justification. All they have are their own thoughts that run through their head, and that is all they are their own thoughts. This class has taught me to think more outside the box and really question my everyday experiences. I am now more open minded to others of a different race and what I mean by that is I am less judgmental and more open to get to know the person. To be honest it is harder than I thought because some races in today’s society have been stigmatized for so long that negative images have become their master status. In my opinion I feel all you need to do is question people who judge others on account of race and most of the time you will find they have no good reason for it.

Before taking this class I understood wealth and poverty but never knew the affect skin color can have on poor individuals. When we discussed poor white people in class I never really knew how much more they were ridiculed and especially how little or even no response to those who ridicule them. I guess I never really saw it because I have never really experienced those types of individuals, yes you see them on TV or hear about them in a joke and I always figured there is no way people actually live like that. After seeing the video in class it opened my eyes a bit and when we discussed how race may affect who you help more often. I like to consider myself a person who will help anyone, the thought of someone’s race being a factor in whether I will hold a door or pick up a book they dropped never crossed my mind. I was always taught to be nice and compassionate towards others and if that meant holding a door for someone I did it. This made me think that your upbringing may have an effect on how some individuals handle these situations. I was a catholic school boy till I became a freshman at a public middle school, it was not an all boy or all white catholic school there were some other races in my classes, so when they taught us about helping others I guess color of skin never really mattered. Till I took this class I never noticed a lot of things about race, and it now has opened my mind to all different types of situations, like for instance next time I hold a door open for someone I know the only going through my head is going to be that person’s skin color and would I have done it for this person or that person. Going back to the poor white, I feel bad for them but then again I do not. There was one person in class who said it perfectly, he said I don’t feel bad for them because I don’t really know the person and that is how I feel. It is hard for me to measure feelings for someone I don’t know. I mean you do feel something but I would definitely feel more if I had some relation with that person. As for the poor white society I see them as no different than a poor black, brown, purple, green whatever society.

For this particular question my answer would have to absolutely not. There are three reasons that I can think of that race will always be an issue in the world. One would be the ratio of people to education of the matter. Two would be the ignorance most individuals have either from personal experience or how they were brought up. Three would be the human factor, though you may not believe you are being somewhat racist, but as we discussed in class subconsciously you may be. All three of these points are related to each other and have effect on each other.
Education of this subject matter is offered only those who can actually afford a college education and/or have the opportunity for a college education. Even those who do have the opportunity to have a college education most will not take a class such as this one unless it is there major. So if people are not being made aware of the issue the issue will only continue. Also with world population on the rise and the growing animosity between countries the situation of racial ignorance will continue and it could quite possibly get worse. This ties into my next point of ignorance of individuals, a good example would be the attacks of 9/11 and how the affects people of middle eastern countries has become negative to individuals from North America. Another example can be, let’s say a black person robbed your store, do you think that person will have an eye on the black person that enters his or her store or are they just going to forgive and forget. I also believe race will have an everlasting effect in the work place in the United States, even though someone of color or geographical difference from people of the U.S. have more than enough credentials to do the job just as well or better than anyone will have a harder road to the top than the average white male. Being considered white, you are born with an advantage, an advantage you may not recognize all the time. No white male, yes males because I still feel women even those who are white are at a disadvantage in this world, can tell me you do not have it easier than anyone else. Going back to my female issue, is still feel that being a woman is still very hard in the workplace because most are considered as leaders or being your boss, they are considered cookers, cleaners, housewives, etc. but if you don’t know the women’s movement has produced the most none college educated leaders, writers, authors, artists, etc. than any other movement. Finally the human factor, basically just goes back to ignorance we are all ignorant to some extent and unfortunately I don’t see it ever changing.

I agree that knowing that your body image is a hereditary trait that can help cope with some issues but through the decades body image has become a multidimensional issue with several underlying factors. One issue is the era you grew up in, for example in today’s world your body image has become a more prominent issue especially for young teens. You always see in movies or television shows how they depict certain characters on essentially how they look, an example can be the movie Mean Girls and how the rich developed divas are the so called popular ones and the dark ominous weird girls are automatically lesbians and are outcast in the high school world. In my high school we had similar situations but I individually could care less, I strolled into school in sweats, hopefully a clean tee shirt and socks and sandals. I understood that I am who I am and I can’t change that so why the hell not be comfortable. I also understand that some people don’t quite get that and if some girl wants to get more attention by wearing skimpy clothes I am definitely not opposed. I also understand my body is the way it is from ancestors and the region they were from. I can’t say I don’t wish I was a bit taller sometimes, so to cope with this I try and find situations where my body size is an advantage for me. Another issue for body image is cultural background and in some places a beautiful person may not be as beautiful in another. Also if we all were the same it would be a boring ass world to live in.

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