en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4278777 Comments by Gifford927 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/18/voices-from-the-classroom-302/#IDComment624946617 When Maziar called to talk to the class and he gave his thoughts, concerns and prayers to the class about the bombing and tragedy that happened at the Boston Marathon, I thought it was an awesome gesture. Iranians do get a bad rep from the American media and the American public, but that’s far from being accurate. Like Sam has said before about Iranians that do embrace American culture and do have a special liking for Americans. So when he called during class that Boston was in his prayers I really enjoyed that. When the one kid stood up and said his condolences for the people of Iran that are suffering from that earthquake. There should be more off this done more often. I bet more than 80% of the students on Tuesday had no idea that there were people injured by the earthquake in Iran. As well as the bombing in Baghdad that day because of the fact that our media was filled with only images from the Boston Marathon bombing. Which is why our media and news outlets are a bunch of bullshit. But that’s for a different time. I don’t know how many people form different countries Sam has that we could Skype with but I think that this class should do more of that when tragedies or mishaps happen. The media is always constantly beating down on the Middle East because of the fact we have troops over there and they believe they need to get them a bad rap just have our government be justified. I do believe that our attacks on the Middle East are just as bad as what those two jerk offs did in Boston. Our government believes that our attacks on the Middle East are justified but I truly believe they are not. These attacks do kill innocent people even though that is not the means of the operations. The basic picture here is that innocent people die everyday, and that willl not change for years. Michelle did say today when he stood up is that we need to keep and open perspective when it goes to things like this. We need to understand as to why and what is going on in the world. As to what I think as to why I believe that Americans do stereotype Muslims as terrorist is that most terrorist are muslim and there are muslims that are extremist. Like in the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, they were from a country close to the Middle East and they were muslim extremist. When people hear where they are from and what religious view they share, then they will generalize about those people. Just like I bet some Middle Easterns generalize about American Christians. Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:40:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/18/voices-from-the-classroom-302/#IDComment624946617 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/09/voices-from-the-classroom-298/#IDComment619491851 I believe there are quite a few factors in asking a woman or young lady (over the age of 18) if she had an orgasm or not. From what I’ve seen and heard is that men simply do not want the answer to that question. I believe that most men get more or less embarrassed when asking this question. No man wants to hear that him and his penis were not pleasurable for a woman. I feel like if a woman responded to that question in a negative manner, the man would be embarrassed as well as pissed off. From class today we learned that about 70% of men experience an orgasm during sexual relations while women only experience orgasms about 35% of the time. With this statistic obviously men are more satisfied than their woman counterpart. I believe that males knew that more times than not they are more satisfied that women and therefore they don’t ask that questions after sex. Also another reason that males don’t ask their female counterparts if they were satisfied or not is because they wont want to hear that they pulled the trigger too early. It’s obvious that females take longer to reach their orgasm compared to males, so if sex didn’t last that long chances are that males will not ask that question because they already know the answer. Another factor or reason that males do not ask females if they are satisfied is because some times guys just don’t care if the girl had an orgasm or not. I know a lot of guys that only care if they get off and have no feelings towards that for women. I know this especially happens more with college guys. Tons of guys go out every night (especially weekends) to get laid by an attractive random girl that they don’t have to care for or see again. It happens daily here up at Penn State. I would say the majority of guys are only looking for a one night and by having that mind set guys will only care if they get off. Like I said that it is probably the majority of males here, which doesn’t mean that there aren’t guys that don’t care about getting a girl off because there are. I also know a few guys that take pride in getting a girl off when they have sex with them. These guys are more or less the guys that care about establishing a “fuck buddy” and there for if they get a girl off odds are that they will have sex with them again. In all I have to believe that guys don’t ask girls the question if they were satisfied is because most men are simply scared/embarrassed to hear the answer. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:32:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/09/voices-from-the-classroom-298/#IDComment619491851 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/09/voices-from-the-classroom-298/#IDComment619491625 I believe there are quite a few factors in asking a woman or young lady (over the age of 18) if she had an orgasm or not. From what I’ve seen and heard is that men simply do not want the answer to that question. I believe that most men get more or less embarrassed when asking this question. No man wants to hear that him and his penis were not pleasurable for a woman. I feel like if a woman responded to that question in a negative manner, the man would be embarrassed as well as pissed off. From class today we learned that about 70% of men experience an orgasm during sexual relations while women only experience orgasms about 35% of the time. With this statistic obviously men are more satisfied than their woman counterpart. I believe that males knew that more times than not they are more satisfied that women and therefore they don’t ask that questions after sex. Also another reason that males don’t ask their female counterparts if they were satisfied or not is because they wont want to hear that they pulled the trigger too early. It’s obvious that females take longer to reach their orgasm compared to males, so if sex didn’t last that long chances are that males will not ask that question because they already know the answer. Another factor or reason that males do not ask females if they are satisfied is because some times guys just don’t care if the girl had an orgasm or not. I know a lot of guys that only care if they get off and have no feelings towards that for women. I know this especially happens more with college guys. Tons of guys go out every night (especially weekends) to get laid by an attractive random girl that they don’t have to care for or see again. It happens daily here up at Penn State. I would say the majority of guys are only looking for a one night and by having that mind set guys will only care if they get off. Like I said that it is probably the majority of males here, which doesn’t mean that there aren’t guys that don’t care about getting a girl off because there are. I also know a few guys that take pride in getting a girl off when they have sex with them. These guys are more or less the guys that care about establishing a “fuck buddy” and there for if they get a girl off odds are that they will have sex with them again. In all I have to believe that guys don’t ask girls the question if they were satisfied is because most men are simply scared/embarrassed to hear the answer. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:31:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/09/voices-from-the-classroom-298/#IDComment619491625 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/05/voices-from-the-classroom-294/#IDComment614178320 I personally find this question to be hilarious and very interesting. I think it just on how people are raised and the society norms. I know plenty of white males that do enjoy hooking up and talking to women of a different race. I’m from just outside of Philadelphia and grew up with mostly white people, there was only about a handful of black/Latino students in my school. So obviously I can make the case that people tend to stick with what they know, white women. Another factor that comes into play, I think, is that how the media or television depicts inter racial relationships. Think of you five favorite television shows and if there are any inter racial relationships on the show, chances are there are not. It’s just that common because of conservative white people. My family is pretty conservative and my cousin was dating a black guy but my family and especially her parents wanted no parts about it. I understand that it is completely bull shit and something like that should be allowed to happen without no one talking negatively about. I would have no problem dating a black or latino or Asian girls, I do think that they are attractive though I do prefer white women. Which again then bring me back to my original point that people prefer to stick to what they feel accustomed to. I feel that inter racial dating and gay right are very similar. I obviously know that two males should be entitled to have the same marriage rights as a man and a women but like most people in the world they like to stick to what they know. I do believe people are able to change, and by giving gays rights that they are entitled to and that they deserve is a huge step in the right direction and looks good. With inter racial dating, the more people are exposed to it the more likely that they would be willing to accept it. It’s 2013 people need to understand that as we grow as a nation change does happen because that’s what needs to happen in order to become a great nation. Over the next decade or two people are going to be more accepting of inter racial dating and white males will be able to approach minority women regardless if they are drunk or not. I don’t totally agree with that all males don’t approach minority women when they are sober, I think though its probably close to eighty percent of white males. Hopefully it can change for the better and hopefully fast. There is nothing wrong with have a good conversation with a woman of different race, chances are they have something good to say. Mon, 8 Apr 2013 03:52:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/05/voices-from-the-classroom-294/#IDComment614178320 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/28/voices-from-the-classroom-284/#IDComment608626319 Well I personally think that middle ground on this issue would have to be acceptance and empathy. People of this great nation and people across the globe need to recognize and accept what has happened to the Native Americans in the past and empathize with how the current Native Americans are living. The Native Americans are suffering and it has to do with how the Europeans treated them when they first arrived to steal their land by conquering it. I feel that this issue has been put aside from other foreign issues that have gone on in the recent years, which I believe is so ridiculous. The whole issue with the Native Americans and their current living conditions to illiteracy to their suicide rate and its not in the fore front of issues that the American government needs to tackle is to me mind blowing. I honestly can believe that people are suffering and I understand that a lot of people are suffering here in the United States, epically in the inner cities, and we constantly give foreign aid to other countries but yet we are not helping the Native Americans that need help the most. This issue is more than helping out people because we stole their land; it is about helping out people whom live here in the United States who desperately need all the help and aid they can get their hands on. There has to be something that the United States government could do in order do increase their living conditions by 100% and even that 100% is not even that much better. Mon, 1 Apr 2013 03:59:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/28/voices-from-the-classroom-284/#IDComment608626319 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-279/#IDComment603528816 Is nepotism socially acceptable? I would have to yes in deed it is. It’s a great way to get jobs that you wouldn’t normally get. To me as a white male, I believe that nepotism is more socially acceptable than affirmative action. Nepotism is not only more socially acceptable than affirmative action, nepotism is taught to us. I’m not by any means saying that I agree with that or that I believe that nepotism is more fair than affirmative action because I don’t. Growing up I was always being told to have a large and successful contact list. I personally believe that nepotism is not a bad thing. It’s helping someone get a job that you care about and because they know you, its more a less someone putting in a good word. Like nepotism, affirmative action has its place in society as well. Why we have affirmative action in the first place is to correct wrongs in our society that occurred in the past. In this case, the wrongs were that we gave much more power and advantages to the majority (white males) when it came to opportunities to get ahead professionally. Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:00:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-279/#IDComment603528816 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/21/voices-from-the-classroom-257/#IDComment578757728 This question is very interesting. I come from a family that is pretty religious but I don’t completely affiliate myself with religion, it’s just not for me. Having said that, I would be pretty shocked to hear that God is not real and that churches are bullshit and thieves. I would say that I would be on the level Monti Teo was when he found out that his college girl friend was not real and in fact a guy. But when you think about it all religions can’t be right, can it? I don’t know though. Image if all religions were in fact correct and all the big man behind them (God) were real. Crazy thought. I feel like our society needs religion and beliefs of a higher power to be okay with death. For instance if you ever seen “Lost” (Spoiler Alert) in the final season they end up being dead but are waiting in purgatory to get into heaven. In the final scene of the show all the religions are represented and that in order to get into heaven they must go with the people that had the most impact on their lives. This is defiantly a great question that can be debated for years. It’s actually a cool concept if there was no such thing as god. People would riot in the streets and use the media as a platform for their testimony for why God does exist. I have an aunt and uncle that are missionaries out in Cambodia and I could see them being so upset if God didn’t exist. They have been out there for I believe 7 years now and for one day have all their work be claimed for nothing is beyond me. It would be so upsetting. But I could totally see that idea that god doesn’t exist being factual. Hey maybe one day it will be proven and we will have the chance to see how the world would respond to this news. I know for one thing that the catholic church would be in tears and denial about the subject. CNN would play nothing but this story all day. Even sports center would have their own take in this news. They would be showing players tweets all day and would interview athletes. This news has the potential for every one to way in their own opinions and feelings on the subjects. Personally I believe that there is a god and there is someone who puts us in situations where we can grow as humans. Even though I don’t believe in catholic church because asking donations for believing in something is outrageous and thievery. By the way Ben Afflack got snubbed at the Oscars for best director. Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:58:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/21/voices-from-the-classroom-257/#IDComment578757728 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/14/voices-from-the-classroom-249/#IDComment573739918 When Sam first asked the clicker question if you would visit Iran, I said that I would defiantly not visit. I felt that I would not be safe as an American visiting over there and that it Iran is in the dead center of the Middle East which is surrounded by Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (whom most Americans have negative opinions of and United States military presence). Then I thought about it, and came to the conclusion that I would totally enjoy myself visiting the country of Iran. Someday in my life, when I can afford it, I want to travel the world and see what it all has to offer. The video that Sam showed us of Iranians partying and having a great time is actually eye opening. Never for one minute did I believe that Americans and Iranians have similar tastes in music and night life. Personally I never thought that they had a night life. The video made it seem that we would fit right in with the Iranians and that Iran is not so bad. So after that video I actually felt like it would be pretty safe for me to visit Iran. The video was a good introduction in to how Iranians teens and young adults are. But it wasn’t until our class Skyped with the Iranian (I forget his name now) that I felt like visiting Iran is something that needs to be crossed off my bucket list. I really enjoyed Skyping with the Iranian, I though he was very funny and that we could video chat with someone half way across the world is super cool. I thought his response to his favorite American show was really funny with it being “Friends” and “How I Met Your Mother.” How I Met Your Mother is one of my all time favorites because of Neal Patrick Harris and Jason Segal and after watching that Iranian video I can see how it would be his as well. I thought that our video chat with him helped bring more insight in to the Iranian way of life and that how they are not much different then us in terms of similar tastes in pop culture. The last thing, Goli (the Iranian girl in our class) has help give people with Iranian decent a great wrap in the eyes of our class. I think that she a pretty tremendous young woman that speaks her mind and that I believe now she will be able to tell people that she is Iranian when most people ask. I believe this past week in Soc 119, our class has had an awaking experience in how we perceive Iranians and their culture. I look forward to this week’s class and especially talking about the $12.37Million raised at THON. #FTK Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:11:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/14/voices-from-the-classroom-249/#IDComment573739918 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-243/#IDComment568343813 Personally for me, I would consider joining the military for multiple reasons. First of all, my best friend and freshman year roommate is in the military as an Army Ranger and have the most respect for him getting his life back on track and protecting our great nation that we constantly take for granted. Personally I believe that there are only few time frames that would allow me to join the military or not. The first time I thought about joining the military was right after I graduated high school. I got into both Penn State and Oregon but I did have thoughts of possibly joining the Army. I eventually decided to come to Penn State because I had friends from high school that were going and it was much closer to home. I believe everyone should consider the military right after high school if they believe that college is not right for them. Also another opportunity for people to join the military would be if they drop out of school due to bad grades and the military would help them get in the right direction for a career path or discipline to come back to school and get good grades (which is what my best friend is planning to do in the next few years). Then the last time I believe someone should consider the military is if they can not find a job after college and use the military for there first job which would only help them down the line with getting the job they want. Personally if I can’t find a job after school then the military will be my future for the next years to come. Another reason that I would join the military would be to know the feeling of war and the trill of shooting at the opponent will they fire back. I play first person shooters when it comes to video games (I understand that they aren’t at all similar) and really enjoy them. Personally I would like to know the feeling of legally taking a life of another person. I know that sounds a bit messed up but I believe that I could live with that unlike some soldiers and other people. I believe that the military is a great organization for people to get their lives on track even if one does not plan on making it a career. They help with paying back loans from college along with also paying for one to go back to college to earn or add to ones degree. The military is a great service that lets one see the world, protects our freedom daily, and I believe it’s a honor for one to serve their country. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:28:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-243/#IDComment568343813 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-233/#IDComment562245843 How do I define racism? I do believe that racism is always around us and has a negative affect on our society. We experience racism daily in forms of jokes with our friends, videos we see on the Internet, movies and television, to even stand up comedy. Merriam-Webster’s definition of racism is: 1. A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, 2. Racial prejudice or discrimination. I would have to agree with Merriam-Webster but in my eyes and eyes of my friends we see it a little differently. If someone was to say something negative about an entire race in a public forum or towards a member of that group, I consider that racist. Though I personally don’t really have feelings or an opinion towards if a racist comment was made in front of me. For example if a white person was to make a racist comment (By the way I am a white male) I’m not going to get offended nor say anything. Personally I believe that we, as a society, has moved forward collectively and that racist thing will be still said but they are not as powerful as they once were. Our society has moved forward that we have a black president that was elected twice for office. In the 1800’s we thought that a black president would never enter the oval office. Then even in the 1990’s we knew that our country was not yet ready for a black president. It’s 2013 and President Obama is in his second term in office and I can only image that our society will move forward with racial discrimination. Progress has been made over the past one hundred plus years. Mon, 4 Feb 2013 04:35:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-233/#IDComment562245843 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/16/voices-from-the-classroom-227/#IDComment551422389 What does race mean to me? Well in my opinion race is what a person uses to affiliate with a group of people. Prime example is that people usually affiliate with being white, black, Asian, and Hispanic, ect. My first thought after this question was that I use race to basically put people into groups. Like if I’m telling a story a person of a different race is a part of it I’m going to say “this black guy,” “that black girl,” or even “this Asian kid.” I do not believe I’m being racist at all by say this. I believe that is just how my friends and I put people into groups when talking about people. I believe in out society we are constantly putting people into groups. For example, when you talk about a person’s social status you can say either “poor” or “rich” but you can even break them down further into “lower class” “middle class” upper middle class” and “upper class.” But to get on the topic of race, I just believe it’s how we but people into groups. Though obviously all white people are not the same race nor are all black people because of their heritage. When you really think and break down “What Race is exactly,” you have to account for the different ethnicities that come with being white or black. There are members of the white race that are Italian, German, French, British, Canadian, Russian, Irish, ect. I’m Italian and German, mostly Italian but do have German characteristics that are more emanate. When asked how do I define myself, I would say I’m a white male with Italian and German dissent. Yeah I would say that where your family is from does play a huge deal into ones race. But yet again it doesn’t. Ok, hear this out, when you are in a group of your friends (for this lets say all of the same race) you are going to be able to distinguish where your friends families are from. Like if you have a drinker in the group, he is mostly going have family from Ireland. (I mean this obviously place apart in the case for stereotypes) But I believe that you go into depth more with members of your own race than others of different race. I don’t know though. To answer the question of “What does race mean to me?” I’m going to have to say that race is how people of the world generalize and put people into certain groups. These groups are people to have the feeling of belongingness in something. I just feel that race is a very simple question to answer and honestly, it’s just to put people into groups. But hey that’s just me. Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:19:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/16/voices-from-the-classroom-227/#IDComment551422389 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/17/voices-from-the-classroom-151/#IDComment343628629 I feel that if your parents and the rest of your family are straight than coming out to your parents would be very difficult rather than if you have member of your family that are gay. If your parents are gay then they already accept gayness as a norm because they are gay. Though it does depend on how your parents and family have been exposed to people that are gay. I think that the older generation was raised very different because their times were very different. I was raised in a catholic Italian family and there’s no way in hell that if me or any of my cousins to come out that it would be acceptable, no way. I was raised along with my cousins that gay ain’t that way. I think that my entire family has this view because they were never exposed to it in their family or friends. My grandparents had no gay members of their family nor did they have gay friends. I think that it trickled down generations after them. My parents do not have any gay friends nor do they have co-workers that are openly gay. And the same goes for my aunts and uncles. I think it was drilled into their head that being gay is wrong and it’s taught in the catholic religion that it’s the wrong way of life. I personally don’t have any gay friends nor do my three siblings and out of my 20 other cousins only my one cousin whom is a year younger than me only has one gay friend. I’ve been raised catholic all my life and obviously catholics don not like gay but I really don’t care for gay people. I am trying to say that I don’t have hate for gay people cause I don’t but do I think that it’s right, honestly no. Though I’m not going to treat people different because their gay, I’m going to be like my normal self and be nice to them because I’m a nice person. It’s just that I don’t agree with how they conduct their sexual orientation. It’s just something that bothers me, I don’t know to explain it with out getting chewed out, I just don’t agree with the concept. Honestly it’s just how I was raised. I’m not at all saying that being gay isn’t for me. People choose what to do with their own lives and I can’t tell them what to do. Should gay marriage be legal? I say yeah why not, it’s their life. I just personally am not going to go that route. I would call myself more than a bit homophobic, but that’s just the way I was raised. Very few people in my high school were gay. I just didn’t see it much at all, and that’s why I believe I have this view. In my family it would not fly at all being gay, and I think a lot and I’m thinking that close to 75% of families here in the US it wouldn’t fly with them either. It’s just one of those topics that are frowned upon. People are more open to it than I am. My family is run on more on the older traditional lifestyle. Sorry if I offended any readers but these are my thoughts and it wasn’t meant to upset anyone but just give you a view on how I feel. One Love. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:20:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/17/voices-from-the-classroom-151/#IDComment343628629 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/29/voices-from-the-classroom-139/#IDComment328062189 I personally believe that this is a very interesting topic that we should talk about. I never gave this issue much thought throughout my life. The only time that I actually did is back in my junior year of high school. I went to a Central Bucks high school about 50 minutes outside of Philadelphia. The majority of the schools population was white, about 95% I believe, and we never had to go through metal detectors like Lana said inner city kids go through on a daily basis. But there was only one time in our schools history, which is only like 8 years old now, that they did bring in metal detectors for the students to walk through. It was the 28th of February and a few days before that (ok now our school has a rock that we can spray paint and other rival schools can spray paint, usually for big sporting events) some kids spray painted the rock white and wrote in pink that they were going to blow up the school on the 28th. They called themselves the pink monkeys or something but it got local media attention and Philadelphia media came in as well. But it was a hug deal and they brought in metal detectors for that day and people had to empty out their backpacks. People were actually scared and a lot of students didn’t come to school that day. It was the second lowest attendance ever (first being the Phillies 2008 World Series Parade Day) but it was something an upper middle class school had never seen. Now when Lana says that every day inner city kids have to deal with that on a daily basis that has to get on everyone nerves. The only way that I can see this as possible reasons for the schools to do this is the following: teacher safety (being that the schools are scared of their own students that they might do something unethical, but that’s racist), to keep their students safe (meaning that the amount of violence with weapons in the inner city is out of control and the need to stop it or because of gangs, but then that is racist because inner city school are predominantly black), or because they have seen what can happen at other schools with weapons, such as Columbine, but if that is that case than why not all schools have metal detectors in the schools. I personally believe that all high schools need metal detectors in the schools because you never know which nut case is going to snap. It could be anyone from any race to snap and do something crazy to his or her school. By having metal detectors in only inner city schools where it is predominantly blacks that attend, I believe it is racist and that it should be a national requirement for all schools to have them. Don’t tell me a rich school district can’t afford it because inner city schools with much less of a budget have them. Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:19:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/29/voices-from-the-classroom-139/#IDComment328062189 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-128/#IDComment322969961 I personally think that this is an unfortunate situation. Though I think the statement is pretty accurate. If a black man shot an unarmed white kid or a white person in general, I think it would be like the Salem witch trails and people would want his head. That is the current country we live in. It’ s a shame because it says a lot about our society and what we expect for certain groups. Blacks have been always thrown in jail more times than not compared to the white race. It’s the sick stereo typical world we live in. Black people had absolutely the right reaction to this appalling tragedy. The kid gets off because he’s white. I thought this nation was to have each person treated equal, yeah right. No one knows when that statement will become true, no one. If I had to guess, I think that maybe in the next 40 years or so, after our parents have passed and the world is more cultured and have a deeper understanding about race then it will be drastically better. Until then I believe that it’s really not going to change much. But to get back on topic, the whites need to do much more to raise awareness for issues like this. Everyone could tell you that this isn’t the first time something like this has happen. I bet that this white kid will have a great team of lawyers that will be able to get him off if this ever does go to court. Coming from a white male, Sam, you got to have more men or women of color come into the class and do guest speaking. Not only is it fresh every time, but also it helps get the point of this class out to everyone. Race awareness, the struggles of different races and their perspective are the points of the class, I believe anyways. I cant recall fully if it was the video shown in class that had a sketch from Chris Rock’s stand up about gun laws, but Rock has a point. Imagine if a bullet cost $10,000. Now that would stop a lot of gun violence. I know the counter argument that people will result to knifes and other objects but I think it would only help. Here’s a story that happened about 6-8 months ago that probably most haven’t heard before. Back in my hometown of Jamison, PA (Middle class to upper middle class mostly white suburb of Philadelphia) there was a white marine that came back from Iraq and went nuts. He was in Richmond, Va with his daughter and wife. Killed his wife and another person drove up to my hometown and killed the wife’s mother then dropped his daughter at a hospital then had a shootout with cops by a bar 5 miles from the hospital. Ended up killing himself in the end, but the point is that gun laws are too lax and if it was a black marine it would have made headline news. Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:33:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-128/#IDComment322969961 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/22/voices-from-the-classroom-110/#IDComment300957211 I believe that honestly that the only thing that we can do is just promote awareness about this subject. Anything else is just a waste of time and I don’t believe that it will work. I’m not even sure that awareness will even help. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion in the privacy of their own home. I was talking to my buddy about this class last weekend our way back to state. We came to the conclusion that we are more cultured than generations before us and it has slowly gotten better. But we have to be the “bigger man” and not let something like race bother us. We all are humans and made equally but on this planet it is not that way, and it’s a shame. I believe that its not going to change much in our lifetime and that’s pretty sad. Too many people think negatively about this subject and I just don’t see it changing. When Sam pulled up those charts about SATs and how income effects scores as a whole, was a little shocking it me but in another sense when I thought about it wasn’t. I started off high school in a lower middle class school district then in my sophomore year I moved to an upper middle school district. I stayed friendly with my boys from my old school and we took our SATs together and kids at my upper middle class school did significantly better than the other kids. The difference in median income was something like $40,000 - $45,000. And everything about those two were totally different, the students, the teachers, and the facilities. It was a total culture shock and it took me awhile to adjust. People will walk this Earth hopefully for many years and I while they do I hope stereotypes don’t exist but while we walk this Earth stereotypes will exist. Whites will dominate the earth during my life time and hopefully the black, Hispanics, and Asians will rises in power after I’m dead and gone. As a white person I understand I have it good, no wait I have it great but for my black homies I hope they become an equal. I do have many black friends, but it doesn’t mean that I still don’t crack a racist joke every once an a while, I do. Honestly black, white, Asian who doesn’t. We can joke about that, but when it comes down to it, we need to understand that we are all equal, not just in God’s eyes, but in everyone’s. I hope my grand children live in a world, which isn’t bias on race, but everyone is treated as an equal. Our kids will not live in that word but hopefully look and us as a whole in the future and hopefully see that we will once be equal. Until that day comes, I don’t know how the world will respond to productivity to racism. Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:17:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/22/voices-from-the-classroom-110/#IDComment300957211 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295309264 On the professional stage here in America, each sport is dominated by one race. The blacks have the NBA and the NFL, while the whites have the MLB and the NHL, and the Hispanics/ Latinos have soccer. Though each sport has superstars of most races, the Asians one have a superstar in baseball. Jeremy Lin is not a superstar, hes just a popular player right now. He hasn’t played play 7 games as a starter (his 8th being in process right now) and other than the Lakers, whom aren’t what they are used to be but still a solid squad, the other teams are all poop. The teams are just flat out bad. Lin has the potential to be a superstar and his stats are good but he has Melo on his squad that loves to shoot the ball and Amare doesn’t help either. His role will be an assist man and maybe somewhere to 10-15 pts average as time goes on. As you can tell I’m not really buying Mr. Super Lintendo just yet. The Knicks play Dallas on Sunday, Atlanta on Wednesday, and Miami on Thursday of next week. I want to see what he can do against those to teams before I can comfortably say what Lin is and what he can be. I enjoy sports A LOT, and love analyzing them. I understand them, well other than soccer and tennis, well. And it’s not just an average basic understanding of them. I’m going to make my living from understanding sports, so if after next week I hope to have him figured out. Also Floyd Money Mayweather is right in his tweet about Lin getting all the attention because he’s Asian. Sorry I just wanted to touch on Sam’s discussion on Lin in my own way. But back to different sports being dominated by different races. Blacks dominate basketball because blacks are more athletic and stronger. Also it’s an inner city game that like soccer is cheap to play and they honestly enjoy to play it. I have always said that blacks can dominate at whatever sport they want. Hockey, they can dominate it if they really tried. The few things about hockey is that it is a cold sport and lets be honest, blacks don’t like the cold that much. Also hockey is expensive to play it competitively. Blacks do dominate the NFL, but not fully. Yes they have the most current starts throughout the NFL but the NFL quarterback position, which is the most important role of sports, is dominated by whites. How many black starting quarter backs have won a Super Bowl? That’s right only one. But in all honesty we all want the best athletes out there. And the blacks just bring it. Races are just breed to be play certain sports. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:18:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295309264 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/10/voices-from-the-classroom-102/#IDComment289269887 My mans Will is straight out of Compton black. Black like not white. But honestly it’s not odd to me that Will considers him self black. The man looks black, why shouldn’t he consider himself white? Why because his mommy is? Listen man, your either black, white, brown, Hispanic style tan, and even yellow (sorry my Asian friends, stereotypes exist). One can be mixed but that’s only if look like you can pull it off, just ask my boy Derrick Jeter (plays shortstop for the New York Yankees). Society has taught us its not about how we are as people or what your heritage is but like my man Will said its about your skin complexion. Will got his papa docks dominate genes when it came to skin color and will always be considered black even if he tells you that his mother was white. Why try to convince people that you’re a future person (meaning a mix, it’s a reference from Kevin on the hit Showtime drama Shameless) when people just have it set in their mind that “hey man, your black.” As for his mother not having feeling towards what Will considers himself is a bit strange but hey I’m a white man (call me frosty the snowman). I feel like that when he’s around his mother he should consider himself a mixed bread. Well that’s what I think she might think and want but hey I could and might be completely wrong and she accepted that when she named her child Will that he will always be considered black by his fellow peers and has moved past that issue years ago. People will always identify will as a black man, unless he pulls some Michael Jackson shit and turns white. Will your next Halloween costume should be the white Michael, your mom will love it. Now I don’t believe that my fellow white peers would accept that the fact that Will could be deemed white and I’m assuming that Will’s fellow black peers wouldn’t accept the fact that Will is white if he considered himself white. (But you know what they say about assuming) But no one goes out saying “I’m white! I’m White” or “I’m a mix! I’m a mix!” when you look black it just doesn’t happen. If it does and I witness it, I’ll let you know, until then I like to think that I’m right. Society will tell you what color you are; it’s not your decision (well unless your Michael R.I.P.). Listen Sam, my man Will is black, no not a mix, that boy is black. Will is right to think he’s black, cause god damn it, he’s black. He will always be black till he’s six feet deep. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:48:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/10/voices-from-the-classroom-102/#IDComment289269887 http://thechive.com/2012/01/30/daily-afternoon-randomness-49-photos-77/the-monday-dar-4-3/#IDComment279174563 what a don. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:22:41 +0000 http://thechive.com/2012/01/30/daily-afternoon-randomness-49-photos-77/the-monday-dar-4-3/#IDComment279174563 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/26/voices-from-the-classroom-92/#IDComment276422772 What have I learned since November’s events here at Penn State? Well for one people can’t all be trusted, and what I mean by that is that people have power for a few reasons and that is the trust factor. Take Mr. Sandusky for a prime example, he held keys to the locker room well after he was a coach here. Now why is that? It was because he was trusted to do the right things and not use his power for immoral things. Another key example is the President and the Athletic Director. Both are at the TOP of the University’s food chain. Both earned Coach Paterno’s trust to do the right thing, which was give Sandusky to authorities (wait actually that is the legal way to handle it, ops um I think someone screw that one up. Can you say “JAIL TIME”) and another to start the necessary clean up for the university when the press would eat the story up. But nooooooo they wanted to protect the Penn State Brand. WAIT your telling me that people that were put in these places to handle big things, to get paid to MAKE BIG DECISIONS abused their power and trust with the public to protect the Penn State Brand? Now wait the seems a little fucked up, no wait it is fucked up. I don’t like to publish the f bomb on the internet but I believe that this is the correct term for describing this situation. Sorry Mom. But come on man JoePa trusted you two to handle this and clean it up, I’m sorry but that man gets paid to coach division one football and not worry about big decisions about the university. Let me get back on track. Trust is something that everyone has and you know what once trust is gone, what do you have left. Well for those three idiots they have jail and good old Big Bob to look forward to. Now another lesson I learned is yo the media sucks. Like they suck. Granted this is prolly biased because we go to Penn State and we didn’t like the media shit talking us but man they suck. I’m in communications and even currently majoring in broadcast journalism, but man the media is rough. They will do what ever they want whenever they want to get that story and trample any one in sight. It is a dog eat dog world out there with those guys and its kinda disgusting even. But my big lesson is trust. Trust is something I hold close to the heart. If I trust you to do something damn right you do it. Trust is your word. Your word is your life. You break your word and your just a asshole that I want nothing to do with. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:49:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/26/voices-from-the-classroom-92/#IDComment276422772 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/20/questions-from-class/#IDComment270080047 In my opinion, the American Dream could even the same as the Italian or Asian Dream. What just because the dream is fulfilled or not fulfilled in America it is entitled “The American Dream”? Personally I think it’s a bunch of malarkey. Each dream is unique to the individual but has the same principles, which is being successful, live freely, and give to your family more than what was given to you before. In my mind it is just something that cannot have a specific title. In a way I don’t even believe Americans came up with the title of “The American Dream.” I personally think it was citizens of other countries that heard that America was a free country. They would sit at home or at work and talk about if they could get away from their current lifestyle and go to America they would make the most of it. Thus making the so-called American Dream. Americans do take a back seat to “The American Dream” meaning that majority of Americans take what they have for granted. I personally believe an immigrant to the United States bust their balls way more than what a normal American does. Most Americans don’t realize that either their grandparents or great grandparents came over here by boat to start something special for THEM. Yes it was for US, maybe not intentionally but in the long run it is. Our generation like I said takes it for granted that we live here and we can do whatever we want if put effort into it. I don’t know what all my grandparents and great grandparents did before they came here because of the fact I just don’t know my family history in depth. Though I am closer to my family on my mother’s side and her father came from southern Italy (so yes I have some brother in me) with his mother and brothers and sisters when he was five I believe. They did have some money, though not much but they opened a pizza place in Philadelphia (yes I know typical Italian stereotype) and he worked there until after he finished his years at La Salle University. Anyways keeping the story short he worked his ass off and became very successful. Every American Dream is unique but in some cases people for have the same dream. Most people were I come from, which is mostly white Philly suburban area with upper middle class, is a college degree, spouse and kids, home in the suburbs with a white picket fence, and a good paying job. Mine is very similar to that with just one exception, man I just want to enjoy life to the fullest. Not like just seeing everything in the world but just enjoying life. I see a lot of people who hate it and those people need some meds. I would give anything for a nice relaxing life that yes does evolve a job because lets be serious American runs on money but I just want to enjoy life. One Life Live It. Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:52:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/20/questions-from-class/#IDComment270080047