Throughout this whole scandal here at Penn State it has taken its toll everyone is different ways. It is such a tragedy and it will take a long time for the University, the student, and the victims to bounce back from it and make a brighter future for them. With everything that has been going it felt like it has been forever and it has taken so much time to get to the point where we are now, but it has only been a few weeks; A few weeks of emotions, disappointments and devastation. It has hit us in waves that really reflect Sam’s “stages”. First we were in disbelief, and we started riots for JoePa, then we recognized what the situation really was and had a candle light vigil for the victims, and then even though we lost the game, last Saturday was a brighter day in State College, and now we are bouncing back, slowly. What I am trying to say is that even though it is only been a few weeks of this dramatic, scary, and horrific time here at Penn State, I think a lot of the student have learned a lot about ourselves and other through this difficult time. I have learned a lot about what Joe Paterno meant to this University and what he meant to student who live in the area their whole lives and to people who look at Paterno as a father figure. I can honestly say that I understand where these people are coming from and I do see the passion he has put back into this University. On the other hand, I have seen the dark sided view that many share outside of our bubble here at Penn State. Many people have lost respect for Paterno and many believe that he was wrong. I cannot say I agree 100% but I can see where they are coming from, especially someone who has not experienced what we do here for every football game. Now the one thing that I learned from all of this is that when it comes to someone’s opinion, you kind of have to just listen to them and you may completely not agree with them but you just have to hear them out and try and be in their shoes. I see people getting into these heated debates about the situation and I see it going nowhere. Mostly because they are just shouting out these opinionated views and using them as facts, which is completely wrong. There is no point in fighting over what this has become because the fact is, despite whether Paterno deserved what he got or not, the real issue does not involve him. Now the real issue is about the victims of Sandusky and his criminal acts. The most important thing that I learned about all of this is that sometimes it may kill you to put what is right in front of you to the side and focus on who the real victims are and that they need and deserve your attention more than ever.

What has been happening recently is extremely tragic and a huge blow to the University, the students, and the people involved in the incidents. It is a shame that it happened and a bigger shame that is has been hiding behind some of Penn State’s most well know figures. I do think this incident has affected us as Penn State student and the views of other all over the county as Penn State students. Personally, I am glad to see Sandusky’s case finally be prosecuted and him finally get in trouble for his disgusting actions. Unfortunately, this sad event occurred but despite the schools reputations and ego, the truth is the best thing to come out of this. The most embarrassing part of these recent events is the student body’s reaction to Joe Paterno’s firing. I am personally disappointed with this fact and I personally don’t think he deserves this type of press on him or for his career here at Penn State. The thing is, this is about the kids and the reputations of our school. The board of trusties claimed that the firing of Paterno and Spanier was for the best reputation of our school and for the “face of the university”, but what do the rioting and the destructive nature of the student body show others about our school? The past 2 day has been straight coverage of Penn State students completely trashing our school and downtown. We have portrayed as a school that starts riots for the most random things and half the time people don’t even know what their cause is. People simply riot for the sake of rioting. Did Joe Paterno really want us to do this for him? I am going to go out on a whim and say that this is the exact opposite of what Paterno wanted for his students he has cared so much about for the past 62 years. I am confident in saying this because when students and the press went to Joe’s house on Saturday night, Paterno said, you kids should be going to bed, get your rest you have studying to do. And he also said to “pray for those children”. Joe Paterno would not want us to riot because he himself is more concerned about the kids who have been stripped from their innocence than his own job. The saddest part is that the rest of the world, who thinks Joe is a cover up for Sandusky’s criminal acts, doesn’t see the real passion this man has not only for his football team, but for Penn State and for the rights of the innocent children who were victims in this tragedy. It is a very sad time to be a student here at Penn State because the real world doesn’t realize what we represent here at Penn State because of the actions of a few people and the emotional outburst of the student population.

This is a very broad topic to discuss, especially when it comes to how hardworking a certain race is. I think any immigrant (illegally) will be hardworking and willing to do a job an American wouldn’t. This is obvious because without legalization, there is no other way to get work and support a family. Now it is obvious that you are comparing Mexicans to Americans because Mexicans are the stereotypical “immigrant” and makes up most of the illegal immigrant population in the United States. Now the question was “why do you think Mexicans are harder working than Americans and why won’t the Americans do the hard labor jobs?”. Well this is a very biased statement because just because an American doesn’t prefer to do hard labor doesn’t mean that that individual is not hard working. The American standard now today is that you must go to college and graduate with a good degree and good grades to get a job in the future. By all means this is not easy at all! If that is not a hard working individual who graduates college with a high grade point average in a strong major, I do not know what is. Once again another point about the question, we cannot simply generalize Mexicans at the illegal Mexican immigrants who are here in the United States because that does not reflect all Mexicans. Honestly do you think it would take a “lazy” Mexican to risk their lives to smuggle their family into the United States to work a low wage job of hard labor just to support their family? No. I personally think those are the hardest working of the Mexican population. Now that being said, there may be plenty of Mexicans in Mexico who are very lazy and content with their lives in Mexico. Now for the second part of the question; why won’t Americans working hard labor? Personally, I think that Americans think we are too good to do jobs that are constantly strenuous physically and financially. But in a way, it is true. Parents pay thousands of dollars for their children to go to school, graduate with good degrees and get the best job they can get. They don’t want their kids to settle for low paying jobs that work for long hours of the day. You don’t bust your ass for four year or more to work these types of jobs. That is why it is so easy to hire people who are illegal to do it for cheap because they have no other choice. I think it is wrong to say that one race is harder working than the other because there are so many gapes to take into consideration. When you have no other choice to support yourself and your family, you will do anything you have to, even if it means working a crappy job for low pay.

It seems like there is always a discussion when it come to a person hanging out with a certain group, in particular, a group that is predominately a different race than their own. I think this is a stupid assumption to point out because the fact is that this is pointed out usually when someone of color hangs out with a white group or vice versa. In reality we don’t even know what defines “white”. We may consider Russian or German “white”, but why? So in reality, there are so many people hanging out outside their race or ethnicity! Now for people who are colored who hang out in other racial groups and white that hang out in other racial groups, I do not think it is acting as a poser at all. I personally think that you will hang out with people you enjoy or are similar to base on your interest and such. I have friends who I consider part of my direct group of friends or best friends who are Asian, Black, Arabic, and white. I can honestly say I have a friend in each one of the categories who I consider one of my closest best friends. My best friend in the world who I consider my brother is Asian! He may be more American than I am too! I personally don’t believe that any of these people are “posers” and I can honestly say I don’t really look at their race as a wall to overcome at all. I am perfectly comfortable around them no matter what the situation. All of these friends of mine also have different groups of friends they are involved in. my black friends hang out with other blacks and same goes for the Asians and Arabs. I think it is stupid to analyze the obvious situations and call these people out as posers when the people who don’t enjoy themselves in a certain group are the real posers. Think about it, if you are hanging out with a certain group of people despite your unhappiness of the situation, why are you doing it? Maybe there are posers out there who hang out with other racial groups for social status and such but it’s usually because they are too afraid to challenge someone’s opinion of themselves or other. For example, maybe a black person only hangs out with blacks because he may worry about what other black will think of him if he hangs out with white people or maybe he is worried about the white people not accepting him and vice versa. Our social status has overcome our lives; no one can make decisions for themselves anymore because it has already been made by society. This is ridiculous because people should ultimately make themselves happy and be with whatever group they are more happy with without worrying about being a poser or accused or anything else.

I think that the stages of “White People” are very interesting. These stages are related to racism like most people would think and thought. I personally think that no one can classify themselves under one stage though. If you say that you neglect or disregard race in your everyday lifestyle, you are insane! There are so many subliminal thoughts that contain race (not necessarily racist) that run through so many peoples thoughts 24/7, you just don’t know it. I think if you consider yourself a stage one, you are either naive or don’t realize what you are thinking. See now I think it is funny that there are two stages that classify whites as “bashing” white or “bashing” colors because whites should feel guilty or because blacks need to stop using slavery as an excuse for their problems. This is funny because it is true, there are people who do this and it is ridiculously obvious. Also, Sam did a wonderful job of picking out a student that illustrated these stages very well. The kid who was afraid to find the darkest black person was hilarious. But back to my point, I see parts of all these stages, in myself, and in my friends and other. I don’t believe that any one person can classify themselves as any one stage, or even two. I think that they fall under at least three stages. And depending the situation and other factors, determines the stage and how you act. Now for myself, I think I fall under stage two to stage 6. I cannot say that I don’t think about or take into consideration race because I would be lying so stage one is a definite no. I do take race into consideration so basically, like everyone else who does, that falls into any other stages that think of race, must fall under stage two. So basically by default you must fall under at least two stages. Now for the rest of my stages that I fall under I can honestly see myself acting certain ways that fall under each stage, it all just depends on the situation. I do feel that there are many white people out there that are very racist towards blacks or colored people that should be bashed or put down. And on the other end I also think there are so many blacks that blame slavery and minority for all of their problems. It is always easier to blame someone else. So I can see everyone’s side of the argument. So it is very hard to classify myself under one let alone three to four stages. I personally think that stages are not the correct word for these, the should be called situational stages maybe.

There are many reasons as to why girls wear certain things and why guys wear certain things. I have to say that I cannot say from a girls perspective as to why they wear heals and other things but I think they do because they try to impress guys. First off let me say that, personally, I don’t understand why girls wear heals because they look so uncomfortable and it makes the guy they are with look shorter. It is stupid! But I cannot complain about how the girls dress, especially on the weekends at Penn State. They insist on wearing small skirts, high heels, a low cut blouse and no jacket, even in 10 degree weather. For guys, we can wear jeans, a long sleeve shirt or button up, and a jacket on top and still look good and classy. And the simple fact that I can still wear a jacket and look good and stay warm makes it all the more reason to go out on the weekends. I understand that this may not be the most practical situation for most people, especially girls, but its true and that’s how it is going to be. Now discussing why this is true, well it’s the fact that girls keep doing it. Guys are obviously choosing to stay warmer and also look and stay fashionable, why don’t girls. I still think a girl who wears longer sleeve clothing and no heals can still be very attractive. I think it is stupid to try to impress people unless you are trying to get a one night stand (which isn’t a completely bad thing!). I understand that girls will always prep up and wear makeup to look better and look pretty but you can still do that. Hell, still wear the short skirt and low cut blouse, but just wear a jacket! And I understand that most people don’t bring jackets because they usually have plans to go to the bars or parties where there is no place to put them and the combination of alcohol can lead to losing a nice jacket or it getting stolen but there are alternatives always. I think the reason guys can wear whatever and not care about their appearance is because we made it socially acceptable, even the girls do! They still try to impress us. The difference between girls and guys is that the guys don’t care as much as the girls. They are too sensitive and self-conscious of themselves they can’t simply be themselves and let people see them for who they really are without showing off their legs or breasts to catch the attention of the guys who really don’t give a crap about them half the time.

Before I discuss the effect of race on drug use, I must say that I am from a fairly diverse community and have some knowledge of what drugs are used by some of my peers. I personally believe that your race has no effect of what “drugs” you use. I personally think that is a stupid and ignorant assumption to make about race. I am not saying that there are trends that certain races had a higher drug use, because it usually is influenced by something other than race. I wouldn’t say that when I child is born into a certain race; he or she is more likely to do a certain drug. Yes when I think of some races I think of them using a certain type of drug. For example back home in Maryland, the white kids are portrayed as drinkers and blacks and Hispanics are portrayed as smokers. But from my experiences and observations, a lot of blacks don’t drink or smoke and same goes for Hispanics (especially when they play sports). The white kids actually drink and smoke the most. I also know a few white kids who have done hard core drugs more often than anyone of another race that I know. And yes I am now saying that whites are more likely to do illicit drugs, but this is completely the opposite of what the question is getting at from what we always talk about in Sam’s lectures. I am assuming that this question is being asked because we would normally assume that the higher income and lower poverty rate of the white race would be “less likely” to do illicit drugs. Well in my community, the wealthier schools and districts tend to have bigger parties and do more drugs because they have parents that go away and leave the house to their kids. Also they have the money for the drugs. So we have rich white kids that are doing more and probably harder drugs than anyone else. Now this is not really getting at my point rather than showing a counter argument to what I think the question was hinting at. Now my point is, is that I personally don’t believe that race matter or affects what drugs an individual uses. I do think it depends on a lot of different things. I think it come to your surroundings and peers, your income, and mostly you family. If you come from a horrible family and hang out with the wrong kids, you are more likely to start doing and becoming involved with drugs. On the contrary I think if your family is around and you get involved with things like sports or groups you are less likely. It is completely irrelevant to race and I stand by that.

I am glad to see that we are doing stuff for Haiti in class and within the classroom. I am not going to lie; I probably would not have gotten involved with something like this if it wasn’t for this class. After watching the videos and looking at the project, I am looking forward to the project and making a difference. It was cool to see in the videos, a different side of the problem in Haiti, more or less the “real” side. It is hard to see people that do anything they can just to make a few bucks to survive. It is so real in the videos when Sam meets different people that are making bags, products, and even candies to make money. Another thing is, is that it is so different to see a culture that is perceived to be such a poor country compared to the US. The fact is, is that these people deserve the same opportunities and privileges and rights as we do but they don’t have them because of their economy and tradition. This is hard to believe that an entire population of people don’t play Xbox, or watch TV or enjoy their lives, because they are dedicated to working to survive at such a young age. No matter how hard they work, this will be their destiny the rest of their lives no matter what. This is why we must step in and do the best we can to improve their lifestyle and give them as many opportunities as we can. Every opportunity we give them, even the slightest thing, could benefit them the rest of their lives. These women and children working in the sweat shops, in my opinion, could have so much potential given the opportunities they would have in the United States. They are putting in hard labor, working hard, and created these amazing products that could be sold for good money in the United States. I can honestly say that the products I saw in the videos would be popular in the States and there quality it very strong. If these people were given the opportunities we have, they would take advantage of it much more willingly than a lot of Americans. Given their hard work, if it were applied to a college education, they could potentially be some of the smartest people in the country. When I see what is going on in Haiti and other third world countries, I think to myself that any little thing I complain about really is not that bad because I am truly blessed to have such a great life and amazing opportunities that I have today. These are the things we must appreciate every day and thank god that we have.

For the most part I am sure that the majority of Penn State students are from Pennsylvania so it is pretty obvious that their reason for coming is that it is a prestigious institute that is in-state that they can afford. For me, I am from Maryland, so my reasons for going are much different. Let me start off saying that where I am from back home is a good community but is multi - racial, so coming to Penn State is somewhat different because of the much greater percent of the white community (not a bad thing, just saying). The main reason for me attending Penn State was the fact that I did not get into University of Maryland. Due to the high out of state acceptance rate Maryland is taking, I was denied acceptance. I was really determined to go to Maryland because of the in state school and how close it was. I then had to make a decision to go to another school. This is why I choose Penn State. So it is easy to say that I choose Penn State because of the outstanding academics and the top level athletics. On a note better pertaining to the question, Penn States atmosphere that is related to race, social status, and other issues, is extremely different than what I anticipated when I had intentions of going to Maryland. University of Maryland is in P.G. County and extremely close to Washington D.C. These two areas are heavily populated with Blacks and Hispanics and is not the safest or economically friendly place to live. I had spent a lot of time at University of Maryland, College Park before attending college and I was extremely used to a run-down laid back (legally) environment. Penn State is the complete opposite in almost every factor. It is predominantly White and extremely strict (legally). Another huge difference between the two is that University of Maryland accepts a lot of students of different races. It is actually easier to get in as a black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. student to Maryland. Personally, I think that I didn’t get in because of the fact that I put “white” as my race. I know people from different races who have received scholarships and gotten in with lower GPA’s than I had and I still didn’t get in. Penn State on the other hand is much different. I don’t want to think that there is a majority of Whites that attend is because Penn State only accepts more White people. I would rather think that it is simply that more White people apply to Penn State. So in conclusion, the reason I attend Penn State is of other reasons, but ultimately because University of Maryland tends to accept more minorities in an attempt to make the campus more diverse.

Before I start talking about President Obama, I first need to point out that I am not a very political person. I don’t follow politics nor do I have very strong opinions when it comes to republican and democratic beliefs. So it is easily said that Obama’s race does not affect my opinion of him. Personally I would say Obama is Black because he does have black blood in him. In a more specific situation I would consider him as multiracial. I like to think of President Obama being a chameleon, whatever you want him to be, and he can be it. When people talk about Obama and associate him as being a stereotypical “black person”, I really don’t agree. If we had any stereotype of any race as our president, we would be in trouble. If we were, they wouldn’t be considered stereotypes. I know Obama was raised in a good community, went to college and is very well educated, no offense but this is the complete opposite of the stereotypical “black person”. On a more relevant note, I am more concerned about what he is considered by the majority of people who vote, ultimately determining who our president is. Personally, I don’t follow a lot of politics and don’t really like to vote because with the amount of people that do vote, I feel that my one millionth of the actual decision does not mean anything. But as for President Obama, I do like him as a person. I cannot say I like him as a president because I do not really follow the precedential debates or even any political debates for that matter. My issue with it comes to President Obama and his race is the issue it brings to other Americans who do vote. I think that many people who don’t normally vote may have vote for Obama because they support a “Black” persons as the president. I also think that people who don’t normally vote just voted to vote against him. On the contrary, I also think that people who normally vote decided not to vote because of him and his race. The fact is, is that he is the first president to have any sort of black origin, not the first “African”. According to Sam, many “white” people have some sort of “black” origin that they don’t even know about! For all we know Bush could have been black! I am not surprised that Obama and his race stirred up such a conflicting debate. What people need to realize that is human just like you and I. the rules are the same, no one says you have to like him or vote for him but being a citizen of the United States, may mean having a president you may not like or support.