It is very hard to comprehend how a convicted felon in prison can express such deep and beautiful words. The way he speaks of compassion in a prison yard is beyond surprising, it’s weird but touching at the same time. The hardest thing for me to understand is how someone can change so drastically in a place that is known as a “school for crime”
Being a forensics major I have seen many cases of first-degree murder, and it’s hard to picture the person performing this act having compassion for another human being. First-degree murder is deliberate and premeditated intent to kill murder. This person had to plan to deliberately take the life of another. To perform this act knowingly is to be filled with malice, and a cold heart, because there is no other way to kill someone’s child, mother, father or friend.
In most of my criminology classes prison is referred to as a “school for crime” because in prison inmates teach each other skills necessary to commit “better” or more successful crimes. They form relationships but only to learn how they to not get caught the second time around. Instead of experiencing feelings of remorse they learn racketeering, breaking into safe’s etc. knowing this, its very hard to paint the picture of a compassionate prison yard.
However, I am a person who likes to find the best in everyone, and seeing these “hardened” criminals interact with each other using such affection gives me a sense of hope that not everyone who commits a terrible crime is necessarily a terrible person. I do not know what this man did, or the consequences that lead up to it, but I believe that he is guilty and he deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life. At the same time, I’m glad that he was sentenced to life in prison instead of with the death penalty because it seems that he has grown as a person and gained maturity to feel remorse for his actions.
I’ve never been a supporter of the death penalty, but I feel that this letter shows that if you give someone the chance to be isolated in such a way that they can have a chance to reflect on themselves, their lives, and their actions they can see their wrongs and really change and become a completely different person.
This letter did open my eyes to the feelings of those who are cast away by society, but I have to wonder how the family of the victim feels reading this letter? Would they feel compassion towards the man who took their loved one from them? I know that if it were me I could forgive the man, but understanding how he could feel compassion now, and not to my loved one would be very hard to understand.

Coming out of that last race relation’s class I felt as though most of the things I did and have always believed in got turned upside down. I tend to think of myself as a good person, I help out at a nursing home, I’m going to Haiti in May and I donate to all causes. As I came out of that class, some of my friends greeted me, and I explained to them how I was feeling and the things we had learned. But they couldn’t understand how phased I was by everything I had learned. They said things like “well, it’s not my fault they’re slaves” and told me to stop thinking about it.
But how can I stop thinking about how absolutely privileged my life is, and how I have and probably will in the future exploit others to get the things I need. I’m not the wealthiest of people, but I have all that I need in life, yet I find myself wanting a new phone, a new shirt etc etc etc. Why is it that society has become so materialistic that some people can actually believe that money brings you happiness.
I hate that everything sam says seems to go in one ear and out the other for some people. I like to think that I understand what he’s saying, and although yes it’s difficult to stop the slavery in the world there are so many little things we can do to better the lives of others.
I think Sam is right, the first step is to acknowledge that the shirt from Abercrombie that you’re wearing is most likely a slave made good. When you can admit that in your head you are at least recognizing the pain and suffering that went into your cute new outfit. This can then make the slave’s work at least somewhat worthwhile, knowing that we can appreciate their work.
The second step, is to spread the word, so others can acknowledge the truth behind every commodity that we have as Americans. Although only wishful thinking, spreading the word would lead to less ignorant Americans and more educated ones who will wish to do something to stop the suffering being endured in these countries. Hopefully then these Americans will unite, and picket against Hershey, and Wal Mart and every other slave using producer out there and they will have no choice but to fulfill the wishes of the consumer.
I know the second step is unlikely to happen. But to acknowledge something of that magnitude within ourselves is a step in the right direction. It can get us out of the “me me me” mentality and into an open mind and heart that care about the billions of people in the world who only wish to have a simple mattress, or maybe some socks for their kids, things we take for granted. I know I am ranting, and I know Sam was ranting too. But it seems that not many understand the point being tried to get across because they are too focused on themselves and how they feel to remember the people who have helped us have what we have and get where we are.

“A girl like me” was an eye-opening video, which depicted suppressed feeling children have towards people of different color. For children, they don’t know that our outward appearances make up .001% of our DNA. They do not realize that the way you look should have no effect on what you can and can’t do. To them, all they see are differences in appearances and how adults manifest those differences in the way they act.
Since watching that video I have been trying to brainstorm what could cause that little girl to label the black doll as bad. Perhaps it depends on the neighborhood she is being raised in. If she is being raised in an inner city environment she may see a lot of violence, and usually the ones committing this violence are black. Maybe the little girl’s mother or father does bad things such as drugs, or stealing, or a number of other things and since they are black, she makes a connection between their actions and the only other obvious characteristic of color.
If the little girl had been born in the suburbs of northern Virginia, I think she would still be likely to pick the white doll, but I do not believe that if asked which one was bad she would pick the black one. Growing up in the suburbs she would be surrounded by white little boys and girls. She could also clearly be able to tell the difference between their skin colors, but perhaps in order to make friends she would want to play with the doll that all the white kids play with; the white one. However, she may not have as much knowledge of who is bad and who is good solely based on skin color because in the suburbs white kids and adults and black kids and adults have a similar life style and low crime rates.
I was particularly shocked at this because I always wanted the doll that looked most like me; tan with dark hair. Maybe that’s because I grew up in a different culture where white people weren’t seen as “better” than us in any way. In my country everyone was on the same level and I think that helped my perception of who is good and who is bad. When we moved to the U.S. I saw myself as an individual and already had a conception of who I was, and I was also proud of it. Therefore my choice of dolls remained constant.
What got me most about that video was how when asked which doll looked most like her, the little girl wanted to say the white doll because her perception of herself was that she was good. But she realized that she was more like the black doll, or the “bad” doll. I wonder if that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy and whether she will be likely to think she should be bad because of her skin color.

If there is one thing that women despise, is when a man says, “it must be that time of the month” From the point of view of men, during “that time” women are extremely moody, and testy. But what they don’t realize is that women are always going to have mood swings and crazy outbursts, it is just accentuated during our periods because of the even crazier hormones during that time. So why is it that men feel compelled to see something so natural, so negatively?
In a woman’s world a period is not the most pleasant experience. It causes many obstacles and hassles. Some women have terrible pain, others a lot of irregularity. But in a way, there is a positive side to having a period, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have one. And that’s not something we like to think about. We would rather focus on all of the uncomfortable things associated with it.
So, I know perfectly well why women may feel uncomfortable with their periods, because it is something we have to endure and can most of the time ruin a perfectly good few days. But men, have nothing but to be thankful that we have periods. Yes, you have to put up with a little more mood swings, or a bit more yelling, but isn’t that worth knowing that your child could come from this miracle that we are experiencing?
The question of living in a man’s world really does seem to point to why periods, bleeding, or menstruation are so hard to talk about. Women share funny stories, or harsh stories dealing with our “aunt flow” because we can all relate to each other, we know what we’re going through. With men, it feels as though they could never understand, because they do not have to go through it.
I have found myself every now and then wishing that men had periods and that they could undergo childbirth and see what we really must go through. But I know that we were built the way we were for a reason, and we can’t really do much to change that. I have a feeling that if men were the ones going through all of this, women would be there every step of the way getting tampons, pads, etc, and making the male comfortable. But of course, I can’t be sure of that, and I have a pretty biased opinion.
Talking about periods, or bleeding may not be the easiest thing, but to be open to the fact that it happens to every woman, and attempting to understand is a hundred times better than blaming a silly fight on raging hormones. And we somehow have to get over the feeling that it is gross, because it’s something that happens and will continue to happen, so why should we live ashamed of what nature has given us?

Coming from Venezuela, you learn to love sports such as soccer and baseball. They are a part of culture, tradition and family. When you look at it, the same applies to every sport, just in different countries and areas of the world.
When we first moved to the United States I hated “American Football” I did not understand it, and it seemed stupid to me that the Americans wanted to be so different from the world that they made up their own sport. These feelings came from people in my family, as well as my lack of understanding, or want to understand the sport. Even being in marching band for four years in high school, did nothing to change my conception of this American sport. Not only did I hold negativity towards the sport itself, but also, it seemed weird when women liked football. This was due to its rough nature, and “unnecessary violence” as I used to see it.
However, coming to college gave me a completely new take on football as well as women and football. My roommate as well as most of our friends loved football, not to mention that I decided to attend Penn State, a school dominated by enthusiasm towards football. Being around these new experiences allowed me to gain a new understanding of the sport. I began to cheer for the Penn State team, and even went as far as to have my own NFL team which I now am a huge fan of. Go Ravens!
One of the first people I ever met here, was a girl, who knew more about sports than any man I had ever met. She knew every team, every play, every stat. Prior to my new found love of football it seemed so odd that a girl could love a sport, that she could not participate in to the same degree as if she was a man. However, her knowledge inspired me, and lead me to my current relationship with football.
Reading and viewing about this woman who has been named head coach is somehow uplifting. I grew up playing the drums, so I know what its like to be the minority gender wise doing something you love. She Is so calm and collected about the position that she is entering to, but she has a fierceness to her as well that can be admired by many men head coaches. Her seemingly small accomplishment is opening the doors for other women who are head over heels for the sport. Although she is only a high school coach, it would be interesting to compare her tactics to those of men and see whose pay off the best. I am no feminist, but I do admire people who can overcome serious obstacles, and she is one person who has accomplished that, and she is to be commended.

We get so caught up in how far we’ve come in race relations, that we don’t realize all of the discrimination that continues to exist. The story of this girl would not be surprising if they had refused to hire her because of her scarf, but because they hired her, and then fired her makes it even worse. Had her and I been friends, I would have been pleasantly surprised that Hollister had hired someone that was outside of the rail-thin blonde, or the ripped white guy. It was a big step for them to hire someone “different” but they went and ruined it by firing her for not fitting into a “look policy”
Although I attempted to look up the “look-policy” everywhere it is not published for the public to see. However, I believe that there are some fundamental issues with having a look-policy. The extent of a “look-policy” that a company can have is a uniform policy stating what can and cannot be worn, such as low-cut shirts, perhaps certain types of jewelry etc. However, from what was said, the look-policy has more to do with the way you look than the way you should dress for work. This is wrong. This look-policy also seems to be in violation if the first amendment rights to freedom of religion. If their look-policy states that no hats, beanies, or coverings of the head can be worn, then they must be open to the option that different religions may require a scarf, or a turban. Why should something so superficial interfere with a job? The scarf is clearly not hindering her abilities to perform the tasks she is assigned. It is something very spiritual for her.
A friend who is Muslim once told me that she admired girls our age who wear a scarf, because that means that they are fully devoted to their religion in a very serious way. This girl has chosen to do this by wearing a scarf, and for her purity and devotion she is being punished.
Why is it that we are so afraid of those who are different from us? Why do we like to stereotype and assume the worst of everyone from how they look or dress?
The one thing I hate the most about most Americans is that they believe that they were here first and everyone else is just coming into their territory, but they forget that their ancestors did the same thing immigrants today are doing. Yet that seems to forgotten with all the fear of those who are different.
It is said that America is a melting pot, but that can be taken in a negative way, because once you go into the melting pot, everyone becomes the same. And although this analogy can be used for the similarities peopla have in their need and want for freedom. It is very negative in wanting those who are different to “melt” in with everyone else. We should be more of a pasta salad, there are many different components that coexist together, but retain their uniqueness.

Whenever I think of the presidents of the United States, I can only name the first few, and the last few, however, there are some memorable ones in the middle, such as Andrew Jackson. I don’t know Andrew Jackson’s life story, but I have always said that he was the president I “hated” the most because he played a significant role in the Trail of Tears. The acknowledgement of the Trail of Tears, is as close as my education has ever brought me to admitting the genocide that took place on the very land we are standing on.

Sitting in class, and listening to the questions and comments people ask make it seem as though everyone is merely selectively listening to what Sam has to say. I lost count of how many times people said the same thing over and over again about “why should we get the blame?” But this is not about blame. At this point, pointing fingers will get us nowhere. I was not born in this country, but I have been living here for 10 years and I feel that it is my duty to do what I can to help others, whoever it may be. In the case of the Native Americans people have to stop selectively listening to what sounds like someone blaming you. Obviously, none of us have committed hate crimes towards Native Americans, but there is a crime we are committing and that is ignorance and omission.

Everyday people think about themselves, everything is “me, me, me…” but it is necessary to step back and see what is really going on around us. The Native Americans is just one small part of it. But how can we help them? How can we try to undo the harm that has been done to them? For starters we can begin to acknowledge them as living, breathing, real human beings and Americans. So often we think the “Real” Native Americans are extinct, the ones who hunted with bows and arrows, and wore ornate designs on their bodies. But now being “Native American” seems to be only a title. They have their own culture, just like white’s have their culture, Latino’s have their culture, Asians have their culture and blacks have their culture. We’re supposed to be one big melting pot, but the very first ingredients to the melting pot have been thrown out like outcasts in their land.

So what can we do? We can care. We can care enough to tell our friends and families. Care enough to bother to learn more about their culture. Care enough to take the time out to volunteer at a reservation. Care enough to stop thinking about the blame being put on “me, me, me” and instead try to do something about it.

It’s not about the blame. Open your ears and listen to every part of the discussion, don’t just hear what you want to hear, really listen and learn and be willing to attempt to make a difference in this world that we live in.

Parenthood is not easy from bawling babies to terrible teenagers to know-it-all adults a parent’s job never stops. A parent is someone who raises you, who can teach you morals, manners and is there to help you with your small booboos and the big scratches. With this broad definition of parent it is difficult to deny parenthood privileges to gays, lesbians and bisexuals because they can carry out the roles of being a parent to the same degree as “Hetero” parents. What is funny to me is that in reality, an astounding number of “hetero” parents may not even be classified as parents at all; they abuse their children verbally and physically and may be hindering their development in these ways. Yet, they still refuse to admit that two loving mothers may be better than an abusive mother and father partnership.
However, it seems that there may be some differences between raising a child with a mother and a father versus raising a child with two mothers or two fathers. Although I am just speculating, it would seem that having two mothers might be the equivalent to growing up with a single mother, because the father figure is absent. Likewise, in the case of two fathers the mother figure it absent. Growing up with one parent can be hard; a child can feel that they don’t always have someone they can relate to. However, no one has ever stopped a single parent from raising a child, so can they fairly stop a lesbian couple or a gay couple from adopting?
Although a child may receive the same nurturing from the two mothers, would a son feel comfortable talking to his two mothers about puberty, or feelings he may be having towards girls? Similarly, would a daughter feel comfortable talking to her two mothers about feelings she has towards boys? Is it possible that one of the two mothers or fathers can take on the role of the missing member of the opposite sex in order to avoid the feeling of a “missing piece” of a child’s development?
Is there a difference between having two mothers and two fathers? Would there be more crazyness in a house with women than with men due to a larger amount of hormones? Would the two fathers be stricter than the two mothers? In the show Glee, one of the main characters has two dad’s and they raised her by making her a singing and dancing star. This is somewhat stereotypical of gay men, but would a gay couple be willing to play catch with their son or daughter? These are questions that I ask myself regarding this issue.
In class we found that children of gay and lesbian couples are more loved because a child is not easy for them to have, this love is enough. As long as a child can receive love, I believe that nothing else matters.

In the world we live in, it’s so easy to want to believe in the freedom perspective because we are so used to watching movies and listening to music that discuss the “rags to riches” phenomenon. Every year we see people bettering themselves purely out of the determination they have to beat the odds. However, in reality its not so easy to better yourself purely on wanting to. There are certain factors that can lead someone to have the determination it takes to raise themselves up and defying the obstacles that are placed in their way.
A factor that aids in lessening the importance of determinism and increase the prevalence of free will is to cultivate a talent. Some people can sing, others can play sports, but if you ignore your talents and choose to live life according to the theory of determinism, you will be less likely to succeed. However, those who can discover their talent and practice will open new opportunities for themselves that will in turn lead them to better places in their life. This is the basis for many movies about athletes that come from the worst parts of the country. This is also the biggest problem in convincing people that free will isn’t everything.
Another factor that is important is having a role model, whether it be a dedicated parent, teacher, social worker, or friend. Having someone else to look up to can help you want to get yourself out of your current situation and reach for the impossible. Peer pressure for example is not something that is easy to overcome. If you are a teenager in the inner city the statistics are against you because you are likely to be pulled into the “underworld” or crime culture. Yet, if you live in the inner city but your mother works to educate you in manners and morals you will be more likely to want to get out of the inner city. Likewise, if you can have a role model that is living a life of happiness and fulfillment you will want to achieve the same for yourself.
These stories of rags to riches are inspiring, however, the amount of people who are able to succeed is very low. Most of the athletes or musicians or academics who do “make it” not only cultivated their talents but they also had a role model who inspired and led them to where they are.
I don’t know whether you can count having a role model a part of determinism, whether it is a factor out of our control, or something we choose to have in our lives. Could you argue that if you don’t want to have a role model you will not succeed? Regardless of the label, it is the push and pull of others that help shape us to become who we are meant to be.

p.s. i apologize for the lateness, I had a family emergency at the end of the week.

Movies are a way to entertain us, but usually there is a moral to the story. Whether it is to not judge a book by its cover or to count your blessings, we always walk away a little changed by the film. Avatar is no different. Prior to seeing the movie I had asked around about whether it was good or not, what people thought etc. The most common answer I received was “it’s like a modern Pocahontas with really cool effects.” Well, that was enough for me, Pocahontas was one of my favorite Disney movies, and it had great music, a talking tree, and adventure everywhere you looked.
When I finally saw Avatar, I thought it was a great movie; it had portions of Pocahontas, some futuristic aspects and a really creative and interesting way of looking at nature and how to be a part of it. I came out of the movie wanting to have that same connection with nature. I loved the colors and I came out satisfied with the 10 dollars I spent on the movie.
However, other people have taken the movie in different contexts, some have said its about the Iraq war, others about Afghanistan and David Brooks believes it’s a superiority complex white people have to always save the “natives” And although Brooks supports his hypothesis almost flawlessly he is blinded to a very important part that he cannot see because he is essentially a fish in the water.
Yes, it is true Avatar contained everything that Brooks said, however, in the movie, the white man learns about a completely new culture and instead of hating it because it is different, he assimilates himself so far into it that he no longer wants to be white, instead he chooses to help protect the natives from the wrath of power and money hungry individuals. In his choice to become his avatar he is acknowledging that he cares more for the simplicity of a different culture than he cares for the destruction being caused by the white people. And THAT’S the reason why helps the natives. Because he realizes the faults of the superiority complex experienced. Yet, it is not all about the white people realizing others have something to offer. The tribe at first didn’t want the white man. They were also prejudiced towards him. But by allowing him into their culture they make a conscious decision to overlook their prejudices towards white people.
The message of the movie is deeper than the current wars, or white people’s “superiority” it is about acknowledging that different cultures may have new things to offer, and by understanding instead of judging things can turn out peacefully.
Being from another country, I am not a fish in the water. I see people everyday thinking that they are better because they are white, black, brown, pink, and green. Avatar shows us that accepting others may lead to a happier coexistence for everyone.