en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3549030 Comments by Maia3692 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment220651865 These past few days, it’s been almost impossible to put on a single news or sports station without hearing something about the recent scandals involved with the university, and don’t even try picking up a news paper because headlines about Sandusky, JoePa, and Curley and Schultz plaster the front of almost everything you can get within a 50 mile radius. I didn’t think it was possible to be more upset about a situation involving such heinous crimes against young children; that was until I saw the absolutely irrational responses from the student body. As if the minimal focus on the victims shown by the majority of the population wasn’t bad enough, to have such a minimalistic focus from the students most affected by the alleged events that occurred is incredibly disheartening. The scandal itself has brought such a negative connotation to Penn State and is going to greatly affect every student enrolled from here on for a very long time, and we weren’t even students at the time the incidents occurred. It is beyond me why some feel it is necessary to bring more negative press to Penn State and the overall reputation of the university. I can’t imagine more than a quarter of the people participating in the riots have even skimmed the Grand Jury report, none the less read an accredited news article rather than basing opinions on twitter feeds and facebook statuses. These blind followers have not only dismissed who was genuinely hurt by the situation, but they’ve dug an even deeper hole for our school to get out of. What’s even worse is that such an outrageous reaction was over a football coach, not even the disgusting and horrific crimes that were committed in the first place or for the victims who suffered so much already from this. I am as upset as anyone about the situation, and completely agree that JoePa absolutely shouldn’t have been fired the way he was and allowed to finish out his season, but with our administration making such bad decisions that are negatively reflecting on our university why would our students want to ruin the image that we control by reacting like primates to such an insignificant part of the bigger picture of the scandal. I hope all of those obnoxious Neanderthals who occupied beaver stadium plan to riot when my tuition skyrockets to cover the riot squads necessary to contain them and to fix the damage they’ve done to the university we are all so proud to be a part of. Is it so much to ask to just read the report before speaking in front of the entire nation? If we are going to be portrayed as rioting animals, we can at least be educated on the topic that we are rioting over. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:53:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment220651865 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-40/#IDComment204543880 Coming from a girl, I know I’ve never personally been forced to wear anything incredibly revealing or demeaning. In fact, I don’t know any girls who have been genuinely forced to dress the way so many girls think is necessary. And thank goodness because I’ve seen some of the things girls wear to the frats, and I would never want to be forced to wear them. Girls dress themselves up like baby hookers then expect to meet a guy you can take home to meet the family? The concept is just completely backwards to me. I know when I go out, I like to look good for myself. I’m a girl, I like to get dressed up and do my hair and makeup, but I base my appearance on what I think looks good and what I’m comfortable with. I don’t really understand how girls can show just about everything yet expect to be treated with respect. And the worst part is they do it to themselves, you dress a certain way and attract a certain type. First impressions are a huge part in how people view you, and what could be more initial then when you first look at someone. You can argue that guys have just as much pressure as girls to look good for the opposite sex, they just approach it in a different way, such as going to the gym every day. You don’t see any guys prancing around in 6 inch stilettos and a dress the size of a tissue trying to pick up girls, because the kind of girls that would attract are certainly not the kind of girls most guys I know are trying to pick up. The same can be said for the way a girl dresses. You can so easily go out and look hot in jeans and a nice top, the micro minis and non-existent tops are completely unnecessary . You can find a solid pair of heels that are actually comfortable and don’t run the risk of breaking your ankles. Girls that dress uncomfortably do it at their own prerogative not because they are forced. We are constantly ragging on guys for being such sex driven pigs, but how can you expect them to be anything else when you’re outfit is constantly reminding them of sex. You aren’t going to attract anyone when you’re barely able to walk in your shoes and are constantly finding yourself readjusting to just cover those certain no-no spots. It’s actually sad how far some girls with go with their appearances, just to catch the eye of the opposite sex. I think girls should start gearing their choices towards themselves, and what makes them feel sexy and confident rather than what they think guys will find attractive, otherwise the vicious cycle is just going to continue and escalade. I mean, look at the difference in clothing from just 20 years ago, I can’t even begin to imagine what girls in the future will be wearing, or not wearing in this case. Fri, 7 Oct 2011 22:43:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-40/#IDComment204543880 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-26/#IDComment201575411 Stereotypes exist all over the world, no matter what race or religion you are and because of this it was really hard for me at first to think of a stereotype that I never caught myself believing in at some point in time. Often we buy into stereotypes unintentionally just by feeling uncomfortable and are not sure how to act in a particular situation. Some people have said that darker skinned people are the ones who receive the stereotypical discrimination. Most of the time we aren’t even sure when we originally formed these stereotypes in our head, they are just set in on their own from our surroundings and culture. Despite the power that stereotypes can have, it is baffling when groups feed into their own stereotypes such as “guidos” or “JAPS”. As far as the term “guido” is concerned, it is typically associated with a Jersey Italian. After seeing the show “Jersey Shore” the term “guido” became common in society. Well being an Italian from Jersey with 100% Italian roots I can say with full confidence that not one of my relatives gels their hair to kingdom come or bakes in the tanning bed every single day. These traits were never associated with being a guido until recently when people who label themselves as guidos to part in such slander to the term. “Jersey Shore” the show puts the term “guido” in a negative light never seen before the show and it is embarrassing. My family would now be embarrassed to be referred to as a guido after the negative connotation that is now associated with it. Religion doesn’t escape the hindrance of stereotypes either. Catholics are seen as stubborn hateful people, and jews are labeled as being cheap and greedy. Having a mother who is Catholic I can tell you she certainly wouldn’t turn her back on someone based on their sexual orientation or personal choices that catholics are so often depicted as doing. As far as Jewish stereotypes are concerned, a very large amount of my friends are jewish and they are in no way cheap. It’s very discouraging that such horrible labels are tagged to people based on something that has absolutely no correlation to what that label usually is. Why would someones religion effect the way they spend money? It literally makes no sense To end my blog, I’d like to say that there is nothing good about stereotypes and nothing good ever comes from the use of them or the creation of them. They associate noting but negativitiy to a group that probably posses none of the qualities. This is just another example of how race and religion being used to categorize someone can cause horrible outcomes. Sat, 1 Oct 2011 02:41:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-26/#IDComment201575411 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/20/everyone-respond-to-this/#IDComment197652687 During my senior year of high school, I did a big project on the Darfur and became really active with the Save Darfur campaign so when I heard we would be doing a Haiti project in place of our final I was very pleased. I have always been very interested in improving the standard of living for those in such unfortunate situations and lending a hand whenever possible. Ive even been sponsoring a child through my church for about five years now. I think its great doing a project that not only benefits me and my learning experience, but actually helps others that otherwise wouldnt get such attention. After travelling to Punta Cana last spring and seeing the condition the Dominican Republic is in was a real eye opener for me. As if staying in a resort surrounded by a fence of barbed wire wasnt sketchy enough, you literally felt as if you were travelling through a wiped out war zone when driving from the airport to the resort. It was as if you were travelling through two different countries! Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:23:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/20/everyone-respond-to-this/#IDComment197652687 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/07/questions-from-the-classroom-2/#IDComment191714793 There are a million different qualities you can take into account when trying to categorize or classify yourself or another person. Race, religion, appearance, culture and so many other factors help shape what we classify people as. Almost every one of those qualification arent even in our control, yet its what we base our opinion of people on. Every day we pass judgments and form opinions about people we dont even know just after looking at them. Personally, I try my best to avoid misconceptions by doing so but categorizing people is so normal in our culture anymore that its difficult not to. We even judge people based on their complete personal choices such as sexual orientation or the jobs they have. What really gets to me is that not a single one of those qualities in a person has any effect on me at all. Being around a black person doesnt make me any less of what I am, so why would such a quality have any effect on what we think of that person? Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:32:15 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/07/questions-from-the-classroom-2/#IDComment191714793 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/08/26/what-do-you-want-to-know-before-its-all-over/#IDComment188813606 By the end of this course, I hope to better understand not just the history of races but what the future holds for racism. As the minorities become the majorities, are the tables predicted to turn on the once majority Caucasians? Is one master race able to be avoided or will we all eventually be one big mix or races. I’d like a better understanding of how whites even got to be the “advanced race” way back a few centuries when racism first came about. What exactly made them so superior and able to enslave other races, what is it about whites that gave them the upper hand in academic and technological advances to even make such a thing possible. I’m also interested in finding out more about the origination of racial slurs. How did these words even come about and what exactly was it about them that made them so offensive? Furthermore I’d like to know why the words originated in the first place. When did the race someone was become such an elephant in the room? Despite all the advancements mankind has made, why have race and religion remained such taboo topics rather than modernizing with all other past thoughts and ideas that have changed with time. Another subject that I am interested to learn more about is stereotypes. How exactly did stereotypes first come about, and how have the different stereotypes come about. Are there any stereotypes that are actually true to what they say? I am a health policy major with a minor in bioethics and medical humanities, so I’m really interested to find out how race will affect my future career. I would like to learn more about the different racial and ethnic clicks. Going to high school in Central PA there wasn’t a lot of diversity in what I saw amongst my peers and myself. I’ve never been exposed to a large population of different races, ethnicities, or even religions before coming to school at Penn State. I hope to learn more about the groups that I never had the privilege of interacting with in high school. So far I’ve really enjoyed this class, it is very rare that I actually look forward to going to class but the course has really sparked my interest with its format and edgy topics. The teaching gets you enthusiastic about the topics we are learning and really draws you in and keeps your attention during the lecture. I really look forward to hearing more about the Haiti project described on the syllabus; it’s a nice switch to the usual exams you get in most boring college classes. I can’t wait to see what the semester brings and have no doubt the course will answer all of my questions and even more! Thu, 1 Sep 2011 21:29:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/08/26/what-do-you-want-to-know-before-its-all-over/#IDComment188813606