****Were you surprised by any of Basum’s responses or his appearance and why?

Yesterday’s class was a little surreal to me. I was amazed at the fact that we actually got to speak with an Iraqi man who is currently living in Iraq. I was not surprised by any of Basum’s responses. In fact, I liked the way he answered every question. I have always been skeptical of the impression that television gives us of the average Iraqi. Some of the responses that I valued the most include the question that asked about how Iraqis felt about extremists, which is similar to the question about his feelings on September 11th. I was not surprised that he does not favor extremists and that he was shocked at what took place on September 11th. I mean who would like unpredictable people who kill innocent people. Extremists do not represent who Iraqis are; extremists make up a very minute portion of Iraqis. If we were to reverse the situation and look at that soldier who went rogue and raped and killed that Iraqi woman, how would we respond to that? We would probably say that he does not represent the typical American. I feel that media is a big influence on what we consider to be the mentality of an average Iraqi. For instance after 9/11 the media showed videos of Middle Eastern people celebrating in the streets, burning American flags, and rejoicing after what took place. I guess it shows us how one-sided television can be, especially when we only are seeing what the US wants us to see. Another question that I enjoyed him answering was when someone asked what do typical Iraqi teenagers do for fun? When he responded saying that they enjoy partying and drinking like many young American adults, I smiled knowing that Iraqis are not much different than Americans. These people are looked down by the US as being a lesser form of civilization, when in fact there are no different than we are. They are children, parents who worry for the safety of their kids, have their own religious beliefs, and who would prefer that foreign individuals not come into their territory to take their oil. This Q&A session definitely answered a lot of the questions that many Americans would love to get answers to. I was very thankful of this man’s willingness to answer question after question with as much honesty as he could. He definitely brought a new perspective to the mentality that many Americans would expect Iraqis to have. As our discussion in class ended, his final words were “I wish you all the best in your studies and I hope that your love ones come home from Iraq safely”. Applause filled the lecture hall as we heard such kind words. In my opinion, this man has greatly impacted the lives of at least 300 students who may have had preconceived notions of people from Iraq.

Irakanji ,

You bring up some interesting points in your blog. I find it interesting that you mention that the past is one of the factors that led to schools being more segregated. I agree that the past has definitely set a ridge between races, causing even greater differences in "free will" and "determinism". Like you mentioned, location is a big factor, but there is no way that location is the main cause as to why different races tend to go to different schools. I am just amazed that even as the years have gone by there exists this belief that equality is increasing, when in actuality it is not. I want to place a lot more focus on your point that this segregation is due to differences in wealth and income. I would agree that the differences in wealth and incomes across the racial spectrum are gradually becoming more equal, but there is still a greater sense of inequality. Until different races are competing on the same levels, with similar amounts of resources and opportunities, our schools will remain segregated even if it were not intentional as it use to be in the past. I do want to also point out that I went to a public school that was almost 100% minority students only, white families saw the private schools as being the best choices for their children. I am sure my parents would of felt the same way, but they chose to send me to schools that were free and within their means of living(I hold nothing against my parents for that).

jerseygirl309,

I feel as though Nepotism is all around us and it probably wont ever be done away with. As long as people care for their love ones, have favoritism towards groups of individuals, and hold positions of high authority, then nepotism will continue to exist. I agree that it can be a very unfair thing, but its all around us as though it were a contagious disease. There is even subliminal nepotism that relates back to the concept of latent prejudices that Sam mentioned in a previous class. For instance, two female candidates apply for a job. One is black and one is white. Both female candidates are identical in every form shape and fashion except skin color. The interviewer is a white male who favors black women with a strong passion, causing him to flirt more with the black candidate. At the end of both interviews, he passes ONLY one resume onto the hiring staff at that particular company. Which candidate's resume was passed on? .....nepotism.....undercover....

mswang2013,

Coming from the perspective of a black student I was not surprised by the differences in the story. I feel as though there were a lot of factors affecting what people retained when they were told the story, and what they felt were important to reiterate. I do want to point out that at the beginning of the game, the first female I believe her name was "Jenna", she was the first to alter the story. In reference to the "N" word, she was unwilling to use it, so she said that there were derogatory terms used by the white students in the story. Even Jenna who is not white but looks as though she is either Hispanic or a mix of black & Hispanic, was unwilling to say the N-word so she altered the story to match her comfort zone. To be honest, if I were in front a group of hundreds of students and had to repeat what she had to repeat, I would of probably took the same route and used more socially acceptable terms. It all relates back to "Political Correctness"!!!!

****Is nepotism a good or bad thing in the long run?

I have never really explicitly benefitted from the help of people I know, or used family members/friends for job hookups. I strongly feel like a majority of the things I have gotten in life have come from me going out of my way to achieve them. In the past I have worked hard on the SAT, applied for scholarships, and even went to career fairs in search of internships. In relation to whether or not I can refrain from ever benefiting from nepotism, I would have to say it depends on the severity of the account. I am only human; therefore I struggle at times when it comes to making the right decision or even the decision that will put me two steps ahead rather than just one. However, that does not mean that I am willing to engage in illegal situations just because I see it as being a tremendous benefit. You call it nepotism and other people will call it networking. Basically the point I am trying to get at is that there are varying degrees of what can be accounted as nepotism.

Is nepotism really that bad though, the only person being affected is that individual? Wrong. The thing that many people, including myself, fail to understand is that for you to be unjustifiably placed ahead in life, it involves placing someone behind. This relates a lot to the “King of the Mountain” exercise that Sam did during the first half of the course. To you it may seem like a small innocent favor, but to someone else it is a big injustice. The best example of these feelings is the misunderstood beliefs on Affirmative Action. I have a lot of white male friends who always make subliminal references to affirmative action as being a component towards some of my achievements as a black male. In essence, they feel as though I am being given some form of nepotism in order to excel above them (to be honest, most of them are lazy and don’t go to class). I am just glad that Sam addressed this in class and pointed out to the class that almost everyone benefits from affirmative action. I will admit that I was not too shocked when Sam said that women, mostly white women, and middle class African Americans are the main beneficiaries of Affirmative Action. In addition, I like the way in which Sam stated that because women benefit from Affirmative Action, their husbands and children also benefit. In essence, Affirmative Action is a big benefit to everyone in the long run if you were to consider it from Sam’s perspective. I am not certain whether Affirmative Action is like a legal form of nepotism or not, but if I were asked to classify it, I would say it is not a form of nepotism especially since it can benefit most people in the long run.

krands155,

I do not think that anyone should have guilt for being of a certain race. Your actions and not your race should be what determines whether or not you should have guilt. In fact even as a black male, I could feel guilty for my thoughts or actions if I know that I have done things consciously to injustice another race. The past is the past, and this is the present. Lets start over fresh, but never forget what happened. Time to learn from our mistakes and move forward, with memories of the past sealed in textbooks, statues, paintings, etc.

jg_997,

Just to add an even more unique perspective, I am a black male coming from a predominantly black high school. When I first applied to Penn State, it was definitely strategic in the sense that I wanted to escape the atmosphere of a majority black school and transition to one where I would not be seen as the majority. I think Penn State is lacking in its diversity meaning that there is not an appropriate mix of black, hispanic, asian, white, etc students, but that is basically how the majority of America is. I have no real issues with Penn State because I definitely find the change of scenery interesting, but a couple more different faces could not hurt.

tcl5040,

I have no problem living in a mature female-centered world. I have always had a niche for listening to females over males, not only because they can consider the facts better but also because they can relate a lot more to others. As a male, we tend to be more irrational, don't consider the facts all the way through, and can be very immature. In saying this, women definitely help to balance men out very well. However, women due have unfavorable characteristics, such as being too passive at times, and easily intimidated. That is why if I could choose, I would want to live in a female-male balanced world. By the way gender-roles suck. Stay at home dads, bread-winning moms, dads who cook and clean, moms who wash the cars, dads who braided and comb their daughters hair, any role could go both ways.

gll918,

I also feel that no one should have felt uncomfortable during the conversation because it was told from both a male and a female perspective. The only way for someone to feel uncomfortable is if they make themselves uncomfortable. As a male, I felt no way attacked or tongue lashed by what they said about 2/3 of males being unable to satisfy their female counterparts. In fact, I took the opportunity to listen closely to what was being said, and find ways to improve or continue to keep the good sex up.

mfc5088,

In my soc discussion class, the females pointed out that they dress up mostly because of what their girlfriends would think of them not dressing up(wearing jeans and sneakers). Coming from a male perspective, I do not really care what a female wears to a party as long as its clean, not oversized, and it matches(simple huh, yup guys are simple). In fact, I feel sorry for all those females in the eight inch heels, t-shirts that substitute as a dress, and the tiny jackets they wear. I would definitely prefer that women dress more appropriately based on weather and what they feel is sexy clothing. My only question is whether girls dress up, do makeup and their hair for the attention of the their male peers or for the approval of their female peers?