The reason I first took this class is because it is always talked about as one of the most interesting classes you can take on campus and Many of my friends enjoyed it. Personally when the class first began I was very intrigued by the material and looked forward to coming to class every day. As time went on though the class began to be very repetitive and was full of what I consider to be many false opinions. It talks about how the world is still very racist but if that is true then why do we have things in place that benefit minorities and not white people? If anything, our country is beginning to do a complete turnaround and now instead of being unfair towards minorities they are now unfair to whites.
This class is one that will get you to think much differently than you usually do and that is a good thing. But I still can not tell whether or not Sam is trying to almost force his opinions on you or that is his way of getting us to think. Many things we talk about are true today that deal with race. But just as many of them are not true also. This class is based solely on opinions and that is not the way that I believe a college class should be taught. That is just my opinion though and I know many people who love this class so much they would take it every term if possible. But that is not the way I see it.
The class is supposed to be race relations and instead the entire class pits whites against minorities when instead it should be bringing them together as one. Each time we talk about a new subject, sam says that white people are the reasons everyone else suffers. Even though that may have been true hundreds of years ago it has nothing to do with todays world because in todays world everyone has a fair chance in our country.
Overall I personally did not enjoy this class as much as I would have liked to but there were some parts I did enjoy. I also would not recommend this class to friends for numerous reasons one in particular being grading, which is completely unfair to have to earn such a high grade for an A. My favorite part of the class was easily the discussion group. It allowed a small group of kids to speak their mind in a setting where nobody would feel awkward and that led to many great discussions in my group. If it were not for the groups then I would have not enjoyed this class whatsoever because the material was repetitive, forced upon us, and completely opinionated.

In today’s world, the white standard is essentially gone. The white standard has now become just the standard for all people in this country. Everyone is now expected to go to college whether or not their parents did. After college everyone is expected to get a good job that the world sees as suitable to live off of. Ever since most of this country has been put on an equal playing field, the white standard has gone out the window because the standards they had set for themselves are now in place for every person regardless of race in our country. The people who still think there is a so called white standard are simply ignorant to the world we live in.
On the other hand, the male standard is still very much in place. Being a male, I feel many pressures from society to end up doing certain things in my life. For one, I am expected to graduate college with a good degree and go on right away to a good career in my field. Those pressures are brought on by myself because that is the way the country views men. Also, men are expected to marry a good girl and start a family. The main standard in a family is that the male is expected to earn more money than his female counterpart. However, this standard is starting to dwindle away. Many women today are in high paying jobs and are making more money than a lot of men. There are more females in higher paying jobs today than ever before and that number is rapidly rising. Men are starting to become equal earn ers in this country compared to women and that seems to take a huge part of the male standard away. More men today are stay at home dads than ever before simply because their wife makes enough money at her job to support the entire family without the male having to work. I personally would be upset in my life if my wife earns more than me. It would not be that I would be mad about that but men feel the need to always be in charge and if their wife earns more than them then that would make them feel much less important to their family.
These two standards are similar in a few ways, the main one being that they are both rapidly going away because of the way our country works and how everyone has become equal to each other. Also, these standards used to be together as one for just white men. Clearly they have separated due to no more race issues in our countries and will both be gone soon because women are quickly moving up in the world.

In my personal opinion on this matter, most white men do not approach minority women as often simply because they feel intimidated by them. Obviously there are also many other reasons to this also but that is the main one. As a white man, I feel that I possess extreme confidence to walk up to almost any white woman and begin a conversation with them. On the other hand I do not feel as if I have the same confidence to do so with a minority woman. I believe that stems from always being around people of your own kind and developing the ability to speak with each other.
This problem does not just apply to white men though, it applies to every man. Any minority male would have the same issues about going up to a white woman or another minority that is not the same as them. The problem is completely based off of confidence. People naturally feel more confident around people that are similar to them and share similar interests.
Also, I feel that a lot of white men feel the need to find a white female in order to keep their family going and make his parents proud. Many white families would not be happy if their son married a woman of color or even dated one. Because of this it naturally drives white men away from minority women.
Another reason behind these choices by white males I believe deals with being attracted to certain features in women. Most men believe the best looking women are ones that are of the same race as them. Due to this white men are by far more prone to approach a white woman compared to other minority women.
With all of these reasons in mind I think it is all psychological why white men do not approach women that are minorities. They do not have the necessary confidence to go up to them first off. Also, most people feel comfortable around similar people to them.
I personally find all women attractive regardless of if they are white or a minority. Although, I do have a problem going up to minority girls compared to white ones. I think it is because of the reasons I described earlier in my essay but it may also be because there just are not nearly as many minority women as there are white women at our school. With the percentages being in favor of whites it seems that would be the main reason for most white men going up to white women; simply because there are far more of them. But outside of Penn State those reasons still apply as why white men are less apt to approach a minority girl compared to a white girl.

If there was one single message I could send to the American people, it would be to get up and start working for what you get instead of sitting around and waiting for it to be handed to you. Too many people in our country today are just flat out lazy. They think everything should just be handed to them because they need it. I am not saying that everyone in the country has this mindset, in fact the majority of people do not think this way. But the fact is there are still millions of people who collect benefits for sitting around and doing nothing all day every day.
The best way to get this message out to the people, in my mind, would be in one of two ways. The first way although somewhat harsh, would be to simply just stop giving benefits to these people who do not try to find work and are perfectly fine to work. The second would be more on the level of advertising and showing ads on television. Putting up billboards all over and running ads through all media that portray attitudes of happier people that are working should put the idea in peoples minds. Also, running similar media ads that show feelings of accomplishment could put the idea in peoples minds that they would rather go out and earn their way rather than having it handed to them.
My feelings towards this idea are not one that i take lightly. Nothing upsets me more in life than when I see my tax dollars being used to pay for a drug dealers apartment or someone who is too lazy to work groceries. That money should be used towards other things that actually make a difference in the economy. Also, I believe that our current problem with over weight people somewhat stems from all of this also. When people do not have to get up and work for what they need they develop a severe lazy issue in life. These people do not leave their houses and sit around just becoming dependent on others.
These statements obviously are not based on facts and are my opinions but I have witnessed these situations in life and it truly does get under my skin and I would love nothing more than to change this problem in our country. Using different media outlets to attack the overall population of the country could potentially help this growing problem. But I believe the best way to help this problem is my first solution. If the benefits were stopped even for a few months, people would realize they would have to go out and work for what they want and need.

The idea behind giving handouts has changed a lot over the years. Before, handouts were given to those who needed them most such as people with physical problems or people who have been recently laid off. Those people needed these to survive and the funds were put to good use. As years passed people began to take advantage of these. Today you do not even have to work because unemployment benefits last for at least two years now. That is utterly ridiculous. People are lazy and choose to not look for work and reap the benefits of the overtaxed people who do work.
Personally, I have never had a handout in my life and neither has my family. My father built a business from the ground up 30 years ago and has worked harder than anyone I know. He has taught me to work for what I have my whole life. Obviously he supports me financially in a lot of ways but I spend my hard earned money on anything I want instead of asking my parents for it. I have witnessed too many people in my life sitting on their couches doing nothing and receiving aid. Drug dealers simply because they have no documented job can receive handouts from the government. I would absolutely not take a handout unless I deserved it or needed it. If I did not have a job then instead of living off of others tax money I would go out and work anywhere regardless of what it was; flipping burgers or working on Wall Street, every job has merit.
Then again, on the other hand, I have no problem with people getting places in life because of who they know. If the main reason you get a job is because your dad or mom gets it for you then obviously they have worked hard in their life to be in that position and someone’s family has every right to reap the benefits of their successes. I have received a lot of “special treatment” in my life because of who my father is. He has gotten me opportunities that very few are able to have and because of him I am where I am today. Working for him and learning the ins and outs of the business world is why I was able to get an internship for a fortune 100 company as a sophomore. I worked for that and was not handed it, but because of my father’s business making my resume stand out in the field of hundreds of applicants is a huge reason I received the offer.

At the end of the day, it is as much of who you know compared to what you know and that is partially luck and hard work. But receiving handouts from the government in my mind is much different than having benefits in your life because of your families personal connections.

In today's world there are a lot of huge problems. Many countries are under developed and the people live in poverty and other horrible conditions. We (America) give more aid to these countries than anyone else in the world. As I am sure you have seen in the recent years our economy has not been at its best point. We give billions of dollars away to other countries when we ourselves have people out of work and they can not afford to even feed their children.
We need to take care of our own problems as a country first before we can think about helping others. For the last however many years I can remember, my dad and I have been going to every Steelers game in downtown Pittsburgh. Every single game we see all kinds of homeless people in the cold begging just for a few cents so they can eat something. We both always get extremely upset over this, simply for the fact that every night on the news we hear news about millions of dollars being given to other countries to help their poverty and other issues. Clearly there is the same issues in our country, maybe not as bad, but I think we should handle our issues with this before we start worrying about other countries issues also.
This might sound rude and many other things, but the problems we have in our country today are far more important than what is going on in other countries. The main reason I believe this is the simple fact of who is truly giving the aid. It is us, the taxpayers who front the bill. Therefore I think we should be allowed to choose where the funds go. Instead of helping a poor person in Africa why don't we help a poor person in Miami, or New York City? Either way it is helping someone but that way we are also improving our country.
On the other hand, sending billions of dollars to other countries makes the world think we can afford to give to everyone and they will become dependent on us. When that happens then the world will no longer fend for themselves and then we will be forced to give even more aid, which will create a never ending problem.
Lastly, I do agree with helping countries when there is a disaster, such as Haiti, but that is the only time I think we should. Nobody ever aids our country and sometimes we may need the help also, we are currently 15 trillion in debt. Maybe we should stop giving away so much and take care of ourselves first. Most countries can take care of their own people so I think it is time that the rest of the dependent ones start doing the same things.

The fear of death is more than likely the number one fear in the world today. Very few people want to die and fear for when that day will come. As Sam says often, it does not matter what you do because you all will die, that thought goes through every single persons head on a daily basis.
I live my life to the fullest as often as I can, but there are many things I avoid simply because of the dangers involved and the slim possibility of death. The fear of death itself consumes me very often when I take large risks. That fear alone has driven me to do many things in life the way I do them. It is the reason I eat the way I do. It is the reason I exercise, why I do not own a motorcycle, and so much more. when I do certain things to improve my health it is because if I do not I fear that I am cutting my life short. The reason I do not take some risks such as buying a motorcycle is due to the fact of how dangerous they can be and the death rates with them compared to cars. Yes, obviously if you own one it does not mean you will die but according to stats, it does increase your chances of death. The same goes for maintaining a healthy life, some people who eat poorly and ruin their bodies live to be 100 years old. That does not happen often though so I choose to take the safer side and eat healthy and exercise.

On the other hand though, the fear of death is also why skydiving can be so much fun and other activities like that. The fact that you are taking such a huge risk with your life is a natural high in my opinion and that is why those activities can be so much fun. A solid balance between risk and safety in life is better than being so afraid of death that you live in a bubble. Because if you live like that than life is not fun. And if life is not fun for you than you might as well be dead anyway. So instead of fearing death to the millionth degree like I used to, I have chosen to take more risks and do more risky things in life so that when my time to die comes I can say I had a great time and do not regret anything. Also, if I do not get to do all the things I want to before my death than I would not consider my life to be lived out to the fullest.

I have been raised my entire life in a severely catholic family that believe strongly in god. If i was to find out that go did not exist my reaction would be pretty drastic. I attend church weekly and pray often to god. If I was to find out he was completely false then my whole religion would come into question. I live a lot of my life based on my religious views and if life altering news such as this occurred I know I would have a very negative reaction.
I firmly believe that god created man and if this news was released then I would have to change my entire view on life and how things work. I also believe that god watches over us and does many different things for us, if this news came out then I would start living my life in a much different manner. I would not rely on faith as much anymore and I would start paying far more attention to what happens to me on a daily basis. I do a lot of the things the way I do them knowing that god has my best interests in hand and if that notion were to change I think I would live a much more basic life. I would be far more scared of death because without a god then there would be an afterlife that I do not know about if there even is one.
Another thing that would come to mind if news like this were to surface would be evolution and the big bang theory. I believe god created everything and if there was no god then there must be another explanation. That explanation may be the big bang theory which has shown truth in it already. I think evolution is real but along with the creation of all things by god and then it helped. If god was not real then evolution would mean so much more to a lot more people than it already does.
Lastly, if god were not real than us living our lives in a good manor means nothing. If you are not counting on an afterlife then you must be more careful with your life which would create much less fun and spontaneous acts. living life to the fullest is something I cherish as a Catholic because even though I can die at any point I know that the after life is something to look forward to.
I think what I am trying to say is that if god is not real then life turns from a playground into something to be scared of because that way when it is over it is over. With god, when life is over, a new and better life begins; the afterlife.

In class the other day, when Sam Skyped the man from Iran, it brought a lot of different thoughts into my head. The first thought that came to mind, dealt with a bit of frustration. I was not happy that he decided to talk to a man from the second most hated country to us as US residents. Those thoughts stemmed from what I have seen on the news and what I know about that has been going on between us as countries in the past. After speaking with him for just a few moments my thoughts took a complete turn in the opposite direction. I learned that not all people from Iran stand for what they show in the media over here. The media makes them out to be a country that wants to blow up the USA. That is true about a select few of them, but not many at all. Most of them are just like us. They listen to similar music, watch similar shows, and go to work or school just like us. The man seemed extremely nice and was a joy to speak with. His answers to our questions made me laugh sometimes and helped me open my eyes to how it truly is to be a true Iranian.
After speaking with him, I can see myself visiting the country to see what is like over there. Before speaking with him I had absolutely zero desire to go into what I thought was a terrorist war zone that had severe hatred towards Americans. The man was not only nice to everyone, but he also had no problem that we all probably had bias towards him. He said that things that happen in America do not happen over there at all usually. That also made me realize how messed up our country truly can be. If we were more like their country and focused more on religion instead of trying to keep it private I think that we could become a much nicer and sincere country like the true Iranians that live there.
Obviously after speaking with him I am still skeptical about what goes on there simply because of what is shown on TV. Our military presence is necessary in my mind but I do think that it could be unnecessary after speaking with him. Although the bad people there still do seem to run the country and therefore I think it is a good thing for us to be there.
All in all it was interesting to hear from a citizen of Iran and I learned a lot. I will think again before saying things about their country as a whole now. Although I still have a firm stand in the war itself I now see things from their prospective and could easily be persuaded away from my thoughts I originally had.

Personally, I am a person who is completely for the military and I know people who served and still do. Although I am I firm believer in the military, I would not see myself joining it. For one reason, I do not think that I could leave my friends and family to go to war not knowing if I would make it back. That feeling alone would be enough to make me not want to join. Also, I would not want to live with the fact that I have killed another human, regardless if they were good or bad. Taking another person’s life is by far one of the worst things you can do as a human being. Life is the best thing and it should be valued. Others lives should be treated just like your own and that is why I could not kill another human regardless of what side they are on. Those would be my two main reasons for not joining the military.
Along with those reasons, there are also a few more specific ones that make me not want to join. I have always dreamed of working on Wall Street one day and taking the time off to train in the military and potentially be deployed would all but guarantee that my dream would not come true. The time commitment that it takes to be in the military is your life. Most people who join are not ROTC and do not attend college. Another reason would be fear. The fear of potentially losing your life is the biggest fear in the world. It sounds bad saying this but even though it would be dying for a cause, I could not put myself in that position. I value life too much and you only get one shot at living it so anything that puts mine in severe danger I try to stay away from. The last reason and potentially the biggest one is what it would do to my family. Going away for a long time and not seeing them would be incredibly hard to do. Putting them through that would be terrible and I as well could not do that to myself.
Although I say I could not join, I do believe that the military is the number one thing that our country needs. Without the men and women who serve we would not be able to live the lives we do today. They protect our freedoms and for that I am forever in debt to those who serve. I have immense respect for all who decide to put their lives on the line for this country. But at the end of the day I could not see myself serving in the military. That is something I am not proud of but have chosen to live with.