In class on Tuesday we talked about illegal immigration that is going on in the country and all the sociological problems that come a long with it. While we all (or at least the majority) of us know that we at one, time came from someone who migrated to the United States we continue to put up a fight as immigrants come here today. However, I disagree with the question that is being asked. I don’t believe that society dislikes immigrants as much as we think. When turning on the news it is a constant story about the fight over illegal immigration. There are always lawsuits and people who have strong opinions on illegal immigration. Unfortunately, we tend to cling to the bad stories we hear on FOX News or CNN or any other major news outlet and forget that we ourselves at once were immigrants. Personally, I believe that immigration is a great thing for the United States. However, I also believe that it needs to be regulated and the amount of illegal immigrants that we do have here today poses an issue to the government. Without illegal immigrants who give up their lives to make it better for themselves or their families we wouldn’t have half of the goods that we do today at the cost we pay. I do not believe society truly has a problem with immigrants but I do believe that the issue lies on the illegal part of “illegal immigrants.” The word has a stigma that comes along with it that makes people feel unsafe or uneasy. I personally have never had any instances with an illegal immigrant (this day and age) and therefore don’t see it as a problem. However, if I were to move to an area where there were a lot of illegal immigrants such as Texas or Arizona, I would probably feel a different way. I think that people who live in these regions and in the areas have a right to be upset over the immigration regulation in this country. They have to pick up the cost through taxes that stems from problems with illegal immigration. An example of this would be with health care costs. If there is an emergency and an illegal immigrant who doesn’t have health insurance has to go to the emergency room, the fiscal burden is places on others who are here legally. This causes angst amongst the two groups at the same time drives costs up for hospitals in these areas. I personally believe that immigration is necessary for our nation to grow and change and become accepting of other cultures. However, I also believe that the law needs to be followed and if you want to be here as an immigrant in this day, you should have to be here legally.

Watching the telephone game played in class on Thursday, I was not shocked to see that the story had changed through all six participants. Typically when communicating a sentence or two through different people it is evident of the changes. Proper communication is always important not only on a professional level but also on a personal level. The way in which we relate to others is based upon communication; verbal and non-verbal. The story that was passed along was very long but the last person was able to pick up the main points of the story. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that the story had changed because the main points of it were communicated. Unfortunately, this happens more often and it can cause issues due to miscommunication. An example of this is when we hear something but we only paid attention to the details that stuck out rather than hearing the whole story. This also causes us to create images of a certain group of people or situation while only hearing parts of the story. Why information travels this way can be for many reasons. Sometimes we hear only what we want to. On the other hand, we also choose to deliver information that we deem necessary to deliver. I think a lot of this deals with latent thoughts that we may have and not realize that we pick up on the things that we do. From personal experience, I have played this game before in a group where the main goal is to spread the message and have an outcome be different than the original message. Many leaders use this as a technique to not only break the ice but to also teach a message. A message that if what needs to be communicated is not said directly or properly, the message will not accurately represent the original message. This is also done on a daily basis and confusion is built upon this. I believe that it is important to logically report information in an accurate manner. Our own thoughts and feelings about certain issues cannot get in the way of portraying the actual message of what needs to be said. When this happens we form the brutal opinions which lead to stereotypes. I did enjoy this activity for many reasons. It was so interesting to see how a simple game like this shows how people verbally communicate about issues such as race. I never would have noticed this until it was pointed out to me. Now realizing this I should be able to look at other situations and imagine it from another person’s point of view. Dr. Jones did an excellent job in teaching this certain lesson to us and it will be something I remember.

This is a difficult question to answer for a few reasons. While I agree with Ernso that it is not a fair representation of the issues within a certain country, I also believe that it is a marketing strategy used to get Americans to donate money or other resources to help a county or certain effort. I believe that Americans give money or aid when they feel as if they are doing the right thing. Often, emotions are involved with this. We have seen the commercials on TV that ask you to “adopt” a child and show their faces and the area in which they live in and how poor they really are. Of course this is something that is very sad and it is a good cause to give money to but would we give our time and money to a cause if we didn’t have an image sketched into our minds? I believe this also holds true for other things that we see in our everyday lives. For example, we see commercials daily about the ASPCA and pictures of animals that are treated poorly are shown on television and an emotional song plays in the background. I find it to be a major marketing ploy for someone to buy into because it is a mental image and is easier to remember images than facts. Sometimes, I think that this can be a misrepresentation of what we are really giving money or aid towards. A question that comes to my mind is if we truly care about the issue that the commercial or other advertisement is selling. Maybe we only care to make ourselves better and think that once we donate money to that specific organization regardless of cause (poverty, animal cruelty, etc.) that everything will be better with that child or organization which we donate to. I understand that it is very sad to see the children that are used for certain commercials because they truly are suffering but we as Americans will never understand the pain they go through on a daily basis. We have the luxury of calling a hotline and use our credit cards to give the aid. I think that foreign aid response teams should focus on marketing more than just the emotional aspect of issues but also give more facts and specifics of the issue that surrounds the children every day. As I mentioned earlier, it is hard for me to make a specific decision on this topic because at the end of the day, the money or aid that we donate is still getting to children or the cause that desires it. The only changes I could see that need to be made would be the marketing campaign of each organization promoting a certain issue.

In class on Tuesday, Sam showed us a video of the air traffic flow across the world to show how our economy has expanded to one involving globalization. The main portion of the air travel seemed to leave the United States, arrive in Europe, and return to the United States. I was surprised to see the amount of planes that traveled across the Atlantic daily because I was unaware at exactly how many were people were traveling abroad. Of course not every single person is traveling across the world for the purpose of his or her career but instead for vacationing and other reasons. This is my last semester at Penn State and I have been applying for many jobs in the healthcare field. One of the major questions I get asked in interviews is if I have any skills in a foreign language. Also, many applications ask you to indicate whether you can speak a foreign language. It has become somewhat of a requirement for certain jobs.

In the United States it is almost a given that if you live in certain areas, you will need to speak Spanish to survive in the business world. With many immigrants arriving from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, Spanish is almost becoming America’s unofficial second language. I think that it is important for many people to have knowledge of other languages. If an employer hired me on the basis of if I were willing to learn another language, I would be more than happy to take the time to. Being able to speak a different dialect is something that can open doors for anyone. Learning a language foreign to your own not only increases your resume but also allows you to immerse yourself in a different culture than your own.

Throughout the years when I attended primary and secondary education, the curriculum set for all students was to begin learning a foreign language in second grade. Each student took half a year of French and the other half was Spanish. By the time students reached middle school, they were able to choose which language they wanted to remain with, either French or Spanish. Upon entry into high school, students were allowed to then expand from French or Spanish to Japanese, German, Latin or Italian. Regardless of the language chosen, it was required to remain in the class until junior year. Throughout middle school and high school the language I chose to learn was Spanish. Looking back, I am fortunate to have gone to a public education system that put so much emphasis on learning another language. Not only were these classes academically enriching but culturally as well. Our teachers often would bring in music that was relevant to the topics we learned or would have guest speakers of that nationality to help immerse us in the culture as much as possible in the given circumstance.

For many years there have been stigmatisms in regard to interracial relationships. These stigmatisms were felt more, or seen more in our parents’ generation than our generation from what I have seen in my own personal experience. While growing up I can recall my parents commenting on interracial relationships. They would never say rude or snide comments, but nonetheless comments were still made. As I grew up and progressed as a person, I became the most outspoken of three siblings in my family. My parents would begin to back off with forcing their opinions on me and probably listening to what I was saying, but not changing their ideologies. As I progressed through my high school years I noticed that my parents stopped making comments dealing with people who were different from them. However, I also began to notice that as my parents stopped making these comments I would hear my older siblings making comments about different types of people. This would occur at family dinners we would have, probably for the attention of the conversation but they were still hurtful comments. My oldest sister dated and married her boyfriend of seven years. He was someone who really had no respect for other people outside of his race and culture, but would never make it known unless in a family setting. While all of these comments were made about any culture or race, they finally one day stopped. When I was a sophomore in college, I came out as gay to my family. From that day on, the comments about not only people of different ethnicities stopped, but comments and jokes about different sexualities and beliefs stopped. I often wonder if it is because my family is afraid of offending me or if it is because I have been vocal in making it known that whoever you are, is who you are and there is nothing you can do about that so why make fun of it. Even if my family has stopped making these remarks due to fear of offending me, I am not bothered by that. My hope is that they have stopped making these comments because they have learned something rather than looking out for my feelings. I believe that by coming out to my family it has helped them to see something greater than just what they are and what they have known. I hope that I have opened their eyes to see outside of their everyday lives and to other cultures and other types of people. This holds true to those who are in interracial relationships or any other type of relationship. Being able to use myself as a segue for other thought; I believe now, my family and I are more accepting of others than ever. This to me, is a huge victory because I am trying to continue to have my parents, family, and friends think of others besides themselves and know that other people desire the same things we want but in different ways.

With over 40,000 students at the University Park campus of Penn State, many diverse groups of people exist. Before I came to Penn State I was aware of the diversity that did exist but was not sure to what extent. When walking around campus it is easy to see groups of people who are different from me judging by the outside appearance who all tend to stay with people who they are like. It is often that I see groups of white students, black students or groups of Asian students that tend to cling to each other and stay among each other but coexist on the same campus. I think that while there is a lot of diversity here, people aren’t really immersed or put in situations where they could experience something out side of their own culture or interests. People here are able to join groups or meet people based on their interests as well. We have so many clubs and organizations where people can join to share similar interests. Having well over 700 organizations people can meet each other on a multitude of levels based upon similar interests and not just based by color or national origin.

Diversity is something that is very important to me and was a huge deciding factor on coming to Penn State. Many other people see our school as not a diverse place because of its location. While, that is understandable it is not seen until you live here and go to school here every day. Coming from an area outside of Pittsburgh where there is little diversity, the transition to Penn State was a bit different for me. I went to a high school where there were over 5,000 students and 98 percent of the students there were white.
I have been able to experience diversity also on a first hand level. Being gay, I have been able to come to this school and meet many people who are like me and share the same ideals. Also, classes that are offered here discuss issues in the gay community and that is something new to me. I am able to engage in conversations that I have interest in and hear feedback from students and professors who also have educated opinions on these topics. I think many people who visit here can see the diversity first hand and helps them to decide if they will come here or not.

I am proud to go to a school that not only has such diversity but also celebrates it and has a lot of students involved in it. It is something that will always be around and that many people will learn about. Coming to a place such as Penn State helps shape students to be accepting of any type of person based on their differences.

Poverty affects people across the world every day. It is something that is colorblind and affects people who are black, white, Asian, male, or female. Sam mentioned in class that if you see someone the same race as you who is poor, that you are more unlikely to help them out. I was taken back when I heard that because I always felt the opposite. Previously, I was under the assumption that if I were to walk down the street and saw a white man or woman who was homeless, I would be more willing to help him or her out. I thought this way because I believed that I could identify with that person because the one thing in common we had would be the skin color.

I still partially believe that it holds true depending on your specific upbringing and area where you live. I discussed this question with my friend and she said she would be more likely to help a white person because she feels more comfortable around white people. She also explained that she is not a racist person but she has never been close with people of color and therefore feels more of a connection between white people and herself.

After further thought on this topic, I started to think how I would feel after taking this class. I started to wonder if it would matter about the person’s skin color or any other identifying factor. While this has never been something that really affected my decision making, I decided that it wouldn’t matter. Regardless of color, gender, handicap, sexual orientation or anything else a person in need, is a person in need. Poverty is something that doesn’t discriminate, so why should I or others. Throughout my childhood I volunteered at my church and many other places where we would help many people who were less fortunate by means of the food pantry or other services. The one thing that I noticed the most, and that shocked me the most was that there were kids who were my age that also needed the assistance. That was when I realized how fortunate I had been. Previous to that moment, I never really recognized that there were kids my age who were going through poverty. While, I knew it existed I just never thought it was so close to home.

In all, I believe that poverty is something that affects those regardless of what walk of life he or she may be in. I feel that it is not acceptable to help people or not help people based upon any skin color or any identifying factor. At the end of the day, poverty is poverty and anyone could have been born into or end up in a situation resulting in disadvantaged situation regardless of race.

Since slavery, blacks have had to deal with the feeling of oppression for decades. This has often come from the white population. Over time, through events such as the Civil Rights Movement racism against blacks has lessened. While, it is not completely gone, I believe that it has shifted to other minorities. Since the events of September 11, 2001, much racism has transferred to those who identify as Muslim. Furthermore, those who even “look” as if they could be Muslim are also looked at twice. It is a shame that in such a forward progressing society, that many people have the same feelings for Muslims as they did for blacks years ago. In class on Tuesday we watched the video about a restaurant worker denying service to a female Muslim, though they were all actors. It was so refreshing to see people stand up for her and refuse to continue their business at this establishment however some people were not so accepting of her. One man gave the worker a “thumbs-up” for denying her service but refused to be interviewed when questioned but rather made the bold statement that if people didn’t agree with him, they were “un-American.” I was dumbfounded after watching his reaction. At the end of the video when the news anchor came out and talked to each person, I felt a sense of embarrassment. As a white male who was raised in America, I couldn’t fathom the hatred some people have for others in this country. I was embarrassed that I even had to witness what the girl went through. My reaction at the end of the video clip even shocked me. I found myself tearing up with emotion because I know what is like to have someone not want another type of person around them or living in the same country, let alone living at all. Being gay, I have seen the discrimination that many people face. Unfortunately for others, the façade of my appearance doesn’t give away who I am.

I also felt for the five students at the end of the class who were answering the questions about their culture and what they face in their everyday lives. Those students shouldn’t have to be asked those questions because in the modern society we live in, one would think that we could live and work with those different than us. Those students were very brave for being able to discuss their feelings so openly in front of a large crowd like our class. It also helped me to understand why we have the perception that those in the Middle East hate Americans. The one female student from Morocco explained it in a way that I believe affected many when she said something to the effect of “it’s not that we do not like Americans, we just wish they would use their freedom they have because not everyone has the freedom like Americans do.”

There have been many times Sam will post a question and I am quick to answer it with my initial response. I do this because it is the way I have previously formed an opinion on the question he is asking. On the other hand, if I do not know the response to the question I will pick the one that I think most logically makes sense.

One specific example of this that stuck out in my mind is the time when he asked the question about the “gayest” city in the United States. My immediate reaction was that it was San Francisco for many reasons. The first reason is because I have heard in the media that it is a very gay-friendly city. Another reason is because as a gay man I have heard and read many articles about the different types of shows, events, and other cultural happenings in and around the area. I was shocked to find out that when I chose San Francisco, it wasn’t even on the top ten list of the chosen cities. I was very surprised to learn that Atlanta had been called the “Gayest City in America” according to The Advocate.

After this question was posed and I selected the answer I had believed to be correct, I realized that I had selected this answer based on what I had heard. I made this choice without more knowledge about other places throughout the country. From this point on, I began to take more time and thinking about the questions that Sam asked. Another specific example would be when he asked the question about income levels based upon the race of people in the country. I chose “White” first because it is what I had assumed again. Throughout my education I have always heard about white power and how those who were white were at the top. With that, I chose my selection not thinking that those who identify as Asian actually had higher incomes than those who were white.

I believe that more often than usual we make assumptions based on actual little information. The questions that we answer may be thoughts or opinions that we have gathered over time and think we have an answer to immediately. The reality is that we answer questions based on assumptions with little to know knowledge to back it. It is important to base our decisions off of facts that can be used to back our responses. Giving certain responses to specific questions may be how certain stereotypes of beliefs begin and continue. Now when I am sitting in class and I answer these questions, I often discuss them with the people around me to get their feedback and see what their thoughts may be and if I still do not know the answer to a question, I pick the one I truly believe to be the best.

The quote “I think all the silence is worse than all the violence” is from the Lupe Fiasco song titled “Words I Never Said.” I listened to this song and the lyrics are very powerful. It was interesting to listen to his song because I also agree with the quote. The exact quote could actually mean many different things however; I think what he was alluding to was issues that seem to be taboo in our society.

For an example, within the past year there have been many suicides among gay teens across the United States. Until after these suicides occurred, nothing was said previously. Numerous deaths occurred and still, nothing was said until enough support from people who are in the public eye started to make it an issue. The fact that young people, in the country that claims to be the most “free” felt the need to take their own lives over something such as sexuality disgusts me.

The lyrics, in my opinion, were written for scenarios like this. Often times, many people are afraid to stand up and speak out about issues that are loaded with opinion. I believe that this is due to a fear of being rejected or judged at for believing in what is right. The instance with the gay suicides is one specific example. There are many other groups of people who face rejection because of what they believe in as well.

Another example of this could be atheists. Many people in the United States and across the world have strong faiths in a certain religion. However, there are also groups of people throughout the world that have no belief in any certain religion or god. These people have been harassed and often looked down to because they claim to have no religious views.

The message that has been sent in this song is that if there are problems with a group of people or ideology that is considered a minority it should be addressed and accepted. If we continue to put down groups of people, not only will suicides continue but we could see other forms of retaliation as well. A prime example of a time in history like something like this happened would be the Holocaust. Millions of Jews and people deemed unequal by the German government under Nazi control would be tortured and ultimately murdered. This was one of the biggest mass killings in the world and it was all based around a fear. The emotion of fear is something that many are afraid to confront because they do not know how to handle the unexpected. I believe that it is exciting to explore the unknown and different and not only that, but it is also important to learn more about others and ultimately, yourself.