en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3568551 Comments by dwg5122 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment223490679 This situation has definitely had an impact on the way outsiders view me as a Penn Stater. All in all, I think the media really fueled this scandal because it involved such a big name like Penn State, and targeted its biggest star, Joe Paterno. I think far too much attention has been paid to Penn State and football, although as a football fan I completely understand and see why they would talk about it more, it gets more attention. I would have loved to see so much more coverage about the victims, Sandusky, and the actual crime so that the public outside of this small community would have a much better understanding of the situation, the crime, and the facts. It also goes to show how quickly people are able to jump to conclusions and type cast an entire student body. The facts are not out yet fully, we can not be sure at all as to what actually happened, and who knew what. Yet ESPN keeps telling me what happened as if it was written in stone. Its also amazing to read articles and see the way the writers throw Penn State around so freely with the crime. This crime wasnt committed by Penn State, it was committed by a few people. Their names are barely in the news, but Penn State as a whole is. After the riot, it looked as if every person in State College was running around flipping vans. Honestly I was at the riot and had a pretty good view of that van getting flipped but I wasnt there out of anger or outrage, I was there out of curiosity. I wanted to see what was going to happen, I like on Prospect, just two blocks from where all the action was, I wasnt going to miss something big happen. Of course it looked as if the entire thing was a malicious effort to support Joe Pa. I knew this was big national news as early as Tuesday. Of course I saw it all over ESPN but thats because it involved sports news so I expected that, but when my dad emailed me about this (mind you he is in no way a sports fan and would not be watching ESPN) I knew this was big. He told me it was the front page story on CNN and we talked about it a bit. We talked about how advertisers and people that donate are pulling out of Penn State and how this situation hurt the university. Also hearing about people losing internships and THON supporters taking away their commitment its easy to see that people view this University differently. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:28:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment223490679 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/01/voices-from-the-classroom-59/#IDComment217075288 I think that I have a very interesting perspective in reference to this question. I say this because I speak a different language. My parents are from Russia and I speak Russian fluently, in fact it was my first language. It's interesting to look at this question from both perspectives. Although I speak Russian around others in order to say things so that they dont understand, at the same time I feel a bit uncomfortable when people do the same about me. When with family in a public place, sometimes I will make a comment in Russian so that others dont understand what I'm saying. For instance I could walk into a house and tell my dad "it smells" in Russian as to express how I feel but at the same time making sure the home owner isnt offended in case they over hear me. Another instance where this comes in handy is if I get angry and can curse in Russian as to make sure I dont offend anyone around me. When I get road rage I usually curse in Russian, only when alone though, with other people that would be pretty weird to just start talking a different language out of no where. At times my parents would talk to me in Russian when I had friends over if they needed to tell me something that they didnt want my friends over hearing, usually if they were pissed at me about something but didnt want to embarrass me in front of my friends. I wouldnt say I do it often, especially at school where I have no one to talk to, but it does in some cases come in handy. Now from the other perspective of having someone talk in a different language around me, I dont particularly like it. The main reason behind that is because I feel like they are talking about me, and makes me question why they wouldnt just speak in English around me. I feel this way because for the most part, if I'm talking near someone in Russian its because I'm talking about them. It may be paranoid but if I walk by someone and they say something in a different language I get suspicious. A good example of this is one time people talked about me in Russian and of course I understood and called them out on it. It was at a summer league swim meet and I was next up to race. The people behind me were making fun of the suit I was wearing in Russian so I turned around to them and in Russian told them to politely go fuck themselves. Instances like this is why I get a little uncomfortable when people talk around me in a different language. Sat, 5 Nov 2011 01:03:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/01/voices-from-the-classroom-59/#IDComment217075288 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-58/#IDComment213188116 To be honest, I think that some sections of America will experience some drastic changes where as other areas really wont see much of an effect. I think that many states in the southwest are already heavily populated by Mexican immigrants. In many areas in the south whites are already a minority but you dont tend to hear much about that. I dont think that the north part of the United States would be affected nearly as drastically. In my opinion I think that New York will have majority of white people for a while, even if whites are a minority in the United States, they will still be the majority in several northern states. In regards to whether I'm scared as was asked in class or worried in any way, I'd personally say not really. Of course there are benefits of being the majority, most notably being more comfortable in public knowing that most people are like you. It must be uncomfortable to go out in public and only see a few people of the same race. I'm sure it is both an intimidating and alienating feeling which minorities feel today. For example, my high school was pretty much entirely white. There were very few colored students but I never thought about the fact that it must have been awkward being in such a different environment and it makes complete sense why they chose to stick together and to themselves as opposed to assimilate the the white suburban society. If roles were reversed and say I went to school in an inter city area of course I would feel uncomfortable, out of my comfort zone, and maybe even scared. Personally though I think I'd find a common ground and find a way to fit in and find my own zone within the community. That is the way that I think it would work in the future if I am in a situation where I am the minority. At first I may feel excluded and find it difficult to be productive at work or social in a social setting. However, as time went on and I became more comfortable with the situation I think I would have no trouble fitting in and would not even notice the fact that I am a minority. I wonder how long it will actually take for whites to become a minority in this country, I know this past year was the first time that white babies born were not the majority but I still think that there are many many years before this will be an issue that society has to deal with. Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:53:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-58/#IDComment213188116 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment210648786 This is a very interesting question and seems to be pretty prevalent in society. In some situations I think its completely natural for someone to hang out with people that tend to all be different from them and not be a poser but in some situations I do think that they are posers. First off, I dont think that you are a poser if you hang out with people that are all different than you. In high school, one of my close friends on the swim team was Colombian. My area and high school was predominantly white and most of my friends were white. There were a few black and spanish students and they tended to stick to their own groups. Some times when I had a free period I would go hang out with my Spanish friend and hang out with his friends. I wouldnt say that I was close with any of them besides my friend from swim but they welcomed me and never gave me a hard time when I would hang around them. I never forced any of my personal views or ideas down their throats and they never did that either. By the end of the school year I would play dominoes with them and say hey in the hall ways. The reason I dont think I was a poser is because I didnt pretend like I was part of their group or identify with any of their customs or ways. I just connected with them on a friendly basis. Never did I pretend like I was part of their spanish crowd or in any way act spanish. When I think of a poser I think of someone different who tries very hard to fit in with a different group and does not succeed. I think the perfect and very extreme example of this is the movie "Malibu's Most Wanted." The main character is a very rich white jew whose father is running for Governor. The problem is that he pretends to be black and a rapper and identifies with the black hip hop community. In this case he is a poser because he tries so hard to be what he is not yet he is not accepted by that group. He is resilient and ends up fitting in at the end, in which case he is not a poser, because his actions are not rejected by the group he wants to be in. Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:01:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment210648786 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-44/#IDComment207504946 Although I believe that white guilt is a big influence in my life and lives of all white people, I dont think that in this day and age it should be. First I'll start with an example of where I have felt white guilt. The first being on my high school swim team, there was only one black swimmer. He was one of my close friends and we got along very well, I'm sure he knew he was the only black one on the team but he didnt let it affect him. However, I know for a fact that everyone was aware of this. There was one instance where we raced a team with mostly black kids and as jokes swimmers on our team would say stuff like "hey we can make a trade" or things along those lines. Again it didnt bother him or at least he didnt show it, but thats just one example of where I felt guilty that he was treated differently for the sheer reason that he was black. The other example was from my internship this summer. I worked for BlackRock and in the internship program there were many brown interns but only one black male intern. No one ever mentioned it, but of course I overheard people saying he got the internship because of affirmative action or something else. It sucks that a smart student like that intern was instantly thought to not deserve the internship just based on his skin color. However, I dont feel white guilt that often because I try not to associate people with color. I will never make a decision based on skin color, choose who to talk to or hang out with based on color or decide my friendship with someone based on color. In fact, I think the white community does this less and less as time goes on. On the other hand, I think black and brown people judge based on color just as much, if not more than whites. Just this past summer I was playing a pick up basket ball game at the park. It was me and two of my friends from school and we joined a game with kids that were all black. Now of course when one of them would make an incredibly athletic move or dunk the ball we would never say anything associated with their color, we would just compliment them on their skill. But when I would jump high and get a rebound over one of them there would always be a comment, "white boy can jump" or "alright white boy, not bad." Things of that nature dont bother me in the least bit because I dont take shame in being white so being called white doesnt affect me. However, I'm sure if I turned the tables and said something connecting their athleticism with being black, they would have been all up in arms and confrontational. Although I dont feel the affects of white guilt often, it is out there and there are times that I wish everyone would look past color. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:49:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-44/#IDComment207504946 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-40/#IDComment204429195 I think this is a completely wrong point of view for several reasons. First of all, woman dont HAVE to dress uncomfortably to go out and look good. I in all honesty think my girlfriend is as beautiful in sweats with no make up as she is when she dresses up with make up and heels. Now dont get me wrong, I think heels make a womans legs look great and coupled with a short tight dress thats a good combination to get attention from men. However, it is not necessary, if a girl is attractive, has a nice face and smile, nice body, her clothes and the way she dresses up should not dictate if she is attractive or not. But as I mentioned, it is all about getting attention from men. In the social environment we live in, especially Penn State, there are a lot of people. In order to get noticed, something has to put you above the rest and for women, they believe that dressing up nice, wearing uncomfortable heels, and makeup will help them stand out and get the attention of men. On the other side of the argument is that as a man, I can tell you that I dont always dress comfortably. Yes, Ive been in social environments wearing sneakers jeans and a t-shirt and thought I looked good and got attention from girl which was the goal. At the same time, Ive been in those same social environments wearing khakis and button down shirts which I cant compare to a tight dress or heels but also isnt exactly lounging around clothes. The place it differs is when we are older. Men have to dress much more uncomfortably as adults than women do. Any place that requires nice clothing means dress slacks, a button down shirt tucked in (very annoying to have to keep tucking in my shirt throughout the work day) a tie (means you have to button the shirt all the way on your neck which is tight and hot) and a jacket which again makes it hot. At my internship this summer woman wore dresses (work dresses), skirts and blouses. I think men in a professional environment need to dress more uncomfortably. But in the end, regarding college students, girls do need to dress more uncomfortably in order to garner the attention of men. Lets face it, girls love attention and they especially love it from a guy who they want to impress. They are willing to push their limits, and go through the annoyance of dressing up just to talk to that guy they have been pursuing all semester. Fri, 7 Oct 2011 16:49:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-40/#IDComment204429195 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-18/#IDComment201119704 I'd like to start this post just by mentioning be best and by far the funniest moment of the video:the woman is stealing the bike and the man with his wife ride by. The wife is appaled and wants to stop the woman, she goes to approach her husband and speak to him about this issue while he rides right past his wife to help the young woman. Absolutely hilarious,. Now on to the real issue of the racism portrayed in this video. The video first showed a young white guy openly trying to steal a bike in a park. He has several tools and a tool bag with him and tries to cut the chain. Several people bike by, all of them where white I believe, and don't act or try to stop him. Some stop and question him for a little, but when he even hints that he is stealing it, they still don't call the police. Now the next clip is of the same situation except with a young black guy. Again, people ride by, and again I think most everyone was white, except this time the reactions are much harsher. They confront the young man and try to stop him while they call the police. Several men seem to get very angry and upset. The video shows people acting in a pretty racist way. It really is eye opening how drastically different the reactions were. A good case was brought up in class that the video did not use the same people, so you cant truly judge the reaction but I think it was a pretty fair experiment. I don't think any of the people in the video are openly and overtly racist, none did it out of sheer racism. However, I think it is just a feeling they have embedded in them from when they were young, a feeling that is part of them and they will never shake. This is what would cause a middle aged white man to be quick to accuse the black male of stealing and give a pass to the white man. I honestly don't know how I would personally react if put in that situation. Naturally I'd love to say that no matter what I would stop the guy's from stealing the bike but in reality I don't think I would try to stop either. First off, I'd probably be biking too fast to even notice this notorious activity (joking). Seriously, I don't know if this would really catch my attention. If just biking by I would probably think that they were trying to unlock it, not cut the chain. Had I actually noticed them trying to steal it, I would probably not confront them unless there were other people there just because they have a bag full of saws and other sharp tools. But if I was with others and they shared the same concern as me, I may have called the police on both, but unless I am put in that situation I think its impossible for me to say for sure how I would react. Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:46:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-18/#IDComment201119704 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/13/voices-from-the-classroom-9/#IDComment194149394 I think there is a clear and direct correlation between income levels and average SAT score. Now just before I get into this, I personally dont think the SAT's are a good measure of intelligence or knowledge, rather it tests your test taking abilities and time management as well as clear quick thinking. That aside, there is a lot of preparation and work that goes into taking this exam. Everything from private tutors to SAT prep classes to study guides and giant books telling you how to ace this test and get into that ivy league school. Unfortunately it is not all hard work and determination because if it was, I would have done a lot worse. I grew up and live in an upper middle class neighborhood in Long Island, New York. By no means would I say my family is wealthy, only my dad works and there are 4 kids to fund. However, there are many wealthy people in surrounding areas and people that I went to high school with probably wont have to worry about money. That being said, I had many opportunities to make sure I did well on this test. Like I said earlier, I dont think this is a legitimate test of knowledge or intelligence but a good score got you into a good college and thats what I wanted. And so, I stated taking an SAT prep class, one that many of my friends had taken or were taking with me. I dont know exactly how much it cost, I never asked, but I cant imagine it was cheap. The class was every Sunday for 3 hours and I would have to say it did a very good job preparing me for the exam and teaching me the skills I needed. In addition to this, I had two giant prep books that my dad would make me go through, read, and do problems daily. Without money and the resources that my family provided me there is no way in the world that i would have been as prepared as I was. I think people of lesser income levels have the chance to prepare themselves, the books i had were not that expensive at all, but they still didnt have as much preparation. I think it is harder also in a different environment. Usually lower income students dont have very nice schools as we saw in that Oprah video, which leads to bad test taking conditions. They are not as motivated, if they dont think they will do well and go to college, then what is the point of even trying. They are not pushed the way my dad pushed me. I think that people of lower income can do very well on the SAT's and are very bright students, but due to a combination of lesser motivation and less opportunity for prep classes and knowing the exam, they will have lower average scores. However, like I mentioned, I do think it is possible to do well on the test without much preparation. After taking the SAT's and getting a score that I thought was suitable, I decided to take the ACT's just to see if I would do better. I didnt take any prep classes or even do much studying, just looked through some problems in a book. I came out of the exam with a score that converted was almost exactly the same as my SAT score. Now, of course my SAT prep helped me take the ACT but the point is that it isnt everything. Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:33:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/13/voices-from-the-classroom-9/#IDComment194149394 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/08/voices-from-the-classroom-4/#IDComment191272813 I would identify Judaism as being both a religion and a culture but not a race. Being Jewish myself I can personally identify with this question and answer strictly on my personal beliefs and of those in my community. I grew up in Hewlett New York which is known for being a Jewish area, earning my town the nickname Jewlett. This allows me to provide a personal perspective on the question. First off, Judaism is most definitely a religion. At some point during elementary school I also began going to Hebrew school to learn about the religion and prepare for my Bar Mitzvah. I would attend services for the high holy days and occasionally for the sabbath. I would hear all the stories from the Torah and was taught all the prayers. To me, at a young age, Judaism was only a religion. It was holidays, Hanukkah being the favorite of course. It was attending temple services and multiple Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I was Bar Mitzvah'd and became a "man" in the religious sense. As I mentioned, I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood. It wasnt extemely religion, in fact there were only a few orthodox Jews in Hewlett (the town over, however, was full of orthodox Jews). But in my High School, most were like me, reformed Jews that identified as Jewish but were not extremely religious. Coming to Penn State and becoming the minority shows how being Jewish was a culture in my area. I grew up going to huge parties at 12 and 13 for Bar Mitzvah's. We would get days off from school for Jewish holidays, and our spring break fell at the same time as Passover, not Easter. Its not just that though. Jews have a certain style of dress, which back home I couldnt tell, but at Penn State seems obvious. Jewish girls dont wear many bright colors and seem to wear more modest clothes in general. Jewish guys on campus seem to dress better on a day to day basis, such as jeans instead of sweats, button downs or sweaters instead of a hoodie. Probably the most religious and cultural experience I had however was going on Birthright the summer after my freshman year. Birthright is a trip offered to all Jews to Israel for free. It is the belief that every Jew is born with the right to visit the Holy Land, hence, Birthright. Although I've been to Israel several times before to visit family, no trip can compare to this experience. We visited extremely religious land marks, such as the holy city of Stzvat and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. The most profound moment of the trip was visiting a small Israeli town on the border of the Gaza Strip. This town in the height of the conflict would get bombed from the Gaza Strip at least 200 times a day. All the play areas on the play ground for the little children doubled as bomb shelters. The school was a bomb shelter, every home had a bomb shelter, the bus stations were bomb shelters, and so on. This town was on high alert at all times yet they refused to leave or give up their land, because in the Jewish eyes, this is our land. This really made me connect with the Jewish people and understand what being Jewish was all about, how it was a combination of religion and culture that created a lifestyle. Fri, 9 Sep 2011 00:38:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/08/voices-from-the-classroom-4/#IDComment191272813 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/01/why-not-just-american/#IDComment189060259 If someone came up to me at a party and asked me my nationality, I would say Russian without hesitation. I am the first, first generation American in my family. My parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles all moved to America in 1989 from the former Soviet Union. I am the first born in my family, so naturally I was the first American in my family. I must say that is one of the things I am most proud of in my life. But then why, when asked, would I say I'm Russian, not American? Well the first thought that comes to mind is because everyone is American! (for the most part). If I just happen to run into someone in the street, my first assumption is that they are an American citizen. If everyone introduced themselves as Americans, there would be nothing to distinguish ourselves by. Another factor that may cause me to identify as Russian, is because I am proud of that as well. People dont just throw away their past because they are in a new country now. If I were to move to England, I would consider myself an American. However, if I had children there, they would consider themselves English. Still, I would want them to know they are of American descent and to be proud of that fact. I feel like that is the way my parents feel as well. They are extremely proud to be Americans, and consider it the greatest country in the world (not much to compare it to as the former Soviet Union was an awful place to grow up and live). But they all still speak Russian at home, as do I. My mom still cooks traditional Russian dishes and reads Russian novels. So even though I am an American, I am also surrounded by Russian culture. There is no way for me to ever consider myself not Russian. I will always identify as an American, but at the same time, will never forget that I am Russian as well. Now in regards to if we are less united than other nations, I say 100% no. I feel like America is the most unified, nationalistic country because everyone enjoys being American. No matter what bad things you can say about America or the government or immigration, it still trumps any other country in terms of standard of living, equality and most importantly, freedom. When thinking about this question of unity, one image comes to mind very vividly. Last spring, the Sunday before my 8 AM economics final, Osama Bin Ladin was killed. I went to the rally downtown and it was amazing, this rally wasnt because we beat Ohio State, it was because we were all American and proud of it. Everyone there came out to celebrate an American triumph with their fellow Americans, and I can honestly say that was a very happy and proud moment in my life. Fri, 2 Sep 2011 16:46:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/01/why-not-just-american/#IDComment189060259