In my opinion, if I were a victim who was silenced, I would speak up now as others are doing so. As a friend of three of the victims, I have seen each of them come out at different times and admit to what has happened. Although I have not spoken to any of them since high school, I feel that it would take a lot of strength to come out in the national news and release that you were a victim of the Sandusky Scandal.

If I were one of the victims in this situation, I would handle a lot of things differently. First, I would not have let this happen in the first place. I believe that I am very strong and have the ability to stand up for something if I do not believe it is right. When it comes to child molestation, I feel I would have stopped it when it first happened. Even at a very young age, I was educated enough to know what is right and wrong. If these events were to happen, I feel that I am strong enough that I would have come out right away and told. Although many of the children involved were underprivileged and did not have fathers or mothers, I feel that it is almost their fault that they let it get this far. If victim one were to have stepped up and said what had happened from the start, it would not be as it is today.

I believe that many of the victims did not come out and say they were victims mostly because they were scared and intimidated by Jerry Sandusky himself. I feel that the reason he was able to do the things he intended to do was because of the power he had over the children and his reputation as someone who cared. In this instance, I find it very disgusting that such a man would take advantage of such a good cause for his own personal benefit. Such a man should never be allowed to do anything ever again on his own free will.

In my opinion, it all comes down to the kind of person who is abused. Whether someone is strong or weak plays a huge role into whether they can speak up or even have the ability to. I know for a fact that I would not be silenced at all. If I were put into a situation where I was forced to do something I did not want to, I would have taken off running and told the first adult I could find. In this day in age, people should know the difference from right and wrong. If something illegal happens, they need to take it into their own hands and not be silenced. I would not be silenced and neither should any other person who has been wrongly touched in their lives.

In my opinion, I believe that Penn State Student Body, as a whole, is in following the five stages of grief from the firing of Joe Paterno. I feel this way because as I walk around campus, there is an entire different setting and mood. Something that really stuck out to me over the past week is the emotion that the students have for Joe Paterno. A quote that I read on the situation really made me think hard about this whole situation. “As Penn State students are the children, Joe Paterno is the father.” This quote really stood out to me, because in reality, Joe Paterno has become the main figure and leader of the Penn State community.

In my personal experiences over the past week, I have felt the many stages of grief in different ways. As I started to learn about the situation at hand, I became very upset due to the fact that I have been involved with many of the people that this situation has affected. Joe Paterno is one of my father’s very close friend, so in reality, my family is affected through Joe Paterno’s hurt.

Although I am not a victim of the actual crime at hand, I still feel very close to the situation because I am a true Penn Stater, as well as a friend of one of the victims. To me, Jerry Sandusky has ruined the figure that Penn State has always stood for. Even though he was not involved in the Penn State student community, I still feel that he has tarnished the thoughts of others when they think about Penn State. As the Penn State community begins to handle this situation correctly, I do feel that we will get out of this on the other side and continue to be successful as a whole.

In my mind, I feel that the wrong person is in the spotlight in this situation. As Joe Paterno and the Penn State community still receive criticism for the actions of one man, the real criminal, Jerry Sandusky seems to be slipping by unnoticed. To me, this is where we are going wrong. The nation around us, the people who have respected Penn State for more than a hundred years, have simply turned their back on Penn State and the things that we represent as a university. To me, this is a disgrace. In no way should the university be held accountable for what one man has done. I understand that the situation was not handled correctly, and I respect that, but to put a whole university into the five stages of grief over something we had no control over should show the nation that we care, and that we are Penn State and always will be.

In my opinion, for a movement to actually take hold and make a mark in our society today, it would need the help of young people and a strong background. Today, we see things like “The Tea Party Movement” and “The Occupy Movements” move from one corner of the nation to the other in a matter of weeks. This is all due to the support that they have from young people. The reason these two movements are involving young people is because they are simply affecting them the most. To have a successful movement, the people taking action will have to be involved emotionally and physically. We see this in both the movements taking place today.

To start a movement, you will need a strong background that will affect many people physically and emotionally, like I said before. For instance, “The Occupy Movement” is affecting the 99%, a group of people who are solely not the top percent of income. This affects so many people across the world because they are not the other group. With such a large group of people affected, the 99% started out with such a large supporting group; which has ensured success so far throughout their journey.

In my mind, the people who start movements or protests are people with good imaginations and aggressive personalities. These are important qualities because without them, there is no hope. A person needs to have a good imagination, because they need to be able to see the outcome at he end of the tunnel. A person needs to have an aggressive personality because you simply cannot fight for something with a lackadaisical attitude. As well as these two important skills, I feel that many people in the group will have to be leaders and be brave. If there are no leadership skills, then a group will simply fail; and if there is no bravery, then there is no need to stand up for something. If a person is in need of something or wants something different, then they have to work extremely hard for it.

In my personal opinion, protest and movements are not the right way to go about speaking against something. If it were me in a situation where I did not like something, I would obtain supporters who think the same as I do, and take my case to government officials, or people of high rank, who can help out my cause in a more professional manner. Although most of the people are hard to contact, I feel that protests and angry movements are looked down upon because they are viewed as angry mobs or gangs. Even though I would do many things different, I still have seen much success when it comes to protests.

In my opinion, I feel it is unfair to other Americans to employ illegal immigrants. Hiring illegal immigrants is going against an “unspoken” American code. Over the past couple of weeks, Sam has focused much of his lectures on illegal immigration and the problems we face with it in the United States. The reason it is such a large problem is because we keep hiring them to work for us, but we complain that they are taking our job. I feel that a successful solution to this problem would just be to simply stop hiring them. I personally would never hire an illegal immigrant to work for me because I feel it is unfair to other Americans without jobs. Although many Americans are unemployed and are looking for work, they will still not work for low income like illegal immigrants will. Hiring an illegal immigrant would mean that I could pay very low wages and not have to supply them with anything besides possible transportation.

To me, taking work out of our country is going to hurt us in the long run. If we keep hiring illegal immigrants to do the work that lower class Americans should be doing, then we are going to start losing Americans. We watch videos all the time on poor white citizens, but they are doing nothing to help themselves. If they were to step into the roll of the illegal immigrants, then I feel like we would not have such a problem with illegal immigrants in the United States. Although many Americans are not willing to do this hard labor, I feel like it would benefit our country and our economy if they were to step up and get a job. Most of the time while I am watching these videos, I become very mad. It annoys me that many Americans can sit back and watch illegal immigrants take our jobs while our brothers and sisters are left in the dust. It is unfair to all Americans if you hire illegal immigrants.

The United States is having an increasing problem with immigration and it most certainly ties into other Americans. People are always arguing that we should get rid of illegal immigrants, and I agree, but we are the people who bring them here and support them. The situation is simply, if we were able to just stop hiring illegal immigrants and moving them around the states, then we would simply not have a problem with them at all. We can merely not blame anyone but ourselves when it comes to the problems of illegal immigration. I feel that if we were able to set up some kind of organization at the border that is stricter and regulates the kind of people that travel back and forth from Mexico, then I don’t think we would have this problem. Also, I feel that we have this problem because many Americans do not have good morals and are becoming very greedy.

In my day-to-day life, I feel white guilt often, but not always. I feel guilt in the fact that it my race (white people, in general) have made the black race a race that everyone looks down upon. I feel that this has happened through the history of the United States. I feel that this is relevant, because if slavery or any of the other prejudice acts we have committed never happened, it would not be like this today.

I chose to answer this post because in the recent weeks, I have had many questionable encounters and situations with black people and the black culture and I would like to talk about them. On Saturday night, I made my first late night trip to the McDonalds in downtown State College. To my surprise, it was full of African Americans. When the four of my friends walked in, we were quickly greeted with glares from the people around us. We were literally the only white people in the entire restaurant. To me, this is something very new. I come from a town in Central PA where there are little to none black people. In this situation, I acted as I always would and ordered my food and left. This reason behind telling this story is because I feel that I shouldn’t have to feel anything towards this situation like I do. I felt white guilt, because in all honestly, I felt bad. I feel bad that people of color give me glares and whisper under their breath. I feel bad because I’m sure they have prejudices against me because of other white people. In my opinion, it shouldn’t have to be like this at all.

Another situation where I have felt white guilt also happened this past weekend as I was returning to my apartment. As I came to the door, I realized I had forgotten my key to my building, so I had to wait to be let in. After about five minutes of waiting, a group of African American men came to the door and proceeded to walk through. After the last guy had walked through, he noticed me, and then turned and shut the door right in my face. This situation clearly made me furious and I thought about retaliating, but I didn’t. I felt white guilt in this situation, because although I did nothing to offend this black man, he still felt the need to offend me. I personally feel that he offended me because of the color of my skin. I feel that this is unfair for black people to do. Just because I am white does not mean that I am like many of the whites in the past. To me, white guilt will always be in the hearts of many whites as we see how black people react nowadays.

When it comes to getting dressed and going out, I feel that it is important for both sexes to be equally dressed. I am a male and when my friends and I go out to our parties, we wear button down shirts, nice pants or jeans, and a pair of nicer shoes (not sneakers). It is important for both sexes to dress up because we are both trying to impress each other; although I do understand that women are more likely to wear something that is uncomfortable. Personally, I see no problem when it comes to the attire that students these days are wearing to parties. If one’s mission is to impress someone else then I feel that they should be obligated to dress up in something nicer than everyone else.

In my opinion, I feel that it is more likely for women to dress up in tighter and more uncomfortable clothes than men these days. I feel that this is relevant because it is the way things are today. I personally feel that it is more the female trying to impress the male rather than the other way around. Although I do not see this in all cases, I do see it daily in the Greek culture here at Penn State. I believe that the reason females dress up in scandalous clothing because the men at fraternities see hundreds of women a night and would like to be remembered more than others. In my past, I have seen that the females travel from house to house to impress the guys. If they are not standing out above the rest of the women then they will not be remembered later in the night or weekend.

As I begin to visit my friends at other schools, I start to see this trend of dressing up and going out. Before, when I was a freshman, I went to one of my friend’s school for the weekend and saw women in jeans and a t-shirt. Here, at Penn State, I feel that there is an unspoken rule that girls would be looked down upon right from the start of the night. To me, a woman dressing up is not a rule at all. If someone wants to go out in sweatpants and a t-shirt, then let her do so because it is ultimately here choice. I feel that peer pressure from older girls has set this “rule” in stone. Personally, I enjoy dressing up and seeing others dress up. I believe it makes people look classy when they are doing not so classy things. If you are one to go out and try to impress someone, then dress up, but if not, then leave it to others to look good. No matter what, I still see everyone having fun; no matter what they’re wearing.

When it comes to getting dressed and going out, I feel that it is important for both sexes to be equally dressed. I am a male and when my friends and I go out to our parties, we wear button down shirts, nice pants or jeans, and a pair of nicer shoes (not sneakers). It is important for both sexes to dress up because we are both trying to impress each other; although I do understand that women are more likely to wear something that is uncomfortable. Personally, I see no problem when it comes to the attire that students these days are wearing to parties. If one’s mission is to impress someone else then I feel that they should be obligated to dress up in something nicer than everyone else.

In my opinion, I feel that it is more likely for women to dress up in tighter and more uncomfortable clothes than men these days. I feel that this is relevant because it is the way things are today. I personally feel that it is more the female trying to impress the male rather than the other way around. Although I do not see this in all cases, I do see it daily in the Greek culture here at Penn State. I believe that the reason females dress up in scandalous clothing because the men at fraternities see hundreds of women a night and would like to be remembered more than others. In my past, I have seen that the females travel from house to house to impress the guys. If they are not standing out above the rest of the women then they will not be remembered later in the night or weekend.

As I begin to visit my friends at other schools, I start to see this trend of dressing up and going out. Before, when I was a freshman, I went to one of my friend’s school for the weekend and saw women in jeans and a t-shirt. Here, at Penn State, I feel that there is an unspoken rule that girls would be looked down upon right from the start of the night. To me, a woman dressing up is not a rule at all. If someone wants to go out in sweatpants and a t-shirt, then let her do so because it is ultimately here choice. I feel that peer pressure from older girls has set this “rule” in stone. Personally, I enjoy dressing up and seeing others dress up. I believe it makes people look classy when they are doing not so classy things. If you are one to go out and try to impress someone, then dress up, but if not, then leave it to others to look good. No matter what, I still see everyone having fun; no matter what they’re wearing.

In my personal opinion, I feel that gay inequalities will be diminished before racial inequalities are. I feel this way because there are more races across the board that are homosexuals rather than an ongoing historical past. Over the past 200 years, we have been dealing with racial inequality. Recently in the past 50 years, the topic of gay marriage has become popular. I feel that the topic of gay marriage will be diminished sooner because it is a popular subject rather than something that has been going on for hundreds of years.

In my past experiences, I have dealt with many situations that involve both homosexual people and people of different races. In my high school, there were only four black people. This is relevant because there were more homosexual couples than there were people of different race. Over the four years I spent in high school I had noticed that the homosexuals and their partners were more widely accepted than the people of different race. To me, this is something that should be dealt with on a more serious note. If we are able to accept people based on feelings and beliefs that are different than ours, then we should be able to accept people of a different race the same way.

In my lifetime, I have had many situations where I had to deal with homosexual students and students from different racial backgrounds. During a gym class senior year, I was put into a situation where I was to choose from being partners with a homosexual student or an Indian student. In most cases, these two options would not even be assessed, but in our world today, we are faced with these problems everyday. Although I had no problem going with a homosexual student, I chose to go with the Indian student instead. This was not out of the ordinary for me because I am very accepting of other people in all situations. I believe that the homosexual student was not upset, but I’m sure that he thought I chose the other student based on his sexuality rather than race.

In class last week, I was very interested when Sam brought up the situation with the homosexual student. I was interested because I have been in the same situation where a homosexual male had made a passing at me. In my opinion, this is unacceptable. If I was a female and a male did the same to me, I would feel ashamed and shocked. There is no place in society for someone who is open and speaks freely of his or her mind when dealing with sexual thoughts. Although it was a made up situation, I feel that homosexuals do this more than heterosexuals do. Even though that is an unacceptable situation, I feel that they should be treated the same as everyone else in any situation.

The bike thief video made me feel scared for my well being in the community. If people can simply stroll by and take a look at someone cutting a chain attached to a bike, and continue to walk by, then we are all in trouble. Our community needs to be aware of things for each other. No matter what race you are in a community, you still have to have enough common sense to look out for each other. If one person can get away with stealing a bike in a largely populated park, then think what could happen in a shaded ally. People these days are too caught up in themselves.

My first reaction to the white teenager was not surprising. I thought that some people would pass him by without bothering him, but I knew that someone was going to stop and question him sometime. In my opinion, most people who would steal a bike would either be a black or white teenage male. Although this is a stereotype, I feel that most women are incapable of stealing a bike. If it were me passing by, I would’ve stopped and asked him what we was doing. Our society today is too caught up in ones’ self. People need to have other peoples’ backs.

At first, I though my reaction to the black male stealing the bike would be the same as the white male; but I was wrong. The black male received much more attention from the park than the white male did. The only thing different about this supposed criminal was that he was black. This made me feel upset because it shows that many communities in the United States are still very prejudice. If people have enough common sense to stop a black teenage male, then I feel that they should have enough dignity to stop the white teenage male as well.

To me, the final scene in the movie was the worst of them all. If people in our communities are memorized by looks and sex, then we are all in trouble. My main thought after watching the attractive actor scene was what if she weren’t attractive at all. Personally, I feel that the only reason she was able to get away with stealing the bike was because she was attractive, so what if she really wasn’t. To me, this is as prejudice as the black man stealing the bike. I feel that today in our society, people are labeled and excused from being criminals because of their facial features, sex, or skin color. Our world has a very distorted view on what people are really worth. If we were all able to view people from the inside out, then we would be in a much better place.

Although I do not know much about Haiti or what it is like there, after watching the entrepreneur videos I received a different view than I had expected. I’ve always been the type of person who is confused and picky about where I put my time and interests, but this project has really grown on me and seems like a great idea. As a student, I am always looking to get more involved in what is going on in the world, and this feels like a great calling. I am very excited to participate in this with my other group members.

After watching the videos, I wasn’t surprised about how little or close to nothing everyone in Haiti had. The article that affected me most was the one on lack on of doctors, food, and medicine. This was personal to me because I have a past experience in writing a paper on it. After understanding the topic, it made me understand that although there are things being done, nothing will ever fix the problems in Haiti completely. Behind food and shelter, medicine and medical care is a very important thing. If things like this are not attended to correctly, more of the population of Haiti will decrease. I feel like the right thing to do is to send medical students to do a tour in less fortunate countries. With this, we can help other countries while training our youth for the future.

The last video that I watched was the one named Figaro Louis. I believe that this was the one shown in class this past week. I thought it was interesting that the things that they do in Haiti, some people here in the United States will never have to experience of deal with ever in their lifetime. In the United States, we have machinery, technology, and factories producing our everyday goods, while in Haiti, they have nothing remotely close to that. In Haiti, the streets are dirt and have venders lined all along them. Life in Haiti relies on the people, whereas, in America, we all rely on things already existing. If one person does not do their daily job of cooking or plowing in Haiti, then it can affect a full community simultaneously. This is where we have to help. By providing relief, we can help some communities and families live longer.

In the past, I have been involved in many attempts to better other people in my community. I feel that being involved in this project will help better the people outside of my own community. This is important to me because it shows that students can do something big while having no real connection to the people on the other side. I am excited to participate in something that affects the human race as a whole.