I don't think anyone would really pay attention to sacraficing state pattys day. Everyone would do whatever they feel like doing or maybe even create a new drinking holiday. I really donth think sacraficing state pattty's day is a good ideas. people would buy alcohol with the little resources they have. Not only do they hold their businesses with little resources, they do a good job and they perfect everything they do. Not only do they support their families with these jobs, they also hire people, who support their families with those jobs. They also pay their employees the amount of money that needs to be paid. It is amazing! I am really glad that we are doing these projects because not only we are helping these Haitians better their lives, we as a society are learning about the struggles other people have to go through and hopefully serve as a motivation for us. Working this project with my group will be very interesting. I think we have a great group. It is a very diverse group also; we have people from several different back rounds and who grew up in other countries. I am curious to see how being exposed to other communities will move them and I think we will have great ideas. Although we are not yet completely comfortable with each other, I think we will be able to work really well together and have a good project. When watching the videos I noticed that these Haitians were doing some great thing and they could be doing even better things if they had the resources to do it. After the earthquake a lot of Haitians los everything, it is good to see that they are bringing themselves back up and doing what is needed to be done to be able to go on with their lives. As many of the students in the classroom I do not know much about the current conditions in Haiti. Sacraficing state pattys day is not the solution to nay problem especially not here is state college, where people onlylike to drink I don't think anyone would really pay attention to sacraficing state pattys day. Everyone would do whatever they feel like doing or maybe even create a new drinking holiday. I really donth think sacraficing state pattty's day is a good ideas. people would buy alcohol with the little resources they have. I don't think anyone would really pay attention to sacraficing state pattys day. I don't think anyone would really pay attention to sacraficing state pattys day. Everyone would do whatever they feel like doing or maybe even create a new drinking holiday.

All this case about Penn State has been crazy, it has been in the media, it’s the only thing people have been talking about for weeks and students have yet to figure out how they feel about this whole mess. Every single person involved in this case has been a man, the person who did it, the person who saw, the people who heard, all the victims, every single one has been a male. But would it be different if the people involved were females? This is a question that I have been talking about with a lot of people. I was interested to see how people reacted to these questions. Like many of the people who replied to this question, I strongly believe that this case would be extremely different had it been a female who had been involved. have been resolved and over with a while ago had it been women who were involved. Although there are well known women at the university, none the like the people involved in this scandal. Sandusky and Joe Paterno are important people to this university. Had it been women, I don’t believe the media would have made us their main focus for weeks. If McQuerry, the person who saw this happen, had been a female, I’d like to think that she would have directly said something and helped the child right at the moment. But then I think that the odds of a woman going up to a man under that condition will be very intimidating and difficult. What I do know is that a women would have not let that slide, something would have been done immediately. She would have not waited until the day after to solve this problem; also I believe that she would have followed up as many times as necessary to make sure that something was done. And she would have insisted until she made sure that something was done about this situation. If the victims would have been girls they would have most likely spoken a lot earlier than the boys did. Also it would have probably been harder for Sandusky to commit these rapes against girls because people may have caught on quicker that he was going into a locker room with a little girl. And mothers would most likely not let their little girl stay over with a man. I am the one that believes that this world keeps going because of women. Women are strong and care, they make sure things are okay and right. Women have maternal instinct when it comes to children, they know when something is wrong and they know that something has to be done when it needs to be done.

Happy Valley, is definitely not so happy anymore. You walk around and all you hear about is this whole event that is happening. You see the news, we are everywhere. Every newspaper has Penn State in the front cover. These past days I have had such a mix of emotions, I have been confused about the events, angry at Sandusky, sad about this whole situation, worried about what will happen next and ashamed of the actions some students are taking, but something that I do know Is that I am grateful to be a Penn Stater. I know it is weird for me to be saying this now, when a lot of people are ashamed of what is going on. I have always been proud to be a Penn Stater, but I guess it was not until now that I realized how grateful I am to be here. Its not until you lose something or risk losing it that you realize how much meaning it really has to you. This place that I call my home has gone from being everything I love to, one of the saddest place to be in, within less than a week. I think that people can see, that I love this school and always will. However, I do not agree with the riots that the students are participating in. I think that this drags more negative attention to us, and at the time it is not what we need. To me it is absurd. I am one of the students who will participate in events that actually mean something, like the candle vigil. I hope that the same way that a lot of students went out to riot, they will go out to show their support to the victims, who at the time, are probably the ones who need it the most. I see people face book status, and I notice how big of a family we are. Yes there are people who riot, people who destroy downtown, people who get angry and do dumb things. But there are a lot of us who, dont participate in that, we unite in things that really matter. I think that a lot of us are upset with Joe Pa being fired, I am too, I do care about that. But some people are making that the main focus, and it should not be. There are victims, families and friends who are the ones who need support of the community. This is why I support vigils, blue outs, creating awareness. We as student body cannot do anything about what has happened and the bad decisions that some leaders made, but we can prove that we are not like them, that we care.

In the American society, Mexicans, (which are often times central or south Americans other than Mexicans, but are all put in the same box) are seen as the people who come to this country illegally to take the Americans jobs. One of the most common jobs for these “illegal” is working the fields. They are often times exploited, paid led than minimum wage and required to work ridicules hours. As seen in class, states like Arizona, whose officers are now allowed to request documentation, these “illegal” are no longer working the fields, making it impossible for the owners to find Americans to do the job for them. Yet we hear Americans complain about all the jobs these illegal are taking away from them. Jobs that when available to them, they don’t take. Leaving a lot of farmers struggling, this would lead to hurting the economy. Many of these illegal immigrants are seen as lazy people who come to take education and health Americans have to offer. In a way they do come for education and health but they also come for a job, and they work on whatever they can get. Not only do they support themselves they also support their families back in their home land. They will do whatever it takes to be able to give that support. No matter what the hours, the wage or the energy the job may entail. When it comes to the jobs Americans will have they won’t do that same amount of work, for that little amount of pay. Another factor is that a lot of Americans have an education which may allow them to get a better job with better benefits. In the corporate world not many latinos, or illegal are the ones leading it. Also Americans as they grow are thought that certain jobs are for certain people; unfortunately, this is one of those cases. No one is going to want to do a job that is stigmatized as a job for the illegal, the low class. In class Sam asked who would work in the farming industry for 10.50 an hour, the hands that were raised could be counted on one hand. I was one of them. 10.50 seemed like a good pay considering, that it is above low wage. But I was also thought that a job is a job, and as members of society we do what we have to do, to survive and get by. When watching the video in class the man exposed a lot of good points, these illegal build our economy, they work jobs, some pay taxes, they give more than what they take. They don’t take a lot from the Americans and they give us a great amount of things.

The sentence that caught my eye the most what where it says "I had always spoke Spanglish, but a few years ago you were criticized for it, they told me I was lazy and couldn't express myself in English nor Spanish," this explains exactly how I feel. Upon arriving to the US, I was warned to stay away from spanglish because I would never fully develop my English, and I could eventually end up losing my Spanish. I find myself always on guard, making sure I only stick to one language. I correct my mom if she speaks spanglish, and I have a hard time communicating with people who speak a lot of spanglish because I don’t know in what language to communicate with them. I’m at a point where if I know that a person speaks English, I will talk to them in that language, just because often times I’ll talk to them in Spanish and they will reply to something completely different to what I said. After reading this article I realized that it is not uncommon to speak spanglish, but then again, I don’t know how I feel about that. After looking at the tables in the article, as generations go by there is an increase of spanglish, and an increase of English, but the Spanish decreases, and I wonder if that would have been different if parents has forced their children to solely speak Spanish at home. Something mentioned in the article that I just recently realized I do a lot was add “so” to a full sentence in Spanish. I try to avoid it but it just comes naturally. As for my Spanish I also feel like I am losing some of it. Over breaks, when I go home, I cannot use spanglish because my friends do not know any English. Often times I find it hard to explain myself because I want to say something in English but I know that they won’t understand. These are just some of the reasons why my experiences had lead me to not like the term and use of “spanglish” . I do feel that the article put an important point out there. In the US many people know spanglish, so being fluent in spanglish would not be a problem. It is easier to explain something, or to even communicate. It does add to biculturalism and it is good that “spanglish speaking people” are being acknowledged in the media. Although I may not find it beneficial, in the US it is. Hopefully people will recognize that it is important to use both languages and be aware that although spanglish is acceptable, it is still important to take the time to learn both languages well.

I think that people who hang out with people outside of their race should not be considered posers. There is a lot of factors that influence the people who we choose to hang out with and why. When I think of poser I think of people who try to ask as something they are not. I don’t think that because you hang out with people outside of your race should be considered a poser because often times they maintain their individuality. Often times it is easy to know where a person is from simple by the way they dress. For example people from Philly or new your dress really different than the people from Lancaster or state college. People from Miami and Texas also dress differently. If there is a white girl or boy raised in Philly it might mean that they will dress to the style used there, not necessarily that they are trying to dress that way because that is how their black and brown friends dress. People also talk a certain way because of the region they are from. So I think that where you are from will greatly influence how you act, and who you will hang out with. During a summer program I met a girl who lives in the inner city. It is pretty obvious that she did based on a whole bunch of things, one of them being that she had no white friends at all. During the program she hung out with me the whole time, since I was the only Latina and minority in the group everyone gave her a hard time saying that she was trying to be one of us. She would really get bothered by it. Often times she had to explain that, the way she acted and dressed was due to the fact that it was the only thing she knew. She was the minority in her high school. In this case, as Sam would say, other factors and forces out of her control, shaped her to be the way she was. I don’t see why this should be considered as being a poser. Same happens when a person of the minority grows up in a predominantly white area, most of his/her friends are white and they receive an education at a predominantly white school. They often get told by the minorities in their communities, colleges, or wherever that they are not embracing their culture. Or I have also heard them be called Oreos. Personally I think that it’s rude to judge people because they don’t act how everyone else thinks they should act. So I don’t agree with the fact that they are being seen as poser when in reality they are not.

Unlike many people who wrote on this blog, I had never seen, or heard of these two lovely young ladies. I think it is amazing that they decided to participate in the documentary. As they said it is a way of educating the world, to whom they are. Their case, just like most of our life, has a lot of free will and determinism. I think their case has a lot of determinism. The fact that they are conjoined twins, and share a circulatory system, which means they can’t be separated, definitely makes it determinism for them. The fact that their mom, chose to continue with the pregnancy is free will. She was determined to have conjoined twins but she made the decision to continue with the pregnancy. They also have a lot of free will. The family chose to go to school, as opposed to homeschooling, they chose to have a life as close to normal as possible. They chose to have a documentary, to get a license, go to college and a whole bunch of other decision they are making. However, I think some of those decisions will be made for them, for example. In college, they have to study the same mayor, unless something is figured out in the classes, but then, how do they take test, do them each have to take one or can it be a team effort. When they get married, have kids, who will be considered the birthmother, I’m sure there is biology to that, so that will be determined for them.
On another note, I admire these girls, for living their life normally, I loved the video of the girls in school, it seems like everyone there has accepted them, has gotten used to the fact that that is who they are. I find this amazing. I also liked the part of the video where they are getting their license. I was so shocked when I heard that they were driving. For some reason I had never thought of that as something they would be able to do. Comes to show how ignorant I am in many things, and how unexposed to diverse cultures I am. This video opened my mind to so many things. Freedom and determinism come to play every day of our lives. Personally, it is something I don’t really think about. But when forced to think about it I realize how important it is and how much it really affects us as individuals. In the same way it surrounds me it surrounds them, only they may have some factors already determined for them. But they have the choice to go through with what is proposed of move on and find another option.

Why do women dress a certain way and expect to be treated another? This is a really good question, and it is really controversial. I have so many mixed feelings about this topic. I honestly can’t really decide where I stand in my point of view about this question. What I am sure of is that everyone male and female should be treated with respect no matter how they dress. Just because a girl dresses a certain way does not mean that it is an open invitation for you to disrespect her. I often hear guys say that girls are looking for something to happen to them if they dress that way. And I just think that no one likes to be disrespected, but then I wonder why is it that most of these girls knowing the type of attention they are going to get continue to dress that way. I really think some of them want the attention, others are simply too drunk to care, but I am pretty sure most of them are not drunk when they get dressed. I don’t think too badly about the way they dress when it is warm out. It shocks me every time I see that no matter how cold it is, girls will wear those short dresses and heels, and honestly I don’t think it is necessary to put yourself through that. Part of me wants to think that’s the fashion, the style that is going on. Sure seems like it because almost every girl wears the same outfit. But during the winter, that is not what you see on TV, in magazines, or at stores. So, I don’t get why they do dress that way. Personally, I do not dress that way, neither will I dress that way. I do believe that the respect you get, not only from guys, but from everyone else, has a lot to do with the way you dress. It’s like when you go to an interview, you dress to give off a good impression. Same for a party, you can give an impression with the way you dress; only it may or may not be a good one. I see tons of girls who get plenty of guy’s attention and they do not dress that way. They, many times get a different type of attention, they are more respected, yet acknowledged. I have heard by many guys that they can tell by the way a girl dress who is worth a try and who is just a one night stand. I also think that the respect the girl get also has to do with alcohol. If a guy is sober, I really don’t think that he would disrespect a girl no matter how she is dressed. But when alcohol comes in play, everyone, both guys and girls, lose their senses and judgment

When I first saw the video of the bicycle, I expected it to be one where everyone flipped out because a black male was stealing a bicycle. This would not really surprise me because, that is what it presented in the news and in the movies. The black guy is always the one to steal, or be violent, or get in any kind of trouble. This sucks, because it is not true. Media has a lot of influence on what or how people think about other races or cultures. They set a certain stereotype to a certain race. And normally no matter what the source of media is a certain race will have the same stereotype. In the video, when a white guy was stealing a bike, no one really seemed to be paying attention to what was occurring. They would seem to just bypass him. He clearly stated that the bike was not his, so he is clearly stealing it. Yet no one did much. When the black guy seemed to be stealing the bike most people had to comment on is, ask him or at least recognize the fact that he was stealing the bike. When the female was stealing the bike, I did not quite expect the reaction of the men to be that drastic, to the level of helping her steal the bike seems a bit too much. I did not expect them to call the cops or anything; I did think they would allow her to get away with it, but I did not think they would actually help her with it. I do think that they would have helped her if she had said she lost her key, but if I am not mistaken they all made it pretty clear that it was not their bike. At first I thought that if this experiment would have been done using the same people every time, to see how they reacted, it would determine if they did have a certain ideal about a specific race. But then I figured they would catch on to it pretty quickly. However, as Sam Richards always says, there are factors and forces out of our control that shape our ideals or opinions. The bicycle video was filmed in the same place, this probably means that most of the people will have similar ideals within the same community. And yes I do recognize that some people are different but I do think that where you grew up influences how you perceive different people. For example a person that is raised in New York or Philly will be more exposed to diverse communities than a person raised in the middle of no where PA.

Watching these videos really made me think about how much we can limit ourselves. Sometimes I hear people, friends, family, whomever, saying that they can’t do this, or can’t do that because they don’t have resources or the money or the time. Now that I think about it, I tend to do it a lot also. Yet, there are these entrepreneurs that do amazing things with the little resources they have. Not only do they hold their businesses with little resources, they do a good job and they perfect everything they do. Not only do they support their families with these jobs, they also hire people, who support their families with those jobs. They also pay their employees the amount of money that needs to be paid. It is amazing! I am really glad that we are doing these projects because not only we are helping these Haitians better their lives, we as a society are learning about the struggles other people have to go through and hopefully serve as a motivation for us. Working this project with my group will be very interesting. I think we have a great group. It is a very diverse group also; we have people from several different back rounds and who grew up in other countries. I am curious to see how being exposed to other communities will move them and I think we will have great ideas. Although we are not yet completely comfortable with each other, I think we will be able to work really well together and have a good project. When watching the videos I noticed that these Haitians were doing some great thing and they could be doing even better things if they had the resources to do it. After the earthquake a lot of Haitians los everything, it is good to see that they are bringing themselves back up and doing what is needed to be done to be able to go on with their lives. As many of the students in the classroom I do not know much about the current conditions in Haiti. I do not know if they are still receiving help or how much progress has been accomplished. Through this project I really want to get to know more about Haiti. For example, we saw all these great things these entrepreneurs are doing, but I wonder who buy these shirts, purses, sandals, are they things that are accessible to all the Haitians, or is it something that only a few get to afford. If so, what is being done for those who cannot afford the things these entrepreneurs have to offer? These videos really gave me a different view on my actions and how I never really do anything because of a fear of failure