I think it is very interesting the way you talked about the reality check about how you dressed. I forgot all about that lecture that we discussed all of the things like that. I cannot believe how much that really made me think. You always just assume that you dress a certain way, or act a certain way, because you think you are making those decisions for yourself. However, it turns out that may not be the case at all. There is a very good chance that I choose to dress the way I do because guys would want me to dress like that. It really makes you question how you view the world and why people are doing the things they are doing. One thing SOC has particularly helped me be conscious of is that people may assume that I am assuming things about them – even if I’m not.

I think that State Patty’s day is going to be very interesting this year. I do agree with Sam that something must be done in order to make a statement towards those who will be watching. At the same time I do not think as a school we will be able to accomplish this. I do think it is an interesting theory and something that should be further discussed. If there were a way to show the student body how awful it is going to look if we do continue State Patty’s day I do think that some people would listen. There would have to be some type of event, run by students, to show other students how awful they are going to make our school look to be if we continue to the tradition. A large issue that we will have to deal with it is the visitors however. Everyone knows that State Patty’s day is a holiday where mostly visitors have been responsible for giving us our bad rep. The amount of people who come to stay with students is a very large number, and therefore, we would no only have to control the student body, but those who will try to persuade us to continue the holiday even if we don’t to. Other people will not understand why we would want to give up the holiday when it is something that people look forward to all year. However, they do not go here, and therefore, they will not be there to deal with the aftermath of State Pattys and all the bad press it is going to bring right back to our school. I will be abroad next semester, and therefore, I am very curious to see how the whole scandal takes off next semester and everything that is going to unfold within the next few months. One thing that will be very interesting is hearing about all the news being abroad. I think being in the middle of the scandal was crazy and hearing about the news was absolutely insane, however, I think hearing about it form far away will be very different and show me just how much of a big deal it is to the rest of the world. I just hope as a school we can take a stand and do something that will make people turn their heads – or not turn their heads. It is important that we do the unexpected. Show people that they cannot assume the worst in us, and when they do, that we will prove them wrong. I just really hope that as a school we can come together and make the right decision. I am just afraid that students will not realize the repercussions of our actions until its long to long to do anything.

I like the way that you say this is a university at the end of the day. I think that is the most important thing we can remember at the end of the day is how we are all students and life will go on. Out lives will not stop – even though last week many of them did- and we must go on as though things have not changed. It is a school after all, and a school is a place for learning and while this has been a large life lesson for us, we cannot forget about our work and why we are here. When we graduate our diplomas will mean something and we should work for them so that we know they hold the value we would want them to. Hopefully with a new president and the new investigations underway we will be able to once again focus on our studies and getting this university back to what it used to be. One really important thing we have learned is that time heals all. Although it may take longer than we would have wanted, eventually, all will be well and we will be viewed as we once were.

I think there would have been a difference if Sandusky were black or Latino. I think there are multiple ways in which this could have differently affected the situation. I think in our society we picture more crime with people who are minorities. I think the fact that Sandusky was a white male in the community made the crime that much worse. People respected him and saw him as an upstanding townsperson. I think that if he were of a different race people would have said that they ‘saw it coming’, or that people never really respected him in the first place. One thing we talked about in class was the crime rate and the expectancy for people of different races to be pulled over. I think that this would translate to this situation. I do think in some ways the situation might have almost been better if people had suspected him to do something like this. The fact that people found him so unsuspecting of such crimes made the reaction to the allegations much more visceral. Obviously it is not fair that the race of Sandusky would have made the problem different, however, it s truth that we live in. We live in a world where people discriminate by race. As much as people would like to believe that the race of a person no longer has any affect on their opinion of them, I do not believe this is true. There is a difference in the way people view the crimes. I also think, while it might be a stretch to say it, that people would have been less focused on everyone else that was involved in the case. One thing that has happened around campus, is that the focus has been taken off Sandusky, and placed on officials and Joe Paterno. I think that lots of the focus would have been taken off them and it would have been more about Sandusky and what he did wrong. Overall, there would have been major differences in the case. While no one has really said that Sandusky is innocent, more than one person has said that ‘he deserves his day in court’ and previous players have sent him money so that he gets a fair shot in court. I think that if he weren’t white, these reactions may have changed. It is clear that race influences all situations and has a very large say in what the citizens think. It would be interesting if there were an experiment to find out how people would have reacted if the situation were different. This class has taught me a lot about race relations and the different ways people react to situations depending on the people and their races. I think that after almost an entire semester of taking this class it is safe to say that people would have expected these allegations much more is Sandusky were a black or Latino man.

I feel like this is an interesting post because you are saying what most people do not feel they can say. I do think it is a rather bold statement because people are afraid that if they say anything on Sandusky’s side then they will be associated with him and what he is doing. However, it is true that we live in America and that in our court system you are innocent until proven guilty and therefore you should have that right. I think it is just a part of our society that we are afraid to side with anyone who could be guilty of such a heinous crime.

There is a definite change in the way people all over the world view Penn State students. People all over the world have been watching Penn State students and the scandal that is surrounding our school. It is quite disturbing to see how some people have been reacting to the whole situation, and bothersome to be completely honest. One thing that bothers me is the way that people are acting as though our diploma is now worthless. This truly bothers me because they are acting like in some way the level of education we are receiving has dropped, when in fact that is not the case at all. I think that as a student body, it is hard for people to understand where we are coming from, and they will never know. One thing that bothers me is the attitude that people have when they see our support for Joe Paterno. Our support for Joe Paterno should not be translated to a lack of support for the victims and that is what everyone sees. No one will stop for a minute and realize that things would have been much better if they would have let him step down, and if they had done it during the day. They set themselves up for a riot, and that is what the world saw. I have an issue with people who will not take the time to understand where the students are coming from, but then again, could anyone really? I think as students it is important that we hold our heads up high for the world to see, because they may judge us, but in the end we know that we are in the right. One of my professors mentioned that it is okay for us to mourn together, but when the outside is watching; show them we still have a strong front. I just hope eventually people start to do more research and learn the causes that we are really supporting and stop seeing us as a bunch of people who are blind to the real cause. Eventually we can all just pray that this blows over and the integrity of out institution is not in question. First and foremost we must pray for the victims and make sure that they are not left behind in this case. They deserve the most attention and we should not take any of that away from them, however, we need to make sure the facts are presented correctly. I just hope that the facts will be straightened out and people will once again restore their faith in the university as a whole. I want people to realize how we feel about our university and take the time to listen to our stories. However, it is hard to actually explain how you feel and articulate your feelings without making people feel that you are being insensitive to the situation.

I completely agree with your reaction to the question. It is that immediate part of you that wants to say that it absolutely doesn’t bother you when people are speaking in another language, however, the longer you think about it, the more your response changes. It is not that I do not respect an individual’s right to speak another language, however, sometimes it can make you feel a little strange when you do not know what people are saying. One example that comes to mind is when you are in a nail salon and you truly have no clue what all the people are saying while they are painting your nails and you can’t help your own egocentrism and think that they are speaking about you. Therefore, once and a while I can see where there may be an issue when you hear people speaking out of your native tongue. It is feeling like you do not belong, and lets be honest, everyone wants to belong.

I think I would hire an illegal immigrant. There are a few reasons that I feel this way. The first reason is that as a child my dad always hired illegal workers to work at our house and help with building and yard-work. As a kid I never really realized that the workers he was picking up at the train station were living in America illegally. But now, in retrospect, there is no reason when I get older that I won’t hire people who need work to help out at my house. Also, as I got older, my dad explained to me that you pay them whatever the going rate is and give them a hot meal for lunch. That made me feels better about the situation because you know they are making practically nothing and cannot get real jobs since they do not have papers. Another reason that I would hire an illegal immigrant was from a first hand experience. I worked in a café while I was in high school and the cook who worked in the back was from Ecuador. She and her husband were living in New York while their kids were living back home and they would send all the money they made (minus what they needed to survive). I became very close with Irma over the years that I worked at the café and could not imagine what she was going through. There was no work where she was from and she needed to come here so that she could give her kids the life she wanted to give them. I just cannot imagine how hard it must be for her to never get to see her children. She literally gave up everything for them so she can give them a life that here we would consider below average. If people like Irma need jobs to help their families then I think we should give them to them. I do realize that there need to be regulations and it is much more complicated than I am making it sounds, however, I hope that eventually we can simplify the problem. I do acknowledge that there are many problems with hiring people who live here illegally, but when you hear their stories and take the time to realize how helpless they are, you cannot help but feel sympathy for them. I do not propose that we take jobs away from Americans – I’m just saying that we need to realize that they are not intentionally stealing our jobs. They do not have mal-intent, so I believe that we should be a bit more understanding because they are clearly desperate to do whatever they can to support their families and themselves.

I think that it is too broad to ask if we should “give back what we have taken”. It is much more complicated than that and you could never really get into the logistics of it. I think that in general it sounds like it might be the right thing to do, but in the long run, it seems very improbable. Like Sam surveyed in class today, we have come too far to really give back what we had originally taken. No one is alive, or even knows someone who was alive when the initial taking of the land happened. Also, I understand how Native Americans think that we stole the land from them – however; no one who currently calls this country home was responsible for taking the land, just like no one who is currently Native American technically had their land taken from them. Therefore, it is an extremely complex argument. I do think that it would be different if this were longer ago, however, it isn’t anymore so to me it kind of seems as though the argument is moot. The example where the girl stole the guys chair in class is rather through provoking. I cannot believe how strange it seems that we literally stole the land from others while they were actually living there. I think that the cartoon that Sam showed during class was very poignant and helped me to realize the irony in what we are doing by not letting immigrants in. At the same time, I do understand that we are now very developed and there does need to be a certain form of control, however, it is just ironic when you look at it from the perspective of the native people. I cannot imagine how horrible it would be to have your home stripped from you.

I liked your post because it made me think about the fact that you said many people you know will not be able to have the kinds of conversations that you have had the ability to have. I never really thought about the fact that some people will just never have the chance to have the same amount of exposure as one would get, for example, by taking Sam’s class. Another thing that I was thinking about while reading your post was whether or not one would be able to teach their friends or parent’s back home a bit more about race, and if they would be able to progress through the stages without ever having the dialogue on their own.