I do not really have an opinion on affirmative action. Domestic violence against women is a subject that researchers have studied for many reasons. It is a problem that can be found in every community and every country on this planet. It is also present in all age groups. One of the most important aspects of domestic violence roots alcoholism at its cause. The issue of alcoholism being the cause of domestic violence applies to both public policy and public safety. Women’s lives are at risk to injury from domestic violence and in almost all countries domestic violence is punishable by law. The main areas of focus are how age, gender, and whether someone is employed affects their belief that alcoholism is a cause of domestic violence against women. A majority of the women who are victims of domestic violence admit their partner was under the influence of alcohol at the time, a recent study has shown.
Literature Review
Women at greatest risk for injury from domestic violence include those with male partners who abuse alcohol or use drugs, are unemployed or intermittently employed (Kyriacou et al., 1999). Kyriacou (1999) examined 256 women, aged 18-64, who were in emergency departments affiliated with eight large universities, and intentionally injured by a male partner. The purpose of this research was to identify risk factors for nonfatal injuries due to domestic violence. There was a large control group of 659 women who were being treated for other injuries. With a large sample size, the researcher was able to determine which women were injured due to their partners alcohol use and how far under the influence they were through questioning. The researcher found evidence that the alcohol use by the victim was not a major factor in the cause of the injuries by their partner. The study also put focus on the employment status of both the victim and the one doing the assault. Women were more at risk for injury due to domestic violence if their partner was unemployed or had a low level of education (Kyriacou et al., 1999). With an idea behind the causes of domestic violence, research was done to see if women believed that these were the actual cause of the violence against them.
Galvani (2006) set out to determine if women really blamed alcohol for their partner’s actions. Anecdotal evidence suggests that women blame alcohol for their partner’s violence, but there is no adequate research evidence to support this claim (Galvani, 2006). The study was one of the first of its kind to actually focus on a woman’s view. A small sample of 20 women were questioned about the violence that took place. The majority of the women believed one of alcohol’s effects was its “opening up” qualities: a sense that alcohol can release “bottled up” feelings or bring out both positive and negative emotions and, for some, violence and aggression (Galvani, 2006). The study found that most of the women were being abused when their partner was both under the influence and when they were sober. The women also said that they blame the individual and that his actions cannot be blamed solely on alcohol (Galvani, 2006). The researcher concluded that while women do believe alcohol increases negative emotions, there are more factors contributing to the violence they experienced. More research has been done focusing on alcoholism and unemployment as the major causes of domestic violence.

I hate talking about all this. There is so much debate over immigrants and a lot of it is needed. I have mixed views because although immigration is a good thing when it comes to diversifying America, it needs to be done according to our laws. In most cases I believe that illegal immigrants should not be here. If you want to leave your country and come to America, follow the necessary steps. I do believe there are some cases that are acceptable. If you are being persecuted in your country and the only way out is to come to the US illegally, then do it. When it comes to a person’s well being I believe that it is acceptable for them to come illegally. When people talk about immigration everyone nowadays seems to automatically think of Mexico. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans coming into the US illegally, but what major harm are they causing? America is the land of opportunity and that’s all they want. People argue that they are taking our jobs, but what jobs are those? Most of the work they do is in manual labor like lawn care and construction. Most of those jobs are ones that we don’t want to do! They take up a lot of time and for the money, a desk job is better. Another bonus to them doing these jobs is that they will take less pay and they work harder than any American will. Most of them are here to work for a couple years then go back to Mexico with money to support their family for over 10 years. I know this because my dad used to be an electrician who worked with many Mexicans. His contractor would go out and pick up a couple guys everyday and if they could speak English they would talk with my father. They told him stories about friends of theirs who have come to America for 10 years so that he could go back with enough money to support him and his family for the rest of their lives. This makes you think about how many of them do this. If majority are only coming for 2 years then leaving, the population of illegal immigrants should stay the same. Having immigrants is good for our country because it helps people to learn about each other and experience things that they never would have without it. Foods, languages, and music are a huge part of everyone’s lives and they are different all around the world. I have heard some stories of people coming to America, and they put themselves through hell just to have the same shot at life that we do. However, immigration should be controlled and we cant let America get over populated because we just open our gates.

The riot would actually happen still because everyone would be getting texts and calls from other people. This is what happened in the past when things like twitter were not used that often. An example would have been the Ohio State riot in 2008. There is so much debate over immigrants and a lot of it is needed. I have mixed views because although immigration is a good thing when it comes to diversifying America, it needs to be done according to our laws. In most cases I believe that illegal immigrants should not be here. If you want to leave your country and come to America, follow the necessary steps. I do believe there are some cases that are acceptable. If you are being persecuted in your country and the only way out is to come to the US illegally, then do it. When it comes to a person’s well being I believe that it is acceptable for them to come illegally. When people talk about immigration everyone nowadays seems to automatically think of Mexico. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans coming into the US illegally, but what major harm are they causing? America is the land of opportunity and that’s all they want. People argue that they are taking our jobs, but what jobs are those? Most of the work they do is in manual labor like lawn care and construction. Most of those jobs are ones that we don’t want to do! They take up a lot of time and for the money, a desk job is better. Another bonus to them doing these jobs is that they will take less pay and they work harder than any American will. Most of them are here to work for a couple years then go back to Mexico with money to support their family for over 10 years. I know this because my dad used to be an electrician who worked with many Mexicans. His contractor would go out and pick up a couple guys everyday and if they could speak English they would talk with my father. They told him stories about friends of theirs who have come to America for 10 years so that he could go back with enough money to support him and his family for the rest of their lives. This makes you think about how many of them do this. If majority are only coming for 2 years then leaving, the population of illegal immigrants should stay the same. Having immigrants is good for our country because it helps people to learn about each other and experience things that they never would have without it. Foods, languages, and music are a huge part of everyone’s lives and they are different all around the world. I have heard some stories of people coming to America, and they put themselves through hell just to have the same shot at life that we do. However, immigration should be controlled and we cant let America get over populated because we just open our gates.

I dont believe in either the tea party or the occupy because honestly I am not really sure what either of them are about. Sam tried to talk a little about them and his talk didnt clear up anything nor tell me what they were truly about. I sit here completely confused and dont know what to do with myself. There is so much debate over immigrants and a lot of it is needed. I have mixed views because although immigration is a good thing when it comes to diversifying America, it needs to be done according to our laws. In most cases I believe that illegal immigrants should not be here. If you want to leave your country and come to America, follow the necessary steps. I do believe there are some cases that are acceptable. If you are being persecuted in your country and the only way out is to come to the US illegally, then do it. When it comes to a person’s well being I believe that it is acceptable for them to come illegally. When people talk about immigration everyone nowadays seems to automatically think of Mexico. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans coming into the US illegally, but what major harm are they causing? America is the land of opportunity and that’s all they want. People argue that they are taking our jobs, but what jobs are those? Most of the work they do is in manual labor like lawn care and construction. Most of those jobs are ones that we don’t want to do! They take up a lot of time and for the money, a desk job is better. Another bonus to them doing these jobs is that they will take less pay and they work harder than any American will. Most of them are here to work for a couple years then go back to Mexico with money to support their family for over 10 years. I know this because my dad used to be an electrician who worked with many Mexicans. His contractor would go out and pick up a couple guys everyday and if they could speak English they would talk with my father. They told him stories about friends of theirs who have come to America for 10 years so that he could go back with enough money to support him and his family for the rest of their lives. This makes you think about how many of them do this. If majority are only coming for 2 years then leaving, the population of illegal immigrants should stay the same. Having immigrants is good for our country because it helps people to learn about each other and experience things that they never would have without it. Foods, languages, and music are a huge part of everyone’s lives and they are different all around the world. I have heard some stories of people coming to America, and they put themselves through hell just to have the same shot at life that we do. However, immigration should be controlled and we cant let America get over populated because we just open our gates.

There is so much debate over immigrants and a lot of it is needed. I have mixed views because although immigration is a good thing when it comes to diversifying America, it needs to be done according to our laws. In most cases I believe that illegal immigrants should not be here. If you want to leave your country and come to America, follow the necessary steps. I do believe there are some cases that are acceptable. If you are being persecuted in your country and the only way out is to come to the US illegally, then do it. When it comes to a person’s well being I believe that it is acceptable for them to come illegally. When people talk about immigration everyone nowadays seems to automatically think of Mexico. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans coming into the US illegally, but what major harm are they causing? America is the land of opportunity and that’s all they want. People argue that they are taking our jobs, but what jobs are those? Most of the work they do is in manual labor like lawn care and construction. Most of those jobs are ones that we don’t want to do! They take up a lot of time and for the money, a desk job is better. Another bonus to them doing these jobs is that they will take less pay and they work harder than any American will. Most of them are here to work for a couple years then go back to Mexico with money to support their family for over 10 years. I know this because my dad used to be an electrician who worked with many Mexicans. His contractor would go out and pick up a couple guys everyday and if they could speak English they would talk with my father. They told him stories about friends of theirs who have come to America for 10 years so that he could go back with enough money to support him and his family for the rest of their lives. This makes you think about how many of them do this. If majority are only coming for 2 years then leaving, the population of illegal immigrants should stay the same. Having immigrants is good for our country because it helps people to learn about each other and experience things that they never would have without it. Foods, languages, and music are a huge part of everyone’s lives and they are different all around the world. I have heard some stories of people coming to America, and they put themselves through hell just to have the same shot at life that we do. However, immigration should be controlled and we cant let America get over populated because we just open our gates.

I believe that people who hang out in different crowds are not posers. Your friends are your friends it doesnt matter what color their skin is. People in Stage 2 would be the ones who would even think to consider someone a poser because they see an US and THEM. I personally would consider myself stage one because I almost never look at race. I believe that where a person grows up has a lot to do with what stage they are in. I grew up in a town that was extremely diverse. As a white person, I was almost a minority with a large population of Asians, Hispanics and Latinos, and blacks. From an early age I always hung out with everyone it didn’t matter to me what other people looked like and my parents taught me that early on. I don’t want to sound cocky, but in nearly all my yea books since we started getting them, black people always wrote “their favorite white boy.” People didn’t care what you looked like as long as you were cool to hang with. I felt comfortable in any situation and with anyone in my school. I even sat at a lunch table every single day senior year with 2 other white people, 4 black people and 3 Spanish people. We would have new people sitting at our table all the time because we showed everyone else that it didn’t matter who we sat with because we were all friends and have similar interests. People nowadays are too worried about political correctness and I think that problem arises in high school and middle school when teachers find it hard to find the right words to say. We start to think like they do, but all it takes is one teacher who isn’t afraid to say things that may offend their students. In reality it should not offend them at all, and the only reason it would offend them is because they were taught to be politically correct. A common example is the kid who had to describe the black girl wearing the headdress. He was too worried about offending the girl instead of just describing her the way he truly felt. You can describe someone the way you feel is right without being racist, but too many people are afraid of being labeled as a racist. Another problem when it comes to putting yourself in a stage is the idea of white guilt. What do we have to feel guilty about? Maybe you have witnessed something first hand like getting a job over someone who is black or brown, but there has to be a better reason than race for why you were chosen. I worked in a very diverse store in high school, and while I’m sure I got the job over someone of a different race, I know it was because I was more qualified or had certain characteristics that they were looking for. I also feel that some white people feel a need to be guilty because of past events like slavery. It is called the past for a reason, drop it. We are in a new age where race is becoming less of an issue and we should all just stop looking at skin color and focus on someone’s character.

After reading other people’s comments I would agree with them to some point that most people are not in a specific stage but a mixture of them. I personally would consider myself stage one because I almost never look at race. I believe that where a person grows up has a lot to do with what stage they are in. I grew up in a town that was extremely diverse. As a white person, I was almost a minority with a large population of Asians, Hispanics and Latinos, and blacks. From an early age I always hung out with everyone it didn’t matter to me what other people looked like and my parents taught me that early on. I don’t want to sound cocky, but in nearly all my yea books since we started getting them, black people always wrote “their favorite white boy.” People didn’t care what you looked like as long as you were cool to hang with. I felt comfortable in any situation and with anyone in my school. I even sat at a lunch table every single day senior year with 2 other white people, 4 black people and 3 Spanish people. We would have new people sitting at our table all the time because we showed everyone else that it didn’t matter who we sat with because we were all friends and have similar interests. People nowadays are too worried about political correctness and I think that problem arises in high school and middle school when teachers find it hard to find the right words to say. We start to think like they do, but all it takes is one teacher who isn’t afraid to say things that may offend their students. In reality it should not offend them at all, and the only reason it would offend them is because they were taught to be politically correct. A common example is the kid who had to describe the black girl wearing the headdress. He was too worried about offending the girl instead of just describing her the way he truly felt. You can describe someone the way you feel is right without being racist, but too many people are afraid of being labeled as a racist. Another problem when it comes to putting yourself in a stage is the idea of white guilt. What do we have to feel guilty about? Maybe you have witnessed something first hand like getting a job over someone who is black or brown, but there has to be a better reason than race for why you were chosen. I worked in a very diverse store in high school, and while I’m sure I got the job over someone of a different race, I know it was because I was more qualified or had certain characteristics that they were looking for. I also feel that some white people feel a need to be guilty because of past events like slavery. It is called the past for a reason, drop it. We are in a new age where race is becoming less of an issue and we should all just stop looking at skin color and focus on someone’s character.

If I had a gay roommate, I would not have any problem with them at all. With the increase in technology, we are able to contact our roommates before we actually meet them and we can even choose our own. I would hope that if my roommate was gay, he would tell me before we arrived at school. I think that would benefit him because if I was not comfortable with that, it would avoid any awkwardness and we could switch roommates before actually arriving at school and meeting each other. I personally would have no problem if they told me before we met, or even the day of meeting them. I grew up with a gay uncle and throughout high school I met many gay people who I became friends with. I do not have a problem with them at all, the only thing that would make me uncomfortable would be if they started hitting on me. Even if that happened I don’t really know what I would do because I am pretty comfortable with my sexuality. I read some other comments about people being uncomfortable if they brought a girl/guy back to their room, and lets be honest, everyone deserves to get “sexiled.” If you don’t know what is going on behind closed doors then why worry about it? I even grew up Catholic however I never really believed that people who were gay were going to hell. I think that using religion as an excuse for why you aren’t comfortable with the idea of being gay is horrible.
I personally would be upset if my roommate did not tell me until half way through the semester. I would be upset because of the fact that they probably thought I would react negatively. I wouldn’t want them to feel like they had to hide who they are the whole time because they were afraid of my reaction. On the other hand I understand how it could be extremely difficult to come out to someone, especially someone you are living with for 8 months out of the year. If I was in their shoes I would probably be just as scared hoping nothing would change how I was looked at by my roommate. If I was to give advice to someone who was gay and wanted to tell their roommate, I would say the best time is to tell them before they get to school or at least within the first week. You never really know how someone is going to react and if there is going to be a serious problem, you or the other roommate can fix it before it gets worse. Another reason that I would recommend telling them as soon as possible would be that sometimes people can tell when you are gay. This isn’t true for everyone because there have been numerous guys that I know who you would never be able to tell they were gay. However, if you are someone who, and I hope this does not offend anyone, is noticeably gay, its better to come out. Chances are your roommate will be constantly thinking about it and wondering if you are, and not only that but his/her friends will be asking them constantly about it. You will most likely receive less criticism if people know you are gay than if they are spending all their time trying to guess.

I do not believe being a certain race determines your choice to do drugs. I grew up in a very diverse town that was pretty close to having an equal amount of people of every race. When it comes to drug use, I believe it is the people you hang around with. I personally have seen just about every drug out there (I have not done them all), and the groups of people that I have seen them with are all different. I grew up in an area where there was almost no such thing as black and white. Everyone hung out with everyone no one cared what another person’s race was because that’s the kind of community that we all grew up in. Of course we had the “bad groups” of kids, however by the time I graduated I could barely even tell who would be considered “bad.” I knew kids from some of my honors classes that would go smoke weed after school everyday, and these were some of the smartest kids in the entire school. They didn’t hang out with the typical drug users, but as a group they all did them together.
Although I don’t believe that being a certain race promotes drug use, it can give you better access to drugs. My town was very close to one of the most dangerous towns in New Jersey, and it was mainly Spanish and black drug dealers. If a white guy rolled up in a car looking for drugs there was a good chance that he would get robbed, or possibly shot or stabbed. I had a couple friends who could break that barrier, but that is after hanging out with people of another race and going around that area pretty often. I think it comes down to who you decide to associate yourself with. No matter what race you are you will have access to drugs because of the people you are around. I am white and I could easily get drugs from my white, black, Spanish, Indian friends if I truly wanted. Certain drugs are also only see amongst certain races, which could disprove what I have said. However, I have only seen this happening once or twice with something that my town had not seen before and someone had to bring it in to start. This would only spread based on who the person hangs out with so if it is a white kid who only hangs out with other white kids, then obviously it is not going to spread any further. If someone was to study this and truly figure out if race determined drug use, they would have to be careful with the schools or towns that they studied. You cannot go to a town that has a small minority population because then you are going to make a conclusion on a small sample. If a study was done in my town it would be very beneficial because of the diversity.

When I first started watching the videos I actually had to stop because I didn’t understand what Sam meant by microfinance. I am going to assume that I was not the only one and give a little mini description. Micro-financing is a way for poor entrepreneurs to start their business, or to further it, with money from the US. Two videos that really caught my eye were Cloren’s and Yvrose’s. Both of these women have a few employees with businesses that can easily grow with the simple help of some extra money.
Seeing Cloren’s work I could not help but think about how profitable she could really be. Someone, who along with 8 other people, can finish a 300 shirt order in 4 days with very old equipment is remarkable. Not only can she finish the order, but she does it from scratch. As Sam pointed out she does extremely professional embroidery and her products can sell for up to $25 in American money. As stated in the video, two things that she really needs are a new print-screen machine and an embroidery machine. I do not see a reason why the US should not microfinance them for her. I believe that, as a business woman, she has proved that she can make quality products in a very quick amount of time. By micro-financing the two pieces of equipment she can higher more employees because she will be making more money. I also believe that with these two products she can quickly make the money she needs to get her own building. I know that she has trouble getting the textiles for her products, but I believe that she could make a deal with the US. She can make her products and sell them to the US and in return also get textiles sent directly to her for a good price. All the US has to do is help finance her much need equipment.
Yvrose also is in the clothing business, and like Cloren, she is very talented. The sandals she makes from hand are great quality and the shirts she makes are extremely creative. All her business needs is a machine called a folder that would finish off the sandals for her. She has a couple employees but making the footwear takes longer than it should with only one model for five people to use. I believe that many people would become interested in her products if she could find a way to market them. I believe that with some money from the US she could get the machine she needs thus making more money to move her factory to a place more convenient for her customers. I think that she needs to get her business into an area where people are going to see her products more often everyday. I also would not knock the idea of selling her product to the US. This would most likely be the most profitable way for her to go about her business, and it would allow her to expand. I believe that both of these women can be trusted with some monetary help because of the skills they possess. Micro-financing is a great way for them to expand their businesses.