Regarding the Chi Omega scandal, I personally do not think the party itself was offensive because the girls were dressed up in ponchos, mustaches, and sombreros. It was a Mexican themed party so it only made sense that they would dress in such manner. Usually when one imagines how Mexicans dress, the whole idea of ponchos and sombreros surfaces because that is they typical stereotype we see in the media. Even though most people know that Mexicans do not really dress like that on a day-to-day basis. That is why I think the girls choose to dress that way, it is not as if they could dress up in jeans and a blouse and say they were going to a Mexican themed party. People would not really think they would be dressed for that type of a party. Anyways, by dressing in ponchos and wearing sombreros I do not think they were making fun of Mexican culture; I think they were just trying to have a good time.

I do however think the signs were highly offensive. They said, “Will mow lawn for beer and weed” and “I don’t cut grass I smoke it.” First, not all Mexicans smoke weed. Secondly, not all Mexicans are heavy drinkers (particularly of tequila) like most people tend to believe. Lastly, not all Mexicans are in the landscaping business. By having signs like those that they did, it is as if they are reinforcing those stereotypes. I find it upsetting that college students would be holding these signs because you would think that these girls would know that displaying signs saying things such as what they wrote is very controversial. What makes it worse is that the picture was uploaded to Facebook for millions of people to see. I guess common sense is not common for everyone. I am somewhat glad that the University stepped in and made it clear that they do not condone this type of behavior because I do not think that it is right for the girls to have gotten away with something like this. I do feel that they should face some type of consequence for such behavior and maybe next time they will think twice about the things they write/say and put into consideration how it would affect other groups of people.

Many people are saying that this whole issue is being blown out of proportion and that they only reason is because the girls are white and if it had been Latinas, it would have been different. Honestly, it if had been Latinas it would have been different and probably would not have stirred so much attention. That is only because they are in that “group” where they can make fun of their own people but others cannot make fun of them. Similar to the idea that you can make fun of your family but others cannot

Thursday’s class was definitely a very interesting lecture from start to finish. Towards the end of class, the conversation of ‘what type of guys you attract based on how you are dressed’ came up. Four girls went to the front of the room and we had to guess who was dressed to get the most attention of guys. This exercise was kind of funny because different people picked a different girl and they each had a reason for whom they choose. What I remembered most from that activity was when Sam’s wife spoke at the end and said that all girls dress a certain way to get attention, whether it is good or bad attention. That really made me think because I always thought that I dressed how I dressed because it made me feel happy not because of what other people thought. But now I can see why she said that.
I have always been a believer in that you can look at how someone is dressed and you can make assumptions of what type of a person they are. I know making assumptions based on appearances is not right but I think it is something that everyone does consciously or subconsciously. I also think that depending on what a girl is wearing a guy bases what their intentions/motives are. For example, if a girl is wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, most people will assume that she likes to be comfortable and laid back. On the other hand, if she was wearing a really short dress at a party a guy might see her as “sexy” and try to talk to her, maybe even try to have sex with her. I say the last part because if she is wearing something very provocative a guy might see this as she is easy and possibly even think that she does not respect herself so why should he have to respect her. Now this might not even be an accurate picture of how the girl is but I feel that most guys would think something like that. If a girl is dressed in nice jeans and a nice blouse then the guy might actually try to get to know the girl and won’t have any bad intentions.
Personally, I have noticed that when I dress in comfy clothes such as sweats and a hoodie, guys do not really pay attention to me when I am walking to class. When I dress in jeans, a blouse, boots and I take the time to put a little more effort in how I look, guys will look at me. When this does happen, I do not think I attract any negative attraction because I am not presenting myself in a negative manner.

People come to the United States in search of a better life than the one that they are living in their home country. Many people leave their homes because of economical and violence issues. It makes sense that they would choose to come to the United States- the land of the free and of opportunity. Even though when they arrive to the US, these newly arrived immigrants quickly realize just how upset some Americans are about this new wave of immigration. Many Americans feel that immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens and one of the biggest arguments is that they do not pay taxes but reap some of the benefits. I want to address that both of these points are not necessarily true. Most of the time the jobs that immigrants take on are hard labor jobs and low paying jobs that Americans do not want. Secondly, although some immigrants do not pay taxes, some do using a government issued tax id number (ITINs).
Every time I hear the world “illegal” immigrants, I cringe. I feel that the proper term should be “undocumented” instead of “illegal” because to me the word illegal makes it seem like these people are terrible and they committed the worst possible crime ever when that is just not the case. Not all immigrants “hop the border,” believe it or not most of the time, what these people do is apply for a visa and overstay their visit in the US.
I think that coming up with a solution for the high influx of immigrants in the United States is very hard to do. I feel that even with a physical barrier between Mexico and the US and a stronger border control; people are still going to risk their lives and find a way into the US. Having said this, I am not sure what one can do to stop this from happening. An endless cycle will never end. However, to the millions of undocumented youth in the country, I think the government should help these students continue their higher education. Many of these kids were not asked whether they wanted to go to the US- they did not know that they were breaking the law- like any child they were just obeying their parents orders. By undocumented students having to pay ridiculous out of state tuitions and not qualifying for financial aid, it is almost as if they are being punished for something that was out of their control. Especially if these kids have been in the country for a really long time and their whole education was in America, it is as if they are stripped of their dream of higher education.

Placing yourself in contact with people of other races or that are different from you definitely shifts your understanding of them. Putting yourself in situations where you are not completely comfortable are helpful because at the end of the day you become more understanding and open minded, which helps you grow as a person as well. Not only that but even though you feel out of place by hanging out with people that you think have nothing in common with you, as time goes by, you begin to not feel that weirdness that was once there because you become more comfortable. By not talking to people who are different from you, you are missing out on making new friends, possibly even lifetime friends.

My first year here at Penn State, I was placed in supplemental housing. I was not sure what too expect and I was really nervous about living with six other girls. Two of my roommates were international, one was from India and the other one was from Kazakhstan. Two girls were white and from New York, another one was from Philly and she is Haitian. The last girl was Ghanaian but I already knew her from high school. I felt like we had a little bit of everything in that supplemental room. My high school was very diverse but I still felt that the black students hung out with the blacks, Latinos with other Latinos, and whites with whites.

I had never met anyone from Kazakhstan before so I was really intrigued to learn more about her culture. It is that year that I learned that Kazakhstan was a very interesting country because since they are below Russia and to the west of China. The people have western and Asian physical characteristics but are considered white. My roommate from India seemed very quiet and reserved at first. It was kind of hard to have a conversation with her because I did not really know what to say to her. Part of it could have been that since I knew she was from India I did not think we had anything in common. As time went on we talked more and more and we became the best of friends. I no longer feel awkward or even think of her as my Indian roommate but as Rhea my roommate. With my Haitian roommate, I instantly clicked with- she was the first Haitian person I had ever met!

Even now that we do not all live together, we still all hang out all the time. I became really close with the girl from India, Ghana and Haiti. I can honestly say that they became some of my best friends here at Penn State and I know that I will still be in contact with these girls even after we graduate.

The phrase “never judge a book by its cover” can be so cliché but yet has so much truth behind it. It is not good to judge people solely upon their appearances because if you do, then you can miss out on the opportunity of getting to know someone that you might just actually have kicked it off with. Not only that but sometimes appearances can be deceiving; even though you might have thought that you had nothing in common with that person, if had given the chance you might have found out that you have more in common with them then you thought. Having said this, I think that we do judge people by their appearances. Even if we do not think we do, we do it unconsciously. When we meet someone for the first time, we always have a first impression; it is something you just can’t help but to do. Having a first impression is normal, whether it is a good or bad impression of that person. What I think is important is that you still try to get to know the person. That way, you can find out if your impression of them were right or if they were wrong. If you come to find out that you had nothing in common with that person, well then at least you tried and gave them the benefit of doubt.
My first impression of the first guy was that he seems arty, into music, and has some hood to himself. The second guy seemed very rude; he did not bother to look into the camera and he was chewing the top of a pen. It seemed like he just did not care about anything really. The young white girl seemed like she was nice and friendly but I think I got that impression because she smiled to the camera. The white boy seemed like he would be quirky and nerdy. The second to last black guy looked as if he could beat me up and would have no problem doing so if I were to accidently “disrespect” him. His hat was very low, and they covered his eyes, making him look very suspicious. He looked like he probably sold weed or something. The last black guy, well I did not really think much of him because the camera did not focus on him for long. The lady seemed like she was very nice.
I know most of the assumptions I made were probably not some of the nicest things to say BUT I am sure that I was completely wrong about everything that I guessed. I am sure that if I got to know each person individually they would all be nice people.

It was very interesting to watch the video in class because it showed how bystanders acted when a white boy, black boy and white girl tried to steal a bike. I was not really shocked when I saw that when the white boy was stealing the bike out in public no one really stopped to see if he was stealing the bike. Most people just assumed it was his and he had lost the key to the lock. When the black boy was stealing the bike however, most people that passed by were quick to notice (or at least assume) he was stealing it. One man even pulled out his cell phone to call the police. In the third scenario, when the white girl was trying to unlock the bike lock no one thought she would be stealing the bike. The man who stopped, he just assumed it was her bike and helped her steal the bike. I think I was not really surprised because of the common stereotypes associated with people of different races and how the media portrays black people and white people. Often times white is associated with pureness while on the other hand black is associated with bad things and fear. It is so common to see black people playing the role of the “bad guy” and the white person as the “good guy.” We also have that idea that girls are frail and need a protector. Seeing things like this on the TV enforces these kind of beliefs.
I also think that the way the black boy was dressed added to the peoples idea that he was stealing. He was in very baggy clothes. People are quick to judge others by their appearances- even if we do not think we do it, we do it unconsciously. I think that if he were to have been wearing more fitted clothes people would not have thought he was stealing the bike. I think that the part of town was comprised of mainly white people because the people who were walking by were all white. Perhaps seeing a black boy in a predominately-white neighborhood, doing something suspicious was another reason they thought he was stealing the bike. When the bystanders were finally aware of the whole scenario it was interesting to hear that they did not think they were discriminating against the black boy. They thought they were only doing the right thing by stopping and asking him. When they asked them why they did not stop the white boy, most people just said they were not trying to get involved with the police. I think much of what the bystanders said were excuses but I do not think they were racist.

As a minority student, I was very aware on the topic of Affirmative Action and I have discussed the topic among my friends plenty of times. However, I am still a little iffy about the subject and do not really know how I truly feel about it. On one hand, I think affirmative action definitely has its advantages and is a good way of leveling out the playing field between whites and people of color, but on the other hand, I think it may not be a completely fair law. This law helps underrepresented groups advance in areas such as education and employment.

I do think that affirmative action has its pros. For one, minority students are at a clear disadvantage. Most minority students do not have the same opportunities in grade school or high school as white students. Most of these students (not all of course) live in the city and most of the time inner-city schools are not providing the same quality education as schools in the suburbs do- where most white people tend to live. Another thing is that these students typically come from lower income families who cannot afford to send their children to private schools or even hire private tutors for homework or SAT help. Even though minority students are not going to the top-notch high schools, that does not mean that they are not smart or capable of accomplishing all that the white students accomplish. I think if given the opportunity, they will excel. Secondly, if affirmative action were not in place I do not think there would be as many minorities in colleges or universities. If anything, this law allows more interaction to take place between whites and people of color. An essential part of education is being able to interact with all types of people.

What I do not like about affirmative action is that sometimes well-qualified people are not chosen because schools or jobs must meet a certain amount of black people or Hispanics for example at their institution. I truly believe that if you work hard, you will get far in life. This law however hinders those that are doing exceptionally well and working hard. For example, why would schools accept students who may not be able to handle the work load or will have a hard time understanding the material into their schools know well that will not do as well. In the long run, they are hurting the student more than doing them a good. Lastly, as a minority I would not want people to think that I have excelled academically or in the workforce because of affirmative action. I want people to look at me as a Hispanic woman who has worked hard to get to where I am today.

During Thursdays lecture, we were discussing the socioeconomic status of different races. It was of no surprise to hear that Asians and Whites were at the top of the list; meanwhile Hispanics and blacks were at the bottom. A big gap separated the financial incomes between those at the top and the ones at the bottom. Sam also reinforced the idea of the difficulty Hispanics and blacks face when attempting to climb the social ladder. This in part has to do with things such as lack of resources, neighborhoods where they live, and the “I can’t do this” mentality because “everyone is out to get me.” The starting point is usually much lower and to try to surpass those at the top they really have to work hard. Therefore, while those at the bottom are trying to move up, the ones at the top have the advantage of knowing influential people who can help them move up as well. Sam asked for volunteers who considered themselves to be poor and students who were well off, many hands went up. When he asked for someone who was rich, no one volunteered.

It was of no surprise to me because most people who are filthy rich do not like to flaunt their wealth. A rich person was not likely to raise their hand and admit to being rich in front of the whole class because I am almost certain they are not the ones who are rich but their families, which probably means that they were born into wealth. People born rich do not flaunt their money because they grew up with it and they are used to having it. From what I have noticed, it is usually the people who aspire to become rich that are concerned with being flashy and showing off. It is also those who are of “new money” and got rich quick and with little effort. If someone who was rich had gone to the front of the class, everyone else in the class who is not rich would have automatically judged that person. One thing that would have definitely crossed my mind is that this person probably never had to really work hard for anything and that life came easy to them. Another thing would have been that they are arrogant and spoiled. Rich people do not want to be only seen as rich because it is not the only thing that defines them as a person. The majority of Americans are not wealthy but of the working middle class. I think rich people kind of want to fit in with the majority and be able to relate to everyone else on a certain level. That is why they are not likely to tell you that they are rich.

I really enjoyed watching “the guessing game.” It was very entertaining watching people guess where some students in the class were from and hearing them guess wrong. I believe the two students each guessed about three countries of origin correctly. I think what made it difficult was that many of the students in the front had very similar facial characteristics such as chinky eyes. Grouped together, it was very easy to see that they were “Asian” but having to guess what country they were from was the hard part. For us non-Asians, I think it was particular difficult in class because when we think of Asians we typically think they are from countries such as China and Japan- the more known countries. We do not really know the geography of the region well enough to guess other countries that are nearby. Therefore, in reality, our guessing is very limited to the few countries we do know. It is rare for a non-Asian to guess an Asian is from a country such as Laos because we do not really hear about that country in our media or even in the school system.

From the two people that went up to the front and tried to guess where the groups of students were from, it was obvious that it did not matter if you had a 4.0 grade point average or if you were just an average student. In the end, that did not help you figure out where people were from. This exercise showed us that one could not just simply look at someone and guess where he or she was from because one could be totally off. Out of the group of about ten students, one kid was not even from the Asian continent, he was from Southern America, Ecuador to be exact. Yet he still kind of resembled the group of students in the front of class. He had the typical straight, black, shiny hair and chinky eyes. There are many Asians in certain regions of Ecuador and Peru, so it was not much of a surprise to me that the kid was Ecuadorian. Now a day with people traveling and settling different parts of the world, it is much harder to say only a certain group in a certain area looks a certain way.

I wish Sam had a third person guess where the group upfront was from, particularly an Asian. I am curious to know whether they would have gotten more peoples countries of origin correctly. My guess is that they would have. I think so because often times other races have a hard time telling what country a Hispanic person is from, but since I myself am Hispanic it is not that hard for me to tell.

When I read the first quote in class, I was in shock. The quote expressed so much hatred and disgust towards Christians. I automatically assumed Islamic terrorists had expressed themselves that way. I think my mind automatically went to Islamic terrorist groups because the message had been directed to Americans and the biggest enemies of the U.S are terrorists. Then when Sam told us that the Iranian president had said it, I began to think to myself, “is this how all Iranians think?” I also became very afraid because if the president had publically said he wanted to kill Christians, why had he not yet acted on those words. I thought that in the future, Iran might try to attack America especially now that they are trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Then when Sam told us the truth, that Franklin Graham, an American evangelist and religious advisor to the Bush administration at the time, had actually said it but towards Muslims, I was beyond shocked. I think my surprise came from knowing that an American with so much power and the ability to influence the presidents’ decisions had made such an ignorant comment. I also questioned if he had allowed himself the opportunity to understand Muslims and their religion. Often times we are quick to make judgments of people or ideas because we do not know enough about them or that topic. I also could not believe that a Christian man had said such hurtful things but for some odd reason, it was easier to believe that the Iranian president had said it. This has to do a lot with what Sam said in class about the media and the media’s portrayal of religion. When the media touches the subject of Muslims, its focus is political instability and that of violence. While on the other hand, when the media talks about Christianity it focuses more on the religion as a whole and the Christian values. I believe the media has a lot to do with how Americans view other countries. American media is bias and I think that if we want to know what’s ‘really happening’ internationally, we have to watch international news because like someone in class pointed out- everyone can see or hear what reporters say so they are less likely to be biased.

Knowing that Franklin Graham had made such a statement, after 9-11, a time when many Americans were skeptical of Muslims would have only added to that fear of people from the Middle East if he were to have said it publically. I do however believe that Americans would not have been as enraged at his statement because after 9-11 most Americans did want revenge- one way or another. This is similar to a mob-mentality because people would have been easily influenced after such catastrophe.