gdp's Comments

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 3 Dec 2011 03:57:04 +0000

As sad as this sounds, I don't think anyone could put a halt to State Patty's Day. I absolutely understand what Sam is saying in that it will only provide more terrible footage of Penn State to be blown out of proportion, but that's not enough to stop fourty thousand students and however many people drive in from participating. I don't drink so I think the entire "holiday" is kind of stupid but personal views aside, and for the sake of this blog, I'm going to pretend that it would actually be achievable to bring everyone together to put a stop to it. It would take a lot to bring everyone together and agree on not having the day of mass, intense drinking. I think social networking would play a key role in spreading the word about State Patty's Day being no longer this upcoming year, but there would need to be a huge push on campus. When I say huge push, I mean thousands and thousands of students handing out flyers and marching around with signs, all of the typical things we see on campus, to get the word out about it. It would have to be all of those things magnified and done like fifteen times more obnoxiously then we usually see too. I think that there would have to be some alternative events going on to replace State Patty's Day too. If the widely-celebrated drink-yourself-into-alcoholism day was cancelled, there would have to be something to replace it. I think that if we were going to effectively cancel State Patty's Day with student support, we should have a fundraiser to benefit a good cause. With the scandal that has recently torn apart our university to its core, choosing a foundation that helps children who have been sexually abused would probably be the best choice. There could be music, food, and festivities planned by clubs and the greek life to bring something positive on campus. If all of this could actually happen, it would be a huge boost to Penn State's morale and image too. I know from watching the Twitter feed that a lot of students are saying that we aren't responsible for the actions of one man, but the actions of one man are responsible for how people now see us. It's not fair either, but that's just how it is. All of us have to work hard to repair our image so that when people think of Penn State, they think about how prideful we are in our institution and everything provided for us. I wish that as a student body, we could pull something like this off, but I could never see it happening. Maybe someday in the future, but not now.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:26:13 +0000

I feel like personally, this has taught me to be more aware and take action when I see or know of something going on that is wrong. I have been doing constant research on this scandal to keep myself current, and it's caused me to do a lot of internal reflection as well. I 'm thankful that I haven't had to deal with anything similar to this in my personal life and I hope that nothing of this degree ever comes upon my family. But I've taken it in and applied it more towards my friends and other people that I know. I've always been an advocate for people to speak out against the terrible things that have happened to them, and really take charge of their life. I support the people I know who have had awful things happen to them and I'm sure it's a very empowering feeling to finally be in control of your terrors. It's made me a lot more aware of what goes on around us too. I'm not ashamed to admit (nor is it the first time) to say that I've lived a very sheltered life. Nothing terrible or tragic has happened to my family. I haven't lost a close friend before. I've never gone hungry or been homeless or had to defend myself from something horrific happening to me. Sometimes when a scandal comes up on the news, it doesn't seem real to me because it doesn't hit home. But this does. Happy Valley is my home and this scandal didn't just hit us; this scandal was like a cannon ball shot through the heart of Happy Valley's morals and generally safe atmosphere. It was really distressing to see how people in class reacted against the people who are from this town. We're not better than anyone else, but it affects us differently. It shakes this kind of safe haven foundation that we've grown up on and known for years and years. It's devastating to know that your home isn't as "happy" as you originally thought. However, I think that one thing we can all take from this scandal is the opportunity to grow from it. We are (still) Penn State and we always will be. We celebrate during the good times and stick together during the bad. And I'm glad to see that a majority of us have stuck together. As a college and a community, we will all overcome this and keep on moving forward. One person and their misdoings will not define our entire college; what will define us is all of the good that we put out into the world. This will hurt us for now, but Penn State will be remembered for changing the world for the better, from the money raised by THON to the intelligent and well-rounded students this institution has produced for years.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:04:35 +0000

Penn State's reputation has been dragged through the mud from this scandal. It's undeniable that there are a ton of negative emotions regarding what happened, but I think that they're being displaced. I talk to a lot of people who live in different states and none of them can really understand what's going on here. We're being painted as horrific and violent monsters that support child molesters in the media, which is not the case at all. The events that occurred here will follow us after we graduate. I know that a lot of us students here get asked if we party a lot. I never, ever want to be asked if I took part in the riots that went on while we were undergraduates. I don't need to take stabs at how I think this has affected me. I know how it has so far and it's easy to figure out how it will continue to. Major sponsors have pulled out of THON. There are a whirlwind of rumors circulating about the future of our internships and tuition rates as well. Demeaning comments about our school are still being made left and right. We will never, ever be the same because of this scandal. It makes me feel humiliated and ashamed. This has shaken everything that I've grown up knowing and believing in Happy Valley. It absolutely breaks my heart to know that we will never be the same. I hope, and I really believe, that we can grow from this and come out stronger and more prideful than ever. Even if it seems a bit delayed, we do have officials on our side that are removing the corrupt and misguided individuals from our administration. We will come out of this fighting because as a school, we cannot let one sick-minded man define who we are for the rest of Penn State's history. For now, I think we're going to be judged harshly by anyone and everyone on the outside. It doesn't make sense to them like it does to us. Someday, once the initial reaction and emotions are long gone, maybe people can try to see it from our point of view. This is something that people will judge us for now, but will look past in the future. I wholeheartedly believe that we will move past this. For now, we need to keep our heads up and keep pushing in the right direction. As I'm writing this, I'm watching the candlelight vigil because I couldn't be there in person (no worries- it's not related to this) and this is the kind of event we need to promote on campus. We were, we are, and we always will be Penn State.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Fri, 4 Nov 2011 23:50:43 +0000

It doesn't bother me when people talk around me in another language. It absolutely is not my place in any sense of the world to tell someone what language they can speak, especially here in the US. We don't have a national language here, and I feel like it would be wrong of me to tell someone to speak English when they're speaking their own native language. America is a melting pot of cultures and I don't think cultures that have a native language other English should be shut down because it's not what we're used to. There's a ton of benefits from being bilingual, trilingual etc too. It's wishful thinking but I do hope that someday, we are more accepting in this country of other languages being spoke around us. That being said, the only time it does bother me when people speak in a different language is when I know they can speak English and I'm trying to communicate with them, but they will not speak English and instead speak the language I'm unfamiliar with. I worked as a cashier in a discount store here in State College for over three years, and this scenario happened numerous times before I left the establishment. I would be walking around the store and picking things up, and hear people speak on the phone or to other people around them in fairly good English. When they got to the register, they would put up a charade that they didn't know any English, gesture at things, make me count their change and stare at me as if they didn't know the words I was saying. But I just heard them talking in English to someone else! It's something that I will never understand. I know some basic Spanish from the course I've taken here at Penn State, and if I moved to Spain, I would be working my hardest to assimilate into their culture and fully learn the language. Why do people pretend that they can't speak a language that they actually do know? Sometimes I think it might have been a pride thing, that they could speak English but maybe couldn't count the change because they weren't used to our money system yet. However, power to you if you speak another language. Good for you. I'm actually a little jealous of the people who can speak more than one language, because I wish that I could do that as well. Don't pretend that you don't speak a language you do though. You should take pride in your culture and what you know and display it just as proudly.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:25:50 +0000

How do I feel about white people being the minority in the future? As a white female, it actually isn't something that bothers me too much. I can be painfully naive sometimes but I'm hopeful that society will shift towards a more accepting and equality-driven standard. Sam brought up this concept that white people are afraid of when this day comes, but I don't really see it in that sense. I mean, there is definitely an element of fear that could be present, but there's an element of fear in any case when there's a major shift in our society like that. I think there's a certain fear of the unknown too. We've never encountered a race majority shift like this in our history before. Not knowing what could potentially happen is scary, but it's scary in any situation. I don't see there being this big change in the way our society acts and operates- not right away, anyway. I'm hoping with this shift there's a better sense of equality at this point, because some of the nonsense that still goes on in the world today is terrible. And this is where I reference being painfully naive, but I also hope at this point that racism becomes obsolete. It is disheartening to think that maybe this whites vs blacks, the "us vs them" mentality brought up in class, would continue and progress despite whites no longer being a majority. I can't see there being a majority race anymore either. Interracial dating and the mixing of cultures is acceptable now, which I would guess is an influence on the projected change. The United States does have a reputation of being a mixing pot of races, cultures, and ethnicities. With all of these things combining and changing the people that are born in the future, I truly hope there isn't as much emphasis on race as there has been in the past, and that there still is today. Even if it's not blatantly obvious, race is still extremely important in society today. I guess I feel this way about everything I've stated because I don't put a huge emphasis on race. I have definitely been exposed to racist ideals and opinions since I was young. I think we all have. But it was never really something that I took to heart, and they definitely aren't ideals that I believe now. I'm attending PSU to major in sociology, so instead of being scared or having this "white fear," I'm actually kind of excited? It sounds strange phrased that way but I think how we evolve as a species is very interesting, and we have so much to learn from what's in store in the future.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:02:16 +0000

I think that some of my friends are at the stage I am, but it really varies from person to person. A lot of the people that I hang out with are around a stage two or three, and that's about where I am. I think I'm in between a stage two and a stage three right now. One of my closer friends is a stage two as well. With us though, race doesn't really come up at all or ever. It is not that race isn't something we see, because you can't just ignore it at this point in our lives. We're surrounded by a multitude of races and cultures on this campus. It just isn't something that we talk about. I think that because we're both white, that might be a reason. We don't want to say something and have it be misconstrued as racism by the other one. However, in that sense, it does have an influence on us and our friendship, because that means we're holding back about talking about race issues and thus understanding them too. I think my friends who are different stages are more influential on me than my friends who are at the same stage as I am. I skimmed through a few of the other blogs and I would have to agree with them, in that people who are at a higher stage than me are helping to propel me fully into stage three. Listening to them talk and hearing how they dissect race related issues gives me a better understanding of the topics and has started to build a foundation of knowledge for me. This class and a few of the other sociology classes have helped as well. Both of these really make me want to jump feet first into studying more about race inequalities and get a broader scope of comprehension, instead of just being like, "Well I kind of understand this and this a little." Coming to college was another big push to move on. I feel like if you surround yourself with people that are at the same stage as you, you're never going to really grow. You'll be stuck in the same stage because you probably won't realize what else there is out there to be aware of. My friend is friends with people of other races too, but I don't think she associates herself with other people that are a stage three or above because I haven't seen her grow more comfortable on the topic of race. Whereas, with our discussion groups and some of the new people I've met this year, I have moved from a definite two towards a three. It all really just depends on who you know and what you've experienced so far, I suppose.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:19:11 +0000

I think that we use racial labels when it's unnecessary to do so because it's something that's happened in society so often, it's considered acceptable to do so. We come across racial terms in every day life frequently, so why wouldn't they be applied to stories or something similar? But just because it's acceptable doesn't mean that it's okay either. There is a lot of stereotyping that tends to follow when racial labels are used and it's not important to the story. I know someone that has a joke about bad drivers that encourages the stereotype about Asian people not being the greatest behind the wheel of a car. The thing is, is that this person uses this joke every time they see a bad driver- whether or not they can actually see who is driving the car. I feel like it is something that we, as a collective group of people, have just come to terms with and let slip by at this point. We see it in the media too. There are always headlines of news stories that include the person of interest's race, when it has absolutely nothing to do with the event detailed in the article. We use these labels to try and get a mental image of who is being talked about, but most of the time it should not have to be that way. If someone is a bad driver, who cares if they're white, or black, or Asian. They're just a bad driver. Since there is no real push to stop throwing these terms around when they are not needed, it is not going to stop anytime soon either. We have come to terms with these racial labels being used, when really, we should not at all. It encourages racial stereotypes that we know are not true for an entire culture of people, but I feel like it can go further than that. Obviously there is an undertone of racism when racial labels are used unnecessary, but I think that it could lead to some types of discrimination too. If all you hear about is how this race is bad at driving, this race is stupid, and this race is superior, it's going to affect how you treat people of those races that you know or have to interact with. As for me, I occasionally include racial labels when it is unnecessary. Whether we want to admit it or not, I know that everyone is guilty of it at some point. I have really tried hard to stop tossing terms around when it isn't needed though. That was a personal choice I made a year or so ago. If race has nothing to do with what I am talking about, then I do not include it in my speech.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 8 Oct 2011 03:30:23 +0000

What a treat that would be. I think a woman-centered adult industry would be a huge leap from the male-centered industry we all know today. If you've ever perused a porn site before, there's a lot of things that jump out at you repeatedly. There's videos upon videos upon videos that have a basic categorization, most of which are focused around the woman in the video- cougars, teens, lesbian, and on and on. It's get in and go, the same stereotypical plots, and there's bonus points if they bother to put together a storyline with some of the worst one liners you're ever going to hear in your entire life. If the pornography and adult industry was woman-centered, think of that scene in the Notebook where Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are in the run down house but there's no cut scene. I think adult videos would be a lot more emotional than the ones we see distributed today. You don't see a lot, or any, porn videos where the focus is on the couple making love. It's strictly about the sex and then it's over. There would be more emphasis on development and the sensual side of the actual relationship and sex shown on film. I can picture it being more like a film we see in a regular cinema today, and where the sex scenes are usually cut out, they're just included. That kind of sensitivity would be reflected in photos too, I would think. I would bet that there would be a softer element to them, instead of these in your face shoots where a nude model is posing with candy, a bear, dressed as a school girl, or involved with some kind of whipped cream. It's kind of sad that these generalizations I've been making are so prevalent. Maybe a woman-centered adult studio should pop up somewhere and stick it to the industry. Pun not intended. It would be something that would shake up the industry, and probably for the better too. Women-centered content would have such a different vibe than what's currently being produced, and it could revolutionize the entire industry.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 1 Oct 2011 03:55:22 +0000

I don't think my race plays into my choice of not using drugs. I'm a white, middle class female and I have absolutely zero desire to take part in any kind of illicit drug use. I know for me, it has to do with the way I was raised. I was raised in a very strict household which has nothing to do with my race. If I was ever busted with some kind of drug offense, I wouldn't be allowed back into my house. That's the standard that was set in my family. I think it has something to do with the area you were raised in too. If I was raised in a city where there was a lot of drug abuse in the area that I lived in, maybe it would have changed my parent's opinions on illicit drugs. Maybe if that was the case, they would be a bit more lenient about it. I think that there are more factors that play into drug use than just race. The facts that we were given in class were really interesting. I wish there were some more studies done on the backgrounds of the people involved in the studies though. I definitely think there's a lot bigger emphasis on the family background, but it's skimmed over in the studies we saw.

World In Conversation : Everyone Respond to This For This Week's Blog!

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:05:21 +0000

Overall, I'm really impressed with variety and the quality of goods that are being produced and sold in Haiti. Never in a million years would I have imagined that there would be so much happening in Haiti! Especially given the working conditions and the areas that these people have to make their specialties. Sonia, who makes the insulated bags, is the first one that comes to mind. Her shop looks so small, and when her sewing machine was shown in the video, I was a little shocked. It's amazing how they can use these older technologies and processes to their advantage and still make something absolutely beautiful. A lot of the women who make the clothing are very talented in their designs too. Euclid and Yvrose are who I'm thinking of. They hand-painted the designs onto those shirts. That's not something that you see very often anymore. At least, not here in America. How it affects me is thinking about what I would do if I was put into that situation. I know that in my family, my sister is very talented at art, but that out of the four of us, none of us really have a skill set that could be utilized in a way that these people have to make a living. What would happen to me and my family if we were in a situation like that? If I could wave a wand and do whatever I wanted to help these people, I'd want to improve their equipment and their work shops. I'm sure that if they had the right tools, they could make something even more phenomenal than what they're producing now. One person that stands out to me is Suze Fleuriza, the woman who makes the candied peanuts and wants to be able to market them to businesses and schools. I think it's a really good idea, and not just from her perspective either. As an entrepreneur, it's a great way to make money. For other people, peanuts are a good source of protein and I feel like providing food when there isn't currently any in certain circumstances is something that should happen. It says on her page that there aren't cafeterias in schools, which is something that's unheard of in the US. I would really like to work with her in some way to make her business vision come true because it seems to me like it's something that would really benefit her community and the people around her too. She would be providing an option to buy food in schools for kids who don't have the means to take a lunch to school, while helping out her own family and employees at the same time. She's definitely an entrepreneur that I would want to work with.

World In Conversation : Voices From The Classroom

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:05:38 +0000

I am going to start this right off with a very simple “no.” I do not think the United States was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I read through a couple of the blog entries already posted, so I want to say that I am not offended or even surprised really by the poll that was taken in class. I don't have any family members, friends, or anyone tied to him who was affected by the attacks. I was in fourth grade when it happened and I couldn't really comprehend it at the time. The only strong memories I have from the day is my mom walking me home from the bus stop and watching the news with my, and my dad making me wear an American flag tee shirt to class the next day. However, now that I'm no longer nine years old, I can understand it better. I'm glad that the second question about security is in this video, because that reflects on the view that I have. I don't think there was enough security or a high enough standard of security when the attacks happened. To say that our government played a direct role in this horrific event that happened in our country is not only disheartening but extremely dystopian. Why would we put our trust and faith into a government that would betray its people in such a way? Sam mentioned too that people will make conspiracy theories out of anything. It reminded me of the Lincoln-Kennedy conspiracies that I read online before, which I'll link at the bottom of this post. If you look hard enough into anything, you'll be able to make a conspiracy theory. There should have been some kind of safety standards put into place a long time before this terrorist attack happened. I would never say that the government caused this to happen or had a major part in this, but I do think that there was a lack of security that allowed it to happen. As far as the safety and security of our country now, I would hope that our national security has been increased a hundred times over, but I can't say for certain because I don't actually know. The only thing we hear on the news now about security in airports is how there is a lot of racial profiling that goes on, as well as some of the more extreme cases. The ones that come to mind are the pat downs of children, or the instance when the TSA made an elderly woman remove her adult diaper that she needed before she could get onto her plane. I really hope that there's a better security system in place today, even though we don't really know about it. The fact that our national security protocols isn't common knowledge is definitely a good thing anyway. http://www.orwelltoday.com/jfkcoincidences.shtml

World In Conversation : Voices from the Classroom

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 23:31:21 +0000

Classifying myself is not really something I have thought in depth about. I know that it is something I do, or have done in the past to the point where it is something I do not really think about much anymore. I classify myself as female because that is the sex I am. I classify myself as a girl because that is the gender I identify with. They are two really different things, if you think about it. I do not actively practice a religion now, but I was raised with Christian beliefs. However, I am not comfortable with being classified as Agnostic, even if that is the closest thing someone else could classify me as. For the most part, I am almost completely of German ethnicity but I was born in the United States, so I consider myself an American- or like what was brought up in class, a “United Statesian.” I recently turned 19, so I guess I would still be classified as a teenager too. I think that the things we cannot change are the classifications we pick for ourselves. I can't change the fact that my parents are predominantly white, which is what I classify myself as too. Because I am a female and I identify myself as being a woman, that isn't something I would want to change either. I can't change being classified as a teenager because I can't change how old I am. Even if I lied about it to someone, there is no physical way for me to legitimately force myself to be older. I think the classifications other people put on us are the kinds of things that we have control over, or that they are generalized classifications that we couldn't control even if we wanted to. I am a huge, self-admitted video game nerd. I love all things Nintendo and could probably give you a beat down in a handful of Mario video games. It isn't something I'm ashamed of. If other people classify me as a nerdy or something because of that, it's out of my control anyway. I am a natural blonde, so someone could classify me as stupid because of it. That is out of my control. I can try to prove them wrong, but their classification of me is something that is going to stick with them. It's an assumption or generalization based off of who they think I am. I know that I'm not stupid or a stereotypical dumb blonde, and I don't classify myself as one, but I'll be stuck with that classification from someone else. So I think it's really a mix of both. We can pick our own classifications, but other people are going to pick them for us too, whether we like it and agree with it or not.

World In Conversation : What do you want to know before it's all over?

Fri, 2 Sep 2011 22:42:24 +0000

I don't mean for this to sound philosophical or existential, but I guess my biggest question for this class is: Why? Why does so much racism still occur? As a nation, there's so many accounts leading towards this huge push for tolerance and equal rights. We've fought and killed each other in our own country over civil rights. Some of us, as Americans, are still willing to die to protect the rights we believe all people deserve in this country. There are events and speeches carried out by people with a political or celebrity status that encourage us to end the racism and replace it with tolerance. But it never really ends. It hasn't ended. I'm not talking specifically about hate groups, or anything of the sort. Why do people still hold this mentality that one race can be superior over another? Could it be a nature versus nurture issue? Because there's no denying that racism is deeply rooted in our country, but is it something that we can try to break away from? Another question I have is outside of our little bubble here in the USA. Is racism still as much of an issue in other countries as it is in ours? Here, it's one of those things we generally try to slide under the rug and forget about. I know in class, we talked about how there is skin whitening cream being sold in foreign countries so people there can look more caucasian. Do they want to look caucasian because “it's great to be white,” as we heard in class, or is there some kind of discrimination going on there as well? It's not something that I'm familiar with or ever really looked into before. Here in the US, we have the melting pot effect, so it isn't all that surprising to me that racism still happens. I don't know what it's like in other countries though. Is there still a lot of racism that goes on in other countries? Is it comparable to the racism we've seen, past or present, here? What about what kind of racism occurs in industrialized nations versus undeveloped countries? I think that would be something interesting to investigate too.