When I think of war a horrible image comes to my mind, as would most peoples. I never really thought about how the other side was affected when we decided to declare war on someone else’s land. I believe many people think that the United States of America is superior to every other country. With this mind set I believe that America sets its self-up for failure.
Until class on Tuesday I never thought of the other side of war. To be honest I never really think of things or events that are not directly tied to me. I have a small mind and if something is not effecting me at the moment I tend to tune it out. After class I thought war was more serious than what I thought it was. I know war is serious but I find it more meaningful after Sam’s lecture. I found the way Sam described the other side to be very interesting. How is the United States allowed to rule to attempt to rule over other people? Why do we think we can just take things that are not ours? The people of America have always had the intentions of taking things that are not ours. When we decided to take this land and call it American we took it from other people. It did not belong to us, be we wanted so we took it. In a way Americans are selfish!
I do not know what it would feel like to have war casted upon us, other than what happened on September 11, 2001. Although, the tragic event took place in NYC I was not directly affected in Lewistown, PA. I do not want to know what it feels like but at the same time I do not have a direct connection or feelings about war.

Over the past two weeks I have learned a great deal about what it means to be a Penn Stater. Since the recent tragic even took place on our campus two weeks ago, I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing blue and white. The events have taught me to always be a truthful person and to stand up for what I believe in. As a school, a community, and a student body, we are feeling deep sorrow. We have zero control over what is happening and it freaks us out. We have no hard factual information, just rumors.

In standing up for what I believe in, I have come into confrontation with others on this issue involving my university. I cannot stand it when outsiders of our university feel that their opinions are more important and when they feel like they know more than us, the students. Most outsiders do not understand why the students feel the way they do. This whole scandal has taken away part of what we know as Penn State. Penn State is more than a school to its students; it’s a community, a family, and a place for us to belong. Most outsiders believe that the students are wrong for the feelings that we have been lately, and that the only thing that should be focused on is the victims that were abused by Jerry Sandusky. But the students have a right to their feelings, too. Most of the events that Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State community are being accused of happened when the current students were in middle and high school. The students are hurting for the victims and because of how the beloved Paterno family is being portrayed in the media. These events, which the current students had nothing to do with, are putting a large dark cloud over our dearly loved university.

How are the students supposed to act and feel? Why am I even asking this question? Are we not all entitled to our own opinions? I think the reasons I am most upset are one, the media took this horrific story and portrayed it in a very unfair way; and two the outsiders who are not of the Penn State community keep telling the students and others affiliated how they should feel. I am tired of not being able to show my feelings toward the issue because of being told that I shouldn’t feel this way or that. These tragic events have consumed my life for the past two weeks; I should be able to feel however I want.

I have learned to not express the way I feel in fear that people may judge me or tell me what I am feeling is wrong. I have learned that you have to hide and repress your feelings because people who do not have all the facts think they do, and their opinion will always top yours!

The situation on campus right now is one we hardly know anything about. I cannot stand how people of all statures are jumping to conclusions without knowing all of the cold hard facts. In my mind, do I believe the university is handling things in the correct order or manner? NO! I think the people making decisions need to wait out what is going on until everything unfolds.

When I think of my self as a Penn State student, I think of our alma mater.

For the glory of old State,
For her founders strong and great,
For the future that we wait,
Raise the song, raise the song.

Sing our love and loyalty,
Sing our hopes that, bright and free,
Rest, O Mother dear, with thee,
All with thee, all with thee.

When we stood at childhood's gate,
Shapeless in the hands of fate,
Thou didst mold us, dear old State,
Dear old State, dear old State.

May no act of ours bring shame
To one heart that loves thy name,
May our lives but swell thy fame,
Dear old State, dear old State.

I think of how our acts as a university have brought a great deal of shame to the students, faculty, families, and fans around the world. How could we let our Penn State pride override such criminal acts? I believe the recent acts carried out by students were a way for them to let out their frustration and anger. I by no means believe that what took place Wednesday night does not reflect negatively on the students in the eye of the public, but in some ways I don’t blame the students for speaking out. The students have zero control over what is going on and how things are being handled.

Today I was at the hospital and I was talking to an old friends grandparent who is a volunteer and she had asked me where I am attending school and what I am majoring in. Knowing her and her husband are huge Penn State fans I responded with a cheerful voice, Penn State. As soon as I said where I attended, she made a noise that suggested she was thinking, “oh my, poor you.” The acts that have taken place on campus in no way involve me. I was not a student when the criminal acts took place nor was I involved in Wednesday nights activities in any way. I am a STUDENT trying to obtain an education and make a living for my self.

I hope that the families who are dealing with the current state of affairs know that Penn State is supporting them in our own ways. We feel sorrow and anger for them. I do not want non- Penn Staters to get the wrong idea of what is happening. This issue does not define who I am as a student and who we are as a university. We are so much more than this!

Illegal immigrants are called illegal for a reason. I do not believe they should have the same or any rights that citizens have. Therefore, if I were to go to Europe I do not expect to have the same rights as all Europeans. I think it is ludicrous that illegal immigrants think they have any right in a country that they do not belong in. If an immigrant were to come to the U.S. and obtain citizenship, then they should have the same rights as any other citizen.
If I were a large business owner or a farmer, I would be stuck between hiring illegal’s and not hiring them. I know that the right thing to do would be not to hire them but at the same time I want my business to thrive and I need cheap labor. Many Americans would not do the hard labor that illegal immigrants are willing to do. Many business owners are stuck in this very situation. They could possibly get into trouble because they have illegal immigrants working for them, but at the same time they cannot afford to not hire them because they need someone to do the cheap work. I do not know which would be more difficult to live with: the fear of getting caught or the moral aspect of knowing what you are doing is wrong.
Somehow I believe that more people would choose to hire them because they are more concerned with prospering and gaining wealth rather than doing what is morally right.
I believe citizens of the U.S. should be offered work before illegal immigrants. If illegals cannot find work in their own countries then they have no right taking the jobs that citizens of the U.S. could possibly occupy. I feel like the only way an illegal immigrant should be offered a job is when U.S. citizens do not wish to work them. I do not think it is just that an immigrant can take a job that a citizen could do.
I understand we were all once immigrants when we came to the United States but there is now something called citizenship, and if these immigrants want to have the rights of U.S. citizens then they need to have citizenship just like I do. I also understand some people are seeking a better life but we cannot open our doors to everyone because we then would be in the same situation that the illegal immigrants were in before they migrated here.
I do not know if it is wrong for me to think like this or if I have a pessimistic attitude about immigrants coming in to what I know as my country but I do not know how else to feel. I think that the people who have obtained citizenship should be the first to prosper.

It is difficult to think of what the United States would be like if white people were in the minority. I know growing up we have all learned that the U.S. is a melting pot of different races, cultures, and ethnicities, but I was never sure if that was an accurate description of the country. I cannot remember a time where I was outnumbered by other races, other than lecture for Soc. 119. Even in our small groups most of the kids in mine are white. I cannot imagine the United States not speaking English. I know what I am saying may sound negative but it is what I know and what I have grown up with. I can already see these changes happening in front of my own eyes. We have our first black president. Penn State encourages education majors to obtain an ESL certificate. In high school when I was taking Spanish everyone was always telling me to remember what I learn because it will be very important to know Spanish to communicate in the future. When I look around the room in lecture for Soc. 119, I do not see as many white kids as there are in some of my other classes. While I was growing up all I have ever know was “whiteness.” I had one black student who went to my high school and she was just like all of my other friends. She was originally adopted from Ethiopia. When we sit in our small groups and discuss other races I am at a loss of words. I have never really experienced other races other than my own. I am open to learning about them but I have never had the opportunity to get to know anyone who is truly into their race and culture that is different than mine. My boyfriend’s daughter attends a private school for kindergarten and the schools population is mostly Mexican. The teachers are all white but a good number of the children come from a Spanish speaking, Mexican background. I am pursuing an education in elementary education and I do not what to be blindsided when I possibly end up with a room full of students who are different than me. I want to be more aware of what is going on in the United States and more inclined to be able to deal with others outside my race. I am very intrigued with how other cultures go about their daily lives and what they do differently than me. I hope the United States can obtain a balance of white people and other people of different races. I would hate to feel the way minorities feel because of the way white people suppress them.

In response to the video question concerning latent racism amongst white people, I would have to say that this is an accurate sentiment. Very few white people would ever admit that they are racist. In fact, many of them truly believe that they are not. It is true that they do no exhibit outright racism, but it is also true that racism can take on much subtler forms. This is latent racism.
When people fail to realize that much of the way the world works is centered around white interests, they are oblivious to the true reality. There is a reason that blacks are much more likely to live below the poverty line and do poorly in school, and that reason is not that blacks are inherently less capable than whites. It is because society is set up in such a way that disadvantages accumulate over time and have a tendency to perpetuate themselves. There are still many lingering effects of the oppression that occurred in previous generations. It is a fact that children from poor families are less likely to do well in school. It is also a fact that Jim Crow laws and other racist laws and regulations assured that many black families stayed poor in the earlier part of this century. So it is easy to see how these disadvantages can carry over from generation to generation. Thankfully, we have made much progress from those days and almost everybody agrees that we are doing a better job of treating one another like equals. In other words, a lot of overtly racist policies and laws have been done away with. But the latent racism persists. We have to recognize how our past has shaped our present. Failing to see this is the latent racism that I am talking about. Being satisfied with the status quo is not good enough.
Now, I am not suggesting that this is a conscious decision made by white people. It is very hard to put oneself is someone else’s shoes and view the world from their perspective. What I am saying is that if we looked hard enough, we could see that there is a lot that could be done to make the world more equal. Failing to take those measures is what constitutes latent racism.
Many of society’s institutions and customs are inherently racist. For example, in the past housing laws in cities were implicitly discriminatory, resulting in higher prices and lower quality housing for minorities. For several decades, these laws were kept in place even though people realized that they were discriminatory. This is a prime example of latent racism, because the inaction of legislators perpetuated racist policies. They did not act outwardly racist, because the laws were put in place by previous legislators, but their failure to take action was implicitly racist.
Latent racism among whites is certainly not limited to this example. Any instance in which whites passively accept the social norms that are discriminatory towards people of color is an example of latent racism.

Brittany and Abby share a very unique bond. Neither one of the girls could survive emotionally or physically without one another. I believe their lives exhibit both determinism and free will. Abby and Brittany are one in the same, but they also each have their own personalities. Their lives are dominated by determinism because they did not choose to live a life stuck together. The girls seem happy and healthy, but if they were not attached to one another, they could not be alive. The girls have a long road ahead of them, having to deal with finding a mate, motherhood and career choices. As Abby and Brittany are going up, they will have to learn to love one another for who they are.

The free will that the girls have comes into play when they have to deal with the scrutiny they receive, the looks they get, and the way they live their lives as one. The girls could have a vastly different outlook on life, but they choose one that is positive. If the girls were given the free will to be able to not be attached to one another, the girls would no longer exist. So in a way they are bound together by determinism because they cannot be one without the other.

The girls face determinism in a completely different way. If God had chosen to make the two girls separate, they would probably have an easier life, like their brother and sister; but because he chose to make them as conjoined twins, the girls face a life of hardships. Most likely, Abby and Brittany will not be able to have separate boyfriends or husbands. The girls have their own heart, lungs, head, but they share the same lower half. They would each have to find very accepting partners to be able to have separate adult relationships. The girls will also most likely not be able to have separate children. Their eggs come from the same body so they can only produce one child together. This was all predetermined for the girls when they were born. The girls do not have much of a choice about being able to have separate children and separate partners.

I believe I would find this extremely difficult to deal with. My sister and I get along for the most part, but I do not think I could handle her being with me all the time. I believe that because of the situation the Abby and Brittany are in, they have developed a stronger bond and a close relationship. However, there are times that I just want to be by myself in order to clear my head. Having a constant companion would make this impossible. This is why I think I would struggle if I were in the same position as these girls.

As parents, I believe we are to raise our children with the values that we have learned over the years growing up. Parents need to not only challenge their children, but also accept them for who they are. I have a close connection with this question. My boyfriend has a five-year-old daughter who I see as my own child. We teach her values and manners but we also accept the ideas she has. We do everything in our power to give her the things she wants and to foster an engaging living environment. She is welcome to express herself in any way she pleases. She loves dancing, and competitive cheerleading; she loves math and reading, and loves to play with other children. My boyfriend and I have opened doors for his daughter to choose the activities she wishes to participate in.

I think too often parents can only see the side of life that they believe in. If a parent is heterosexual, often then try to force that lifestyle on their children. This is not the case for me. I believe all human beings have the choice to live their lives in whatever way they see fit. I do not believe people choose to be gay, lesbian, or straight. The trait of whom we prefer to love, I believe, is instilled in us when we are born. People who are gay or lesbian do not choose to be ridiculed day in and day out, they do not choose to be different than the majority of the population, and the do not enjoy being afraid of life and how people treat them.

I can honestly say if my child was born gay or lesbian, it would come as a shock to me but I could accept them for whom they are. I think more parents need to be open minded about their child’s preferences. If more people in general were open to people’s choices, I think there would be a lot less broken hearts. People should have the free choice to love who they wish even if they are of the same sex. Who are we to dictate who loves who?

If my boyfriends daughter came home one day and told us she fell in love with someone of the same sex, I can say with my whole heart we would have an initial shock, but we would never hate her for her choices. We would embrace what she is feeling and attempt to make her feel safe in her own skin. I think if more parents could have these same values of allowing their children to choose their own life choices, we would have a much safer and happier world.

Stereotypes: a judgment about a person you may or may not know. Stereotypes are everywhere around us in everyday life. I hate to admit it but I am a big stereotyper. Before I meet someone new for the first time, all kinds of stereotypes are running through my head. I think about what the person may or may not like, their status based on what they are wearing, and what type of person they are. I truly believe everyone does this. I do not think there is a single person out there who does not use stereotyping. When I try to think of a stereotype that I do not believe in the first thing that comes to mind is that people of color are the N-word. I have a strong belief that people of color are not the N-word. I find that this word is not only offensive but also ugly. The N-word was a term use to degrade people, and I do not think anyone should be made to feel like what this word stands for. People of color are equal to non-colored people. I do not see a defining line between blacks and browns and whites. I believe we are all people and different people should carry their lives they way they see fit. It is not my place to make them feel ashamed of the way they look.
Another stereotype I strongly do not believe in is that people with mental handicaps are of less value or intelligence than people who do not have a mental handicap. I feel that mentally challenged individuals should be seen as equal parts of society. Many people use the term ‘retard’ when referring to a person who is mentally challenged. I am greatly offended by this. I had a best friend in school that had Down’s syndrome. This individual brought joy and sorrow to my life. I felt joy because he was happy and full of life but sorrow when other students called him names or mocked him because they thought he was of lesser value.
I think everyone, myself included; need to take a closer look in the mirror before we start placing other people in to stereotypical categories. These categories can be detrimental in a lot of ways. If we are continually and consistently stereotyping people before we know them personally, we are setting them up for failure. In the 21st century we should have enough decency to see everyone as equals no matter his or her gender, skin color, mental ability, or ethnicity. It is not fair for people to feel lesser because someone makes them think they are of a certain group that only exists in one’s mind. We need to be brave enough to break the stereotype cycle.

I feel that my fellow group members, the people of Haiti, and I will all benefit from the Haiti project. I will benefit from this project in numerous ways. One advantage is that this project will open my eyes to see outside my own little world. I believe this project will help me understand what is going on in another part the world. Very often I am only concerned with what is going on in my own life. Unfortunately, I have never had the opportunity to travel outside of the United States. I have never acquired any first hand experience of any other cultures or societies. Therefore, all I know is what its like to live in central Pennsylvania. That is why I believe that this Haiti project will help to broaden my currently narrow worldview. I hope that the project similarly benefits the rest of my group members.
Courses that allow you to apply concepts that you learn about in the classroom to real-world settings are the most effective and worthwhile courses that you can take while in college. Not only will I expand my mind and my worldview through the Haiti project, but I also hope to make a positive impact on the lives of others who may be less fortunate what me. What more could you ask for in a college class? Soc 119 is providing us with precisely this type of opportunity.
Almost everything that I know about Haiti is a result of the devastating earthquake that struck the country in early 2010. Before that time, I could barely even locate Haiti on a map. However, after reading newspaper articles and seeing news stories about the devastation that the earthquake, I gradually came to know more about Haiti. I developed a strong sense of compassion for the Haitian people, which I still feel today.
After watching the videos and reading the stories on the World in Conversation Project, I feel even more well informed about the situation in Haiti. I was particularly struck by the video with the woman who was producing handmade, custom bags to try to get by. It is striking to realize what the people of Haiti have to do in order to try to survive.
I never thought critically about what it would take to help the people of Haiti. As the videos and stories on the World in Conversation Project website illustrate, it is not as simple as sending food or other forms of assistance. Rather, it is important to thoroughly think through the long-term consequences of any attempts to provide assistance to the Haitian people. Ideas that seem helpful on the surface could, in unforeseen ways, end up causing more harm than good. I am looking forward to participating in the Haiti project and to producing positive outcomes for these unfortunate people.