en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2416251 Comments by liz_19 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-help-someone-illegal-immigrate-into-the-country-why-or-why-not-119-blog/#IDComment145273722 Would I help someone illegally immigrate into the county? Why or why not? I would probably have to answer no to this question. There are several reasons on why I would not partake in helping an illegal immigrant come into our country. The key word here is illegal! With that being said, why in the world would I do something illegal to jeopardize my life along with somebody else life. I just couldn't’t make that happen. I have a huge huge huge compassion for people that don’t have it as good as we do or can better themselves but don’t have the means to do so. My compassion can only stay in my heart though when it comes to this. I do not wanna be sentenced to jail for helping someone else. It is just impossible, because once I’m in jail who is going to help me? NO ONE! I feel like if they want to come over illegally they can do that on their own and by other ways. When it comes to doing illegal things it should be everyman for themselves. I could never see myself going to jail anyway. That would make me regret everything! Even if I wasn’t going to get caught or the chance of getting caught was not high I still probably would not risk it at all! If someone really wants to come into the country real bad its other ways that they can go about it instead of trying to do it illegally. First and foremost I know that these immigrants know that they can just marry someone from the country and be able to come over with out a lot of problems. It’s plenty of people in the world that would do stupid things like this especially if there is money involved. So they should consider that. They can also just consider applying for a visa to come here. I know doing that is a long process but it would be better to stick the process out then to jeopardize some one’s life. They should just wait to get a green card because coming here is not that serious. So no I would not risk my life of helping an illegal immigrant come here to our country. They is just no way I would do that because you will not see me in no body's jail cell and that is final! Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:30:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-help-someone-illegal-immigrate-into-the-country-why-or-why-not-119-blog/#IDComment145273722 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143222870 Do you think you would actively try to not benefit from nepotism if the situation presented itself? I feel like I would not try not to benefit from nepotism. I feel like me myself would always look out for myself above others especially if there is no family relation there. I feel like I would not only do that but everybody else would do the same also. Like Sam said, in today's world it is clearly all about who you know. If I was put in a situation and I could benefit from nepotism I would definitely seize the opportunity. Its no way in the world I would let something slip past me like that. I feel like life is not fair so why try not to benefit from a such thing. Slavery was never fair along with white privilege and sorts of things like that. Things in life are just unjust and not fair, but if unfairness been going on for such a long time now why should we feel like we actually perhaps could stop it? I once greatly benefited from nepotism. This pass summer I got my job by nepotism. My cousin was the manager at a certain shoprite market. Since he was the manager there he knew all of the other managers at the other stores also. I needed a job badly this summer. I needed money to end off my school year for prom right and also to save up for college stuff. My cousin store was too far from where I lived so he told me to fill out an application at another store. After I did so I called him and he told me that he would be contacting the manager at the store I wanted to work at. The very next week I was contacted and got an interview. I was beyond happy but I knew it was all because of my cousin. When I got to the interview all the manger did was talk about my cousin because they were such close friends. Also, come to find out she was very close with the vice principle of my high school so it was a guaranteed win for me. I would never regret getting my job that way because at the end of the day we all need some type of income. Everybody benifit from nepotism in some sort of manner at the end of the day so we should all just appreciate it. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:24:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143222870 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141156104 Do I think Sam was right in saying this will be the best lecture of the year? Well I don’t think he was right at all. No offense but this probably was one of my least favorites out of all the lectures. It was just way to boring and dry. I felt as if Sam made the whole lecture like this big conspiracy and it just came off unrealistic to me. He made it be the “christian invaders” who where the problem. I feel like saying it’s the Christain’s is just way too general. I feel like it’s the white Christians if anything. All those picture or videos shown was with white people. Not one time did I see some type of black soul, and see that is what I don’t get. Once again that is why I feel like this is a big conspiracy. I just don’t see how this could be one of the best classes of the semester when it was all just foolishness in my eyes. The best classes to me have a lot of energy, interaction, great clicker questions, just things like that. This class was just dry! Like the whole video of the warriors for Jesus was just absurd. I do believe that that was just beyond crazy, very demonic, and just pure obnoxious. What I don’t understand is how can you be so sure that they are training those kids to do war like jobs when they are just “soldiers for Jesus.” That don’t mean that they want to go to war or anything like that. I don’t want to keep throwing in the race card but yeah they were Christians but they were all white people. I didn’t see not one black kid doing that foolishness. But any who, I feel like the lecture was biased. Sam only showed videos from one side and only a selective side of videos. Like I feel like he did not present both sides to the point he was trying to make. I just didn’t find too much interest in that class at all for that day. I feel like if he would have presented his claim better than maybe it would have been a much better class. Every time you present an argument you always have to show both sides and Sam just failed to do so. So at the end of the day it was only an ok class and not one of the better ones. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:28:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141156104 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139245563 I find this question interesting and funny at the same time. What actually makes the male species think that we get dressed up to go out to parties by wearing dresses and heels because of them? I feel like they may have an influence on the way girls dress but they are not the reason girls get dressed up when they go out. As I female, I’m sitting here thinking about why I choose to get dressed up when I go out to parties. Well me getting dressed up all depends on my mood and how I’m feeling that day. I can get dressed up with a dress or I can dress down and still be dressed up with heels and jeans. Either way I’m still going to be dressed. I feel like majority of the time I get dressed up the way I do when I go out because it’s the trend. If all the females at school are dressed up when they go out and I’m at this same party dressed completely down I’m going to look dumb and that's just that. I feel like a woman getting dressed up to go out shows her self confidence. Some females do take it to far being provocative, but the ones that don’t show a sense of class. Every female should carry themselves in a certain manner and by getting dressed up makes you look completely better as a person. Getting dressed up gives you the opportunity to switch up your regular look from the simple relaxed going to class outfits. Myself personally never got dress for the male figure my whole freshman year because I had a boyfriend, so I never did it for the attention of other guys. Now male figures on the other hand, the trend is just to stay dressed down. If I see a boy dressed completely up at some regular on campus party I will laugh and “clown” him. That’s just the way the trends go. I feel like a guy still don’t dress completely obnoxious when he actually go out. I feel like he still is going to make sure that he look like something if he even care about himself or if he think he’s going grab him a girl that night. They put effort into themselves now days also, well at least I know my friends do. I think the way we dress is more so because of trends, basically keeping up with style. The opposite sex always plays a part but that will never be the main reason why we dress the way we dress. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 01:01:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139245563 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137626586 How have I acted when involved in a racist or discriminating event? Well when I encountered different racial situation I reacted differently depending upon the circumstances. Majority of the time I stay calm and just discuss the issue with people that are the closest to me. I never act out of flip out because I feel like things never get accomplished that way. I haven’t really experienced racist or discriminating events until I came here to Penn State University. I find that funny because I went to a predominately white high school and never experienced racism there. Well being here at Penn State I probably would have said I experienced problems about two or three times. The first time I encountered racism here or discrimination was when I was going to a campus event down town. The even I was going to was a black event. I walked down the street with about 8 other black students. We were walking minding our business just laughing and talking amongst each other when a white guy started walking towards us. He screamed out “I hate niggers and go suck some white dick.” This guy seemed very insane. I don’t know if he was drunk or plan old crazy. We all just kept walking and just shook our heads because we never thought we would come across that here. Now if we were all home honestly we probably would have picked up objects and threw it at him or even perhaps jumped him. Since we were at school we knew that we could get in trouble so we just acted in a calmly manner. One time in my literature class a white girl also stated that white people should be able to say the “N” word or at least one of the forms because it’s a difference between the “er” on the end and the “a” on the end. I felt like saying that was just like disrespectful. I didn’t say anything about it but my teacher fed into it so much that I just got too disgusted and left class. Being put into situations like these I try to not let it all bother me. Being around white people a lot I automatically expect to encounter these types of things. I know some white people never got to experience being around black people or was raised certain types of ways with stereotypes in their minds already so I just don’t pay it any mind. I feel like if you do encounter problems like these you should never flip out or act out in violent manners. That gets nothing accomplished at all. I feel like us as African Americans over came so much being a minority and such a unforgettable past that we should be strong enough and able to not react in a crazy manner when racism or discrimination occur. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:31:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137626586 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135966928 The diversity here at Penn State is not so diverse to me. We have many races here but its pretty obvious that this school is majority people of the white race. The fact that the school is filled with white people over many other races such as Black, Hispanic, or Asian don’t really bother me. My high school that I graduated from was basically the same as now so far as diversity. There were only a handful of black kids and each grade and a handful of black teachers. So coming here to Penn State was no difference. I feel like there should be a more even amount of each race here at Penn State to make things even and more comfortable, but if that didn’t happen I still wouldn’t be bothered. I’m comfortable sitting in a class where majority of the people is not the same race as me. I feel like in the real world with different professions your going to have to be comfortable with not being with people of your same race and working with them also. So the diversity here do not bother me. I feel like if it did bother me I would have probably just went to a historically black college since I am an African American. That wouldn’t have been a bad choice for me but I think going to a school with majority people of the white race can also open door in the long run and also work as an advantage. Our school is such a great school and leave graduates with very successful career paths that we are destined to end up with remarkable jobs in our future. It do make me laugh sometimes when people say, “you go to a white school.” I never care when they say that but it would be nice if this school was seen as being a little more diverse. Being in class in walking around surrounded by white people don't really bother me,however living in the dorms isn’t too much fun for me. I am use to living around people of my same race and all of my friends in one area. Walking out my room on my floor is not diverse at all. Its 3 black girls on my floor including myself and one I hardly talk to so it would be nice if there were a little more African Americans around instead of only really getting to see them at the so called “black events.” once again, its still not a big deal. If I want to be with my own race that much I can always skype, oovoo, facebook, twitter, text, or call them. It’s simple as that. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:10:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135966928 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130724691 The question was asked, “Is it selfish for people in poverty to have more kids because of their lower income?” I believe that it only would be selfish depending upon the circumstances. I wouldn’t really use the world selfish either but more like the word irresponsible. Some people have planned pregnancy but a lot of people also have unplanned pregnancy. I believe that if people are living in poverty they dont have means to get things to prevent their pregnancy. Birth control is expensive, especially if you don’t have good coverage with health care. So thats already X’d out because people living in poverty are not going to spend the only money they have on birth control. Condoms are not that expensive but people in poverty are not making enough money to continuously buy those types of items when they have bills to pay and a family to support. You may not always know the person’s situation because they may have gotten rapped perhaps and it wasn’t their fault. Abortion would really be out the question for them if they are in poverty because once again it would cost them way too much money. I believe if you have an unplanned pregnancy and have kids when you know you cannot afford them is not selfish it’s just irresponsible. The reason I feel that it is irresponsible is because I feel like if you know you cant afford these different types of pregnancy preventions then you just don’t need to be having sex at all. It is irresponsible to just go around having sex no matter whats your age if you cant take on the proper responsibility of might having to be a parent. That is just completely irresponsible. I know some people may think sex makes the world go round but having kids while in poverty is just digging yourself into a deeper hole. Sooner or later you will push yourself further and further into poverty and you will have no one to blame but yourself. So If its unplanned I think it’s being irresponsible and and if it is planned than may God help you because that is just trifling that you would want someone to live in the same conditions as you even if you do all that you can for them. Now Tammy on the other hand having 22 siblings is crazy. Not only was her parents getting it in with no care in the world but he was loosing his mind at the same time. Her parents had to be demented because being poor and having all of those kids don’t mix. I wouldn’t necessarily call them selfish because they obvious didn’t care about themselves either. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:09:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130724691 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128984230 I feel as if America is spoiled. Many Americans feel as if we have it bad, but our worst is nothing compared to the way others live all across the world. Americans often forgot how good we have it. Our life is great compared to others. Over 3 billion people is living in poverty making less than $2.50 a day, yet we want to cry when our cell phone isn’t being paid. Its really sad when you think about it. We don't often take time out of our day to actually appreciate our living conditions compared to some others. We live in a materialistic world where majority of them time all we want is the “finner things in life.” Little do many of us know that some of our “finer things” were made in sweatshops in areas of poverty where the people actually making the things are not getting any type of profit. Just like with the chocolate issue, all of these things are sad. We may not stop eating,wearing, or buying all of these things but we should take the time out to appreciate what we have. We have so many luxuries and other countries don’t. Its sad, and doesn’t make sense. The gap between the rich and the poor is really ridiculous. I understand it’s nice when you became such a successful person and is very wealthy but what do you possibly need all of that money for. Yes money is power, but its really people out here with nothing. As long as that gap is there and people is living in poverty there will never be equality. As an American I am very grateful for everything I have. I may often feel like I may not have a lot and get angry when I cant get what I want but thinking about other people around the world is sort of my reality check. I know because I’m use to this way of living I won’t just up and stop the way a live but I will grow to have a deeper appreciation for everything I have. It baffles me how we often complain about the inequality here right in front of us when its even worst inequality between the rich and the poor. From reading another persons post, I do feel it’s crazy that us humans think about the people living in poverty but what about the animals? Its animals out here living in the wild with nothing to feed off of and are also sick and dying,but they don't matter? Only humans? I guess equality will never really exist especially because people are so apathetic and only think about the stuff that they want to think about. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:39:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128984230 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment127444599 The King of the Mountain example I’ve heard about before. I never heard the term King of the Mountain but I have heard of the concept before. This was really nothing new to me though. Regardless of everyone having equal rights, whoever is on top with the most power is going to determine the journey of others. That's just how life goes. With the King of the Mountain concept whoever is not on top is not necessarily able to make choices to where they will be in life on their own because they do not have the power. The only one or ones that can make choices is whoever is on top and who they choose to put in position to help them. Sam talked about how the “white man” is usually the King of the Mountain. With out a shadow of doubt I know that what he said was true. The white man has always been on top, so even when someone else try to get there they are still the one controlling whether they do or don’t. As long as the King of the Mountain is in existence there will always be inequality going on. In my personal opinion I do not think that will ever change, i think it’s impossible. It was kind of interesting how Sam asked why don’t the other groups get together and over throw the person on top. I feel like the “white man” brain washed others to believe that they wasn’t strong enough to do that. I feel like other races have been suppressed and oppressed to the extreme that they think they are not capable of doing such things. Why? I believe because they feel like the white race will forever be superior to any other. This whole “white privilege” thing is really out of hand. I think in order to even try to eliminate any type of racism it will have to start with the white race because that is the race that is the King of the Mountain. I highly doubt that would ever happen so they will always be on top. So what is even the purpose of the example? I think to just remind us of whose on top and show how everyone else are the underdogs, and not so much to show us of why and how the King of the mountain works. I may be wrong, but that is just my own personal opinion. At the end of the demonstration my views still were not swayed by any means. I always knew who was on top and how the one with power controls everyone and everything under them. That's just how the cookie crumbles. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:04:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment127444599 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126029605 Will race ever stop being an issue? I believe race will never stop being an issue. In the future there will always be racial issues. It may not be as many racial issues but in my opinion they will always occur. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for race to stop being an issue in our country, yes he impacted us and made a huge difference but did not necessarily change the whole “race issue.” That was many yrs ago but yet it still occur. So what makes us think that in the future it will stop? Especially if we don’t have people like Martin Luther King doing anything about racial issues today. We may have equal rights now, but that don't mean people like or appreciate having equal rights. Its clear that history can be improved but never dispose of the past. I know I never would want to just forget about what happened to my ancestors. The “white man” will always seem superior to other races in my opinion. Other races have to work at getting to the top. The white populations have inheritances and is already there, they don’t have to work as hard as other races. Say if there is one position at a job and there are two people, preferably a black man and a white man. They both have the same qualifications, matching degrees, and equal credentials. Nine times out of ten the white man is going to get chosen for the position. Why? I think it’s because the white man will always be superior to the black man. That is just something set in stone. Us students in Soc 119 may not be “racist” or dwell on how things were in the past and have racial issues, but its way more people out in the world that don't see things in the way we see it; you cant necessarily change the opinion of those other people either. Some things will just never change. That's like a white person taking their child to an all black daycare, now do you think they would really do that? and vice versa. That's just something that wont take place. What baffles my mind is we are always worried about this whole “racism” concept, but what about sexism. What about sexism within racism? The male body will always be superior to the female body. The man will always be looked on as the stronger person with more abilities. Once again, that is something that is set in stone; Some things just will never change. So where do we go from here? Problems with these racial issues can be put to a minimum but they will never disappear. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 00:20:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126029605 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124434828 I believe people associate themselves with people of the same race majority of the time because that is whom they are most comfortable with. Your own race is sort of your comfort zone. I believe people tend to believe that their same is whom they can connect with better and who understands them better. I myself am an African American. I lived in the south part of Philadelphia my whole life. My area consisted of majority Black people. There were some other races here and there but the Black population was the majority. Therefore, the friends I started making were black because they were from the neighborhood. We all sort of had the same time of background as far as social status and education. We could definitely relate to each other. When I went to middle and high school I didn’t go to the neighborhood school anymore so I was no longer with my friends. I was now out of my comfort zone. The new school I attended was majority white kids with majority white teachers. I always connected more with the Black teachers there because I felt like they cared more for my race than all of the white teachers that was there. In high school my graduation class was about 25% Black, no exaggeration. So who was I close with? The little bit of black kids that were there. I had white friends that I may have talked to but my actual friends were Black. I felt like I connected more with the Black kids. They talked how I talked, they liked my same style of music, we dressed alike, and they lived in my same type of environment. I felt like I could relate more to them than the white kids. I felt like the white kids had everything easy and didn’t go through the same as us Black kids. The white kids at my school got whatever they wanted when they wanted. They were all spoiled. At my home, in my neighborhood my friends and I had to work for everything we wanted. I just felt like we didn’t really have anything in common. Being here at Penn State now, the majority of my school is still white. I met some very nice white people but they are just completely different from me so I can’t see myself hanging with them. All of my friends here are Black with the exception of my Thai friend. I feel like with the same race there are less constraints on what you do, say, and way you act. Your always going to attract to those you can familiarize with. They are the ones who have similar backgrounds. With that being said, majority of the time the ones with your same background will be those of your same race. That’s just the way life is and I don’t think that will ever change Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:46:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124434828 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122905631 At first I never really thought about this exercise so what do I think is a good question? This exercise that was done in class was questionable. I’m no one to say this was inappropriate, but it wasn’t completely ok either. All of us in our seats already knew that we think people are of different races all of the time as you could tell when we were asked about the races the people were in the picture with the clicker questions. So why choose this exercise out of all things? To show us again how people judge? It was entertaining but in the back of my mind I sat back and wondered did any of the people that were being put into categories felt any type of way especially those put in the wrong place. I know I would have it someone put me in a category that wasn’t mine. I feel like the African American people are the easy to be put in a category. The first move the girl made was putting the two dark colored girls into a group without hesitation. That made me a little angry because they didn’t for one minute think if the girls were mixed or not and the same for all of the Asians. I feel like people never question African Americans or Asians. I think the only thing this exercise was good for was bringing a little humor to the class. On another note this exercise showed me a couple things. It showed me that having a 4.0 means nothing! Why do people believe that if someone has a 4.0 that they can do something better than someone with a lower GPA? That’s being stereotypical right there. It also taught me that there is no such thing as a non-judgmental person. We as people all will judge someone whether it be conscious or sub consciously. It’s just sort of a way of life for us. So this exercise was powerful to show us the race identity problem with people but was it really necessary? Does it really matter what race we are? Or does it really matter that much to separate people in groups in the middle of class? We will never really know what someone’s race is unless we ask him or her so why not just ask him or her if we are really that curious. I believe this exercise was definitely an eye opener to both good and bad. Sam cracking jokes definitely made things better though. I just think he’s a character and likes to laugh so why not choose some type of exercise that would be fun that have you think, prove you wrong, and make you laugh? Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:02:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122905631 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ca%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121398176 Soc 119 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:19:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ca%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121398176