en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/6269008 Comments by mdw5329 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/18/voices-from-the-classroom-305/#IDComment624874512 I think I would have to say that this is easily the most interesting class that I have ever taken either in college or in high school. The way that we just always were able to talk about anything and everything made the class very interesting and very relatable because anyone could truly speak their mind, whether it was in the recitation setting or the lecture hall setting. The reason I took this class was because of my sister and she told me that I would really enjoy the class for one because of the professor and also because of the course material being so interesting and of course very relevant in the fact that we discuss situations that we all have to deal with on a daily basis. In taking this class my views on most every topic we have discussed has either changed or has at least been much more well thought and strengthened. I do feel that now my views of basically every other races has greatly changed and watching the videos and hearing some people of color saying that they are right with the white and us white people should be down with the brown. I feel as though I have always been ‘down with the brown’ but I feel as though that I am even more ‘down with the brown’ than before this class had started for me this semester. I believe that it is very important to understand the equality that must exist between every race in the world and to understand that everyone deserves to be treated well as long as they are truly a good person at heart. I truly can say that I am ‘down with the brown’ because I am not only accepting of ‘brown’ people but I am accepting of all races because I do not choose my friends based on the color of their skin. I choose my friends based on what is inside of them and based on whether or not they good person at heart or not. I feel as though all of my friends no matter what the color of their skin are all great people because I want people surrounding me that I can trust with a lot of things because I feel that that is the way that I treat them. I just enjoy being around good people; therefore, I have surrounded my self with friends and people that all have good hearts, good morals, and good outright intentions towards life. This is definitely the way I will continue to live my life and hearing everything that I have heard throughout this semester in this course has solidified that to the highest degree. This is why i believe that this is the most interesting course that i have taken so far either in college or back in high school. Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:20:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/18/voices-from-the-classroom-305/#IDComment624874512 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/09/voices-from-the-classroom-298/#IDComment619502670 I feel that there are an uncountable amount of reasons for why a man can not tell or ask a woman if she did or did not orgasm after sex. There are definitely many situations where it may be appropriate for the man to ask the woman whether or not she had an orgasm. For example if you are in the situation of a one night stand maybe just meeting this girl at a frat party or other type of college party, you definitely should not and most likely would not feel comfortable asking the woman whether or not she had an orgasm during the sex you just had together. I just feel this way because even though you just both had sex with each other you should not and would not still feel that comfortable with this person that you had just met most likely this very night not even more then 3 hours ago, most importantly while being drunk. I also do feel that the alcohol may give the man a false sense of confidence that he is extremely comfortable with this certain woman and feel as though it may be right to talk to this woman like this. I just feel that you must be much closer to a woman that you are going to have sex with if you feel the need to ask if the had an orgasm or if they did not have and orgasm. So for another example if you were having sex with a woman that you have been with for a very long time and have been also having sex for a long time together as well. If that is the current situation, then I do feel as though the man should feel much more comfortable asking the woman whether the woman had an orgasm or did not have an orgasm. I just feel like being together much longer and have been having sex for a long period of time you just naturally more and more comfortable with that certain partner; therefore, being with someone who you are having regular sex with then absolutely, you should feel comfortable asking if your woman has been satisfied while the both of you have had sex together. As the two examples stated above, there are clearly many different situations where you may feel extremely comfortable asking the woman whether or not she had an orgasm and there or many situations where you would absolutely not asking the woman whether or not she had an orgasm during the intercourse you may have just had together. So in the end of this entire scenario we can see that asking whether or not a woman had an orgasm during sex is directly related to the comfortbility that exists between you and your partner. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:57:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/09/voices-from-the-classroom-298/#IDComment619502670 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/05/voices-from-the-classroom-291/#IDComment614033789 When talking about things like this especially when it is such a debatable subject such as this one: immigration and education in the United States. I do not feel that we are affected as much by immigration in the United States as much as we are by some poor education habits and curricula. I feel as though my perception of that statement that I had just made may not be completely accurate because of first of all my living situation and the area that we actually all live in. I say that because my living situation, or my family and life, has shown me to be accepting of all kinds of races and people. I do believe that I am not racist in the fact that I do not judge people at all based on the color of their skin or where they are from in the world. The reason that I am saying that this influences my opinion of this situation and question is because I feel as though I see things especially racial controversies through a different lens the most people in this world do. Also the area that we live in is quite obviously not a highly populated area in terms of the immigrant’s population. We clearly are not near a border of the country that contributes the most illegal immigrants in the United States. I feel as though that this makes me feel more strongly that the immigration policy is nothing that really needs to be looked at or adjusted. Therefore, I do believe that education is the one of these two the needs to be more looked at and potentially reformed because of the vast difference in the intensity of courses in high school as compared to the intensity of college courses. When I was in high school I honestly could count on one hand the number of hours I put into studying. As compared to this year, my freshman year, I have vastly had to change my studying habits for every class. For example I have always been good at math and never thought I really needed to do much studying for that particular course even in my first math college course: math 110. But soon did I realize that I needed to change my ways fast. I just feel that the way courses and school in general because I could go through my entire high school career without truly working very hard at all to get a great GPA and just all around do well in all of my courses. This has absolutely changed coming into college; therefore, I feel there needs to be an instant change to the way that high school curricula is created and carried out. Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:44:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/05/voices-from-the-classroom-291/#IDComment614033789 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-280/#IDComment605998357 When we talked about this the other day in class I felt like I had heard something like this before and have discussed something very similar to this before. I do not think that choosing people to be called back for work or anything like that is either racism or nationalism for a few reasons. The main reason being that people like to surround themselves with people that are similar to them because that is just a natural thing that humans do because it is natural to want to fit in. For example when you ‘chose’ your friends you picked and chose people that are most similar to you because that is a natural thing to do and it is like a feeling of self esteem and belonging because everyone in your group of friends is similar and has similar interests. Relating that to business and people getting call backs after interviews based on their names, if you look at the CEOs and other bosses of most companies in the United States, they are mostly white males. Therefore, they are going to choose people that are similar to them to work with them and to work for them because they feel that they can relate mostly with other white males. So when you look at the list of names that get the most call backs in the business world, it is not surprising to see that the majority of these names are generic American, white names that get these call backs. So for that reason that I just explained, I do not think that choosing mostly white males to get call backs in the business world is a racist or nationalistic idea because it is a natural piece of human nature to surround oneself with people that are similar to them. One other reason why this phenomenon is not racist or nationalistic is that the majority of the most educated and qualified people in the working business world are white males. I am not saying that there are not people out in the business world that are not colored or females; what I am saying is that the majority of those that are well qualified to get call backs in the business world are mainly white and males. The majority always does rule, especially in the business world, and that is proven with this fact that the most people getting call backs are white and males. This is not a racist idea nor is this a nationalistic idea, yet it is just a natural and unavoidable idea because of the fact that we are human and want similar people surrounding us and the fact that the majority of well qualified people in the business world are white males. Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:42:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-280/#IDComment605998357 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/21/voices-from-the-classroom-275/#IDComment603271930 This is always an interesting question/topic to discuss especially in a class setting like this since we have such a large group of a large mix of people. The diversity that we have in our class room does make this discussion something that is kind of hard to talk about. I do feel that it is a mix of many factors that make someone where they are in life. I feel as though people read into things like this way too much to a point where it becomes unnecessary because of the way people can make whatever they want for themselves in life. I do feel that it is a large combination in the way that you turn out in life because the way you are brought and the family that you’re born into. The life you’re given is much different or at least in can be much different from the life that you make for yourself. I feel as though that we have the power to do whatever you want to do in life. I feel that anyone can do whatever they want because you make yourself your own opportunities for the future of your life. I do realize that some people are given things in their lives because of the family that they’re born into because of their parent’s situation. For example when someone’s dad has plays a large role in his company and can ‘hook up’ their child with a job straight out of college as opposed to a person who may be way more qualified then the person who is given the job by their father. Therefore, I do understand that some people have it way better off then others because of the life that you may be given. But I still feel that for basically everyone you can plan and out and make your life what you want it. So when people are saying that because of their race and other factors that are similar to that should not be complaining because you can do whatever you want no matter who you are because that’s how life works. The people that complain about stuff like this I feel are usually lazy and do not make a true conceited effort because you can do whatever you want if you put the effort forward to get a job or become what you want to become in life. This I have thought about mostly every time we have this discussion in class because I do feel pretty strongly about this topic because I really think that anyone can do whatever they want as long as they put the effort forward. Life is all about working hard to get what you deserve. Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:29:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/21/voices-from-the-classroom-275/#IDComment603271930 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/21/voices-from-the-classroom-255/#IDComment578720829 This was easily one of the most interesting classes we have had thus far in this specific class. I truly do enjoy talking about things like this especially because it provokes other peoples thoughts to think this way or provoke them to also change their current thoughts. I have always believed that evolution is a one hundred percent a true phenomenon in the fact that science has proven that we have slowly changed and adapted to the environment around us throughout many of years in the past. The way we have changed in the past hundreds of years is clear to see because of certain facts such as the way that the majority of black people have curlier and thicker hair then the majority of white people and also the fact that the tone of skin around the world fades from the darkest of skin tones to be closest to the equator because this is the hottest part of the earth and the darker skin tones have evolved to stay dark around the equator and the hottest parts of the planet. This just once again proves that evolution is a true thing that is definitely happening all around the world because you can clearly see that humans and maybe animals as well go through changes in their physical and mental appearances to help them either humans or animals better survive in their respective environments and climates. The more I have heard about evolution the more I want to believe that it is absolutely true because something like this can not just be made up when all of these facts have been proven over time to be true. When I hear people talk about evolution specifically those that practice the Catholic denomination of the Christian religion because they are forced to believe that evolution was and is not true and never will be because God created us this certain way and placed us in these specific spots on earth because he knew that that is where we need to be to survive the longest and healthiest. This I do not believe because I have not been practicing this specific denomination of the Christian religion because my parents grew up being raised under the catholic denomination and they hated going through every involved in becoming a true catholic Christian religion. Always growing up around all of my friends who were catholic; therefore, I was always thinking different then anyone else that I was usually hanging around. I never really got into any arguments but I knew that we didn’t agree on a lot of things most specifically this topic of evolution. Overall I love talking and hearing other people talk about this kind of topic together because I know that it can always get heated and that there is a justification for vouching for either side Mon, 25 Feb 2013 03:50:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/21/voices-from-the-classroom-255/#IDComment578720829 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/14/voices-from-the-classroom-250/#IDComment571910234 When we were talking to our new Iranian friend, it really opened up my eyes to see how the rest of the world acts in comparison to the US as well as how the rest of the world view the US in general. When we were talking to him and asking him questions, he laughed at a lot of them because of how ridiculous they sounded to him when they are normal questions to ask an American currently living in the US. For example when we asked how many people have guns in Iran, he burst out laughing and said no one has any guns only the government and military. This was honestly surprising to hear because of the world we live in here in the US most anyone can own a gun if they really wanted to pursue purchasing one. Then we asked him if people go to an elementary school or post office and open fire on anyone in their path. He once again laughed and said no that is the US that does things like that. After hearing his answers to questions like these I realized more and more that the US is not the safest place to live in the world. My view of the US was always that we have it that best out of anyone in the world, but after hearing this I do realize that we may not have the best possible living situation in comparison to the rest of the world. When we were asking him questions about things such as what is your favorite TV show and other questions like that he had a large list of American TV shows that he enjoyed watching as well as a large list of American musical artists that he enjoyed listening to. I did always believe that the US had a large influence of the world when it came to things like TV shows and music because I have heard of many shows and artists being popular not only in the US but all across the world. I also thought it was interesting when we had the Iranian girl in our class get up and speak to him in his first language. He quickly responded and said ‘you know I can understand English, I speak enough of [my own language] here at home.’ I thought it was kind of cool to hear that he wanted to speak English because maybe he was tired of hearing his own language and wanted to see a change of pace for every once in a while. All in all, I thought it was a really cool experience to see what an Iranian citizen thinks of the US and his own country as well. Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:59:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/14/voices-from-the-classroom-250/#IDComment571910234 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-244/#IDComment568349905 I feel as though that the comments made by the Iranian woman were very biased and not truly backed by actual experience. She makes god points by explaining that she has had all good experiences with the people of the US but not with the government in respect to the way that we treat Iran. She said a lot about how the government has always treated her and the rest of her Iranian family poorly and I do not think that she really has much to back up most of those statements. While I may be very wrong, I do agree that the American government has been quite harsh on the Iranian people and government, but I do not feel that all of the ‘sanctions’ that she mentioned really truly affected her or her family directly. She said that she has not had a bad experience in person with any American since she arrived in the US, which just goes to prove that she has nothing to ‘hate’ on since she is Iranian and many believe that the stereotype of the US and Iranian people not being very fond of each other is brought out. She just exemplifies the reason why it is a stereotype and not a fact. If anyone came up to me and was trying to be my friend and they told me they were Iranian, I would have absolutely no problem with that. We should not have anything against each other in either direction. If an American wanted to be her friend, I believe from what she said that she would not have a problem with that either because she knows that the people of the US are and have been very friendly and excepting to her even though they know that she is Iranian. I have always believed that I am not a racist person when it comes to choosing my friends and who I hang out with on a daily basis; therefore, if a person of any color or ethnic background wanted to be my friend, I feel as though I would judge them without any bias, but only for who they are on the inside. I have said this in a few of my other blogs, basically that I am not a racist person when it comes to choosing my friends, but I believe it is people like this girl that make people racist because she is close minded in believing and trusting the American government and believing the stereotypes that we do not like all Iranian people just because they are from Iran. I will always stick to my value and believe that I will not ever be racist when choosing my friends and people that I relate myself with. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:43:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-244/#IDComment568349905 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-235/#IDComment562256730 When someone is struggling with anything like cutting, suicidal thoughts, or an eating disorder it is very hard to come up with something to say to them in knowing that talking to them will not have much of an influence on them. I feel in my opinion it would not be words that would help someone in a situation such as these presented in the question, but it would take a life changing event that would open their eyes to realize what their doing is wrong for themselves and change their current ways. When someone is struggling with having suicidal thoughts, I feel as though this person would need to have something pretty significant event to truly change their thoughts such as an event like someone dying in the family and realizing the true loss and how it would affect everyone else around their family. Then they would truly understand the repercussions that would occur after committing such an unspeakable act and potentially pulling apart their family. If I ever had to deal with someone who was dealing with suicidal thoughts or tendencies I honestly would not know what to do. I would probably begin by talking with them even though I do not think it would be the best option to help someone in a situation like that. When I say that talking is not the best option to help someone deal with something like this, I feel like I an contradicting myself because I do not know what I think is truly the best option to do to help someone coup with something as serious as suicidal thoughts. Today I believe in this day and age that the media plays a very large role in people’s lives in forming their thoughts and morals of viewing how someone should look and act on a day to day basis. When you see certain TV shows, specifically reality shows, you see certain people all acting a certain way and I feel that this portrays a false sense of morals in the minds of young kids watching these shows on a daily basis. Shows such as the jersey shore are always referenced when a discussion such as this is brought up to a large audience. I do believe that this show has played a large role in determining what the average person is supposed to look and act like. When I say average person I am using this term very loosly because obviously the average person is not extremely muscular and fake tan, but I do believe more and more people are working out more often to become more like the characters of this specific show and also change their image by fake tanning. This all relates because I feel that people with suicidal thoughts usually feel like they don’t fit in with the rest of society. Mon, 4 Feb 2013 04:54:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-235/#IDComment562256730 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-232/#IDComment555851954 In my most honest opinion, I feel that I do not have a religion at this current part of my life. I have always wanted to have something to believe in, but I feel as a realist that I just can not get myself to believe that there is a greater god or an afterlife of any sort. I have been to church many times with my friends, and the stories and passages that the priests have read out of the bible just seem fictitious to me. I am being 100% honest when I say that I truly do want a religion to believe in, but I feel that I need a major event in my life to happen for me to truly believe in something so holy. I also feel that that is so morally wrong to say that in the fact I am essentially waiting for a tragic event in my life. I have always wanted to have religion but I was raised by both of my parents who were born and raised catholic and despised every minute of being involved in their church; therefore, my parents did not want my sister and me to go through the same struggles that they each went through in their childhood. My parents have raised my sister and me to believe that all you need to do in life is be a good person with a good heart and you will get into heaven. Aside from the obvious such as murder and other horrible acts still being a good person after committing something so malicious you would not get into heaven. I have lived my life this way for 19 years and I can not see myself changing anytime soon as much as I would really like to. I have been to different types of churches as well: catholic and non-denominational. They were two extremely different experiences in that the catholic church was very strict and proper with everything that they did during their service, as compared to the non-denominational church was very happy and singing songs for a good chunk of the time and the priest was much less formal in that he wore much less formal clothing and was making appropriate jokes throughout the entire service. I really did enjoy going to these churches and seeing what my friends would get up to go do every Sunday morning, but at the same time I did not feel that it was necessary to go do that and donate the money that each church-goer donates to be accepted into heaven and more realistically into someone’s family. I do not feel like anyone should be obligated to find love with someone of the same religion; that’s not what love and marriage should be about in any way in my opinion. Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:54:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-232/#IDComment555851954 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/16/voices-from-the-classroom-227/#IDComment549488196 Race, to be completely honest does not mean too much to me in the fact that I tend to not judge anyone by their race or religion. While the large majority of my closest friends are white, I like to think that I have not done this on purpose or even subconsciously but because I feel that it is a natural instinct to stick with people who are as closely similar to oneself. It sounds like I am contradicting myself when I say I’m not subconsciously staying close friends with mainly white people, but I truly believe that race does not matter to me when choosing me friends or choosing who to hang out with whenever I go out to hang out or anything of that nature. As I contemplate this topic more, I begin to consider my own race more. I know the most basic form of my own race: German and Irish. I know that there has to be more than that in me, but I don’t feel personally that my race means that much to me. When I say that I mean that my past many, many years back I do not feel that it is as important as other people may view it to be. My mom always likes to say that her heritage is “American” for the simple fact that we have been here for many generations. Hearing this makes me realize the truth of this statement in that we have been and will continue to change to be as close to 100% “American” given the fact that our family continues as all “American’s.” In this kind of thinking I can see how others would view their older heritage to be very important to them because their ancestors are the reason they are where they are today in the world geographically. This particular view point would have people thinking that many of their ancestors would potentially have had the “American Dream.” If this were true then those particular ancestors would have worked very hard to have traveled to the America; therefore, their heritage would be very important to their current existence and location. Maybe it is hypocritical to think to myself that my heritage making up my race is not very important to me, but that is what I truly believe. Race can has mostly negative connotations in the fact that many people usually bring it up when racial problems occur and not for the common terms of just casually discussing someone’s background or current position in life, whether it be financially of geographically. In general race means many different things to many different people, racially. I will continue to be open to accepting anyone of any race into my life and believe the more and most recent of my ancestors are the most important ancestors in my life. Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:13:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/16/voices-from-the-classroom-227/#IDComment549488196