I do [not think that my parents would really have a problem either way if I was to be in either a lesbian, gay, or transgender relationship or a interracial relationship. I think that my parents are pretty well accepting and it really would not bother them either way. This is not to say that it would go completely unnoticed. I will start with the interracial scenario. I think that there would be an initial surprise if I introduced my parents to my girl friend and she was black but I honestly think that it would only last a split second. My parents would know that I choose to date that girl because we connect well and I know that there would be no issue. However, I have to admit, it would probably start a little bit of a buzz in my family but not necessarily in a negative way. I know this because it happened with one of my cousins. He is white (and so am I by the way) and he brought a black girl to his high school prom. I found it hilarious to see the responses of my grandparents an older aunts and uncles when they saw pictures and found out that she was black. I do not see any of them as racists but they did grow up in a very different time and they definitely had a reaction of “Oh, I did not know that Tommy was bringing a black girl to the prom.” What I am trying to say is that there would not be any negativity to me dating a women of a different race but it also would not go completely unnoticed. I am sure that there would be some pretty funny yet awkward conversations with my family trying to be as politically correct as possible. The second scenario I think would probably be the same way but a lot more dramatic. I once again know that my parents would not have a problem with me being gay, but I know that they would probably have a tough time adjusting to it. I have an aunt and a cousin who are both gay and it never really was an issue to anyone in my family. We may be practicing catholics but overall, my family is pretty open and accepting of everyone. I think that my situation would be like a lot of other people. It would definitely take some time to adjust to but in the end, they are my parents and they would love me unconditionally. I think that as I think about it now, I do not want to have a gay son because being gay is something that I do not understand because I do not have those feelings but I think that after I become a parent, it would not matter to me because I will just want my child to be happy.

For me, this question really was not difficult. I did not think that there was really any other possible answer. Although it is an extreme circumstance that is very unlikely to happen, I would absolutely choose to save my child. I do not have a kid but I know that my paternal instincts would automatically kick in and there really would not be a question. This is not to say that I do not love and care about my mother and I am certain that I will be in love with my wife, but when it comes down to it, the father’s duty is to protect his child. I know my mom, and I know that she would not even let me think about saving her. I know how much she cares about me and that makes me certain that she is going to be absolutely obsessed with my kid(s). I think that if this were to occur, there would not be any thought really, in a life or death circumstance, we rely almost solely on our instincts and everyone on that boat is almost certain to be thinking the same thing, save the kid. Every once in a while you will hear amazing stories about the lengths a parent will go to, to protect their child and I think given the scenario, almost every parent on earth would act the same way. Beyond instincts, I think another reason why people would choose to save the kid is because they are the youngest. I think that it would be extremely difficult and take a lot of bravery, but I like to think that people would realize the longer and great life that they have lived and wish that the child would be able to have the same opportunities. There are a lot of bad things that humans do, but when it comes down to protecting a child, people will do extraordinarily honorable actions to make sure that they are given a chance at a great life. I think that this is something hard to explain for people like me who do not have a child, but it is clear to see. When someone has a child, their life completely changes (or at least it should). They are no longer the number one priority, the child is and that is something that I cannot really explain. Some times it blows my mind how selfless my parents can be in order to help me. Taking second jobs and working longer hours just so that I can enjoy myself is beyond me. I think that naturally parents do not think twice about these actions. It is what needs to be done in their mind.

I think that people often times turn to someone else like an pastor or a priest often times for help or questions about their faith because sometimes people want a person to person interaction with someone that knows a lot about their faith. Sometimes people struggle with a lot of the questions that exist in their faith and have a hard time coming to conclusions all on their own. For a lot of faiths, the pastor or the priest knows a good deal about the religion and the teachings of their church and therefore are a good outlet for people who have questions. In a society in which we revolve around human interaction, it helps us to be able to talk to someone who may be more well versed in the teachings. For Christianity, we are supposed to be able to turn to God for all of our issues and our prayers will be answered but it is rare that people are on this high of a understanding and connection with God. I believe that sometimes, pastors and priests often times serve as a sort of ‘free’ therapist. Someone that has experienced a lot through their study of faith are a good place for a lot of people to turn. Also, with so many teachings about almost every aspect of life, it is difficult for the average person to be able to find all of the answers they need without a little help. I do not think that it is a bad thing that people feel they need to turn to another to help them with difficult decisions and beliefs. In Catholicism, priests go through long educational and spiritual journeys in which they are taught to become closer with god and have god work through them. This is why Catholics believe that in order to be forgiven for their sin they need to go to confession with an ordained minister. This bothers a lot of people who believe that all they need to be forgiven of their sin is to confess their sins in their own prayer with God. This is a main difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. Catholicism was the original form of Christianity and therefore tends to have stricter rules while other protestant sects often times are less stringent. I think that having a close personal relationship between just you and God is very important to have because at the end of the day, that is all that really matters but it also helps bring people together to talk about their faith and helps them to praise their God in a unified way. Churches often create strong close knit communities where people can go and develop even stronger relationships with God.

This is an interesting question. I had heard of schools with metal detectors and other things like this and I guess I never really saw it as having to do with race. I just assumed that they had this because they were having more issues with fighting, weapons, and drugs. I had a unique experience going to two very different schools growing up. I first went to a public middle school that was very diverse and then I went to a Catholic high school that was probably ninety percent white. I do not think this is racist because it is simply what I saw and that is there were many more fights at my middle school than at my high school. I do not know if it has something to do with race or what, but in middle school, there was probably a fight every other day, and from what I saw, most of the time it was between the Hispanic kids. Then, after four years at my high school, I can remember hearing about one fight that I am not even sure happened. Perhaps some may see this as racism or it could just be that police are being located to schools that honest just need it. We were young and I do not even know if kids could be in gangs when they were thirteen but I remember seeing a lot of gang writing on the bathroom stalls and desks in my middle school and most of them were for this Hispanic gang MS-13. I am not trying to say that all minorities are fighters, but I think there is definitely an issue in poor minority communities with gangs and the issues that they bring. As far as drugs, I really do not know about the difference. I knew kids at the public school and kids at my private school and basically everyone smoked weed or had at least tried it. I cannot speak for certain about the public school but I never saw my school as having a drug problem. Yes, if I had wanted to smoke weed, I knew of probably five people that I could call and they would be able to sell it to me, but I do not think that this was just overlooked. I know of three kids that were expelled from my high school for drug related offenses, all of them white. I think that all schools take a strong stance on drugs and weapons but for my school, metal detectors were not needed and perhaps at some other schools, they really are. I think that there had to have been problems before and that is why they decided to add metal detectors, not because there was a large minority population. Sometimes I think people have a tough time realizing what is actually racist and what is not.

The thing that has stuck out to me most in class were some comments that Sam made about religions, specifically Catholicism. I grew up catholic, went to a catholic school, and went to church every week since I have been a child so when Sam mockingly told the Christian students in the class to “go pray about it,” I was kind of insulted. I guess for the most part I do not feel deeply one way or another about issues talked about in the class because I am your average white male American. I have never been treated differently or looked down upon because of the color of my skin and because I fortunately have not had this type of encounter, a lot of the talks about skin color tend not to relate to me directly. However, when Sam did seem like he came at Christianity, I really felt a strongly against what he was saying. I think that it is one thing to make a good and well-rounded argument about a topic, but to make a snide remark under your breath is another. I feel that the class was not able to discuss this fully and therefore kind of go against what Same basis his class off of, discussion. I think that it was an inappropriate comment to make, especially at a public university. This is something that we went in to great discussion about in my discussion group. I think the general consensus was that it was kind of messed up to say those kind of remarks. I would like to hear more discussions about religion in this class because I think it is something that effects a lot of people very strongly. If we want more intriguing discussions, perhaps bringing up a new topic rather than telling us how Ameicans are arrogant and do not care about others in the world. I think that this is also something that could really help people in the class. An open discussion about our religions would help people better understand each other. This could help bring down stereotypes and help people realize that we are really not all that different. I think that this would also be good for those who do not believe in religion, to perhaps take less of an aggressive action to denounce it but rather understand more fully what others believe and better respect their faith. I think I would personally grow from this also. Growing up, most of my friends were Catholic, so I do not know much about other religions, including other Christian sects. I think that discussions like this are very important to have so that people learn more about each other and know better how now to offend them.

In the past 50 years, our society has come very far in terms of taking steps to eliminate racism however, it is obvious that racism is still very powerful today. I think that instead of open racism like separate bathrooms or restaurants for blacks and whites, racism is often very difficult to detect. In fact, I think it is very often completely unintentional. I am a normal white guy and I truly believe that I am not a racist, but I am sure that there have been times in my life where I have acted racist, everyone has and I am not quite sure why. I think that the most basic level of it is our family. Growing up, most of us lived with their family who all have the same skin color and a lot of people live in communities that is dominated by people of the same race. I think that this has something to do with racism in people even if it is completely unintentional. When you are young and you see someone who is different, you are probably going to be unsure of them. I think that this then grows with people and is a basic reason for racism. This is something difficult to alter; I think it can only be achieved by experiencing other cultures and learning from others. The basic fact is that racism is not gone and to be honest, it probably is not going anywhere. That is not to say that we can takes steps as a society to try to remedy it. I believe that we have come a very long way and I honestly am surprised sometimes when I read some statistics on racism. It is pretty unreal that a person with a traditional black name is less likely to get a job but then again, I have never been black. I think that a big problem is that people honestly do not mean to do it and that is the hardest thing to change. I think it is important to live in a diverse community and go to diverse schools so that kids can learn at a young age that race does not define a person. I hope that as a society we can just continue to grow, but racism has been around as long as humans have been around and it is not something that can be alleviated over night. I guess that it may come off harsh, but it is just kind of how it is and unfortunately something that minorities have come to just learn to deal with but I think it is important that we realize these issues are trying to change our actions for a better future.

This is a very interesting question an a topic that I know that a lot of people who love sports have noticed and had conversations about. I think one of the big reasons why some sports are dominated by black players and others by mostly white players is the socio-economic factors that go into it. For example, a large majority of professional basketball players today are black. I think a big reason for this is because basketball is a relatively inexpensive sport. All you need is a basketball and a near by park with a court to begin to develop your skills. For this reason, I think a lot of inner city black kids grow up playing basketball. Often times, you black males growing up in low income areas see sports as one of the only ways to really succeed in life. The school systems are terrible and often times the family structures are shattered so one of the only ways to go to college and ‘get out of the ghetto’ is to play basketball. This means that instead of some white kids from the suburbs playing in a rec league where everyone gets trophies, you have black players who not only see this as an enjoyable game but also one that can take them far in life and therefore focus a lot of their time and efforts to becoming a better player. These socioeconomic factors can also be seen in ‘white sports.’ I grew up playing hockey and that sport is not cheap. Just to play on a team is a couple thousand dollars a year for the ice time. The equipment itself is also extremely expensive. One quality hockey stick costs about $200 today and those are regularly broken during games, not to mention skates that can cost you up to $700 and all the other pads. This is true for other sports that cost a lot of money, like golf and lacrosse. I also think that a big reason why some sports are dominated by certain races is because what the leagues are already made up of. A black kid is more likely to follow other black athletes like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James than white athletes like Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby because they identify with them better. This is why the whole Jeremy Lin deal or ‘Linsanity’ is such big news. There just aren’t a lot of Asian basketball players because there are very few for young Asian children to look up to. This why you see shots of bars in Taiwan and China all packed to watch Jeremy Lin and the Knicks play. They want to see someone like them succeed. This will probably bring more Asian kids to want to play basketball in the future.

First of all, I think that it can be dangerous to generalize in this way. This stereotyping is one thing that makes racism so powerful. When people are identified together only because of the color of their skin, many people can be misjudged. That being said, I think there are many reasons why SOME white people tend to shy away from race. First of all, I do not think that it is only white people who shy away from it. In our society, it is rude to talk about someone’s race. I think this is because people would rather be identified by their personality than by their race. It makes you feel like more of a person when some says, “Hey, meet my friend Dan, he is really funny,” rather than, “hey, meet my friend Danny, he’s black.” I think white people in particular shy away from it because they do not necessarily feel a certain pride that other races do. In the United States especially, I think that minority groups tend to have a lot of pride of their race. It is part of who they are and their heritage is something that they celebrate. I think this pride has a lot to do with minorities being a smaller group. There are not as many black people in the United States as white people, so it is something that helps them feel unified with others. They feel part of a community. I do not think this really exists with white people. No one really embraces being white. There is not a white history month. Perhaps this is because there are so many white people in this country or that white people tend to associate themselves more with a specific nationality. Another reason why white people may not like to bring up the topic of race is because we have messed up so much with race relations in the past. I feel that part of it is some type of shame. After the civil rights movement of the 1960’s I think a lot of white people came to realize how awful some of their actions were. This causes white people to be cautious of speaking about race because they do not want to say the wrong thing. They may be worried that what they say could be offensive even if they do not mean it to be. It is a tough topic for anyone to talk about, but especially for white people. Also, I do not really feel that these conversations go on outside of white people either. I think it is touchy for everyone. People do not want to talk about race because they want to be seen as something past that.

There are a couple important points that Sam brings up in this question that I would like to address. First of all, I do not believe that we should try to bar people from speaking Spanish. A native language is part of how people identify with a culture. To take that away would be as unjust as to say that they cannot practice their religious beliefs. However, I feel that it is natural for people who immigrate to the united states to realize that it is vital to learn how to speak English. They find that the ability to speak English makes their chances of getting a higher paying job much greater and that is why so many people decide to learn it. I know there are many americans who are against people speaking Spanish at all, but I believe that it is something that they need to do for their betterment because I do not see enough people in the united states deciding to take the time to learn another language when it is not necessary in day to day conversation. We do not need an official language of the united states because it is already understood that you pretty much need to speak English to succeed here. This goes with the point that Sam brought up in class. I do not believe that people abandoned French and German because of some sort of racial issue, I think they moved to English solely out of necessity. More and more people were speaking English so people found that English was the language they had to know. This is not to say that I do not think people should learn Spanish. I think learning to speak any other language, especially ones that are very common in the united states such as Mandarin or Spanish is a great skill. With the large number of immigrants coming to the united states, speaking these languages give you a step up in the job market. You now have the ability to speak to people who very few others in your profession can. I personally tried pretty hard to learn Spanish through high school and into college. I attempted to minor in it but I found that it was too difficult for me and to be honest, there are very few times in my life that I have really wished that I could speak Spanish fluently and I think this is how most Americans feel. For the most part, it still is not necessary for English speakers to learn Spanish even with the increase e in Hispanic immigrants. I know others see it as a race issue but I believe that learning English is mostly for the betterment of immigrants who wish to succeed in The United States.

I have learned a lot from the events that have transpired following the scandal with Sandusky, the firing of Joe Paterno, and his death. First of all, I found myself in the middle of a huge news event, something that I have never experienced before. The some what closed off world that is Penn State was rocked to its core. A place that is so close knit and small faced large scale media attention that we have never seen before. All of a sudden, our small town garden of eden was shaken to its core. The very thing that separated us from other big schools and football programs was turned on its head. We used to brag about how our school had never had a major NCAA violation and then, all of a sudden, we were stricken with one of, if not the worst, scandal to ever happen in major college athletics. One of the things I have learned from this is that we are in no way invinsible. Even the best have their downfalls and their dark secrets. I learned that there seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors when it comes to a big money maker like NCAA football. It is kind of amazing how quickly everything comes crashing down. Around the nation people see Penn State as and embarrassment when it used to be a place of great respect and for a lot of people, that was a hard thing to accept, including myself. Its hard to believe that a place you found so pure and clean can be tarnished so greatly. Perhaps we should not hold things in such high regards. Perhaps we should expect to be let down. Perhaps everything that we hold dear in our lives have their secret flaws.

This is how I feel about the man himself, Joe Paterno. The man that we saw as the doer of all good and a face of reason in college football. In a time of illegal recruiting and tattoos, we saw Joe as above it. I learned that Joe was a great man. His memorial service shows that. He effected so many lives in such a powerful way and our views of him should not change necessarily. He still was a face of change, of old, of pure; but he was also human. We all have our grave mistakes, the things that haunt us when we lay in our beds with only our thoughts and perhaps this was Joe Paternos. He did what was required by law but not what was necessary. It is easy to say that we would be brave enough to report but it is hard to put ourselves in his black Nike shoes and his rolled up pant legs. REST IN PEACE JOE.