As is the case for a vast majority of the hate that manifests in this country towards a specific group of persons, its roots, or cause, lies in ignorance. People see this rising issue that is brought to light merely because whatever it is their preferred source of media has decided to deliver the news, and, as with everything, there will be a bias to it. From this report, people will infer whatever it is they wish and either completely side with the bias or totally oppose it. All the while, hardly anybody will take the time to actually look into the issue and gather more background on exactly how or why it is happening, and instead just assume this and that to fit their own opinions on the matter.
In terms of immigrants and illegal immigration, people had a very simplistic and uninformed view as to the effects of their entering the country. They saw people coming in illegally, getting jobs without documentation, and stealing away from their own chances to get jobs, though only after they began working their way up to the kinds of white collar jobs that most white people had worked to get to. All they saw was a threat, and felt as if it needed to be eliminated. They were completely unaware of the fact that business was absolutely necessary for the free market to succeed, just like I was before Thursday’s lecture. I would have to say that another reason that this bad light shed on illegal immigrants would probably be due to some kind of latent racism that is set against Latino or Hispanic peoples in general.
Being from Southern California, I have seen first hand the kinds of stereotypes build around Mexicans, claiming them to be lazy and thieving characters, and as if they account for the majority of gang members throughout the country.

To be honest, I do not think that I would try to actively not benefit from nepotism, should the circumstances allow me to decide. I am a person who tries very difficult to stick to my morals regardless of whatever situation I may be thrown into, including not drinking alcohol, which has probably been one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do, considering my group of friends. One of these morals, or beliefs, I hold is doing what is right regardless of whether it is fair or not (which has called into question the relationship between right and fair). To allow myself to benefit from nepotism would of course be considered wrong in my book, as it is benefitting that takes away from another in a way that did not even give them a chance to have a say in the matter. I would consider this unfair, but in terms of the magnitude that nepotism occurs, and just how it affects nearly every kind of benefit somebody receives, it is virtually irrational and unreasonable to try and deny the benefit of your own nepotism. On one occasion, that would be alright and a really nice boost for your ego, but to do it constantly, at every instance in which you would benefit from nepotism would put you at such a great disadvantage compared to everyone else.
Going into whether nepotism is inherently FAIR or not is rather difficult for me. On one hand, I consider it fair in how it is almost a standard into which nearly everyone is nearly born with, through family and such. Then, thinking more into this, it calls up the principle “two wrongs don’t make a right,” or, in this case “6 billion wrongs don’t make a right.” On the other hand, it is unfair again in how there is really no way in which to regulate who gets what when. It’s nearly completely up to chance as to how everything unfolds and is distributed. Is that what is completely fair? As things are, I’d have to say it is. Though I have to say that I hope for one day in which people are able to be judged solely on their merits, with people not having to rely on connections they have, or special judgment they are given because of this or that. For the personal things, that’s fine, but when it comes to the professional world, I hope one day we can rise above such things.
In conclusion, I would try to stop myself from benefitting from nepotism in some cases, such as tiny insignificant personal matters, but when it came to more professional instances, I would not keep myself from it merely for the sake of survival.

I truly hope that the people responding to the prompt before class saying that we should kill terrorists see this question and respond to it, so that they can say just how changed their opinion is. This lecture was certainly one of my favorites out of the semester because of just how it was set-up and so smoothly put us in the shoes of those that are over in the Middle East. Before the lecture, my opinion of terrorists was that they were simply religious fanatics that were aiming their falsely created and misguided hatred onto America simply for the sake of trying to affect the country that would create the most attention, and therefore pitied them for being so lost and chaotic because of some religious beliefs (thus propelling my distaste for religion further). I had some prior knowledge of the dependence of America on the Middle East for oil—especially when gas prices were rising—but I hadn’t realized the profound and devastating effect that it had. The analogy that Sam presented in which people were constantly trying to take our hypothetical coal, and then asking us whether we would be willing to fight against those who were abusing our livelihoods was very well done, and a clever way of introducing a parallel problem that turned the issue around. A new perspective is exactly what this lecture granted me.
HOWEVER, I do believe that in relation to the question that is asked—“Do you blame terrorism…?”—terrorists do still have to be held accountable for their violent and extremist actions. While it is somewhat more understandable why they would retaliate, they should not be creating the destruction and panic that they do, especially when they are intentionally targeting innocent people. What they are doing clearly fails to even make a significant difference as we still continue to abuse their oil, and instead casts a negative and discriminatory light on their people as a whole. This could perhaps be the Gandhi-following, nonviolence-believer in me speaking…regardless, their methods are ineffective, and create unnecessary havoc.
Another part in this end to terrorism is to be played by America. We have to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, by any means necessary. Once we either find an alternative energy source, we will be able to reduce our presence in the Middle East an incredibly significant amount. With us not having to meddle into the affairs of those who control a necessity, there will be pressure decreased off the area, and tensions will be able to subside a significant amount. And from here, there could perhaps be generally improved relations between the countries in the Middle East and America, benefitting those parties involved.

While the near-extinction of religion is a possibility that I look at in a favorable light, I have to say that I feel as if this study might be reaching a little bit in order to win over some kind of shock value, and perhaps even cause a bit of panic within religious communities. Overall, however, their approach to predicting the future of religion does seem as if it has a bit of logic to it. Sociologically speaking, we will lean towards what most people are doing, and if the rates continue to grow at the rates that these mathematicians say they will, then it is a very distinct possibility. However, the other point that there are advantages to not affiliating with a religion is probably one of the most convincing points, in my opinion. That not affiliating with a religion could be an economic benefit, especially in times like the one we are in, is almost a bit too tempting to resist, when in reality the things that religion offers could be found in a plethora of other aspects of society, or even within a person themselves.
And while I do somewhat agree with Barry Kosmin that people’s behavior in terms of religion is dependent upon human behavior, I disagree about human beings not being predictable. We are sociological beings, and while we would like to believe that we are more complex than simple animals, that is really what we are. Perhaps animals with higher functioning capabilities, but in the end, our behavior shows nothing that we are still very simple and predictable creatures. We can tell ourselves that we are above falling for simple sociological tricks, but still we are just sheep in the eyes of advertisers, falling for almost embarrassingly obvious sociological tricks. What is being explained here is not prophecy, but prediction as a result of analysis.
I, personally, do not have a liking for religion as a whole (as if that has not already been made obvious), and almost feel as if the world would be better off without the institution, but thinking about it more closely, I feel as if the absolute loss of religion might not totally favorable. As sad as it might be, most people moral compass is existent simple because of religion, so I am a little frightened as to how morality as a whole would be affected by the absence of religion. Perhaps I simply have too little faith in humanity, in which case I would more than happily be willing to be incorrect. Another thing about religion is that it is a major source of donations to charities, and losing that kind of focused fundraising for such good causes would be a tragedy to lose, though, to bring up faith in humanity, hopefully we would be able to learn to generate such donations on our own.

This was a question that I was contemplating all throughout the class as Sam lectured. At first, of course, I wanted to say that I was in the Revisioning stage, until I realized something that should have been on my mind the whole time—I am not white.
As a one hundred percent Mexican raised in a community whose majority was white people, I feel as if I have constantly been in this state of torn identity. The people I was raised with and learned to communicate with were all white. I cannot recall a single instance in which my race caused someone else to act differently or treat me differently—save for one unpleasant instance in second grade in which my teacher made a suggestion in bad taste regarding taking a class that also taught Spanish—which I am incredibly grateful for. However, this has also made it to be that I do not really have to think about my race.
Another aspect of this identity struggle that has been growing is due to the almost racial disparity in my hometown. There are almost two sections of the city: the nice suburbs, and the not so nice suburbs. The whites lived in the nice suburbs, and the Mexicans lived in the not so nice suburbs (not absolutely, but for the most part). Obviously this separation created tension within the students in schools, though hardly ever to the point of violence. As I grew up like this, living in the nice suburbs, I interacted with the Mexicans and I felt as if there was a kind of hostility between us, though I couldn’t exactly remember whom it originated from. Regardless, what happened was that resentment towards “those kinds” of Mexicans grew, and in order to avoid resenting myself, I simply took on the impression that I was white, in order to simplify everything since all the pieces of the puzzle fit the bill, and wound up leaving me on top.
High school only reinforced this belief as I wound up taking more advanced classes, which “those kinds” of Mexicans were never expected or encouraged to take. I was expected to achieve the same as the white kids, so what would possibly make me think I wasn’t one?
In the end, I’m afraid that I still have some Pre-Awakening beliefs for colored people, regardless of how aware I am of the fact that I am indeed not white—I still feel white. However, I think it may be that I also have some more developed beliefs regarding race as a whole (taking myself out of the picture). This class has certainly been a very vital tool in helping open my eyes up to my method of thinking when it comes to race, and hopefully it will lead me to explore more and try to open up more conversations regarding race with those that I feel comfortable with, and from there move on to bigger and more diverse crowds.

There are varying factors that limit our ability to accurately perceive cultures in other countries, but when it boils down to it is all because of one thing: distance.
We become familiar with those that we see most often, and, as a result of convenience, those that are closest to us. It is this lack of proximity that makes it so difficult for us to become acquainted with other countries and their cultures. It is also because we convince ourselves that we are so preoccupied with our own lives and our own culture that we rationalize ourselves out of taking it upon ourselves to try and discover what a culture in another country is really like.
Another reason that our views of other countries and their peoples are so distorted is because, in the media’s attempt to report events that are occurring there, or even what people from other countries do, and can only inform of us such events, as opposed to the culture as a whole. From these tiny clips, we draw conclusions that affect our schema regarding that particular country/its people, aware of it or not. Overall, however, there really is no medium that goes into detail about other countries’ cultures, and therefore, we have ideas based upon irrelevant or insignificant scraps of information, leaving us with incorrect perceptions. The most obvious example of this would be the tragedy of the hijacking on 9/11. We let this one horrific event and these cruel people reflect their country and culture, and now are full of misplaced hate and discomfort, all simply because we refuse to take the time to educate ourselves as to the truth behind what kind of people we are so quick to judge.
Another reason we are so devoid of ideas of how people in other countries are actually like is reflected in our willingness to associate with other people, as well as query into their background and where they come from. We surround ourselves with people so similar to us, for the sake of familiarity and simple relationships, and become so content with the easy lives we build, that we lose sight of the variety and inherent beauty of the world in that variety. There are so many things out there that we could learn, so many ideas and views that could enrich ourselves, and we keep ourselves from the very people that could open doors to these things merely for the sake of comfort and ease.
What can we do to learn more about other cultures? It could be as grand as taking trips to other countries, to experience first hand how people live their lives, or as small as finding a pen-pal to exchange letters with and experience the thoughts and feelings of one from another country directly.

As a whole, I have to say that I am pretty ashamed of how people live their lives here in America (in relation to the conditions that other peoples have to endure around the globe). This country has progressed so much on its own, and produced such amazing and outstanding things through hard work and research, and the way this country is set up as a whole is actually quite a beautiful thing, and the ideals that fuel it are liberating in a way that is rarer than we realize on this planet.
However, as we progress and more and more creations are invented to make our lives easier, there is the side-effect of making life as a whole simpler, and almost creates a box that keeps our imaginations within the country. Technology has come a long way and found ways to help us connect with people oceans away. There’s a kind of funnel effect happening though, that channels our focus and interests on the internet to those of our own benefit, whether it be blogging on livejournal about a website we’re making, or checking the facebook statuses of our friends so we know what’s going on any given weekend, or to finish an assignment on ANGEL. Besides these immediately necessary or convenient applications, the internet is hardly used for anything that could lead us to possibly discovering the humanitarian farces and unnoticed atrocities that occur thousands of times in thousands of places around the globe.
I’m not in anyway assuming that this reflects a population that does not care about issues like the problem of slavery in the cocoa industry—not in the least. I am completely aware that there are multiple of issues within our very own country, and there is an incredibly strong movement to help these causes themselves. Out of my window right now I have a view of the Bryce Jordan Center and am aware of how THON is happening this weekend and how wonderful and strong the organization is in helping fund research for pediatric cancer, an incredibly necessary and moving cause that I totally support. The only issue with things such as this is that they tend to swallow a vast majority of our fundraising and philanthropic efforts, and almost lets us think “well, I did my part.” It does take a lot of time and work, and I understand not being totally attentive to other causes when THON is active, I am merely pointing out the other times of the year when THON is not quite so major. This is when we must turn our focus to the other causes that benefit those outside of the United States as well. Again, this is not me attacking any cause at all, but merely a call to arms to help other causes whenever possible, even if it’s not a fashionable or popular cause.

Let me first begin by addressing the question of how has determinism affect my being able to get into Penn State. It starts off with the story of my parent working harder than I ever have for anything, simply so that I may be able to do just what I have done: not have to work as hard as they did. They each faced more than I will ever be able to understand for the fact that I may be born in the kind of location that I was. I was raised in a location filled with educators that looked past the color of my skin and saw only the raw potential that I had, and worked to encourage and nurture my intellect so that I could go however far as possible in my life, with some incredibly terrific educators to guide me along the way. From this very well-off starting point itself, another one of the major advantages I had in getting to Penn State was the comfort of not having to worry about finances due to the providing jobs that my parents have worked so hard to obtain, as well as the military career that my father has endured for ninety percent of his life, and the trip to Iraq that has give us the backing of the G. I. Bill. After even these advantages, there is still the fact that my location and ethnicity—Mexican from southern California—helped me reach Penn State as this kind of background is quite rare here in central Pennsylvania. These are the things that I am unable to help, the things that are determined out of any control of my own.
Now come the things that I have used free-will to chose to shape my being accepted to Penn State. It starts off with my choosing to work as hard as I did in high school to get the grades that I earned and scoring however I did on the SAT. After this, it was the original choosing to even apply to Penn State in the first place, since it came to my attention only because I had a vested interest in becoming a psychiatrist through a biology degree, and my finding Penn State to have a fitting biology program. Then, it was my choosing the topic for my application essay, how I wrote it. It ends with my finally accepting and going to this school which has done so much for me.
I have found, however, that while here, it has been that a vast majority of the things that are happening to are due mostly because of my choices. It is hard to find anything here that has been determined before hand. I am left having to choose to study, to eat, to go to class all on my own. It’s a very empowering feeling and, although it can be a burden and quite stressful at times, one I truly appreciate for everything it has, is, and will be teaching me.

To start off, I personally do not think that there is any kind of “tenseness” when a white comedian goes up to do stand-up after an Asian, Black, Pakistani, Indian, Latino, whatever the case may be. I cannot discern from the atmosphere of one kind of person doing their little bit from another, so long as the people are actually funny. That, I think, is one of the beauties of comedy: the fact that any kind of person can do it, where race hardly can affect a person’s ability and likelihood of doing stand-up. Its basic ability is something that cannot be denied because of one’s skin color or ethnic background. It is open and available to anyone, and relentless and unyielding in its scope of subjects. Comedy is universal, and places everyone—regardless of any of those unflattering and uncomfortable aspects of a person’s biology—in the same exact place: in a state of total, as well as hilarious, humiliation.
However, I do believe that there are very wide differences in the audiences of different comedians. Of course the audiences differ simply because of the various areas that the comedian performs, and the typical venues within that area, as well as the frequenters within that area. In terms’ of the comedian’s audience, they tend to attract a certain kind of people, whether it be an Asian simply appealing to other Asians, or a Pakistani comedian attracting a white audience. These differing audiences reflect the certain style of comedy a comedian may implement. If it is an Asian that typically attracts Asian, chances are his act consists of that which makes observations of an Asian lifestyle, appealing to other Asians because of familiarity and because it is something that they can relate to. If a Pakistani’s major audience is white, then this could perhaps show that the audience appeals to his style which involves observations of his own culture, explaining it and making it more comfortable for the white audiences to think about and laugh about.

It is quite often you see people walking through campus, accompanied only by people of a similar ethnicity to their own. Why might this be, you ask? Well, the most obvious reason is because of familiarity. It is much easier to be surrounded by people who can relate to similar experiences that you have gone through or had with your own family or whatever facilitator of culture you have. I see this in the Mexican friends that I had back home, being able to relate to tamales around Christmas time, or quincineras being one of the most glamorous nights of a young woman’s life (even if it might not live up to the standards of those “sweet sixteens” seen on MTV), or, as it might pertain to me specifically, the inability to speak Spanish to relatives that know nothing but it. It also means a mutual understanding of the ideologies of relatives, such as how my Mexican friends’ parents are also very strictly Catholic, and how that is reflected upon in their decisions and behaviors. To remain friends with those similar in ethnicity means not having to explain these kinds of things to friends who don’t have the same ethnic/cultural background. From this shared empathy, we can help support and seek support ourselves in peers that understand the varying circumstances that we may be going through. In terms of reaching out to new friends from other cultures, we don’t simply because sometimes we fear not being politically correct in terms of greeting, addressing, and conversing with them. Sometimes people carry around stereotypes with them which affect their initial impressions of others, which are not consciously made, but more run by subconscious truths that were ingrained by media and other opinion enforcing mediums, and could perhaps keep people from engaging in greeting certain kinds of people, or even the opposite, makes them engage more with certain kinds of people. Personally, I try to avoid these kinds of stereotypes that hinder me from engaging in conversations with others based solely on my initial impression of their race or ethnicity, and try to merely see them as a person, as after-school special as that sounds. I feel I have done fairly well at this in my time at Penn State, what with the two first friends I had made being either from Australia or Korea. When I had first seen them, I had no notion that they were from some foreign country or anything like that. All I knew was that they were very engaging, very relaxed, and easily amused by the cheesy sense of humor I have, and from there the friendships built themselves, paying no mind to their physical appearances, and merely looking at how compatible our personalities were.