The lecture on Tuesday was really interesting to me. I had already seen the TED talk Sam did on the same topic, which really caught my eye, so much, that I did a small project on it in high school. I think the videos of the American soldiers treating the Iraqis and Afghanis in terrible ways can be really eye opening to many of us over here in the United States who see our soldiers as amazing heroes and see the people over there defending their countries as monsters. As Sam pointed out though, the view is probably reversed over in Iraq and Afghanistan where we are seen as the monsters and their people are seen as heroes. The videos pointed out though, our heroes aren’t always as they seem. I had seen the video footage from Abu Ghraib prior to the class so the video we watched in class wasn’t anything striking to me. These acts by our soldiers happen more often than we think. I also read about a case in Newsweek where soldiers were killing Iraqi civilians for support and taking their fingers as a prize. All of these videos and stories support my reasoning for not being a huge supporter of the military. I always get sort of a backlash when I say that because it seems as if it is your duty as an American citizen to support your country and apparently the only way you can do that is be in the military or support it. I do have two family members in the military as well as one of my best friends, and yes I do support their choice and I definitely respect them for what they are doing. But when I see videos like the ones we saw in class or from Abu Ghraib, I cannot fully support the military. I can only respect it. Anyone who knows me well knows I will not marry a man in the military and not that I want to dictate my children’s lives when I have them but I am going to strongly sway them away from being in the military, just because of my beliefs. I don’t agree with war in general, when it’s avoidable. So I certainly cannot support a war that is based off of oil and the United States imposing their views on other countries. I think the actions of the soldiers in the video are repulsive. So my feelings after the video were disgust and a disconnect from my country. I felt as if because I live here in the United States their actions represented our country and that’s how I would be perceived even though I don’t agree at all. It helped me understand sort of how Muslims may feel because they are perceived in the way extremists act. Even though the videos may have made me feel angry and upset, in the end of the lecture I felt empathy. I think empathy was the whole point of the lecture. Not whose side you are on.

This recent scandal has really taught me a lot of things. There have been so many accusations of what did happen, what should have happened, who to blame, and what not. All of this talk has raised many emotions allowing us to learn many things. I think the first and most important thing I learned was: do not trust the media. If it weren’t for the media this whole thing would never have blown up. The other day in class Laurie was talking about the media and how people tend to just see one side and never really understand the other. I realized that when I hear headline news stories, I am so quick to judge, so quick to take one side. I now realize that there is always more out there about the story I may not know. The media takes a story and manipulates it to make it juicy to get good ratings and to deliver news people will be engaged in. According to a reporter on CNN just last night, Happy Valley doesn’t see anything wrong with showering with young boys. That is disgusting. The fact that they will generalize the actions of one man to the whole community is appalling. The media also chose to make the students look like complete animals and the staff involved look like immoral and terrible human beings who apparently don’t deserve any sympathy. Apparently because if everyone else in the world were in our situation they would have acted the way that is expected. My own family members who don’t live to far have come to believe, and this is a direct quote, that “all of Penn State is scum.” I am not scum and my education is not scum. This family member has been swept up into the circus that the media has made out of this. And the sad thing is these terribly reported stories come from all of the news stations, even ones I trusted and thought were good at reporting. I was wrong. I now know that there is truly two sides of every story and I guess its my job to get the full story before I make any judgments. Its completely different being on the other side, the side the media wont defend. We need to be empathetic of those involved in the story and realize that the media is feeding us misguided stories.
I have also learned that it is important to follow through with something so serious. Many people are disappointed in the fact that many of the men involved did not follow through to the police to stop Sandusky. Instead they supposedly chose to save the name of their university instead. It really shows you need to get it out right away because trying to cover it up may come right around and bite you in the end.
The last thing I learned is to take pride in my university and my education. I know I need to stand up for myself to prove that this will not define me and my education is valuable. I will continue to stand by my school and all its values no matter the decisions my leaders made or how the media portrays me.

I think this question really fits the situation at hand and it’s the point I’ve been trying to prove all along. As said in the video, America preaches innocent until proven guilty. I believe that this should be upheld but in our current situation it hasn’t been. First of all, the reason I think it hasn’t is because the public eye/the media need someone to point a finger at and condemn. In this situation there are six men involved: Sandusky, Curley, Schultz, Spanier, Paterno, and McQueary. All of these men are play some sort of a role in what happened. The problem is that this whole scandal blew up in a matter of days. A week ago we were the calm, peaceful, and united Penn State we always have been. Once this scandal was presented to the public eye the media had a field day, turning us into an angry, sad, and disheveled Penn State. Many people read the indictment or heard all about it on the news and automatically wanted someone to blame. Obviously Sandusky is the whole reason for this and people blame him, but that’s not enough. People have been throwing accusations left and right saying: Curley shouldn’t have a job, McQueary should be to blame, not Joe, Why didn’t Spanier do more, They were all morally wrong, etc. The public are blaming people and defending people because they want answers and they want them now. The unfortunate part is that no answers are coming from bickering and assumptions people are making. It just makes it even more of a mess. The thing that really hurts me personally though is the fact that high ranked people, like the board of trustees, are making decisions that are way to premature do to the fact that nothing has been proven and its all speculation right now. They have fallen into the trap of pleasing the media and the public eye to make sure they don’t receive a bad reputation as well. By firing Spanier and Joe Paterno they gave the uninformed and confused public what they wanted. The story should be set straight before any decisions are made. I am not trying to defend the actions of Spanier or Joe by saying they shouldn’t be fired. But I don’t know what is true and not true because the story has not been set straight in the courts or in a calm manner. I think it is unfair to fire two men who have literally made this university what it is because some people are angry at what happened right now. They are iconic figures to this university and deserve some respect. If later on in the case it was found that they are in fact very much to blame, then I say yes fire them. But they have not been proven guilty at all yet. Decisions so big should be made in a calm and informed manner, not out of frantic shuffling to please the public. The actions of the board of trustees disappoint me. I thought they were stronger than to give into the public’s demands. Now everyone seems to have condemned two of the six men with out any hard evidence. The public and the media has condemned the other three as well. These men will never be the same, no matter what the court says.

Immigration has become a huge issue in our country due to the fact that we are connected to South America and that we are currently in an economic recession. Although it seems as if immigration is some new trend, its not. As discussed in class, immigration has been going on for years. Immigration is the bases of America. We have seen in recent years though the debate over the language spoken in our country. The dominant language in our country is obviously English. Many Americans believe that English should be our national language. This leads to the debate over whether immigrants should have to speak English or not. To start out I just want to say, honestly, how can you say someone HAS to speak English? There is no way to force someone to speak a language. Yeah maybe if someone working at a restaurant or a store can’t understand the customer then they could ask them to leave but that’s not making them speak the language. It will just make life really difficult for that immigrant. People think that if we make English the national language of the United States then some how that indirectly forces everyone to speak English. But it doesn’t. It doesn’t really change anything. Right now I feel as if people don’t give immigrants enough credit. Obviously they are going to have to learn some English, like just enough to get by. Or their children will have to and be used as a translator. Either way someone is going to have to learn the language. But as Americans I don’t think we understand how hard it is to just pick up a language. If we just up and moved to a different country you would have to learn the language. But the fact that you “crossed the border” doesn’t automatically mean you speak the language, which is what I think a lot of Americans expect out of immigrants right off the bat. It would take sometime and a lot of trying. I think many immigrants to the United States are trying and honestly I think that’s good enough. They need to try the language and work at it or else life will just suck for them. I don’t think any of them come here thinking they don’t have to even try the language. If they did they would be in for a wake up call. This is like what Sam was saying about none of them demanding signs in Spanish. Places just put those signs up because it’s economically beneficial. In conclusion I do not think that immigrants HAVE to speak English. The government can’t force anyone to speak a language unless it involves arresting or fining people for speaking a language in public, which would spark a whole new debate about rights. I think that immigrants should try their hardest to speak English because it will just make life easier for them and us who only know English.

I think this question definitely varies from situation to situation. It really depends on the person’s intentions. Calling everyone who hangs out with other races only a “poser” seems to be a little ignorant. You have to know the person to be able to judge their actions. Some people, mainly white people, may be going through the white person stage of stage four and five where they purposefully hang out with people of color or different cultures because they are unhappy with the way whites are treating or stereotyping those of other races. This person may be trying to prove something by saying they are not like other white people and that may somehow make that person better than other whites. I think this act may qualify someone as a “poser” because he or she is trying to be someone extreme to prove a point. But I do think some people just identify with other races than their own. I don’t see culture as something you have to be born into. I think one can enjoy a different culture just because they find it interesting and fun to be a part of. There are many incidences of this association with other races and cultures happening. A really obvious one in American society is white people being friends with mostly black people. This can be looked at in a bad way, like a poser would be looked at, or in a good way that I don’t think many people realize or accept. I think people of all races and cultures see some line. Like white people hanging out with primarily black people. I think both white and black people may see a problem with this. Black people may feel as if this white person in just being a “poser” trying to act like black people or fit in with black people when they don’t. Or when white girls tend to go after black men, a lot of black women see that white girl as some sort of a black girl “poser.” Sometimes these people are given bad names like “wigger” or “mudshark.” White people will also call that white person a “poser” or something of the sort because they aren’t identifying with the race they should be identifying with. I think this is because people draw lines and don’t want others imposing on their race or culture. But I think it shouldn’t be looked at so badly. Maybe those people aren’t “posers.” Maybe they just identify with that other culture more. The question I pose then is: Is this “poser” status just given to white people? I think it is. I think people of all races, even whites, see whites as not understanding of other cultures. I think whites are seen as a race that should just stick to the white race or culture because white people are most of the time put on some sort of pedestal. I think that these imaginary lines that separate us, making people seem like “posers,” should be eliminated. I think the person’s intentions should be looked at first before we label one another.

I have definitely felt white guilt in the sense that I have benefited from racism. Obviously, being white, I have many advantages over people of color. I have felt these advantages in many ways. The most distinct time though was when I went to an elementary school in Philly. This school is in inner city Philly and is predominately black. The school as a whole is pretty unstable. The reason my club was visiting the school was to bring school supplies they needed. The school needed a lot of things. The biggest thing they needed was a library. Their current library consisted of maybe ten books. We brought them many boxes full of books to make a real library. In the beginning of the year each class was given a hand full of writing and coloring utensils, two pieces of construction paper, a few pairs of scissors and some glue. We brought them more of these things to last them longer. When I heard about what we were taking I was really surprised and felt guilty for having so much given to me while the kids here barely had anything. Once we got to the school I felt even guiltier. The school was nowhere near as nice as mine. I could also tell the quality of education they were receiving wasn’t great. In my school district kids were using ipads to draw and learn. The kids here couldn’t even have their own construction paper to draw on. When we began to talk to them and play with them I realized what kind of life they were living. At recess a couple of kids through punches at each other over who got the ball. After recess we went inside and did some activities. I was sitting at a table of some kids and my boyfriend at the time. We were making bookmarks with the kids and trying to make conversation. At one point one of the kids, who was a first grader, asked my boyfriend to give him a quarter. My boyfriend told him he didn’t have a quarter. The boy then threatened to kill him if he didn’t give him a quarter. At one point he also asked my boyfriend and I sleep together. I was really taken back by all of his questions and the language he was using. Although people may say that all of these things are socioeconomic factors I see them as both socioeconomic and racial factors. Considering the school was predominately black, its save to say that race plays a part of why those kids are attending that school and why the school lacks a quality education. The lack of wealth and resources, the language, and the violence can all be attributed to race. Racism is a big factor of why those children and their families live in that area. I realize that my race plays a big part of where I live. Obviously I got the longer end of the stick. I felt and still feel guilty that I have so many opportunities that the school children will never have all because I am white.

Society has seen in this day and age how difficult it is to be gay. There are many factors that play into the difficulties in a gay persons life. Just like straight people they need support from their friends and family in daily life. But sometimes parents and friends don’t support the gay lifestyle. I think the answer to this question would differ to many people. As of right now I am not a parent so it is hard to put myself in parents shoes and say “I will be completely accepting of my child and the lifestyle he or she lives.” I would like to think I could do that, but I think there comes a lot of different feelings when you are a parent. I feel that if I were a parent in this time period I would be accepting if my child told me he or she was gay. I would talk to him or her about it and try and understand where he or she is coming from and make sense of his or her feelings. I would not try to convince him or her that it is just a phase and that they are truly straight. I find that to be wrong. Allowing them to explore their feelings and make sense of them is the best option. However, I would feel honestly feel uneasy that her or she is gay. I would be a concerned and scared. I would be really afraid for my child due to the fact that he or she will most likely bullied and deal with a lot of emotional problems. Like any other parent I would want my child to go through the least emotional problems as possible and if he or she were gay there would be more emotional problems than normal. I would also be a little uncomfortable because it would be hard to relate to how they are feeling. It is a little different than straight relationships. I know that it would also be difficult for him or her later in life to do the problems with gay marriage and having a family. Although all of that may be hard to deal with, I would never want my child to feel like I am forcing him or her to be anything other than who he or she truly is. Since I will not be a parent until a little while into the future my feelings may change. I feel as if times will change and my generation and hopefully the generation after me will be much more accepting of the gay lifestyle. If that is the case I really wont have any problem with my child being gay. With an accepting society my child would not run into as many problems therefore making it a lot easier on him or her and myself. Hopefully one day we will live in a society that is completely accepting of gays and lesbians so that this question is irrelevant.

I think race plays a role in the way we define criminals because of how society depicts criminals. As of right now it the stereotypical definition of a criminal would most likely be a black man who dresses in baggy clothes and has tattoos. Not many people think of a white man in a nice suit, or a woman in a simple dress, even though those two people are able to be criminals too. I think this stereotypical view of a criminal comes from society and the media. In many movies or TV shows the criminal is the stereotypical black man in baggy clothes. They have been depicted as the ones who might be selling drugs or rape a woman in an alleyway. The show Cops often has stories of this type of man being busted for crime. But also, as seen in the drug bust video clip we watched, the criminals being busted the most are people in inner cities where crime occurs most. Many people who live in cities fall into the depiction and are seen as the criminals. As we looked at the race statistics we saw that a majority of men in prison are black men, which also makes us believe that they are a race full of criminals. There is also a stereotype that Mexicans and South Americans are criminals because of drugs and such. However what we don’t realize is there is crime occurring everywhere, and any race or sex is capable of committing a crime. But there are many factors that play a bigger part in criminals. One has to look at economic means. Many criminals are poor and committing the crime because they need money. Many are uneducated, have bad pasts, and have bad family lives. It is important to note though that all races or sex could meet these criteria. I think it turns into a racial thing when often times the black people or Mexicans are the majority of the ones getting busted and most importantly the ones getting televised, which then skews our perception. The same crimes with drugs and other stuff occur around here at Penn State. Although they might occur less often, it still occurs we just never really see cops searching out people to bust for drugs or other crimes. The crime often has to be known about before they get involved. Because this has been the depiction of a criminal the bike theft video makes sense. Many people in the video were calling out the black kid because he fit the stereotypical description but the white kid didn’t so he was seen as innocent. Because of society’s perception of a criminal I think this occurs a lot. Many people, especially woman, when walking down a street in a city like Philly or Pittsburgh get afraid because they think the people walking around them are going to assault them or steal their stuff when in reality, yes it’s a possibility, but its not guaranteed because of their race. The same could happen walking in a street full of white people. I think in the end it comes down to how society views criminals, and if that can change, race will not be considered.

Looking over all of the Haiti Project stuff was really cool. I think it is really neat to look outside of my life for a little and see what its like for others in different countries. While watching some of the videos, like the video of a man making shoes in Yvrose’s shop, I realized these people work hard every day to make a living. Their jobs still consist of mostly labor with out huge machinery. It would be great to see all of their businesses and projects expand and turn into something great. I’m excited to start the project and help these people out. Making a difference in their lives from here is great. While I was looking through the videos, I was intrigued by Clorene’s clothing manufacturing business and Pastor Richard Hileur’s project. For Clorene I think it would be awesome to create her a logo for the tags that can be put the clothes and bags she produces. Someone could draw a logo that fits her business. It would also be good to find a way for Clorene to get new sewing machines. It may be possible to pay for them and have her pay back at a certain rate. If she improved her progress of making clothes she could sell more and make more of a profit allowing her to expand her business. It seems that all of the entrepreneurs need a way to get more supplies and better technology to expand their businesses. When looking at the community projects, Pastor Richard Hileur’s project seemed most interesting to me. I have always been a big advocate of improving education. A good education is the most important key to a better society. Its sad to see that they are only being supplied the building. It is very important to fill the school with desks, books, chalkboards, and other supplies. It is possible to donate some simple supplies like scissors, glue, paper, and writing materials. It would be harder to get books, computers, and desks. It may be possible to have a budget for what they need that they can meet us halfway. We could have supplies bought and sent to them. People could be sent down to help fill the school. It is hard to tell exactly what to do right now with the lack of information there is on Pastor Hileur. Hopefully there will be videos where we can meet him and hear what he has to say on the project. It will be good to get the conversation starting between here and there. I am really excited to start the project next week with my group. More ideas coming together will make the project come alive.

When it comes to the free will vs. determinism debate I know I tend to lean toward determinism but I do think that both play factors in the final path we each end up taking. We all know that we have a lot of free will, especially in America. We have the ability to choose certain things. But we only have free will in terms of our surroundings and what we are used to. We do not have the choice of what race we are, what sex we are, what family we are born into, what country we are born into and where in that country. That is all decided for us. I was born as a female in a white household right here in State College Pennsylvania, with parents who work at the university. In that one sentence about myself I have a million privileges and advantages over many kids my age. But I also have some disadvantages. I once went on a trip to a school in inner city Philadelphia to deliver books and school supplies to the school, which didn’t have a library and was very low on things like paper, glue, and markers. The kids who attended this school were mostly black, poor, and lived in the city. These kids were in grade school and there is no way that they had the “free will” to decide to live there and attend that school. These grade school kids didn’t have a library to read books. Grade school students where I live have a library in school, a public library, and books at home. The teacher at the school in Philly had three pieces of construction paper for the whole year. Grade school children here in State College get to play and draw on iPads. It was also evident that my parents had raised me differently then the kids in the Philly school. Also, to even get more basic, I am white and they are black. All of these things automatically give me a head start in success. One with a free will view may say well if those kids work hard enough they can attend college like I am. I completely agree. There is a possibility that those kids will do their best and make it into a good college like Penn State. The problem is if there was a ladder to get to say, Penn State, I was born half way up the later where they were born at the bottom and have to work hard to even get to the point I started at. If we compare people more similar like myself and fellow students here at Penn State, I know for a fact that determinism plays a bigger role than free will in my attending Penn State. My parents have worked at Penn State for 20 years now and I have lived in this town my whole life. Because they have worked at the university I get 75% off of in state tuition. My parents are probably paying half or more of what out of state students are paying. Also, because I live here and went to sate high, the standards I needed to meet to get into Penn State were much lower than other students. I didn’t choose any of that for myself, I was given it. Although I have a lot of advantages, I get to choose what I want to do with them and how I will use them to influence the path I take. That is when free will comes in. Determinism is the platform for which we start and Free Will is what we make of that platform.