When I originally answered this clicker question I believed it was judges that were the factor that shapes our United States immigration policy. Obviously I was wrong and was stunned at first when Sam said that it was businesses. However, as he explained more of the reason why he believes it is businesses that lead immigration, I started to understand the reasoning and therefore was no longer shocked at the answer to the question.

As I thought about it more and more, I found myself constantly saying to myself that businesses are the ones that hire people to do a job. Out in the farms and other places many businesses want immigrants. If a boss was able to hire immigrants, as Sam said, immigrants just want the job and are willing to work no matter what the pay or hours are. They are happy with any money they get because they came to the US to get a better life for themselves. When you think about it in these terms I begin to understand more of why Sam believes that businesses are the leading factor. Business want to get their job done and they want to make as much profit as they can. By hiring people to work for them for less they are making a bigger profit then they might have originally anticipated. Also many Americans are lazy and do not want to work for hours upon hours out in the hot sun or in the factories. Many immigrants are willing to do what Americans aren’t and that is a positive to the business. It is now up to the business to decide whether or not they want to hire the immigrant. If the business chooses to hire the immigrant they are making it more and more obvious that businesses are the leading factor that shape our United States economy.

I remember last semester in my geography class we watched a documentary about a farm in Florida that has a lot of immigrants working. Through this documentary we were able to observe just how immigrants work and that society’s perception of many immigrants are actually false. This includes ideas that immigrants are paid under the table and don’t contribute to our economy. These immigrants in the film were willing to work and put in the effort in order to pursue the life they wish to live. They come to the United States to make a better life for themselves and they believe they are achieving this by working out in the farm in Florida.

Therefore as I sat in class as well as sitting here trying to decide if I am shocked or not by Sam’s belief that businesses are the leading factor that shapes our United States immigration policy, I can truthfully say I am not shocked. Businesses can be seen as a big factor because they keep the immigrants coming into the United States and pursuing the better life they have always wished for by hiring them and paying them money for their labor.

I do not believe I would actively try to not benefit from Nepotism is the opportunity presented itself to me. In fact I have gotten a job just based on the people I knew within the camp I really wanted to work in.

In this day and time, however sad it may sound, jobs are based on who you know in the company not just on an individuals qualifications. The more respected and higher up person in a company or job you may know the better your chances are of achieving the interview and most likely the job. You need to get to know people in your field of work. I believe it is possible for all people to make networks for themselves by getting acquainted with different individuals.

In class when Sam asked who benefitted from Nepotism 99% of the class raised their hands. It surrounds our everyday lives. No one in our class was scared to deny that they have benefitted from connections. You need to find connections with people who will bring you to where you want to be in the future. The connections can be just with our professors at Penn States. If you just go into office hours and get to know your professors and they get to know you, they have the ability to throw your name out to their friends who may be looking for interns into fields you want to work for later in life.

I myself have certainly benefitted from Nepotism and am not scared to deny it. I am pursuing a degree in education but was not sure which level I wanted to teach. My friend’s mom works at a preschool and she was able to “hook me up” with a summer job there last summer. Without my friend’s mom, it would of taken me way longer to score the job and I may have not gotten the job at all. My friends mom put in a good word for me which I think really helped me to score the job. I was able to learn that I did not want to teach preschool through this job, but I wouldn’t have gotten this experience have I had not gotten the job at the preschool. Through this one example I prove my point that I would take any opportunity I get to get to explore more things within teaching as well as develop my own connections. I am actively benefitting from nepotism and would take another opportunity if it was given to me again.

I believe that anyone is able to set up connections that will help them with jobs in the future. It’s all about how you perceive yourself and how active you are to getting to know people who have connections. Right here at Penn State we all have the opportunity to get to know our professors. I would take any opportunity, without hesitation, I get even if it came through nepotism. Nepotism isn’t always fair, but if you can have the connections you need the better off you will be. I have taken advantage of connections and will do it again in the near future.

I can understand why the statistic during war is 29 innocent civilians can be killed in order to kill 1 bad guy. Bad guys are not easy targets to find. They usually are in hiding or try to pass along as if they were a normal citizen so that they can be camouflaged from the United States military. For this reason, in order to succeed in their job as American soldiers they are going to have to kill innocent civilian in order to kill the one bad guy that is endangering numerous peoples lives. The military’s mission is to carry out what the government is telling them to do. They are there to fight for the freedom of their country and protect the people in their country back home. Killing people, unfortunately, is part of this mission. Thus they are going to follow the rule already set in place: 29 civilians for every 1 bad guy. I personally believe there should be a 10 to 1 ratio however my ideal number is too small and probably very impossible to achieve.

Since my ideal number is way to small and probably very unlikely to be followed, I believe a set number shouldn’t be placed on how many innocent bystanders should die in order to kill one bad person. I believe that it should be personally made by the military solider who is about to place the bomb or shoot a gun and kill the bad guy along with the bystanders. If I were a solider I would base it on how bad the bad guy really is. If the bad guy is that endangering and really hurting other peoples lives then I believe a lot of bystanders can be killed in order to save the rest of the population’s lives. However, on the other hand, if he is not that endangering then I believe that maybe 15 or less bystanders should have to be killed in order to get the bad guy dead? If the solider is the one who has to set off the bomb or use a gun to kill the bad guy, the solider is going to have to live with that action and misery for the rest of their lives. Therefore, I believe that the solider should be able to make the decision for themselves and that the rest of the military, the government, and the citizens of America should stand by their decision. The solider is the one risking their life and thus decisions should be up to them.

Death is not ideal. I really hate when we have to talk about war and those innocent bystanders who are just living their normal day to day lives have to be killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the military has a mission it has to fulfill and catching and eliminating endangering bad guys is part of their mission. The rule now set by our American government is that no more then 29 innocent civilians should be killed in order to get one bad person. However, I feel that it should be up to the solider to decide how bad the guy is and how many civilian lives it is worth taking in order to kill the one bad guy.

I would defiantly in these economic times and even not in these economic times try to learn a second language if it would help me get a job in the future. When I had to choose a language in high school to take, my dad made me and all my sisters take Spanish. He said that he wished he had learned Spanish because it would of helped him in his occupation. He also seemed to tell us over and over again that having another background language will make you more knowledge about another culture, which will broaden your horizon as well as give you some different facts that your competitor for the job may not be familiar with. Unfortunately, I do not take Spanish anymore in college but I did throughout high school, all four years, take Spanish. Therefore, I would be willing to go back and learn more Spanish and brush up on my language skills. I believe this is another important point that people need to realize it is not just learning the language but also being open up to the idea that you may need to brush up on your skills in the language and not be offended if an employer asked you to do such a thing.

Now currently in college I am pursuing a major in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education. With my minor being Special Education I had a couple of different class choices to take but I decided to take on the challenge and learn sing language class. I believe that by knowing some sign language it will defiantly help me get a job as a teacher in the future. I believe that it is important as an educator to know basic signs and can hold somewhat of conversation if you needed to with either a student or a deaf parent/guardian. I believe that if a school has a deaf student who communicates through sign language or a learning disabled student who benefits from signing instead of communicating in English, I would be a benefit to school and get hired over some other teacher candidates who may have other similar credentials. I also think it’s a different and unique ability to be able to use and understand sign language. Therefore, I did pursue another language in order to help my credentials into getting a job as a teacher in the future.

With all the above being said, I believe that people who are looking for a job should be open to the idea of learning a second language in order to help better their credentials into getting the job. However, I believe employers should also realize that it is harder for some people to pick up second languages and therefore these individuals may not be able to communicate or understand the language for a little while after learning it. I still am open to learning more languages and even pursuing my skills in the languages I currently know, if it would help me get a job as a teacher.

I think interracial relationships are okay and should be accepted in society. I believe that anyone should be in a relationship with the person they love and desire to be with. Who cares if the individual you want to date and spend a lot of time together is of another race then you. I believe that no one should be prejudged based on their race and you should not be told you are unable to date someone because their race is different then yours.
Personally I am not in an interracial relationship but have been interested in guys outside my white racial category. My cousin, Stephen, is in an interracial relationship. He is currently married to an African American women named Loretta. Stephen is a white middle class Jewish man. Loretta was born and raised in Africa. They are in love and in an interracial relationship. My family, especially my aunt, uncle, and grandparents, were not accepting at first glance of their relationship. They did not like the fact that he was in love with an African American women and not a Jewish women. I know my cousin and her kept the relationship quiet for a while from the family because he didn’t want to be judged negatively and neither did she. However, once they grew closer and realized they were right for each other and she got pregnant he introduced her to the family. Of course I was accepting of her but for the older members of my immediate family they were not as accepting as I was. They were scared at first for how society would view them and our family since our town is majority Jewish White people. Second, our immediate family was scared for the child since many mix race children weren’t around my town. They also wanted to know if she would fit into the Jewish culture and if people in the community would respect and accept Loretta and their daughter Sydney. Of course in the end my family accepted her in, but they were not so accepting when they first were told. Loretta and Stephen had to deal with a lot of hardships in order to feel that their interracial relationship was accepted not just in my Jewish family but also in the larger community we all reside in.
Even with what Loretta and Stephen had to endure with their interracial relationship, I still strongly believe that even with the explanations they might have to give as well as the judgments they may receive, interracial relationships still should occur and an individual should not have to be scared to date a person who is different then their race. In a heartbeat, if I wanted to date a man who was not white and Jewish I would date him and not feel guilty because of it. I believe it would be hard to go through my immediate family like Loretta and Stephen did, but in the end I know my family would be accepting of whoever I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Therefore, I believe in interracial relationships and believe society should become more accepting of people dating outside their own personal race.

This video brought tears to my eyes as I watched Zach propose that gay marriage should be a right of citizens within Iowa. It made me even more want to take a legal stance on the gay rights issues especially when they pertain to marriage. Zach Wahls in this video says exactly what every other advocate of gay marriage says. However, he himself was brought up in Iowa in a family in which his parents were both women and therefore were a gay couple. Looking at his physical appearance, goals, and what he pursues you would have no idea he was born into a family who didn’t have equal marriage rights as other “normal families”. Without getting to know him you would have no idea he didn’t have a father and a mother but was raised in a household that had two mothers. It just proves the point that same sex marriage should be a legal right of citizens who desire to marry a person of the same sex. I agree with this statement and believe this right should be given to these individuals because all we should want is for people to be happy no matter if that significant other is a woman or a man!
One important point he proposes is that this bill will not change what a family is because family is a commitment between people who love one another. The bill instead will change how gay couples are treated and seen by the public. They want to be treated equally and viewed as the same and not different because their commitment to another human being is the same sex as them. Zach is a perfect example of how a gay couple family is just like a “regular” family. There is a biological son and daughter, Zach goes to college, pursues a commendable degree, and driven to succeed. He is not any more different then other students, children, and his family is not any different either. They instill ideas of success and drive within him so that he will get far in life. He doesn’t count on other people to help him. He calls himself an Iowian who can succeed at tasks on his own. His parents being gay and not legally allowed to marry by law has not stopped him or hurt him in anyway, thus we should take this into consideration when we think of family and marriage between individuals who love one another. No matter what these individuals are going to be legally allowed to do, they are going to date, fall in love, and start families even if they aren’t married. For these reasons, as well as everyone should be equal and not discriminated against because they have differing sexual orientation, they should be legally allowed to get married and receive the same rights that married couples are able to attain as a result of their legal marriage. I believe that if anyone disagrees with my above statement they should watch this video about Zach Wahls and his family then reflect on their previous beliefs.

I absolutely have an overwhelming feeling of guilt when I think of the privileges I have versus the disadvantages free slaves have to deal with mainly because of their skin color. I am lucky enough to be a White American, but until this class I never really thought of the privileges I have because of my skin color being white. I do experience some similar situations free slaves would because I am a women and Jewish but I feel like what I usually would experience is not nearly as terrible because I do have the white privilege to back me up.
One idea Sam talked about in class that I still think about each and everyday is that a white man who is a criminal is more likely to get a job then a black man who has never committed a crime and therefore isn’t labeled a felon. That disgusts me and makes me really mad and irritated. This is part of free slave disadvantages because most slaves were and are black and therefore even though they are free and did all this hard labor for white elite their skin color still holds them back and grants them less opportunities then whites. It is wrong how much skin color is played in our society. But, free slaves and even current slaves today do not have as many opportunities as I do and therefore once learning about this “white privilege” I am guilty and hate myself when I am not appreciative about all the opportunities and advantages I am granted to because of my skin color and the way society views race.
I think it is awful that society today cannot get beyond race and learn about a person based on their personality and achievements. It is terrible to think that ones biological features get in the way of them succeeding in life and getting opportunities the superior race in society gets just because of their skin color. I think it is extremely unfair that blacks, which includes former slaves, has disadvantages. It makes me so angry and aggravated.
Even though these free slaves have done work and survived torture from the white elite they still face extreme disadvantages once they are freed. It is just like those children who were free recently or still currently enslaved at the Ivory coast in the coca production. This situation makes me feel the most guilt thinking about slaves and their disadvantages. They get tortured because they try to run away from their masters who overwork them and treat them as objects. They are being overworked and not paid nor respected. Therefore, ever since seeing that video in lecture I am trying to play my part and stop slavery the way I know how to and that is by buying free trade coffee and candy.
As I been repeating over and over again I believe it is wrong how society bases opinions on people based on their skin color. I don’t think people realize that one prejudgment affects an individual for the rest of their life. Think about it, if you were a slave and then were free but unable to get an adequate job and faced disadvantages compared to white people, wouldn’t you be mad and aggravated?
For these reasons above, I do feel guilt when I think about the disadvantages free slaves receive once they come into the real world. I believe society needs to accept all races and that means stop making judgments on individuals based on their skin color. If we become a society that is accepting and willing to include those who are not white, I and a lot of other citizens would not have to feel guilt for former slaves disadvantages when we compare their opportunities and disadvantages to ours.

I believe in today’s society, especially in the United States, people are way more racist towards Muslim people than Black people. I think the major contribution to our racist thoughts about Muslim people is from the media. Ever since September 11, discrimination has occurred more often and more noticeable towards Muslim people then towards blacks. We hear about Muslim discrimination way too often. They are scanned more at the airports, they are pre-judged as terrorist even before getting to know them, and they are demeaned and treated as stupid in conversations. I personally have never acted racist towards a Muslim before but have defiantly heard accounts where Muslim individuals were discriminated against. I believe two examples that were provided to us in class really help to demonstrate the act of discrimination against Muslim's in todays society.
The video we watched on Tuesday in lecture astounded me. It was about a Muslim girl who was trying to get a job at one of the local coffee shops and was denied a job because she wore a hijab and was a Muslim individual. Her discrimination really irritated me and was obviously irritating customers who pointed it out and didn’t buy the store’s food anymore. Its just like Sam lectured over and over in class that she may have had the same exact qualifications as other employees but because she was Muslim and not white and thus she was more unlikely to get the job than the white individual that may of applied too. I know if I was in the coffee shop and witnessed this account I would of not stood up for the lady because I am not a confrontational person and believe that my helping wouldn’t have gotten anywhere because I tend to be a push over when people start personally attacking me. However, I would be thinking that this act of discrimination is wrong, awful, and the discriminator is demonstrating the awful and disgusting part of our American society. The dad who did stand up for her, who even had a son fighting over in Iraq, brought tears to my eyes. He took his stance and tried to make the employee see how wrong his actions were and how awful of an American citizen he was. If she was qualified for the job and there was an open spot she should of gotten the job rather then not because of her race and culture she identifies with.
Also in class we had a Muslim student panel where, Sam’s wife asked questions to our Muslim peers and they answered out loud to the entire class. Through this student panel, I became so much more knowledgeable just by the little facts they told us about their lives, culture, religion, and place where they grew up. One idea that I picked up that was a mutual agreement amongst all of them was that all they wanted to become apart of society and no one to prejudge them because of their culture and race. They just wanted to be treated and looked at the same as a white American citizen.
For these reasons stated above plus numerous more, I believe in today’s American society the Muslim community is discriminated more then the black community. I hope one day in time we will never witness discrimination and everyone will be able to live amongst each other.

I completely agree with this statement. I think success in elementary, middle, and high school is attributed to an individuals hard work but as they get into college and the “real world” success is attributed to who they have connections with. In elementary school we always had to be proficient in one area in order to move to the next grade. I remember in third grade we had a cursive test and if our cursive was illegible we couldn’t move onto 4th grade. There is no way this can be attributed to who we had connections with. This scenario in elementary school was attributed solely to our hard work, our practice in school as well as out of school. I can think of countless scenarios in elementary school and middle school that we can not attribute our work to others but rather we succeed because we tried, always did our best, and practiced in order to accomplish our goals. In high school, in 9th and 10th grade our success is mainly geared to our hard work: listening in class, doing our work, and collaborating with teachers. But as we get to our upper high school grades and applying to college and getting an interview/job it more depends on who we knew.
I know this isn’t the same in many areas of the country but in my high school everyone either had a private tutor or took a class to help them pass the SATs or ACTs. Yes, everyone had to do work and practice daily outside of tutoring in order to succeed on the test, but we did have the help of a tutor to help diagnose areas we were struggling with and then have them create strategies and practice questions to help us improve. Everyone who did have a tutor had to put in hard work and effort in order to succeed and improve, but they did know a tutor who did help them through their struggles. As we go to college applications I believe acceptance is based on your hard work and on who you know. How hard work is shown through our grades on our transcript but there is more to your college acceptance or denial then that. On every college application there is a section to specify if people in your family were alumni of the school. I think this is a major part of the decision of being accepted into the school. This is another way that people you know affect your success. In this situation, the success is based on your grades, which can be attributed to your hard work, but also the alumnis of the school which is based on people you know.
As you go into the real world though to get jobs and interviews with big companies and CEOs its about who you know. We talked about this in lecture the other day and everyone agreed. Think about it once you get out of college, how do you think you will score an interview with a top company? Most likely, many people will attribute their interviews to connections they have.
Therefore, I believe as individuals go more through their educational career and out to the real world success goes from hard work to attribute more to your connections you have with powerful people.

I think both free will and determinism have brought me to Penn State. When I was able to apply to schools my parents gave me the free will to apply anywhere I wanted to. I wanted to go to a prestigious college, but since I can remember college was pushed into my brain. My grandparents, parents, and older siblings have all graduated from prestigious colleges. I knew that I was going to go to college one day and graduate and become a teacher. However, I was given the choice about where I would apply to school. By them giving me this choice, I decided to not apply to any schools in my home state of Maryland. I wanted to get away and be independent. I only applied to four schools and I got into all four. Penn State and University of Central Florida were my top choices so when it came to January and I had to make a decision about where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life, I really struggled with making a decision since I loved each school so much for different reasons.
My sister came to Penn State University and loved it. Penn State is only 3 hours and 15 minutes away from my house in Maryland. However, I got a scholarship to University of Central Florida and had a good friend going to that school in the fall of 2009. I really wanted to attend either of the schools and they were both prestigious and ranked colleges but really didn’t know what to do and thus was stuck on which one would be the best fit for me educationally and socially wise.
This is where determinism came into play and my own free will was taken away for a little bit. The high school I went to in Maryland had a 98% high school graduation rate and 99% would go on to college. College was always talked about since I was little and it was always a destined dream of mine as well as my families for me to continue my education and become a teacher. In addition, like other students my parents pay for my education so I had to think about them and which would be more affordable and easier for them.
As I was thinking about which college to choose, my parents kept reminding me that no one I knew had attended University of Central Florida before me where as my sister and several other people I knew had attended Penn State University and were in love with it. Also Penn State was ranked higher on the Princeton college charts then University of Central Florida was. My parents, grandparents, and siblings also pushed me to go to Penn State because they thought it was a better match for me.
Ultimately, the decision was up to me about where I wanted to attend college, but determinism was a big influence into my decision as well. I knew I wanted to continue my education and wanted to attend a school that was the best fit for me, but also I never was exposed to other educational choices beyond high school other then college.