en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2397739 Comments by swillz305 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-help-someone-illegal-immigrate-into-the-country-why-or-why-not-119-blog/#IDComment144986697 If I was ever asked to help people to illegally immigrate into the country, I definitely do not think I would do so. I agree with previous posts that they key reason I would not assist in this would be because it is illegal. If someone had asked me to help them get into the country legally, I would be much more inclined to help them get into the country by getting them in touch with the resources and contacts they needed in order to do so. Illegal immigration is without a doubt an issue in our society today, and needs to be addressed if we are ever going to make progress with this problem. I understand that there are some things that have been put into action in order to address this issue, but I really don’t feel that were making too much progress since there are still illegal immigrants entering the United States under the radar. I would not say that I have an issue with immigration in general because my great grandparents were immigrants from Russia and Czechoslovakia, but they did become legal American citizens and I feel that is necessary if you are going to try for better opportunities in the US. It was a pretty amazing story listening to Eric tell how his family came to be in America. It seemed to be a very dangerous and treacherous journey, but I can understand why people would want to come be in America for its many opportunities for employment, education, and overall advancement. I know that there are many people in the world looking to make the move to our country, but once again I feel the best way to do this would be to go about it legally so that you can become a permanent residence of the United States and safely build a life in America. I do not think I could have the courage to put myself in that much danger to illegally enter people into the country like the man that helped Eric’s family did. I was also pretty shocked to find out that when they get into America they have fake IDs and social security cards made, because I was not previously aware of how they were able to get away with it. It did surprise me that it was a fairly simple task to remain here, once they made the dangerous journey here. In conclusion, I would have to say that my answer to this question would be no. I would not help anyone illegally immigrate into the country, but I would help them if necessary if they needed assistance to legally make residence in the United States. There are a myriad of issues people have with immigration, but my main problem would be just that they are not here legally. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 02:55:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-help-someone-illegal-immigrate-into-the-country-why-or-why-not-119-blog/#IDComment144986697 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-do-you-think-about-the-telephone-game-and-why-does-information-travel-that-way-119-blog/#IDComment143018857 Today’s class given by our guest lecturer, Dr. Jones, was really interesting and thought provoking to me. Although the examples were fun and not very complex, they gave you a great deal to think about when you applied them to different life situations in the world such as diversity. His lecture was interactive and kept everyone interested in what he had to say. I figured that the stories would vary from person to person, just because the details would begin to deplete as the story continued to be told down the line of volunteers. Other than this first observation, I really did not know what to expect from Dr. Jones’ example. At first, Dr. Jones began the example by reading it off of the projector screen to the first volunteer and the rest of the class. When she was able to tell the story to the second volunteer, I think she did a decent job with remembering the main idea of the story. As the story continued to be told from person to person, the details began to decrease just like I had suspected they would. The story ended up changing from an issue relating to an argument that broke out between a group of white kids and African American students, to a group of white kids at a university with absolutely no minorities. It was really interesting to think that the stories you hear from others are definitely being affected by this same trend on a daily basis, so unless it comes from the source it really is skewed and differs from what the actual facts are. At the end of the example, it was apparent that the story had varied greatly from the original. The last person to tell the story really knew nothing about the actual case. They had some completely different idea, that the main issue of the story was all about a scuffle between white kids at a big university of no minorities because someone threw a book through a television screen. I think that stories end up getting changed through telephone because not everyone is going to remember all the details, so they kind of put their own spin on it and tell it as they remember it. It was really interesting to see it portrayed in front of our eyes so maybe we become more aware to not believe the stories we hear from people unless we are hearing it right from the source. I don’t believe that people intentionally change stories over time, I think it is just something that happens over time because people only continue telling the parts of the story that stick out most to them. Overall, I think Dr. Jones’ example was interesting, and helped us understand how most stories we hear come from telephone-like sources so we should not believe everything we hear. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:10:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-do-you-think-about-the-telephone-game-and-why-does-information-travel-that-way-119-blog/#IDComment143018857 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/what-do-you-think-of-the-291-statistic-and-what-number-would-you-pick-119-blog/#IDComment140638420 After hearing this ratio in class, I thought it was a pretty crazy thought to say that they were willing to kill twenty nine civilians in order to get one bad person out of the way. That is a pretty insane ratio. I never even knew that they had guidelines as to the amount of people that could die who weren’t affiliated in the fighting. I was actually really appalled to hear that twenty nine innocent people is an acceptable number to die for one person. On the other hand, I understand that this one person could be causing hundreds of deaths in America and therefore by taking this one person out we could potentially be saving hundreds more lives that were lost in order to do so. It is really hard to think of it in this perspective for me, because I obviously believe that killing of any kind is wrong. The one example I looked at when thinking of this ratio was Osama Bin Laden. Here we have a man who leads terroristic organizations that have caused thousands of deaths for Americans. He killed hundreds of innocent people by hijacking airplanes and causing mass chaos and death in our home lands. For me to sit here and tell you that from this perspective I still don’t believe in that ratio I would be lying to you. It is really an amazingly difficult topic to really choose a side on when you stand in the other people’s shoes and realize how it would affect you and the world around you if the script was flipped. The thought experiment where we had to answer from a Middle Eastern’s perspective opened my eyes because I never really thought of it in that way. I was one of those people who just associated bad things with the Middle East for the most part, because I never really thought about being someone who wasn’t involved like a regular kid our age. I was one of those American’s that was scared into believing they were out to get us, because of things we see on the news such as that “Jihad” video. In conclusion, I realize that my position on this topic is really fuzzy. If I was still only thinking from my perspective, I would say that in some cases it could potentially be necessary to take out the big people causing the havoc such as Osama Bin Laden. Now that we have been shown to take it from the other people’s perspectives, I could see that this number is pretty ridiculous for those not involved. If people were coming into America and killing my family, and friends all to get to one person, this would definitely be a rule in the army I would not stand for. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 03:52:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/what-do-you-think-of-the-291-statistic-and-what-number-would-you-pick-119-blog/#IDComment140638420 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/what-do-you-think-of-the-291-statistic-and-what-number-would-you-pick-119-blog/#IDComment140590749 After hearing this ratio in class, I thought it was a pretty crazy thought to say that they were willing to kill twenty nine civilians in order to get one bad person out of the way. That is a pretty insane ratio. I never even knew that they had guidelines as to the amount of people that could die who weren’t affiliated in the fighting. I was actually really appalled to hear that twenty nine innocent people is an acceptable number to die for one person. On the other hand, I understand that this one person could be causing hundreds of deaths in America and therefore by taking this one person out we could potentially be saving hundreds more lives that were lost in order to do so. It is really hard to think of it in this perspective for me, because I obviously believe that killing of any kind is wrong. The one example I looked at when thinking of this ratio was Osama Bin Laden. Here we have a man who leads terroristic organizations that have caused thousands of deaths for Americans. He killed hundreds of innocent people by hijacking airplanes and causing mass chaos and death in our home lands. For me to sit here and tell you that from this perspective I still don’t believe in that ratio I would be lying to you. It is really an amazingly difficult topic to really choose a side on when you stand in the other people’s shoes and realize how it would affect you and the world around you if the script was flipped. The thought experiment where we had to answer from a Middle Eastern’s perspective opened my eyes because I never really thought of it in that way. I was one of those people who just associated bad things with the Middle East for the most part, because I never really thought about being someone who wasn’t involved like a regular kid our age. I was one of those American’s that was scared into believing they were out to get us, because of things we see on the news such as that “Jihad” video. In conclusion, I realize that my position on this topic is really fuzzy. If I was still only thinking from my perspective, I would say that in some cases it could potentially be necessary to take out the big people causing the havoc such as Osama Bin Laden. Now that we have been shown to take it from the other people’s perspectives, I could see that this number is pretty ridiculous for those not involved. If people were coming into America and killing my family, and friends all to get to one person, this would definitely be a rule in the army I would not stand for. Wed, 6 Apr 2011 23:10:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/what-do-you-think-of-the-291-statistic-and-what-number-would-you-pick-119-blog/#IDComment140590749 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137413330 During today’s class, I was definitely surprised by the results from the iClicker questions regarding how often people have witnessed or participated in racism or discrimination. I was shocked that when asked about discrimination against people of color almost 40 percent of our class said they had either witnessed or participated in these actions. Next, since we are in the middle of penn state’s pride week, Sam switched the question up and asked the same question but in regards to the LGBTQ community. Surprisingly the numbers were even higher for this which seemed to shock Sam in a way. I actually wasn’t too shocked by this statement because I feel that people think it is easier to come out and say something about the LGBTQ community and play it off as a joke. You are more likely to hear people saying using the terms “gay” and “fag”, then tossing around race terms such as the N-word. Why is this the case? I don’t understand why people are so cruel to the LGBTQ community, and find it easier to discriminate against them than other people. We are all people, and regardless of race, orientation, age, sex, or anything else we should all be treated as equals and not have these clear problems of discrimination still in our society. Personally, I do see some instances of discrimination towards the LGBTQ community, but not publicly more behind closed doors. My best friend is a lesbian, and her girlfriend lives with us as well so I definitely am more aware of instances of discrimination or racism towards them since we are good friends. I feel like people always have to make stupid comments about who I live with because they themselves would be uncomfortable with the situation. It is really like just having any other two human beings, so I think it is pretty low that people have to pick on our situation just due to their sexual orientations. I often get questions asking how they are with each other, and how I deal with living with them. I would just like to let them know that it is really not a big deal, and making stupid petty comments won’t change my views on my friends in any way shape or form. I understand that people are uncomfortable and not knowledgeable about certain situations, but that doesn’t mean you should look down upon them or think that it is unnatural. The best thing you could do for yourself is become exposed to all different types of diverse people in order to become a more well rounded and respectful individual. For example, I know that I am not personally knowledgeable about cultures outside of my own so I intend to broaden my horizon and gain a better understanding of people unknown to me. The world could be a much better place if we just tried to make small changes like these in our lives. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 05:39:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137413330 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/is-this-an-action-of-white-supremacy-119-blog/#IDComment135743798 As stated in a previous post, it would be difficult to distinguish if this was merely a joke or an act of white supremacy without knowing who did it in the first place. For someone to write that regardless is pretty messed up as a joke or not. The fact of the matter is that people do really tend to joke about race for a variety of reasons. I think one of the more important reasons is to kind of lighten the mood of this subject that could get pretty heavy at times. Also, by adding humor people sometimes try to make steps towards this not being such a touchy subject in society. In regards to the vandalism and its deeper meaning, we may never really know how this was intended. I do agree that I would hope it was a joke seeing as I have always viewed the idea of white supremacy as a thing of the past. I also think that Penn State as a whole is becoming increasingly more diverse and taking the right steps towards making racism a thing of the past. I have never noticed this on the rock wall, but I will definitely keep an eye out for it and also watch if it is written anywhere else. I feel it is hard to move away from white supremacy all together since there will always be a group of people who still believe it. It is usually older people who don’t feel it necessary to change their views since they have lived their lives set in their beliefs. Times are constantly changing. There are always changes in our society’s beliefs, and over that many years there are drastic changes such as how people view different races. The best that we can do is make sure we pave the way for future generations to be free of our current racial problems. So far I feel that we are making pretty big steps toward becoming a more accepting and knowledgeable country about issues of race. Will race ever leave our world completely? It is hard to say. We will really need to see how we continue to progress as a society in the future. I personally hope we can move away from our ways and become better united. It would be insane to see a peaceful world in our lifetimes, but I don’t see it happening that fast. In conclusion, we would all hope that this white supremacy vandalism was only intended as a joke, but we also must recognize that there are still people out there who hold these beliefs. Together we can work together to lessen the severity of our racial views, and move forward towards a more peaceful world. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:49:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/is-this-an-action-of-white-supremacy-119-blog/#IDComment135743798 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134344754 PART 3: Freed slaves were faced with a myriad of disadvantages. They were faced with the hardships of finding work, food, clothing, and shelter. The way they were treated and cheated in life after slavery could hardly count as being “free” because they were still looked down upon in many ways. By being born into a family that was not affected by slavery, you were already at a clear advantage in life than most. I do at times feel guilty because as a white female, there were not many times in my life where I have faced racism or disadvantages for just being who I am. Recently, I had to do a project in which I first listed ways how I was discriminated against, and then list ways in which I stereotyped others or saw others fall victim to some form of racism. It was a really hard task to think of ways I have been discriminated against, but I had plenty of examples for how it has affected those around me. It definitely gave me a sense of compassion for others who have to deal with discrimination and racism. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:42:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134344754 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134344691 PART 2: Growing up, I definitely was born with advantages compared to people in other parts of the world. I had a family who loved me, a roof over my head, food to eat, and my freedom. It really opened my eyes when we had a debate in class about how even though we may not have it all and feel that we are poorer as compared to those around us, there are people in the world that are far worse off than we are even if you were a homeless person living in the United States. I have always just compared myself to those immediately around me or in my area, but it is so true that when you look at your current situation as compared to those in say Zimbabwe, Rwanda, or Sierra Leon we are far better off even on our worst days. Understanding that can really give you a new perspective on the way you live your life. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:42:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134344691 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134344597 PART 1 : When first examining my thoughts on this question, I really did not know how I felt regarding my position in life. After listening to Sam outline the various disadvantages that freed slaves go through, I definitely felt a sense of compassion for what they had to face even after entering into the free world. It’s a shame that even after all that they were put through it is still hard for them to get a good foundation for a prosperous life in the future. They are put at a major disadvantage in life when they never did anything wrong in the first place, they were the victims and remain the victims long after their enslavement ended. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:41:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134344597 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130517090 I was extremely interested by the experiment we did the other day in class having to do with this topic. Sam let the girls come into the room unaware of what was going on and simply pick where they wanted to sit. He himself was surprised with the results. Almost every girl walked in, and randomly chose to sit next to the Asian woman even after she switched seats. If he hadn’t asked her to move to a different seat, I definitely may have felt that the girls were only drawn to that middle seat. Having her switch seats added some validity to the results we were seeing with most people being unconsciously drawn to sit near that particular girl. I feel that after this example, I definitely remain more aware of where I decide to sit in other classes now that we’ve covered this topic. In Soc 119, I’m not really aware of who I choose to sit next to since I usually arrive pretty early and attempt to sit towards the aisle. I guess since I’m not particularly able to see who I would sit next to, I tend to watch who decides to sit next to me. I am white, and for the most part the majority of those who sit next to me tend to be white as well. I’ve noticed who I sit next to more in other classes, at the hub, or even on the bus on the way to class. It’s actually pretty interesting to watch now that I keep myself more aware of what I’m particularly looking for. I feel in certain situations, such as the bus, I’m not really subconsciously seeing who I should sit next to, but more just looking for a seat because I hate having to practically surf as the bus makes fast turns on the way to class. I personally feel that in more situations I’m focused more on how convenient it is for me to get to that particular seat. When I think deeper about it though, I wonder if there are certain factors that decide for me internally if I feel comfortable to sit next to that person. It is a pretty crazy thought to think maybe we even have ourselves fooled into believing were not worried about who we sit next to, and deep down internally we have another dialogue deciding what is and is not the place for us to go. On the other hand maybe what I said is the more legitimate reasoning – we just sit wherever is most convenient for us. I would love to see more research done on this subject. I feel that overall I am pretty uncertain how I feel about this topic. During this blog response, I thought writing out how I felt about this would help me have a clearer view on how I think in my day to day life. I thought this would help me gather how I feel about certain situations like simply picking a seat, but my position remains unknown. I’m not sure what it is for me, I would assume that I focus where I sit based more on convenience then comfort. I will continue to really try to figure out what where I sit tells me about myself. It would be interesting to slowly discover if I do or do not have a latent prejudice. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 07:31:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130517090 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128985868 I have mixed emotions on how I feel about living the way we do in America as opposed to the way people in poorer nations live. On one hand, I am of course grateful for the opportunity I have to live the way I do. I come from a family that is not excessively rich, but we can live comfortably and I am thankful for that. On the other hand, I do in some ways feel guilty for the way that I live as well. I have recently been exposed to many issues in other countries through classes I’ve been taking at Penn State that really make me think twice before spending my money on stupid unnecessary items. Seeing the struggles that people of other nations face financially on a day to day basis really puts everything in perspective for you. It makes some of the problems in my life seem very insignificant when I compare it to the day to day lives of people in third world countries. While I’m sitting here being upset that I can’t go waste money on clothes one week, or go out and buy the newest electronic, people less fortunate than me are having bigger issues such as what will they eat, and will they have a place to stay the night. These are just a few examples of how I feel about living the life that I do as compared to those suffering in other countries. Not only am I concerned for the less fortunate in other countries, but we can’t forget that poverty is also still an issue in America as well. Although we have poverty here in America, I understand that others around the world have it much worse in some circumstances. There are a myriad of things we can do to help those in both our country and around the world. You can donate money to charity, volunteer at local organizations that help the less fortunate both here and worldwide, or perhaps just raise awareness of the issues and start to make little changes in your life that could benefit others in the world. Little changes can make a huge difference if people would just take the time out of their day to do them. For example, the website we were given in class during the 90 second commercial where all we have to do is answer some questions online and we are helping a family receive food in other country. Another example that Sam provided us in class was to perhaps buy fair trade chocolate to ensure that products we are buying are not being made by slaves around this world. I think that if the world would just become more aware of the options they had to make a difference in the world, they would be more inclined to complete these tasks. I think our generation has the power and resources to make some pretty substantial changes both in America and around the world. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:44:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128985868 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/interpret-the-lupe-fiasco-lyrics-119-blog/#IDComment127463573 After watching a variety of blog video questions, this one definitely stood out for me as one of the more interesting topics to touch on. I feel relating the material in class to media and other popular sources outside of class helps us all to make it more relatable to real life situations. I’ve come across a variety of thought provoking lyrics while scanning through my iPod, but these Lupe Fiasco lyrics really do have a much deeper meaning than just these few words. “I think that all the silence is worse than all violence.” I feel that what these lyrics are stating is that not reporting violence, or speaking out about violent acts and trying to prevent them is almost even worse than the act itself. Keeping quiet about harmful situations is only making it worse for others who may be affected by these same people or situations. There are many examples of this in our world on a day to day basis, and it really is a major issue in our society. There are cases of abuse, bullying, harassment, and even murder that people choose not to speak out about for a variety of reasons. I feel most times people fear that if they do something about it or “snitch” on someone they will become the next to fall victim to this violence. The truth is, it is best to speak out against the violence because it is the only way that it will ever begin to be taken care of. If we dream of a world with less crime and less worry, it is up to us to do what we can to get our world heading towards this big change. One situation that no one really speaks out about is school bullying. A majority of people feel that bullying in schools is just kid stuff, and that nothing really needs to be done about it. I disagree completely and feel that school bullying is only getting worse as the years progress. When I was in school, I was never bullied, but I definitely know that bullying was an issue although it was always really kept secret because no one wanted to be looked at as the tattle tale. There have been a variety of cases in recent years where kids took their bullying to the point of almost killing their victims, or in other cases where the child was so depressed from the incident of being bullied that they committed suicide. If we keep sweeping this under the rug, and acting like it is just a thing that all little kids do we are setting ourselves up for bullying continuing and more unfortunate acts of violence on school aged kids. I feel that this is definitely an example of when silence is worse than the violence, or at least when silence is aiding in the violence continuing. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:13:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/interpret-the-lupe-fiasco-lyrics-119-blog/#IDComment127463573 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/why-do-we-need-to-be-politically-correct-119-blog/#IDComment125351815 I think that it is almost nearly impossible to be politically correct. As we’ve seen in the past few weeks of Soc 119, not everyone agrees on one general term for classifying a group of people. This was shown in detail to us during the i>clicker question examples. People were generalized into broad groups (such as if you identify as white, black, Asian, etc.) , and asked to select from a list of five terms what they would prefer to be referred to as. Every group varied on exactly what they were comfortable with being called. Not all of those people who classified themselves as “white” wanted to be referred to as “white” or “Caucasian” because every individual came from a unique and diverse background. It was the same situation with those who classified themselves as “black”, “Hispanic”, and “Asian” as well. It was used to show us that there is not just one politically correct term that every group can decide on to be called because every individual has varying feelings on the matter. So there will never be that one politically correct term that every group can agree on to be called. I understand that some people feel it is extremely important to be politically correct whenever possible so that we don’t step on anyone’s toes, or hurt anyone’s feelings but it becomes an issue when there is not just one acceptable term. The best we can do is be respectful in anything we say towards one another, because the way we say things can also affect how people perceive we are coming off to them. I personally do not have a preference for what people refer to me as. I am a “white” female, but I come from a large variety of diverse backgrounds. I’m Irish, German, Polish, Czechoslovakian, Russian, & Welch. I refer to myself as “white” although as you can see I am much more than just white, and it goes deeper than just that generalized term. I think that is the main reason people are offended when they are put into such broad categories, but right off the bat someone would not be able to know all that information about you which is why they use these grouping terms. In conclusion, I can see both pros and cons to being politically correct. The world is constantly changing therefore we will never always agree on what we prefer to be called. That is why I feel that politically correct terms will never be able to exist. The best we can do is be respectful to everyone we come in contact with and realize that they are much more than just a skin color or a generalized term. Basically, as cliché as it sounds, treat others as you would want to be treated. Wed, 2 Feb 2011 06:29:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/why-do-we-need-to-be-politically-correct-119-blog/#IDComment125351815 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124058112 People are always going to hang out with those who they are most comfortable around. I have seen this fact come up in many of the previous blog responses, and agree that this is the case. More often than not as you are wandering the large Penn State campus, you will encounter people from a myriad of different races, ethnicities, and cultures. Many times it does seem that there are large groupings of the same races sticking together. There is not one correct answer as to why this occurs, since people have many varying view points and reasons for choosing their group of friends. I am sure that in most cases it is more of an unintentional subliminal occurrence. If we all agree that we hang out with who we are most comfortable with, I think the better question is why aren’t we comfortable with people outside of our race, religion, etc.? Personally, I don’t ever really think about what race I am going to make friends with or hang out with. The majority of my friends are white, but I wouldn’t ever say I am outright drawn to other white people I think it was more just that in my town it was mainly just who I was surrounded with. I grew up in a small town, never moved anywhere new, went to a private catholic school with the same group of 30 students from kindergarten through 8th grade, and I only had 45 kids in my high school class - so it is safe to say I was never surrounded with anyone too different from myself. That is one of the bigger reasons why I myself seem to stick with my race, before high school I wasn’t exposed to diversity and therefore never had the opportunity to make friends with people different from me. After moving to Penn State, I can definitely see a change in myself now that there are so many different kinds of people on campus. It is very unclear why our campus has such an obvious divide at times, but it could be that we are not making a big enough effort to mesh together. Although the University has been attempting to make efforts to have the campus come together as one united family, we can clearly see that race groups are still not blending as much as we would like. I’m sure classes such as Soc 119 and the world in conversation projects are a step in the right direction, but we need to find more ways to get kids talking and comfortable with those different from them and outside their usual social bubble. We will continue to hang out with those of the same race, religion, gender, and cultural backgrounds until we begin to be open-minded and willing to socialize with different races. It’s about time we take this step in the right direction, and put ourselves out there to start breaking away from our little bubbles and giving other people a chance. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:59:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124058112 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122907872 PART 3. Since we will never be able to truly eliminate stereotyping, the best we can do is look beyond the stereotypical characteristics of individuals to gain a better understanding of who they are as a unique person. If people see one stereotype come true in their daily lives, it often leads them to believe that maybe stereotypes can hold some validity. For instance, people often joke about the stereotype that all blonde women are dumb. Say you meet a blonde woman and she just happens to be unintelligent, it has nothing to do with the color of her hair but subliminally you may have just confirmed that stereotype for yourself. In conclusion, people will always be categorized into groups whether we like it or not. The best we can do is break stereotypes for ourselves, and do the best we possibly can to not judge people without knowing them first. As we saw in class, a great deal of us do not know as much as we think we do about people. We need to keep an open mind, and learn about people on our own terms instead of jumping to silly untrue conclusions based on stereotypes. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:20:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122907872 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122907749 PART 2. . I feel a great deal of the time, people don’t truly realize that they themselves believe in certain stereotypes. I learned a great deal about myself in the past few Soc 119 classes, especially the i<clicker questions that showed us just how off our perceptions of people really were. I think I possibly may have gotten 85% of those questions incorrect, and it really opened my eyes. Even though I tell myself I don’t agree or follow stereotypes, I’m almost tricked into believing they’re proven facts. Everyone in the world is going to keep judging the people around them. People also take part in stereotypes just to go along with the crowd. It is often easier just to blend in then to stand out and go against what the majority believes. I feel we have a better chance to break away from being close minded by taking classes such as Soc 119 that expose us to different cultures and break each stereotype by presenting us with the cold hard facts. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:19:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122907749 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122907684 PART 1. Grouping people is what we do as human beings on a daily basis. We group by race, age, gender, social economic status, etc. Stereotyping is just another form of grouping that ends up becoming distorted into negative connotations. The first time you meet someone, you automatically stereotype them without even thinking twice. We often break people into groups based on their appearance and first impressions. Stereotypes are something that I feel are nearly impossible to eliminate completely from our society. There are a myriad of varying reasons why this is true. The views we have about people of other races are molded through our personal experiences with them, the way they’re portrayed in the media, and even how we were raised. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:18:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122907684 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cw%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121976630 soc 119 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:30:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cw%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121976630