I think that we have all learned a lot from these recent events and they have affected our lives in one way or another. I think the biggest thing we as students can walk away from this is the fact that inaction can have just as harmful effects as the action it self. In this case Sandusky’s actions are disgusting and unforgiveable. With that said, the damage he did to those kids could have been greatly diminished if people had taken a strong position and not just expect that it would be handled or ignore it. Yes, Joe Paterno went to the police, but for someone with the amount of power he has, was that the best he could do. He still allowed Sandusky to be around the football field and he continued to bring kids to practice. Although Jo Paterno did was he was “supposed to do” morally he knows he should of done more and now he realizes that his inactions have consequences to. McCleary is receiving the most attention for his inaction. He walked into Sandusky sexually abusing a child and according to initial reports did nothing, although he is now saying he stopped him. Honestly I think any guy especially someone of his size would have gone in there and beat the shit out of Sandusky. I believe the University let McCleary off easy by only putting him on paid or unpaid leave. He should have been out the same day as Paterno and Spainer. As far as our former president Spanier, he also is seeing the results of his inactions or cover up, however you want to look at it. He allowed all this to happen under him and even after receiving knowledge of it failed to make any significant actions. He also helped cover up Sandusky’s actions for years. This university should have been less concerned about their image and how this would affect the football team, and more about the lives of children being harmed by Sandusky’s disgusting actions. To sum this all up, Sandusky’s actions are beyond excusable and to cover them up is just as bad and resulted in many more children being harmed. People such as Paterno and Spainer are two men who had probably the most power at Penn State and the both failed to properly handle this situation. These inactions caused this to become an even larger situation which eventually blew up in their face and caused even greater damage to the university and the victims lives.

I believe that Sandusky’s charges and the events surrounding that have brought a negative light to the university. Just alone Sandusky’s horrific actions are enough to bring negative attention to Penn State. He has hurt countless numbers of children and those are actions which are completely inexcusable. That alone is not what has hurt Penn State’s reputation. Yes, his actions alone would have caused negative media, but it’s the extent to which his actions were covered up that has really hurt our university. This is something that has gone beyond just the football and athletics administration. This goes all the way up to our schools president. I believe that is what will hurt this university’s reputation the most, because now the university itself is involved in this scandal. Penn State will recover from this but it is not something that will happen over night or in weeks to come it is something that will take time. I believe that in order to restore face the university needs to clean house and remove anyone who was involved with the cover up of Jerry Sandusky. The university has already begun to take steps in order to recover their image by firing Spainer and Paterno. I believe without a doubt that Spanier should have been fired. In Joe Paterno’s case I do not believe that the school handled the situation properly. Yes, he knew about Sandusky and there was more he could have done; he admits that, but I believe that he has also done a lot of good for the school. Paterno had already released a statement saying he was going to leave at the end of the season. I believe that the school should have had enough respect to let him finish his season, after all the years he has coached. Also the way he was informed, by phone, was disrespectful as well. The firing of JoePa was the tipping point for many state college students, and it led to riots in beaver canyon. I think these “riots” did give Penn State and even worse image, but it was poorly portrayed by the media. Many students were only there to watch. Only a few were destructive, and that was not something that was expressed over the news. To sum it up, I do believe that these recent events have, for the time, hurt Penn State’s image, but overtime they will rebuild and redefine their image.

Illegal immigration is a huge topic of conversation and criticism in the United States today. Many Americans focus on the negative benefits caused by illegal immigration. I believe this is because most of the attention from media is on the negative aspects of illegal immigration. Now I am by no means a supporter of illegal immigration, but after listening to Sam’s lecture on immigration I do understand that there are some benefits to illegal immigration. These facts though are not common knowledge. Most people view illegal immigration as unfair competition in the job market. They think that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs from Americans because they are willing to work at lower wages. When in fact, most Americans are not willing to do most of the jobs of illegal immigrants or can not do the job with the same intensity and with the same production. Also many Americans believe that illegal immigrants are a drain on the economy because they do not pay taxes. Sam did say in his lecture that some illegal immigrants do pay taxes, but I believe a large portion of them still do not. Now do I believe that illegal immigration causes more harm than good? That’s a hard question but honestly I believe it to be more harm. When it comes down to it they are illegal and should not be allowed. Although they do have benefits as Sam pointed out I believe they do cause more harm.
With that said I believe that the United States should loosen its immigration policy to make legal immigration easier. This will decrease the number of illegal immigrants. This will actually be more cost effective for our government as well. They will spend less on immigration control and enforcement. Also it will cause more immigrants to become legal citizens, which means they will have to work at competitive wages. They will also be required to pay taxes which will benefit our country. Now I still believe that it should not be open immigration we do need to monitor who enters our country we can not just let anyone walk right in. In conclusion, I do believe illegal immigration is a problem, and I can see why many Americans focus on the negative aspects of illegal immigration. This is mostly impart to the fact that Americans are only exposed to the negative aspects of immigration. Also less strict immigration policies is a major step to solving the immigration debate/problem.

How do I feel about a time whites are the minority? I do not think it is that big of a deal. Yea there would be more diversity but is that really a bad thing? Without different races and ethnicities our culture would not be what it is today. Our culture is made up of many different types of people which have brought us many different types of food, such as Mexican, Italian, and Middle Eastern food. Different cultures have provided us with different ways of thinking and have caused people to become more open minded, especially whites over time. Honestly I do not think it will be a scary thing like Sam was trying to insinuate. In class he tries to point out white insecurities about minorities. When in reality I think ideas such as being scared were never brought up people would be more accepting of the changes because it will most likely be gradual than a sudden change. Many cities today have more minorities, so the whites are minorities. So whites becoming the minorities is something that is already happening but its not a situation that we should be scared of. I grew up right outside of a city and within the city itself whites were the minority. In my school each year an increasing number of minorities attended the school. It was not anything that frightened the students it was just accepted that that was how it was going to go. My friends base in high school was made up of several different races, such as blacks, Mexicans, and Asians. The increasing number of minorities did not seem to affect who people hung out with. Our team still would hang out on the weekends together regardless of race, it really did not matter what you looked like or where you were from. The idea that more minorities than whites will cause fear is just realistically not true. People will still be forced to interact and it will just become part of their everyday life. It may be uncomfortable at first but from in class I think Sam just took the whites reactions to an extreme. I mean you will always have your people who are scared or angry about it, but that is just a small portion of people. For the most part people may feel uncomfortable at first or nothing at all, but in the end whites as the minorities will just become part of an everyday life and will not seem out of the ordinary to us one day.

I will start off this blog post by saying that I am white, but I still believe race has helped to shape the way I view the world. When you are young race is not an issue to you. You can make friends with whoever you want and no one will judge you. As you grow up and reach middle school and high school things change. As Sam said in his lecture, you start to view the world as you and them. Race is something people cannot escape and just have to come to terms with. It is not easy either. If you hang out with only people of your race, as a white person, you are seen as being racist. In the same perspective if you only hang out with other races people may not take you seriously and think you are a poser. The world forces us to view race instead of viewing how people really are. I went to school in an area that was fairly mixed races, mostly Hispanic, black, and white. As a result, I do not feel uncomfortable around people of other races, but if I would travel to a mostly white school those students would look at me differently because I have black or Hispanic friends. Also if I would go with my friends to a more predominantly black area I would be looked at as if I did not belong. I especially felt this feeling when I went with a black friend to an all black party besides me. That feeling of not belonging and unwanted by a group of people made me realize what minorities experience much more often. Through my experiences with race I understand that controls how we view the world. As we learned in class race play a part in how successful you are at acquiring a job. Race also plays a part in conviction rates for prison. From before we even understand what race is in our lives, it is shaping how we view the world. Once we reach grade school race is forced into our lives and that increases with age. I don’t think race is something that will ever go away, but is instead something that we need to come to terms with. Race does shape how I view the world but I try to make sure I do not let it influence it negatively.

Does race play an acceptance of homosexual individuals? I honestly think it does. I feel like homosexuality within the white community is more common. As a result I believe that is less of a shock to people and they are more likely to accept their life decisions. When view other races, for example Asians, I think that homosexuality is less common and people would find it a little more difficult to except. The issues of race and homosexuality acceptance may have a role particularly in the United States. Race, although people tend to ignore it, can affect a person’s acceptance of them. We saw this in class by the number of African Americans hired compared to blacks. Now if you take someone who is a minority and homosexuality into the equation I feel that it is even more difficult to be accepted by certain people. Along with race come different religions. Certain religions have a strong viewpoint against gays and lesbians. Homosexuality is a very controversial topic within the Christian community. People who have a more relaxed set of religion believe that people should be able to expresses themselves as they choose, like being gay or lesbian. Those Christians who are very strict and follow the bible without straying from it would be a lot less likely to accept gays and lesbians. Also strict Muslims may be less likely to accept gays and lesbians as well. These strong religious views, for the most part, are common with certain types of races. Races with a strong view against gay and lesbians will be less likely to accept them and may even reject and criticize them, labeling them as evil or impure. As far as countries other than the United States, I feel that homosexuality is less likely to be accepted. Although its still a controversy in the United States, more and more states are allowing gays and lesbian to become married and people are becoming more and more accepting. Many other countries have less freedom which will result in the suppression of gays and lesbians regardless of their race. One exception I can think of off the top of my head to this is Canada. In conclusion, I do believe that race, for the most part plays a role in the acceptance of gays and lesbians. Things people find less common, such as homosexuality in certain races or interracial homosexual relationships, they will be less likely to accept.

When watching the video I first found the video, although stereotypical, to be very funny. Although stereotypes are wrong for people to have, they play a huge part in our country. In the video people were more than willing to help the female who was stealing the bike, especially the men. The people in the park were not willing to help the white man steal the bike, but most did not stop him. When it came to the black male he definitely drew the most attention. People were not only unwilling to help him but they were quick to call the police. One woman was even taking pictures of the man as he tried to steal the bike. This video shows the stereotype of black males and crime. I believe that this stereotype is created by people’s views of cities. For the most part there are is a larger black population in cities. Cities also have higher levels of crime. As a result I believe that people believe that black males are responsible for more crime; this conclusion was created by their views of cities. I also believe that people were less likely to accuse the woman of stealing was because they are seen as more innocent than men. Also the fact that she was attractive was even more a reason for the men to help her. I did find it interesting that even though the med knew she was stealing a bike that they helped her anyway. I also found it surprising that more people did not call the police or even say anything. At one point the one male even had a grinder out to try and cut the chain and a lot of people still said nothing. To be honest if I walked by and saw someone stealing a bike most of the time I would probably walk by and say nothing. I believe a lot of teenagers and young adults would just ignore it if they saw someone stealing a bike. Considering that I am still surprised that a lot of older adults said nothing. I know that if my mom had seen someone steal a bike she would most likely report them or say something. This video just shows the extent to which our society has become desensitized to crime. It also show the extent to which stereotypes have become part of our everyday lives.

I think the Haiti project is a great way for students to become involved in today’s problems. Before watching the videos when I thought of Haiti I never really thought about the entrepreneurs and the differences they can make in a community. These Haitian people are not looking for free handouts but instead a more affordable way that they can improve their business. For instance Suze Fleuriza is looking for a way to improve the packaging and ways of roasting the peanuts. As it is now it takes Suze and her employees three hours per batch. She also spends a full day every three days to go to the market to buy her supplies. I think in group if we could find a less time consuming way for Suze to obtain the products that she needs to roast and caramelize the peanuts it would significantly improve her productivity. If she spent less time at the market she could spend more time trying to introduce her products into the schools which is one of her main goals. She is not only trying to improve her business but the community as well. By introducing her products into the school it would provide a great lunch for the students and it is financially affordable.
In another example Clorene Blaise is looking for an affordable way to improve her business. As of now Clorene is currently using an outdated screen printing machine. She also has to reuse t-shirt tags form companies such as Hanes. Just like Suze, Clorene does not want a hand out. She is looking for a way to micro finance a new printing machine, which would allow her to produce better quality t-shirts. By finding a way to improve the quality of her shirts, along with increasing her productivity, Chlorene will be able to create more revenue. This increase in revenue can be used to pay off the micro loan along with increasing the size of her quality. By doing this we will not only be helping her clothing company but the Haitian community as well. As Clorene increases the size of her business she will be required to hire more employees as a result. If every entrepreneur would be able to hire just a couple employees, it would provide that many more people that would have more money to spend further stimulating the Haitian economy.
The thing that impressed me was that I always assumed countries like this would take any help they could get, but in reality they really want to earn it themselves they just need the help to make things more affordable. This can be done by ways such as the micro loan which Clorene is looking for.

I definitely agree with some of the responses which state that when it was first created welfare was a great idea. Overtime welfare has become out of control due to lack of regulation. Some people see welfare as a source of constant income. This is the state of mind that causes issues. Welfare was created as a crutch to help people/ families that have fallen on hard times. Unfortunately, with the current economic crisis and the lack of jobs people have used welfare to substitute working. This can be for a number of reasons, such as they can make more money on welfare or they just don’t have the will to search for a job. After working at a butchers stand while attending high school I saw many people abusing this system, which was created to help those in need. People would come in with food stamps and buy prime cuts of meat like prime rib or filet mignon, food that many Americans who are working can’t afford. Also I would see many of these people wearing designer clothes and carrying keys to expensive cars. Things like that are signs that welfare discourages people from working and instead they find it more beneficial to remain on welfare and abuse the system. I think in order to prevent this the welfare system needs better regulation. Regulations such as drug tests and time lines for which you can remain on welfare need to be put into use. A person who cannot pass a drug test obviously is making the wrong choices. This shows that they either ended up on welfare due to their drug addiction, or shows that although they are in such a poor financial state that they cannot support themselves they still choose to waste money on illegal substances. As a result they should not receive government financial aid. Also there should be a set limit such as six month that you can remain on welfare. After that amount of time the person must show evidence that they have been actively looking for a job. If after six months a person can show no progress than it’s obvious that he or she is not improving their life and should not receive any more government aid until he or she shows movement toward finding a job. I believe that only children should be free of regulation. The circumstances that led to their family’s misfortune are beyond their control and they should not suffer due to their parents choices. In conclusion, I believe that without changes made to the welfare system, people will continue to abuse the system. As the welfare system is set up today it does discourage people to improve their lives.

I will start off by talking about sexual orientation. I believe that a person is born with a determined sexual orientation. It is not something that decided or can taught as a young child. People are born gay/ lesbian or straight. Just because someone say gay parents does not mean they themselves will be gay. Vice versa just because your parents are straight does not mean you be will straight; it is something you are born with. Social influences cannot determine who you are attracted to. Now on the topic of gender, I believe that gender is predetermined by the time you are born. You are either male or female. Now I do believe that people can express their gender differently. Society, for the most part, expects men do act masculine and girls to be very feminine. How you decide to express your gender is influenced by both your decision and how you are raised. I believe that how you were raised has a very strong influence on how you express your sexuality. I am a guy, and growing up my parents, in particular my dad, raised both me and my brother to express our masculinity. From the time we were both three we were playing sports. I have played almost every sport at some point in my life. Sports are considered a masculine activity that boys should be involved in. How you express your gender is not only determined by your activities but by how you act. Men are expected to act tough and show less emotion then women. Growing up I was never coddled. When I was little if I fell or got a scrape my parents never made a big deal out of it. They basically said just walk it off you will be fine. This enforces what society expects to be masculine. A guy who cried or complained over every little thing would be considered not very masculine. This same mentality goes for girls. Girls growing up were expected to do things such as dance and expected to dress in a certain way. Growing up a girl who wore gym shorts and a t shirt all the time would be labeled as a “tom boy” and considered to not be very feminine. Although these views of women are slowly changing, it is now acceptable for girls to play sports and still they are still not considered any more masculine. Women’s activists have broadened the horizon for what is socially acceptable by women, and society in general has become more open with what is determined masculine or feminine. With that said, how you express your gender is still a large part of society and something that a person develops as they grow up.