There are just a handful of classes in college that taught me life lessons and I owe that credit solely to the teacher. This is amazing, how one professor can singlehandedly take all this scrutiny for just getting a message across. Even if someone in this class thinks everything in this class is complete bull, I will more likely take Sam’s word because he is well travelled and has cool friends. To have friends in prison, to chill and smoke with your disabled friend, to be able to have your wife by your side on any matter, I consider him successful.…. And this same man struggles to get us thinking. So many things bothered me before I entered college: pollution, war, race, injustice to just name a few. My family told me that I thought about the world too much and advised me to just concentrate on my education, and after four years of college, I have learnt how those exact problems are related to any and every major in this university. Additional to that I have learnt how to address those situations and how to actually make a difference with small steps every single day. What TV shows portray of convicts and lifers is the small percentage of people who still struggle with their ego and are confused about their place in the world. All that some these prisoners have seen since they were born was injustice, hatred and corruption. We are after all a map of our parents right, what happens if your parents abused you, were drug dealers and you have no one else to look up to? How do you expect them to just know how to be civil citizens? I have realized how much we love to collectively destroy a celebrity or person in power just to feed our own ego. The media which is the news, talk shows, movies, video games and music reflect society to the tee and vice versa. While I do not think that all the convicts in prisons should be let loose, I do believe that a good majority of them will be better people than those outside the bars. It is simply amazing to know that these prisoners find their true self and are able to live a peaceful life. There is too much violence, greed, selfishness and hatred built up in today’s world when we are all truly loving and caring, civilized human beings. Maybe all this disproportion will help us realize to get ourselves to actually distinguish (and even learn something) from the animals. We do need to get out of this box that we have seasoned ourselves too. And thanks Sam, for helping us embrace what goes on in the world today and for speeding up our goal of enlightenment.

While many of us will not feel so strongly to become activist or fight for a cause, we all singlehandedly have the ability to choose where our chocolate comes from. That class was education and our decision to pick up fair trade chocolate over a cheap bar of 'human flesh' is not merely a step but the right thing to do.

I think America is doing what it does best, adapting. Since dragon is predicted to be the dominant country of our future, why not know a few words here and there? Maybe we will make a drinking game out of interpreting the Chinese word on fortune cookies without any English hints. I do agree that a large chunk of students pick Spanish for their foreign language, only a few master it and those who do already had a good hold of the language. I would think that only young parents who want their children to be super geniuses would opt for special language classes. But this is amazing to me, the shift towards actually implementing this in public schools. We are always learning fancy names for globalization in international business, be it flat world, semi- globalized world to a post American world. While I am amazed at the execution of this practice so soon, it does not shock me that Chinese is the new black. It is a trend that Americans will incorporate as their own in the next few generations. The introduction of Chinese at an early age will bring more positive results. Having the ability to be bilingual gives them the motivation to understand their own better and even scientifically made it easier to learn other languages without struggle. Mandarin might not be the future language of the world, I agree. Students in China learn English as a required language to communicate with the world better, so why not be respectful and possess the ability to have a small exchange with them? I think it would impress them just with your shot at trying to converse with them like their own. It would get your company that contract faster or open up a whole new way of doing business with them. Maybe the only parents who really are the drivers behind this program are Chinese immigrants themselves and do not want their kids to lose their touch. But then again, that action alone speaks in volumes too. You simply cannot ignore the dragon and shove it under your table. Arabic has already made its little mark on the foreign language scale and Hindi is not too far off being catching on at college curriculums. What public schools do have the biggest impact on America’s economy and predict the future of a staying a superpower. The math, science and foreign language levels can only be built up with more funding and quality resources.

Yes it would be great if everyone were in the humanitarian stage. But we cannot force that on anyone, right? How people get there is the beauty of it, maybe not always. If there was no bad, how could you tell what was good? Just because you want to be good does not mean that you are. Sam’s class is probably a step for people to first think, realize, and be aware. It is pretty damn cool how he does it, open up color to a whole new view of everything around us. It works for some people who are already way up on that ladder but it probably takes some kind of suffering or loss in a person’s life to understand what they truly feel and where the source of those feelings come from. When we were babies we tried to imitate everything our parents did, then we grow up rebelling to everything that they believe in. At that stage we already start to question why and try to find answers. This is good, for you sense you have an identity. Then people tend to grow their identity and finally figure out that it does not matter. It may be hard to understand but we cannot simply learn this in a textbook. Sam maybe trying to throw everything he knows into this class and help us through that process. I think he is that extreme (theories can never be true cause there is not ultimate proof) because nothing else happens to shake us. In this process we may get angry with what we are able to see in front of us, which is why many people get so easily offended in class. Because everything that they have been exposed to was a big trick, books and words will not tell us so easily why we are here. Society as much as it helps us, also conditions our true nature into a stagnant being. With graduation coming up soon, I cannot help but piece all the classes together taken for the past four years and make the connections. It has been the coolest thing learning experience ever. I know though that I still have a lot to learn and see. And I am excited to discover many other new things. Reading and travelling would be my other majors if there was a slot for it in penn state, those would be it. I learnt that the most unconventional ways of learning opened me up to a whole new way of looking at life. We can all aspire to do something great in life, be of service to each other, but first we need to take baby steps to figure out how to get to that state.

So jim5049, it is pretty obvious you like to curse, self-contradict and say a whole lot of nothing. Kind of wondering if you may be right, we should all shut up and sit in silence while a lot of injustice goes around in the world. Even better, we should all just meditate, and maybe that will be a positive step that actually works towards a better world. I see this blog thing as more than a requirement for the class, it helps us ignorant youth realize purpose and be aware of our surroundings. And the whole women bleeding thing, it is a beautiful sign of fertility. My boyfriend even anticipates it more than I do only because he knows the importance of it; yes, it is fascinating to him. We see gore everyday on television and that has a lot of bleeding in it. We even talk about excreting and farting but the monthly cycle sits in complete silence. I am no feminist, I just believe in treating everyone and everything around me fairly. I do hope you think for yourself though for this blog is not about you or me being right but the situation and how it presents itself. But in a way I do give you credit, for helping other people realize who and what they sit amongst. Maybe all these terrible ignorant things that are still happening around us have a reason. I begin to think that this time and day, it pushes us young educated adults to make a difference. We will start treating being genuinely kind, giving, and basically do the right thing. An alarming number of companies now want to go ‘green’ and will adapt not just to the best way but the most ethical way to do it. It is not about multitasking anymore, it is about what you do. It is about having a broader global vision, not just a profitable one. How can you be aware of all these issues and carry on with your life with notions that they do not affect your life? I tell people that I wish that race, lgbt and gender issues were made clearer to me back in school. We all grew up in either large or small biased families, ones that did not let these issues affect them or ones that already were trying to get rid of false stigmas. The only reason I forgive myself for making negative references such as ‘ghetto’ or ‘gay’ in my naïve past is because I simply did not know. We are the seeds of this growth, while my intention is not for everyone to go be activists; the responsibility clearly lies in our hands to raise a better generation to come.

Totally agree and am happy that her parents are so supportive of her. It is still a big deal to their generation. So no wonder the higher ups in that school decided to take such an extreme stand. When people say America, I think there are places in here than are much more backward in thought than many third world countries. There are still volunteers fighting for gay rights every single day just on the streets of New York City. The question is how do we spread the message to the others? How do we undo the years of blatant injustice towards humanity? If a guy did not ask me out to my prom, I would have clearly gone with one of my girlfriends. I have a friend whose mom is still trying to ‘fix’ her. The mom’s a shrink and had a private investigator stalk her daughter’s face book profile. My friend is a straight up butch and her poor mother forcefully drags her to nail salons and spas. My friend is only upset that they had to know so early and obliges only so they pay her tuition for college. This prom incident publicized only brings more support for the young girl than the school. The school’s decision is absurd in these times but only to those who know. The sad part is it kind of develops a negative image of being ‘gay’ to the rest of the kids in the school, so I only hope there are parents who take a stand to undo the damage done. I wish high school discussed issues like race and LGBT, would have definitely benefited a ton, even more than sex education. We would have grown up googling that stuff anyway. The education system has been scrutinized in the past for similar events in the past, one of which claimed that gay teachers were pedophiles or would turn your kids gay. That certainly has been proved wrong. All I can say is that we have to be patient, let them die away. For they simply do not know or are in denial. People in the past have been bonded by religious laws, persecution and lost the right to their voice. They waited; it is only fair that we be a little patient too. In a way maybe these incidents only help those few of us who still struggle to accept LGBT people, to see the stupidity in the situation. It is hard to be brought up by society telling you one thing all your life, and then all of a sudden change. Especially if the situation is not near and dear to you, old habits die hard.

I totally agree with the two videos above. How could you see such a situation blatantly happen right in front of your very own eyes and not let it affect you? The video with the Muslim girl highly disturbed me. As much as I respect the people who stepped up for the lady, I did not think the people who did not budge would get me so upset, ever. Whether or not you are taught to keep away from other people’s business at home, come on seriously, can people not think for themselves? Do you have no conscience?
I am Indian, lived amongst all kinds of religion and color all my life. Terrorist groups always tried to threaten our safety, bomb scares still lie vivid in my mind, temple riots were common, headlines of burning churches are familiar, that’s when I started to question religion. I came to an understanding that organized religion gave people a guide to a lifestyle of what was right or wrong; the core central values are all pretty much the same in my book. But man definitely used it to make his mark and conquer nations. And I do not feel threatened by any of them in particular. It does not matter if you are white, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, black or brown, in every area there are nice people and then they are the crazies. It does not matter where you come from; we are all human and should treat each other with respect. Nothing makes anyone better than the others and your life is not more valuable than the person next to you. It’s utterly horrible to see hypocritical or cynical people around you, especially when your friends act in such a manner. I have always, always stepped up for what I knew was unfair. I have lost friends, gone days without interacting but the same ones have always come back to me and told me that I was the one who ever really did care. And I feel good because I did step up for what was right, else I’d be a miserable person with a few too many regrets. I would want my friends to always act as my check and balance system in life. Just because we are college students now and have that freedom to make our own decisions does not mean we are right. We need to step up to that friend no matter what situation and let them know if they are out of line. If someone in my friend circle ever did do something wrongful to someone else, I would let them know not just stick by them. All that does is let them know that they have support in their wrongdoings. People close to you could always be wrong, be it your parents, spouse or friends.

What Mike explained in the beginning of his post is exactly what went through my mind when I saw it. There are definitely other dating shows out there and are clearly more diverse than this abc's dating show but the whole white thing did not even stand out until a few minutes ago. I also agree that the lame white guys who give the whole team a bad rap are very few in numbers and will isolate themselves in a lifestyle where they are the sole losers. This show is not just catered to the 'older' crowd per say, all my white college roommates and a few other white friends watch this show religiously. I tend to think that television shows are trends. Maybe because I was used to watching shows like with a similar cast in the past, all white shows like 'friends', 'home improvement' or all black shows like 'Fresh Prince of Be lair', I still think that it is normal for some shows to either segregate themselves or sub consciously be in a particular niche market. Society is reflected in media today, so in a way not much has changed. We have very popular and prominent shows like ‘The Office’ or CSI that has diverse casts. But even to this day there are a couple that cater to an all white audience.
I understand that this is just another scripted 'reality' show that our generation feeds on, but I fail to understand where we in what kind of direction this nation is heading with all these shows. Every summer I head back to India and these shows catch on, they have their own series named ‘Roadies’ , ‘Big Boss’ ( which is a British spin off ‘Big Brother’) and more specifically relating to the dating genre of reality television, ‘ Splitsvilla’( A game where there reigns a king and queen and the housemates go through tasks to prove this worthiness) and ‘ The Player’ both dating games which belong to a music channel [V] or vh1. All these games are diverse, at least for India they are. Mind you there is a lot of segregation in India; it matters to a great deal of people if you hail from north, south, east or west part of India, forget that you do not even have to go to a different state to be blown off or turned down. So these shows do not just break the rules of ‘caste or class’ but they go on to point on these differences on national television. What this topic strikes out most is not about race to me the whole idea is degrading the basic concept of a relationship. For money people seem to break every possible personal ethics and value. That said, I think every race will humiliate themselves not just ‘white’ people.

They are the cream of their crop. This marvelous lady will probably get all the help she needs to get rich, because of all the media attention. What happens to everyone else like her? In many underdeveloped countries, this is a familiar occurrence. My grandparent’s driver in India has more contacts and connections than any business person I know. He possesses the eye of a hawk and the memory of let’s not even go there. He stayed with my folks by choice, once the time came he went off and started his business. He stayed with my grandma as he admired her ability to raise five kids and then start an orphanage and a school once they dispersed. He remembered every route, every family friend’s house, every slum area, was friends with every shopkeeper we dealt with, the license plate numbers of everyone we knew, I could go on for days. No matter in what manner he got the exposure, he was smart and nothing stopped him from polishing his natural skills. So yes I agree that they are far too many people like Yvrose Jean Baptiste. But do we fail to realize that they are happy with what they do. It is globally known that being rich does not equal happiness and a majority of the rich tend to be people from the business sector right? If someone wants to get ‘rich’, it is usually to pay medical bills, food and shelter. The people driven by materialism and ching ching are the once who fall prey to the alternate reality portrayed by media. I personally do not think anyone can tell you how to lead a good life. It is all your state of mind, if you enjoy what you do, with the freedom to do it, that’s good life. So bash business people all you want, but they may just want a security blanket to survive in this distant reality we call a good life around the world. Yvotte can beat my ass fair and square any given day or time. There is still a lot for me to learn to even try to reach 1/3 of her skill set. But there is a drive that she possesses that I do not have, I was born with a security blanket, my family and their earnings. As much as my parents do tell me to learn, explore and be smart about my ways, the only real way I learnt was being in a position of being completely broke for a certain period of time. It is not fair though to simply target the business sector in comparison to this. We live in a society that puts a price on life and in general, people seem to be ok with it. What about celebrities, ridiculous tv shows and the consumer wastage? I am just saying this applies to every possible sector be it food, business, healthcare or entertainment.

I am not that appalled as should be. This is just a different form of prostitution. We have people who pay tones of money for phone sex with random people advertised on T.V to just ‘talk’ to. We have blow up dolls and $3000 prostitutes in Europe. This is similar; they just are spending $7000 in one shot. It is absurd but there are so many things out today that do just this, fill needs of people. Why do we assume that only men will buy these toys even though that is their main target segment? This is just form. Seriously, this is expected, there are a minority of people out there who will buy these sexual robots. How well will it really do? Well the porn industry seems to always be booming right?
Women do so many fake things to themselves anyway. I will not be surprised if there are men out there who have had it with psycho women and just want a void filled. Maybe they themselves are crazy and can only attract more craziness. There are a good amount of women who cake on makeup to go to the gym, to do laundry, almost automatically after they brush their teeth, fake tan every day, fake hair extensions and I can guarantee that they are completely crazy. I personally know as many women who will put out on a first date (if you want to call it that) and an equal amount of men who expect it. I also know an equal amount of women and men who have a great deal of self respect, for themselves and people in general. But I digress.
We live in a fast paced society here. Sites like Facebook cut down developing social skills and even create multiple forms of personalities, just google foxynoxy. I’ve always had more male friends and a great little group of female friends my whole life. They have a similar set of morals and values regardless of religion or geographical location. The general consensus would say that men are more sexual than women, false. A good amount of women have a higher drive than a dozen men put together. There are men out there who just want company may be to be a little less lonely. Women are as busy as men nowadays and have broken free from the stigma of being a homebody. That’s great but who is going to fill this mindset of a generation that dictates roles of gender? These guys probably just want someone to talk to with extra perks. All I’ m saying is that there is enough ridiculous, crazy, frightening, demeaning, social skill hindering stuff out there today that makes this completely just another niche market. This is just another way to channel it.