Sam’s lecture on Tuesday really made me think deeper in to the war going on in the Middle East. I honestly didn’t know much about it until Tuesday’s class. The little knowledge I did have of it and the perspective I have had has definitely altered once hearing Sam’s perspective on it. I never really understood why other countries (some at least) have had such a negative outlook on the United States and Americans. Countries like Iraq we have helped greatly in the past and they still don’t really like us. Then, after seeing the videos in class it all made so much more sense. The video of the American Soldiers driving someone off the road just for fun shocked me. It makes it clearer why some of the people in Iraq might not care for Americans too much. Think about if they came over here and did that to innocent civilians? I would have a negative opinion on them too. That careless, reckless behavior which has no logic behind it is why the entire country has a negative view of us. A few soldiers acting like that has constructed the opinions of thousands. Once people watch that video, even Americans like myself think poorly of them. People who aren’t educated on this behavior and then watching that video can only form an opinion on the behavior they have just witnessed. The other video of all the violence in Islam also changed my opinion. Once again, I wasn’t educated on the race and culture of Islamics as much as some other people but when asked the poll question about the amount of violence in the Islamic Culture, (or in any culture for that matter) I just put no because I had no idea. Then, watching videos of them holding up posters saying people should be slaughtered if they spoke badly about Islamics or watching all the violence and bombing and aggression that takes place, of course my opinion is going to change because I am sitting there witnessing the violence that goes on through a video. If people from other countries watched videos of Americans acting like that, they would think the same thing. The videos really helped me understand and become aware of the violence and unnoticed behavior that goes on in the war and other cultures. It didn’t necessarily change my view of the war since I didn’t really know much about it in the first place, but rather helped me open my eyes to other people’s perspective. It made me realize why Iraqis don’t like us, and educated me on the violence that takes place in other cultures that I would have never known before listening to Sam and watching those videos.

Throughout this whole scandal, I have learned that no matter what the situation is, if i ever see something that is wrong and i should intervene, that i should feel is right to do so. During our class lessons and watching the videos, I feel seeing the woman who was a “thief”, no one really did the right thing. Everyone (mostly men) who were citizens just walked by her or tried to help for the wrong reasons. The same principles applied to the Sandusky scandal. Yes, Joe Pa turned to the authority because that was the right thing to do. He turned to his higher ups and followed protocol because that is what the law requires. At the same time, he should not have fully trusted the trustees above him to take control and do the right thing. Because of this, Joe Pa was punished because of his actions to always trust the people above him to do the right thing. From there, the media took it into their own hands to publicly punish Joe Pa for things they had no idea about. The media thrived on the negative feedback without knowing all the facts before publicizing the information they had been given. Personally, before I left for Thanksgiving break, the camera crews were still there. They want to follow a story that potentially could continue yet they only follow the story because it has a slight chance in denting the university’s reputation. There is no new story to cover or information to relay to the public but because of the name “Penn State” the news and media crews do not leave the university just in case there is a story to cover. The public and media are judging before all of the true facts are uncovered. The riot that involved 1,0000 students was covered for days. Yet the silent candlelight vigil for the victims that 10,000 students attended was not covered half as much as the riot. Why do you think this is? Maybe because all the viewers on ESPN wants to see a replay of a riot rather than the candlelight vigil that over a quarter of he campus went to. The number two school in American went to this candlelight vigil but the media thrives on the fact that not even 1,000 students participated in riot that was bound to happen when the Board of Trustees decided to announce on a Friday night that they were firing Paterno over the phone. If anything you could of done it that morning when you knew students wouldn’t protest or riot but instead you did it during the night when you anticipated students to protest. I don’t disagree with the decision but I knew students would react this way.

I personally don’t see my family that much, but as Sam said, we of all people don’t know how common it is to be sexually abused. My family, such as my mom, cousin, aunt, uncle’s voices could never be heard because of the reactions that come from sexual abuse, For example, my mother worked at a health club when she was 22 years old. She was helping an elderly man when he was 60 years old (he was recovering from a hip operation). She was helping him into a therapy tank when he turned and kissed her inappropriately on the lips. She never told her parents because she was scared of the outcome. After speaking to my mother about this subject matter that happened thirty years ago, i never thought anything of this. Now that I actually talked to her about it, I began to think about Sam’s perspective on life. He admitted that there was someone in your family that has been sexually harassed that we have never known about. As I was listening to this lecture, I wast thinking to myself that this could never been true. I realized while I was listening that maybe this thought could actually be accurate. It was then that I turned to my own mother and actually heard the story that changed my whole life perspective. When Sam told the class that he GUARANTEED that the entire class’s family had experienced sexual abuse/harassment that it could NOT be accurate. I thought I knew my whole family’s background and that I knew that no matter what my mother/aunt/cousin could never experience sexual abuse or any type of encounter without telling me. Little did I know my own mother was keeping secrets from me that I never knew about. She never admitted to me about her own sexual experience until I asked about the subject. The fact that you think you are aware about your own family (especially your own mother that gave birth to you) and then when you dig deeper into the subject and actually analyze what is really going on around you), you realize that you can be so oblivious to the little things that go on around you. I never in a million years would guess or even assume that my own mother would ever experience sexual harassment whether it is the environment she grew up in or the one she lives in now. Now I realize it is neither. She actually experienced this harassment from the environment she worked in. She was experiencing her daily job when she initially experienced this harassment. The scariest part is that I wasn’t even there or able to be there to protect her. The fact that nobody significant was there to protect her really scares me.

I feel like I have been living in a nightmare the past few days. Between reading the jury report, the termination of Joe Pa, the riots, and all the other chaos that has been happening, it truly saddens me this tragedy has made such an impact effect on us as Penn State students. I believe we will rise again, and heal with time, but as of right now there are many difficulties we must face until that time comes. I thing it is absurd that people who do not go here or who are not educated on the subject voice their judgmental opinions all over the social media. People are calling our school “the rape school”, people are accusing us of trying to support the crime of child abuse, people are associating us with Sandusky’s actions and it just isn’t right. We as students have no affiliation with that one individual who made poor choices yet somehow 42,000+ students are suffering from the consequences. I have heard multiple seniors in my class who were offered three or four job offers. One girl informed the class that she had four job offers when she graduated. After all that has gone on, two of them called her back and told her they didn’t want her working for them anymore. Another guy in my class told us that he was supposed to work for a company who emailed him saying he wasn’t needed anymore. I believe right now this really does have an effect on the value of our degrees or anything else Penn State’s name is behind. As much as I don’t want to say this but what if it affects THON? There will surely be some of those people who will now not be as generous or supportive when it comes to donating or helping out with THON because of the reputation Penn State has at the current moment. Every event that happens in Penn State is tied together, whether we want it to be or not just like Sam said. The worst part is is that the media has a huge part in why we are being so negatively affected. They have not left for 3 days now and are waiting for someone to do something stupid or waiting for us to show our anger on a camera so it brings more negative attention on our university. The riots got a little violent when the van got tipped over or the lamp posts got knocked down, but the media has it looking like we have been violently rioting non stop for two days straight now. ESPN called us ignorant children and a disgrace. Of course when we are called names like that on national television people can be easily convinced that this is true. But it’s not true. We need to come together and show all the media how wrong they are. WE ARE still Penn state students and proud of it. There is so much positive that comes from this school that we need to bring that out to make people forget the negative that one man has created. One man doesn’t define Penn State. He is not Penn State. WE ARE Penn State.

My opinion about people speaking other languages varies. They are a few factors that play into it. One is where I am. If I am walking down the street and hear people having a conversation with one another speaking in another language, it doesn’t phase me at all. I know a good amount of french and a little spanish so sometimes if I hear people speaking either one of those languages I will even go up to them and try to see if I can understand what they are saying. I think it’s interesting to learn other languages or try and pick apart the words I can and cannot comprehend because I find it useful. If I am going to study abroad one day or go to another country on business I need to have a minimal understanding of other languages. The spanish language is becoming so popular in America that it would only benefit me to learn more and more of it. So when I hear two people walking down the street or in the same room I am in speaking to each other in their own conversation, those types of situations don’t bother me at all. The situations that bother me is when I feel excluded because of the fact that two people are speaking a different language around me. For instance, when I go to the nail salon and the chines or korean men and women who are doing my nails are talking. I know I am not the only girl who feels this way. The reason why it bothers me so much is because it is so blatantly obvious that they are talking about me personally. They will look at me or point to my hands or feet and just laugh or start their own conversation about them. Then they will keep looking at me to see whether I have caught on or not at the fact that they are talking about me in front of my face. It actually makes me feel awkward. My friends and I always talk about how we want to learn the chinese or korean language just to walk in a nail salon and sit down and listen to what they really have to say then say something back to them in that same language. They just assume that I don’t know their language either. I know it’s not likely at all, but what if I was bilingual and knew exactly what they were saying? They don’t think about that; they just carry on conversation right in front of my face and don’t even try and start a conversation with me. That is really the only time I find it irritating when other people talk in a different language in front of me or around me.

I feel to this day that racism is more alive than ever. To me, racism is the discrimination of different races and nationalities that can be on a personal level, or based off the stereotypes that society has created. Although blatant racism isn’t as accepted anymore like it has been in the past, the roots of racism still lie under the surface with people, whether intentional or not. People can claim they are not racist at all, never discriminate or affiliate against anybody else outside of their own race, but in the back of their mind it still exists whether they act on it or not. It’s the little stereotypes that have collectively built up to make us think this way. For example, when you walk past a computer lab, what kind of people do you expect to see? Asians. When a white girl is walking home alone in her dress and heels from a night out and a big black man is walking behind her, she would tense up up a little bit more than if a scrawny white man was the one who was behind her. Whether she tries to make her feel this way or not, it’s inevitable. We all seem to be somewhat uncomfortable with any human being that is outside our race for some reason. We all stick to our own so to speak. Walking down the street, wherever it may be, it is most likely you will see a group of people walking together that are the same race. Whether it may be asians, african americans, caucasians, indians, etc., these groups walk together because they are the same on the outside. Being with people of the same race provides comfort in any environment. This may not technically be racism, but it indicates that we sure aren’t fully comfortable with people outside of our race. Even if we associate ourselves with people of a different race or have friends that are a different nationality, we still are most comfortable with the people that share the same race as our own. A minor form of racism that again can be intentional or not is when we speak to others and associate them with their color. For instance, talking about a guy across the room, instead of saying “that man”, in order to describe who he is we more likely than not will say “that black man” or “that white guy”. We distinguish who we are talking about with the color of their skin. Why do we do this? Equality within races does not fully exist, and even though we don’t purposefully try and establish a separation between races, using statements like this to describe a person we are talking about is a small form of racism that we aren’t even typically aware of. It is very much still alive and I notice little things like this occur everyday.

I think almost everybody finds themselves using unnecessary racial labels at some point or another. Whether it is telling a story and saying, “yeah there was this black guy” or “there were these Mexicans”. The main point of the story doesn’t even have to be centered around these people, but that’s how when we give a description of people, a popular way of doing this is by describing their race. We probably don’t even realize we are doing it half the time. I unintentionally have caught myself saying that and have felt bad because I don’t like associating people by race because I don’t want to sound at all racist or sound like I am trying to discriminate. In class the other day my friend was pointing across the classroom to try and show me who was talking in the microphone because I couldn’t see and I asked, “oh that white guy over there?” not even realizing that I put a racial label on a simple question trying to identify someone. Although some people unintentionally do this, I also think that some people use racial labels unnecessarily on purpose. When talking about the stages in class, the class got to share some personal stories of how they have experienced these different stages. One guy shared the first time he was called a racial slur from people he didn’t even know. He was called a ‘spick’ and that actually blew my mind. People, even complete strangers can use words to try and insult us. But for what reason? Does it make them feel better about themselves? I just can’t imagine saying a word like that to someone I don’t even know. Especially after learning in class that appearance is such a small factor when it comes to race. One of my best friends is Hispanic but you would never be able to tell because her skin color is paler than mine. No one would ever call her a spick because no one would even know she had any type of Hispanic back round just by looking at her. I think there is also a lot of outside influence as to why we unnecessarily associate each other with racial labels. Racial slurs are used so commonly now in movies, songs, and TV shows. The media has put the racial labels so out in the open that people use this as an example in their everyday lives. Even as children, if they hear a word in a movie or watch a TV show that is correlated with race, they will pick up on it and think this is acceptable to say. In songs there are always racial labels being said usually correlating between black and white people. When these words are used so commonly, we pick up on them and use them unnecessarily to associate people when we really don’t have to.

This video also astonishes me. You always hear stories about people like that or see them on TV shows, but this documentary is much more real. determinism and freedom play a huge role into Abby and Brittany’s lives. I think if we were to compare determinism and freedom though, determinism triumphs. Yes Abby and Brittany have decisions they make such as how much detail they want to share with the world about their unique lifestyle. They choose not to go on TV or shows and answer questions about their situation and they have chose what friends they have and who they talk to. However, there are a lot of things in their lives that are out of their control. Even if they dislike or like being a conjoined twin, they didn’t choose to be like that. There are so many things in their lives that they have to sacrifice by being conjoined as one. They have no control over the fact that they have to pick a career that they both agree or that they will never be alone or that they have to do every little task in life together or that they will never have two sets of everything. They had so many things already chosen for them that they can’t control. Now that they are given this lifestyle, their choice is how to deal with it and how to manage living like this. For 16 year old girls, I must say that they are pretty positive about the whole situation it seemed. I don’t know if that was just for the camera or if they really are that high in spirits all the time. I could not imagine living that lifestyle. Those girls are so strong and I admire them so much for how they live. I think a lot of difficulties will come later in life like what was mentioned at the end of the video about being hired for a career, or splitting salary, or starting a family. These girls are forced to agree on a job that they both enjoy and want to make a living out of because technically they will be hired as one. Another surprising but yet so interesting part of the video was watching the girls drive a car. They are so coordinated and in sync with one another that they can actual operate one vehicle as two people. It blows my mind that these girls are only 16 years old and seem pretty mature and collected about the way they live. I’m glad that it seems they have a lot of friends and people who support them even though they stand out and are unique. I hope that nobody in life treats them differently just because they look different. I understand turning your head because it’s not something you see everyday, but I hope they never face discrimination or unequal treatment just because they are different.

Girls tend to compete with each other whether it is said allowed or not. Even with their friends, they are constantly in competition to look just as good as if not better than the girls around them. If one girl stands out in the group or gets the most attention from guys, jealousy evolves within the other girls. You almost never see a group of girls on Halloween where all of the girls are dressed slutty except for one. Women just have a completely different standard when it comes to dressing up to go out or on holidays than men because that’s what society has made it into.

There has been a standard set to women of what to wear and how to look in order to gain the attention of the opposite sex. Men on the other hand do not have this standard. Men dress however they want when they go out or on the certain holidays where women are assumed to dress skanky. Men can go out and be comfortable and still look good without being expected to wear certain clothing. Also, I think the reasoning behind this is different than women’s. As mentioned earlier, women dress this way primarily to seek men’s approval and attention. Although men I’m sure want to look good for women, I believe they also do it for themselves. As long as they know they look good, they can wear whatever and go out in confidence. Even if a woman is self-conscious, she most likely will still go out in almost nothing because she would have even more attention upon her if she didn’t. I think there is a big competition when it comes to women dressing like this as well.