I honestly have no idea what I would do in that situation. I do not think that the answer is just a simple black or white. I feel as though the answer must lie in some sort of happy medium. As Doctor Richards has pointed out time and time again that this land is not our land. The fact is that our ancestors, or at least most of our ancestors, stole this land from the Native Americans. Because of this, our ancestors (and us by extension) are the true definitions of illegal aliens. Due to all of this, is it not hypocritical for us to deny the less fortunate people in the world into our country for a chance to pursue the American dream? Every person has just as much right to try and achieve more for themselves. In fact, one of my friends came to this country as an illegal immigrant. Although since coming the United States he has become citizen, it would have been a shame if he had gotten deported before I could ever become his friend.

On the other hand, there is no way that we can allow immigration to go unmonitored. By allowing whoever wanted to come to America entry, it would only lead to hysteria. Most people who come to this country intend to seek a better life due to being stricken by poverty. Doctor Richards even said himself that if this went on uninhibited that it would only end negatively for the United States of America. No country wants to add to its level of poverty, it could in turn bring a country down as a whole. Also, there is the possibility that unregulated immigration could lead to a serious threat of spreading disease. Even though it is an extreme example, look at the Europeans and when they came to the new world as an example. They brought with them small pox and syphilis which decimated the population of the Native Americans.

I know that I am not an expert on the situation and I am sure that I am missing huge parts to both sides of the argument, pro and con. But never the less, it is undeniable that we can rightfully say that we deserve to be on this land more than anyone else on the planet but if we just let anyone live in this country there could be some serious repercussions. I do not want to say that I would personally turn away anyone that came to this country to seek a better life. That is a life decimating thing to tell someone, frankly, I do not think I would have the heart to do so. But at some point we have to draw the line on who gets to cross the border (no pun intended).

It is funny that you ask that question because I actually very recently was presented with a situation to take advantage of nepotism and, frankly, I am going to take it. As Doctor Richards pointed out the other day, nepotism is a way of life. Most of the time, it is not about the grades you make but it is about the hands you shake. Almost everyone takes advantage of nepotism whether they care to admit it or not. Because of all this I feel as though I would be wasting an opportunity if I did not take advantage of the situation that has presented itself. I feel as though that nepotism is a lot more understandable for all of us, particularly at this age. Right after college it is a lot harder to break into the job market than after having a couple years of work experience.
The downside to all this is that it can affect one’s pride. It can make one feel that he or she does not deserve his or her job and in a sense that is probably true. Just like Doctor Richards pointed out, for every position one acquires through nepotism, there was probably at least one person who was more qualified that did not get the position. It can be tough to think and constantly be reminded of the fact that one did not deserve his or her job. At the same time, that person who did not get the job would have undoubtedly taken advantage of nepotism if given the opportunity; it is a dog eat dog world.
However, I think it is important to acknowledge the situation. If one takes advantage of nepotism, I think that he or she should be very grateful to all the people that helped get him or her there and never forget it. Also, I feel like it is important to not get a false sense of superiority for acquiring a job that was obtained through nepotism because it is so unfair to all of the people who did not get the position.
I admit that the concept of nepotism is completely unfair but that feeling is really diluted when one considers the fact that so many people get their jobs through nepotism. I have worked with people who received jobs through nepotism and some of them were really great at what they did while others were pretty incompetent. It would be great if everybody got all of the various jobs they have throughout their lives based on their own merits, but it simply does not work that way. This is not a perfect world, we have to do our best and not be ashamed to take advantage of all the opportunities that are presented to them.

Personally, I think that Ernso makes a great point at the same time I do not know how to improve the ads that ask for donations. Sympathy is very powerful and that is what these ads are trying to use in order to help. I am an advertising major, not to suggest that makes me an expert on the matter, but it is essential for ads (like the ones done be the American Red Cross) to have a call to action. Actually it demands for a much larger call to action than the average ad does. This is because the people who are paying money are not getting anything in return, it is an act of altruism. Normally if an ad says that you should buy a Coca Cola you are at least getting a soda out of it. These ads are asking for you to give away your money. I want to establish that I in know way mean to suggest that it is bad to ask or to give donations, I am merely suggesting that it is harder to get people to comply with an ad that asks for a donation. So, since the call of action needs to be great in order to receive donations there has to be a sense of disparity, a sense of urgency. Pictures that depict sadness, poverty and the wounded do just that; they demand attention.
At the same time, I see Ernso’s point completely. First of all, he does not want his nation to be pitied. As Ernso showed all of us, Haiti is capable of greatness. All of the entrepreneurs that we have seen have made a lot from nothing and that is beyond impressive. Ernso also made it very clear to all of us on several occasions that he was not asking for hand outs for himself or any of the people there. He is asking for assistance.
Also, there is something about these ads that Ernso did not point out. These ads that we see to help Haiti with all of the depressing pictures are the same as every other charity that asks for donations. The ads that the American Red Cross made for Haiti and the ads they are airing for Japan presently are almost interchangeable. But this tactic is used by most non-profit organizations, even animal shelters. At some point the ads will have to differentiate themselves because if everyone uses the same tactic, it is no longer a call to action but more like promoting the idea that disparity is everywhere. If it does not promote disparity being everywhere it will then promote skepticism, making people assume that the situation that these organizations are providing aid for are less that legitimate. That is the last thing that we want for Haiti. At the same time, I have no idea how to get around this.

Honestly I would have to say that the info about the opposite sex was more enlightening than the info about my own gender, male. I honestly do not feel like I learned too much about the male gender. As a member of the male gender, I agreed with pretty much everything they said about us but not much was a surprise because I have been a male for over 21 years. However, I thought it was pretty funny how they said that guys were “high maintenance” because of their need for sex when the stigma is usually that girls are “needy” or “clingy”. I thought that was an interesting point that I never thought of. This was disturbingly revealed in the discussion of the Richards’ sex life, something I think I could have done without

As for what they revealed about the female gender, I thought that it was very revealing. I am pretty sure everything they said was sexually threatening to every guy in the room. Look at when they said that the majority of women have never experienced an orgasm through penetration or when Doctor Richards and his wife exposed the sexual naivety of men. Most of the women in the class clapped at these statements, meanwhile every man, heterosexual man rather, in the class sank in their chairs. There were some things though that I already knew, I just never really thought about it, if that makes sense. For example, the way we dress. Guys are always comfortable in their clothes and girls are dressed in a way that takes a lot of effort to prepare and maintain. Obviously we all know this. We see girls on their way to parties, they are all dressed in clothes that are much more visually appealing than they are warm and comfy which is a huge commitment, especially in a town as frequently cold as this. Guys are the exact opposite, they usually are wearing baggy collared shirts, if not a tee shirt, and that is combined with baggy jeans and comfortable sneakers. That is a huge day to day advantage that I have been overlooking for a long time.

Right after the lecture, I felt as though something was left out of it. The entire lecture seemed to focus on the presence and absurdity of the male standard, which I totally get and agreed with. But when I got out of the class I started talking to my friends, who are girls, and said that there is also a female standard. Guys open doors for girls, they pay for dinner and drinks. Upon saying this, I was immediately torn apart verbally and it is safe to say that I no longer see a female standard.

I feel guilt all the time for being white, it feels weird to actually write it, but I do. To be honest this class has added to that guilt greatly. Until Doctor Richards brought it up, I had never heard anyone talk about feeling guilt for being a certain race. I feel it for a lot of reasons but they all stem from me feeling as though I do not deserve the things that I have when I put other people into consideration.
First, you have the Native Americans. My family has traces its lineage all the way back to the May Flower. I know that my ancestors, at least some of them, were around for the genocide of the indigenous people of this continent. What is more, is that I feel guilt because the land that I call home, is not really mine and no matter how much I call it home does not negate that fact that it was stolen.
There are the things that occur in other countries that are unfair. Take the slavery on the Ivory Coast for the production of chocolate as an example. So many people are denied basic human rights and most of us have chocolate a few times a week. I am no more human than they are; I do not deserve freedom any more than anyone there does and yet I have it. How can I not feel guilty?
Then there are the unfair advantages that are given to whites today in this country (many of which I discovered this semester in this class). Because of this advantages, I feel guilt knowing that at least some of what I have is undeserved. I am referring to things like the uneven distribution of wealth among races in this country. There were many things done in the past, the ripples of which have effects on this (such as the racially uneven allocation of the G.I. bill after World War Two). Then there are the things that are done today that give whites an unfair advantage. Evidence of this was shown in class when Doctor Richards told us about how resumes with “white names” were more likely to get positive responses than resumes with “ethnic names”. This was also shown when Doctor Richards told us about how in interviews, interviewers were more likely to be closer to potential white employees than any other race. Doctor Richards then revealed that there was a positive correlation with how close the interviewer and the interviewee were and with getting the job. I know that Doctor Richards has told everyone to avoid feeling guilty, but when you are given an unfair advantage that puts down other races, how can you not?

I do not think that there are that many people out there who would argue that our resources (for example: food, oil, etcetera) are limitless. I think where all the arguments starts is exactly when these important resources will run out. Only when people think that these resources are really in immediate danger are they most likely to make drastic changes to their lifestyle to accommodate. The catch 22 about that is that action should be taken well before the last possible second. Not only that, our responsibility to appropriately manage these resources is a shared one and because of that, since so many people are to blame if a problem arises, people are less likely to take individual action. This mentality stops people from actually “doing their part”. Compare it to a nation-wide election. It creates the feeling in one’s mind that there is no possible way that one’s vote for either party or lack of vote will make a difference in the long run. The same goes for how we manage our resources. One may feel that it is not possible for him or her to have a great impact on the environment.
In addition to that, I personally feel, we need to get out of the mentality that protecting our resources and our environment for that matter is only an individual effort. Do not get me wrong, everyone should do what they can to make sure that they do not overuse or waste resources, but there are also steps that big businesses and governments need to take. The same environmentally friendly tasks that we are all told to make (fluorescent light bulbs and what have you) should be required of big businesses like target and khols. Ten pounds of garbage is produced, a lot of which can be recycled, by businesses that make and sell goods for every one pound that the average American throws away. That is partially due to the fact that the government is not doing all it can to make sure businesses manage their resources properly, as opposed to cutting corners. This, combined with the fact that the United States consists of only five percent of the world’s population but produces over thirty percent of its garbage, shows us that this country has a problem with over consumption and needless waste of our resources.
As for how many kids we should be allowed to have, I think that is kind of shaky ground. I know that the population is expected to grow rapidly and that is a threat to our vital resources. But at the same time, it is our God given right to have children and I think that would be incredibly hard to monitor and enforce, especially in this country that prides itself on freedoms.

I have always approved of affirmative action. I never thought it was unfair, although I think sometimes it is abused (for lack of a better word) here and there but that is bound to happen and I’ll get to that later. I think that is a necessary attempt to make of for the unfair advantage that white people have over other races. It is a means to even the playing field and I have known that but I had never seen the stats or heard the facts to prove that white people had an advantage until Doctor Richards class. It confirmed what I already knew and I would have to say that I am even more in favor of affirmative action now that I have seen and heard all this. Think about the most recent lecture, when Doctor Richards uncovered that research was done on white people conducting interviews. It was found that white people were more likely to sit further away from the people being interviewed if they were of a different race or if they were handicapped. That is terrible and without anyone even making a conscious decision, people with white skin got an unfair advantage. As a white person, hearing all this makes me feel guilty. I do not want to feel that I am receiving benefits that I do not deserve.

However, like all things, I think affirmative action is not without its flaws. For example, I have an Asian friend in the same major as me. His father is also in the same field, so my friend already has some advantages (via contacts, experience, etc.) at the gate. Also, he is more financially well to do that I am. But he is also in a minority program for our major. This gives him access to lectures and seminars, along with a conference in New York that gave him a chance to interview with several companies. Now that is great, I am happy for him. But it seems to me that he already had a couple advantages over me and affirmative action added to the list. But stuff like that happens. I can very easily live with some people getting the help they do not need through affirmative action because I know that it is helping so many people who actually need it. Another problem with affirmative action that I never thought about, until lecture today, is that it does not always take poor white people into account. That is a real drag, especially since I just found out that about half the people in poverty are white. So I guess more changes need to be made in that regard but in the long run affirmative action does it is best to help fix an unfavorable situation.

I know Doctor Richards told us not to feel guilt about our situation today and that guilt is a terrible thing, but I still can’t help but feel guilty. If I remember correctly, Doctor Richards told us that presently there are about 29 million slaves in the world and that it is a number unprecedented in slavery. Meanwhile we are free to do whatever we want and we constantly purchase items to benefit ourselves that were made in at least some way by slavery.
What is even worse is that I do not even know how to help. When Doctor Richards told us about the source of the chocolate he gave us, I refused to eat it. But then he pointed out that it is nearly impossible to completely avoid chocolate for the rest of our lives. Then he pointed out that the best way to stop these companies like Hershey and Nestle is by actually buying chocolate because by not buying it the price of chocolate is driven down which only exacerbates the problem. He said that the best thing would to be to buy our chocolate (and other products for that matter) that is specified as “fair-trade”. But honestly how long can I keep that up. The list that Doctor Richards showed us in class, the one that displayed all the products that in some way are made by slaves, was utterly massive. How can I make sure that when I buy any of those things from now on are designated as fair trade goods? And even after all that, can I afford it? I am willing to spend twice as much on chocolate if it means that slavery was not a source, but what if I have to double the amount I pay for everything I buy? This only makes me feel more guilty because since we are doing so much better than a lot of other people in the world what right do I have to not splurge to do my part to end slavery.
But even if I do my part, will that actually change anything? If from now on I do everything in my power to make sure that everything I buy is a fair trade good what is to say that the other 700 people in the class will. And that is only amongst the people in our class, the people who actually now know about this tragedy. So now compare that to the entire country. Will any of these companies feel the effect of one consumer who stops purchasing their products? So is it really worth the inconvenience if nothing ends up changing? I hate that this problem exists and what I hate even more is how I do not know how to change it.

I would say that, like with anyone, both determinism and free will have led to where I am. When it comes to determinism I would say that I am in a good position. I am lucky enough I do not have to pay for tuition while I know that there are several Penn State students that have to have a job or multiple jobs so that they can attend school. For that, I do appreciate how fortunate I am, and I am grateful. Also, I would say that my parents have had huge influence over me, as they have with my brother. Since you do not choose your parents I would say that this would fall under determinism as well. As much as I do not like to admit it, their personalities have rubbed off on me; I have similar mannerisms and a similar sense of humor to my parents. These similarities probably led me down the path I have chosen in college and are the reasons for me being an advertising major while my father works in advertising. Also, before I decided to be an advertising major, I toyed around with the idea of becoming an elementary school teacher and, coincidentally, my mother is a first grade teacher. But now that I have switched majors, I assume that having a father in the same field probably puts me at an advantage and I will probably try and play the cards that I have been dealt when the time comes. So I will not deny that determinism has had a huge effect on my life and I feel some guilt admitting it because I know that I have received some advantages that were not due to any skill or determination on my part.

At the same time free will has greatly affected my life. I got the right grades and SATs to get into Penn State, like all of us in this class. And, just like everyone else, I could have tried harder or done less and that would have led to me going to a different school. I also got a scholarship from an essay I wrote which paid for a chunk of my tuition which I could have opted not to do. Each internship I have had has always been acquired through my own merit. I have had to make the right portfolio to get the jobs and I sought them out on my own. Hopefully, these will beef up my resume and help me in my eventual job hunt and I can say with confidence that I earned them. In the end, even though part of where I am is due to my own actions, I think it is a shame that a good portion that determinism has had such an affect on it. It is upsetting that people can’t have an equal shot at everything life has to offer. It really makes you rethink how everyone is entitled to the American Dream.

I think that things will get better in terms of racial equality. For all I know racism will always be an issue but I think that things will get better... at the very least I hope they do. But look at how far we have come. The Civil War ended in 1865… think about that. That is about 150 years ago. When you think about it, it was not that long ago when slavery existed in this country. Beyond that, look at the civil rights movement. It has only been about 50 years since African Americans were not allowed to attend the same schools as white children, or use the same facilities in some parts of this country. Since then we have even elected a mixed raced president. I feel like in the grand scheme of things, those are some major societal changes in a very short amount of time. So where will we be in 50 more years?

I am not trying to suggest that racism is no longer an issue; I am saying that we have made progress as a society and I hope we continue to do so. In a perfect world, racism would immediately cease to exist, but that is not the way that people are. If someone feels that another group of people are unequal to him or herself, I bet it is incredibly hard to change. If one decides that one set of people are truly inferior to another, I doubt that there is anything sensible that can be said to convince him or her otherwise because beliefs are almost indestructible. Try thinking of looking at it the other way around. Imagine the argument someone would have to make to convince you that certain races were not equal to yours. There is probably nothing they could say to convince you of that, because it is your belief. For that reason I think that inequality does not disappear from person to person but instead it fades, albeit gradually, with the coming of new generations. On the other hand, it is a real shame when a parent passes down his or her hatred onto a child.

In the end, I think the main reason why racism exists is because people are afraid of what is different. People have fought over religion and race for centuries, why? It is because people feel the need for everyone to be like them. Which is ridiculous because when you get down to it, as we discussed in class, we are all barely genetically different. But as cultures begin to come together I think that we realize that we are not that different and that there is nothing to fear and nothing to hate. In fact, we are all 99.99 percent the same.