I understand how easy it is for people to say what do I have to worry about other people, when they are going through struggles about the university sending you notices about paying your tuition; however, I can also understand how insensitive that may be. We all fall victim of it, myself included. Since we are in such a fast pace world it is hard not to fall victim to it. We all just need to take time to acknowledge others around the world and step outside of our big box. I remember talking about this “why should we care” subject earlier in the semester with Native Americans. Except this event was an unfortunate event that happened in Haiti. I know I have an answer that is right to me but may not be to everyone, which is to help in any way that is convenient to you. Because what people do not realize is every little bit helps, and if everyone helps in small parts there will be a big outcome. I would love to go to Haiti and help them rebuild their economic economy as well as their neighborhoods. Also 300,000 people is a lot, I mean Hurricane Katrina displaced tens of thousands of people too, and to this day people still have not bounced back. I feel we have a need to acknowledge these people and help them in ways that will not only help them but help rebuild their communities. I never thought that we were crippling them. I know the old saying give a man fish he will eat 1 day, teach man to fish he will eat forever, and that is what our guest was speaking about on Tuesday, which makes a whole lot of sense than giving them everything. In addition, to recognizing we need to not be so quickly to forget about them. As references were made to September 11th terrorist attacks, 100 more times people died and 2.5million of the people were displaced in the earth quake in Haiti, and yet because September was an American tragedy we will always remember, not to say that is any more or less important. Just asking the question why is the reason we remember things that happen close to home or sole to American and not others. I also have a theory which may not be true or it may be, anyways my theory is that if you build someone else up it you are intentionally build yourself up too, and the end result will be that you will do better as well the other party. After Haiti took over their colony back if the United States was to recognize them as they should have Haiti would be thriving thus saving us money and everyone would be better or off. I don’t know I just feel like everything that America is so corrupt and everything is based around lies or not whole stories, and that everyone is out for their own benefit. As an ending point Sam said his point is not to make us feel guilty about being Americans or hating out country or its leaders but to get a different aspect, but I can’t help myself from feeling that way.

This is a good question. In addition with the rest of my classmates I have been pondering the same question; however, while some may call his views or point bullshit I do not. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and for someone to say I am still going to think like I am is ignorant of them. I mean really how can you go through sixteen weeks of this and not think differently or at least say ah, I never though about it that way. But anyway I do not agree with everything Sam says, and sometime I think with the rest of the class that he is a tad crazy or high on something but he does make some really good points. It is not like he is pulling this stuff out of his ass. He is giving us factual information well some of it is factual. He is giving us real life situations and thing we will need in the future. As he says everyday “this is the best class of the semester”. LOL I do not honestly believe you can leave Sam’s class and not take anything unless you identify with some of the topics he discusses. I mean I am no one to judge but I do not know, I guess I just expect that we are in college and we should take advantage of all the education we receive. But I guess some proved me wrong the day the text situation went wrong SMH to that crap. The first day of class or the second I cannot remember, he said he is not here to change our views but to get us to think in a different way or to open up our minds to the world. And yes I do understand many do not take him or what he says seriously but in the in that is their problem. But they should respect his views and him
But as I was saying before, I honestly to take to heart what Sam says even about the “bleeding”, and with the books it is a really interesting class. Even though sometimes I’d wish he would shut up and let us leave. We are not suppose to take what he says as the bible and run with it, but we should consider it, do a little more research ask questions etc. I say take what he says for a grain of salt, but take something, do not deny him of his knowledge. He is here to stimulate our mind dammit! And he is doing it so get over it if you do not like what he says you should have audited the class and kept it moving.

I don’t necessary think it “lowers” the quality of medical assistance, law advice or what ever field a person who receives affirmative action is giving. The whole purpose of affirmative action is to level the playing filed not get people who are not qualified into positions. Yes it may seem like it sometimes but it isn’t always like that. Because of discrimination they came up with this whole affirmative action plan any. The person asking the question makes it seem as if all people who receive affirmative action are incompetent or something. When ever a professor curves an exam that could be a sort of affirmative action and everyone benefits from it, depending on how much you benefits depend on you. I highly doubt that doctors who are not some what qualified enough to be doctors are doctors because of affirmative action, yes they may have been accepted into medical school because of it; however, just like you have to take the Bar exam to be licensed as a lawyer you have to take the a medical exam and get licensed too. There may be a correlation between affirmative action and the quality of services you receive from people, but I highly doubt that it is very significant, especially when we really found out who are the greatest benefiters from affirmative action.
This sounds like another excuse to try and put certain groups of people down. Affirmative is just a foot in the door anyway, it is not like you will be helped by affirmative action all your life. and this thing about nepotism I do really see the point that Sam was trying to make but I believe it is fine to me as long it is in a real significant position; for example like if we were not a democratic nation all our presidents, kings prime ministers, or whoever would be in the same family or they would all be related and they would all help each other to stay in power, like in Cuba. In a sense it is not fair but just like Sam said what do they tell us you will be able to get a job anywhere because Penn State’s alumni network is so big. Nepotism equals networking. So we should still be able use it and not feel guilty about it, unless it is done to me. LOL I know that is contradicting myself but hey we would all be pissed off honestly if it happened to us. But back to Affirmative action, we should not assume that people who qualify from it are any less than people who do not qualify from it, because remember it is only by chance that you are born into the family you were in and the class etc etc.

Two snaps for Laurie. Yeah, I personally am not ashamed to talk about my period, my rag, or Eva as I call her frequently. I did not make it to class on Tuesday, but I got the gist of what Sam was referring today. Everybody does not get what Sam was referring to on another level, but I do, though I may not agree with everything he has sad, I do understand. Denying the acknowledgement of a woman’s period, is denying her, her womanhood. Because “it” is apart of us, it is kind of unconsciously discriminating against women. Yeah many may not think so, but I know plenty of time men in my life would ask me “what is wrong with you Leeanne?” and I’d respond “I am on my period.” And they respond like oh. As if it was insignificant to their life. Which is true but, if I’d said my mother had died or my pet was ran over by a car they’d have more sympathy for me. Sam is not asking Men to listen to women talk about their periods all day every day, but be more open to the conversation, just like the conversation of race.
I remember there was a time where I hated being a woman because of this “curse” as I called it. I knew once upon a time I’d trade being a woman for being a man in a heart beat just to avoid this once a month ritual. There would be no more accidents, no more cycle changing, and since I have a bleeding disorder no more spending money for the “ultra pearls” LOL, yeah I can laugh about it now, but before I was crying inside, “like why can’t I be a boy!” But since I have grown older I have embraced my womanhood (all except having babies) and learned to deal, with it. The point Sam made is not I nor should any other woman have to go through this journey in private or the world should not pretend that this issue does not exist.
Jumping back to comparing the conversation of periods and race, if more people were open about this subject, only God, or who ever you believe in will know how the world will be. Being open period about out feeling and what ever is on our mind is healthy. In Sam’s voice, all you men out there one day you may be a single father and you may have to talk to your teenage girl about periods, tampons, or pads and if that day comes how will you be able to help her if you are not open to the conversation. Just a little food for thought for all the grossed out men out there!

Ok so the whole point I would like to make is that what the “white people” said and the “black people” were different. Not in a sense that one was more wrong that another, which I believe they were, but when white people specifically white males were responding were uncalled for and not answering the questions posed. Yes some black people were saying inappropriate things like “white girls need to throw away their uggs”, but I do not recall anybody using racial slurs, or downing the character of white people. And as for talking about Sam’s wife in a demeaning way I do not care if Sam was not offended; because as a woman that was uncalled for and it really pissed me off. I was pissed to see some of the things on the screen, and know that the majority of people did not have the balls enough to say them out loud. And honestly that is the worst part, as Sam said he this was not anonymous some of the things would not have been said, but since no one knew anyone’s identity anything and everything was fair game. Personally I rather someone be racists in my face, than behind my back, oh yeah that just might be against the law so people sit back behind the shades and act like immature assholes. It just appalled me how immature these people are. It is sad too. One major different between white and black people are if you were to ask a black person to express their feeling outside they would express them, but on average a white person would not. And as Sam told us this is because when white people come to the race table they shut down and they do not know how to have the conversation or they do not want to be labeled as racists. But forget the race table this is class where people want to be immature white and black and they think it is cute. I personally believe, if racial slurs are not coming out of your mouth every five words, how can you be racist, unless you are concealing it well? Honestly I hate to admit you cannot fault some of these children in this class for being racists or acting in a manner because they are ignorant, until they really learn, they will not change. For this to even be an issue means to me that some are not taking Sam’s class serious or to heart or even taking what he says into consideration, and I guess that is all fine and dandy until a black person is your boss or your child brings home a white man to marry. I guess that is when you will have to deal with it huh.

I agree with the two responses, when is it our time? And I say are time is ALWAYS. When ever an unjust is being done we all have the right to act PERIOD. I feel that is our place or anyone’s place. I feel like everyone has a moral obligation do help everyone, maybe I have that “tree hugger” mentality but I believe we as a individual and a country should help other places. Standing by watching things happen is worse than stepping forth and helping someone. This is why Haiti is in the place that it is now. I understand there are laws treaties and what not that stop us from helping some of these people but, I think we should ignore stuff like that. Yes the United States was giving Haiti millions of dollars, but it was not getting to where it needed to go. And now since the earth has happened it is a disaster, the worst in the western hemisphere, and that should not have been. If our government would have went in and cut short all the corruptness that was going on the people of Haiti would have been doing better, they would not be the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. That is my prospective on a more global scale. Not domestically if we raise each other instead of waiting for each other to fall, then very few would fall. In America first off we are a very competitive society. Some individual’s main objective is to keep other people down the “king of the mountain” example that Sam gave us in class. I can not sit here and say that I have not felt that is was not my place in some instances, I mean we all have, but that is exactly why the holocaust happened, and over six million Jewish people were murdered. What would you say as a woman or a man being abused as a child, wife, or husband if your neighbors said that IT IS NOT THEIR PLACE, I would have felt like everyone turned their back on me. What if GOD turned his back on us or ALLAH or, JEHOVAH? What would we do, could we be upset? The people who feel like it is not their place need to watch the LEGION good example of what I am talking about. Think to yourself would you really sit there and not stand up for someone; because if your answer is no, I shame you. I am I firm believer of karma and there will be one day when you stand before who ever and they will judge you on your life, and that may be the deciding factor if you enter the kingdom of heaven. I am not saying that we all have to be life warriors and go save everyone from all the evil people (unless you are in the peace core ) but if we are seeing a wrong or an unjust action being done we have a right to stop it period point blank! No excuses because always remember nobody stood up for Jesus; and we need to ask ourselves do we want to be like those people?

I remember when my 11th grade sociology teacher pointed this fact out to me. I felt so confused and in disbelief. He said these exact words. He asked us who we thought were bringing in the drugs and the guns in to the United States, because it sure was not black people. Black people do not own boats guns planes, and they do not have money. We did not and still do not have the resources to make the drug business as big as it is. I say it is all a conspiracy. It is a conspiracy to keep rich white men at the top of the “mountain” as Sam discussed in class; because in all reality black people are not bringing these things in to our society. And being a person who is directly affected by things like these it pisses me off for people to think this was just a way of like young men and women fell into. In order to be in the drug game and be on the top you need to be smart, so for people to think that oh these dumb black people just happen to all into this lifestyle WRONG. I know it the choice of young men and women to distribute drugs, and guns, but who is making that an option for them… the government is. I honestly think that in the government wanted to stop drug trafficking and the distribution and sale of illegal narcotics and guns they could. But since our country was built on the disbelief and exploitation of others; the truth is they the (GOVERNMENT) DO NOT CARE. I guess they figure black people are the easiest to exploit, it is just like they took out the Native Americans, they want to stop illegal immigrant (mostly Hispanics more specifically Mexicans) from coming into the united states. It is all a part of a conspiracy to keep big brother with one foot on our necks and a shade over our eyes. Some people in the United States are so naïve not to be aware of some of the things that the government thinks are best for us or, they are doing for us. This drug problem is just over of them, and it is taking a devastating blow of the black community. In addition to those point in the 80’s the government also made mandatory minimum sentences to combat the sales or distributing of drugs in the United States And as we all know or heard in class this affected the black community more than it did anyone else.
I do not know, maybe I am a left wing extremist who has no idea what I am talking about. But then again maybe I do. I know I have only been on this earth for only twenty-one years but I do know for sure that some things do not add up. And at the end of the day I know black people who sale drugs choose that lifestyle, and we should not hold anyone responsible but them, but we have to think about the deeper cause why. We have to question these things, because black people are everyone’s people and we all need to help each other out. Because this is wrong and we need to understand why it is wrong and help fix the problem.

Wow that is all I have to say about this one so far. This is the most down right craziest thing ever. I heard that they had ear pieces and stuff for men and women but this right here us down right some new era, top notch stuff. First the price of this Roxxy toy is a car for me or a semester here at Penn state. With this creation the understanding of sexual needs are very different for men and women. This is in part explains how a man can sleep with a woman and be on to the next one. When I say this I am pretty sure plenty of people are going to have something to say, but clearly men some have an emotional disconnect with sex and love. I mean how can you sleep with a robot? Yeah well someone might ask how can a woman use a vibrator, the big difference is a vibrator does NOT have a face. When you attach a face to something that bring you pleasure you should care about is, I mean it is really sickening to me. Yeah there are men out there you can not get dates, but buying a sex robot is taking it way too far, I mean what would you say to someone with one of these things. Anyone who should use one of these things needs to go see Dr. Drew, because this is clearly is unhealthy. Instead of buying a Roxxxy, the need to spend some money on Dr, Drew so they can find out the deeper problems. I mean the only way I could see this product being of good use is for men who like to cheat on their wives, and they could use this as a deterrent. However, that would be a problem too. I wish I would find out that my husband is cheating on me with a machine. I would probably feel more disrespected he cheated with artificial intelligence. To think that being with a REAL woman could be that bad that a man would find one of these things necessary is truly disturbing. I did not think the disconnect between men and women was that great. It is actually scary, to think that the phrase “all men want the same thing” or that is the number one thing on their mind, enough for a man to have sexual relations with a robot. I guess it is not the whole thing that the robot is a robot; it is disturbing that they are my size sex machines that talk to you, feel real, and can even be modeled to your own liking. Black, Chinese, shoot maybe even mixed who speaks French. What are the courts going to do when someone want to marry one of these things. Yeah that is what I thought, I really do not know what the world is coming, if I have never been against something, or felt so strongly about something it would be this. I do not think this will be a good thing for the future. BTW ladies they are coming out with a female version named Rocky… yeah Rocky

I agree I do think we need to step outside our fast pace world and look and the minor or not so minor things in life. As far as languages species etc. dying we should recognize these things. It is like a little piece of our self dying party by part and no one is paying attention. I appreciate Sam for bring this to our attention, because with out him we would have never known about this woman her culture or her existence. To be the last of something is scary, no one person could imagine who alone she may have felt. Or the deeper meaning of her existence. Broken sprits. For these moments not to be valued or too seem so minuscule as someone put it, languages are just “revised” versions of other languages, but does that make them any less important, I think NOT. I think we should all take a little time to learn about something new each day. This topic and article were very interesting. I highly doubt the English language will ever be extinct, unless the world would come to an end. That’s why I think it is a golden opportunity to learn another language; be it Spanish, German, Chippewa or, igbo. When you learn about language you learn about culture. So hearing these people’s stories in their language we are learning. And whether we know it or they are pieces of us being lost.
What is really disturbing was her last accounts were about the tsunami that hit. Not saying that that was not important but, you would always expect someone’s last words to be more significant. However I guess they were significant because she told of how she may have lost her friends, family, and her people. Either way I am happy that her last words were recorded so that others and I can enjoy her voice. Referring to some other post it is scary that there are over 7,000 languages not being spoken today. No one person thinks that one day not only their “race”, but their culture history will be erased because they were the only person left and they have the language historical accounts and everything else. How would you feel if there was no trace of you left? I think more people in the world should pay attention and attempt to learn more about these issues before the “time twenty-something college students are lowered into the ground.” I always try my best to learn about new things, and this is one issue that is near and dear. I thought learning Spanish was stupid, but then I really enjoyed it.

Wow, I have not seen the film yet either for other reasons, but I have heard other people views and opinions from reading blog, message boards on CNN, Yahoo, and hearing from people that I know. And a theme consciously or subconsciously to think that white people can come in and save everyone or it should be westerns is a reoccurring theme. I think that is why everyone looks up to America or when mingle in everyone’s affairs.

Even relating back to the Baraka conflict and relations in Africa and other places; using man as holy saviors or figures to bring about change trying to save everyone. If people do not believe into the ideals then there is nothing to worry about, they should be harmless fiction ideals. However, these views maybe seen In the movie by some but why can we just enjoy the cool technology that went in to making the movie (it did take like ten years to make); sure the plot is the same as other movies that are in the past, but in all actually who is naive to believe in these plots or ideals. I mean I wonder what was said about District Nine. I mean it did not have all the cool effects that Avatar has but, it had some real social issues that deal with white or should I say western society. I feel like everything is being picked over like chicken bones in society today. Everyone is finding something out of nothing (not saying this is not important topic) but, as we were talking about in my discussion group today about political correctness and people getting offended over certain things. But I guess Brooks did not write the article because he wanted to stir up trouble but, he wanted to propose discussion about many topics surrounding the movie, so maybe I should not jump the gun and go off on a crazy tangent. Although, so many objecting opinions have stemmed from this movie that I’m not sure if I even want to see it, because I will be thing well dag this movie is about a white man leading people from his brethren who are trying to take their land, or dag this movie is going to make me depressed and make me want to kill myself. I just want to watch a movie and enjoy the content not the underlying themes. I use to did not want to see Avatar because it was over two hours now I do not even think I will be able to enjoy it. I am now regretting seeing it when it first came out, because before I did not have an opinion about the film and now I do.