Journal 4-2: The Journey's Over

I. In last week's journal, I asked the question if there are colleges available to deaf people in the United States. In my research I found that there is only one liberal arts college for deaf people specifically. Gallaudet University is based out of Washington, DC. This university is known to be the "Harvard" for the deaf. It's a top notch elite school that many deaf people thrive to attend. The Univeristy had a press protest in 1988 that led to their first deaf president.
     Other than Gallaudet University, many univeristies have deaf immersion into their schools. These univeristies typically cater to the needs of deaf people quit well. Some have deaf housing and special needs based classes for them. Usually the students are very welcoming towards deaf students, and they all integrate very well.

II. The past few weeks in Ethics, we've been focusing on a variety of things. One of which has been the art of magic and being able to see through the fakeness of it all. The man that went through and outted all the fakes had to be extremely intelligent. He made people see how Uri made spoons bend and etc. By him bringing all their own props to the show it proved he was a fraud. But people were still ignorant and believed the guy. He also outted many "psychics" claiming to have psychic abilities and proved some ancient island surgeries done with their own hands wrong.
     I was truley disgusted by some of the frauds that were outted. Especially the man claiming to be able to heal people of their health problems in order to make a profit. That just goes to show how the human race can be filled with horrible people. You have to think of how you're instilling false hope in others by "curing" them. I decided to research further into these so called "psychic abilities" and found the whole science of faking it. It said that a lot of the "mind reading" has to do with the person's body language and facial cues. If you're someone that reads others well you could easily pull it off.
     When thinking of psychics, I think of tarot card reading and the science behind that. In my research I realized that tarot cards have turned into modern oracle decks. Apparently these decks lack the necessary suits and numbers needed for actual tarot reading that was often used in the 15th century in France and Italy. Therefore this is even more proof that modern day "psychics" are all in fact frauds.


III. After looking so much into magic, I would say that in my next journal (if we were having one) I would want to take a deeper look into the history behinfd tarot card readings. Where did it all originate?

Sources:

Berke, Jaime. (July 4, 2010). Education- Gallaudet University. http://deafness.about.com/cs/colleges/a/gallaudetuniv.htm

Kaynak, Kate. (June 2010). Psychic Abilities and How to Fake Them. http://ezinearticles.com/?Psychic-Abilities-and-How-to-Fake-Them&id=4316259

(May 23, 2012). Tarot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot#Popular_culture_tarot_decks

Obringer, Lee Ann. (June 8, 2012). How Tarot Cards Work. http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/tarot-card.htm 

Journal 4-1: Sound and Furious

I. In last time's journal, I asked the question of how the mentally challenged are typically treated in American jails. What I found can in some ways be disturbing. From what it said there is very little being done to help those who are mentally handicapped. In one case there was a man that had to wait three months to see a psychiatrist after he was incarcerated, when the man was a known schizophrenic and bipolar.
     In another case, there was a man that reported a lot of abuse coming from the prison guards that would not give him his medicine until he seriously hurted himself. This just goes to show that the prison system is messed up and needs to be fixed, or else there could be a large amount of serious harm done to the inmates. ore than there already is.

II. Recently in class, we have been watching the documentary Sound and Fury, which is about two families decisions to give their deaf children the cochlear implant in order for them to hear. Some of the main reasons the family thats parents are both deaf do not want their child, Heather, to receive it is because the believe it will take away from deaf culture. The other family has two hearing parents but one of their twin boys, Peter, was born deaf. These two families' husbands are brothers. In which case one brother is deaf and the other is hearing.

     I believe it is wrong for the majoritally deaf family to not give Heather the cochlear implant. From the video it seems they made the decision themselves but wanted Heather to feel like she made the decision herself. From the other families that were interviewed throughout the movie, it seemed there was an extreme difference in the child's ability to speak based on the fact of his or her own parent's speaking abilities. I don't believe that deaf culture would die out if a few deaf children here and there receive cochlear implants.

III. After learning so much about the deaf community through Sound and Fury, I want to explore more about college options for deaf people. Are there any specific colleges in the United States devoted to deaf learning?


Sources:
Aesthetic Design and Photography. (May 30, 2009). http://www.aestheticdesign.com/blog/tag/cochlear-implant/.

Ito, Suzanne. (May 5, 2010). LA Men's Jail is a "Modern Day Medieval Dungeon".  http://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/la-mens-jail-modern-day-medieval-dungeon.

Smith, Christopher. (2000). http://weekinrewind.blogspot.com/2007/09/sound-and-fury-movie-dvd-review-2000.html.

Journal 3-3: Life and Death

I. In last week's journal I asked the question of where the majority of a minimum wage worker's income goes to. When I researched this topic there wasn't a very large range of information to look at pertaining to what I was exactly looking for which was rent or food or etc. Instead I found an interesting argument as to whether minimum wage should be abolished. Surprisingly there were many more reasons as to why minimum wage should be aoblished rather than why it should not. One of which was that businesses would expand and grow more, which is wrong. We can't just look at the business itself, but we have to look at the American people.







Another point was a reason we should keep the minimum wage was because teenagers would be constantly taking adults' jobs because they would work for less money. Which is very true but would also completely off set the American economy. All in all taking away minimum wage would be disastrous because so many live people live in poverty that work in minimum wage jobs, and it doesn't need to be cut down anymore.







II. In Ethics these past two weeks, we've been watching a 30 Days where Morgan Spurlock is incarcerated in a Henrico County Jail. He spends his time at one jail, I think West, at first but then is moved to the East jail. There was a very large difference in the West and East jails. The West jail was not very helpful to the inmates, there wasn't really any type of rehabilitation, and it seemed like their real punishment was having absolutely nothing to do. While in the East jail had a rehabilitation program for drugs and it gave the inmates the oppourtunity to find a job closely after leaving jail.







I really enjoyed watching this 30 Days for various personal reasons, none for me personally but people I've known to be incarcerated. It was like taking a look into what it was like for them. I had no idea that jail was like that. To me it wasn't nearly as brutal as everyone makes it out to be, but I also remember that the difference between jail and prison is the brutality. Morgan handled himself very well in the jail, and it kind of felt just like one big family. Sure there were some slip ups, but I feel like I could handle it. The only big problems I have with jail is that the dehumanize you in order to reduce you to a number, and also in jails like the West one they do nothing to help the inmates. Which means they'll be back in in no time. It's a revolving door for some people.







When watching the episode I made the connection with the actual inmates that we saw. The fact that Travis and George were back in jail after a short amount of time made me really sad. It made me think of how bad a drug addiction can be for some people, and how some really need a lot more help than a jail can offer. When researching the actual drug rehabilitation process in jail, I saw that in Atlanta they give some drug addicts the alternative to go to drug rehabilitation rather than jail. The reason they mainly did this is because the incarceration level had pretty much doubled between 1975 and 1995. Which I believe is a very good reason to try to give an alternative. The picture below shows me that there is hope for all kinds of rehabilitation programs.




III. After watching this 30 Days, I ask the question about what do jails do about the people like Randy in jail? How are the mentally challenged affected by jail or what do jails do in order to accomodate these people?









Sources:







Messerli, Joe. (November 11, 2001). Should the Minimum Wage be Abolished. http://www.balancedpolitics.org/minimum_wage.htm







(March 12, 2012). Alternative to Jail. http://atlantarecoverycenter.com/drug-rehab-program/alternative-jail-incarceration/







(March 12, 2012). 10 U.S. Prisons with Impressive Libraries. http://www.care2.com/news/member/939310581/2668534

Journal 3-2: Where is the Love?

I. In last week's journal I wondered if there are any parent groups that rally against teens just being teens. A group that I found particularly interesting was MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It isn't exactly the type of group I was looking for, but it is still a group that's working with teens. MADD raises money and awareness against drunk driving especially in teens. MADD was created in 1980 and was originally "Mothers Against Drunk Drivers." It was then changed in 1984 to "Against Drunk Driving" so it wasn't as if the mothers were targeting the people that were doing it but more the whole idea itself.























Also while looking up parent and teen groups I found more along the lines of support groups rather than groups that fight against teens. One group is called Family Works based out of Seatlle. It offers parent workshops and classes that promote healthy relationships with teens who need it. I think this should be promoted more than groups that are rallying against teens.























II. In these past few weeks of ethics we've been discussing Guerrilla Goodness in the best kind of way. Last week was Valentine's Day, and we spent it making valentines for children in hospitals. We also worked on a large banner that said "Take what you need" and another that said "Give what you can." I'm proud to say I was in charge of glitter for both of these. :) Other than that we've been watching the show 30 Days. So far, we've watched two having to do with immigration and living in Muslim society. Now we are watching one that has Morgan Spurlock and his fiance trying to live off of minimum wage jobs.























I actually really enjoy watching the 30 Days episodes because they actually provoke thought on two completely different sides of thinking. The minimum wage one is especially interesting to me because it actually helps me see how the other half lives, and how fortunate I am to be where I am and receive an education. When I watched the episode about immigration, I couldn't help but feel like the guy, Frank, was being the biggest hypocrite ever. If anything he should understand why these people want to get out of Mexico and make a better life for themselves. Also, I think that people need to better understand that the process of becoming a legal citizen has become a lot more difficult since twenty years ago.























During class, while we're watching the episode about minimum wage, it makes me think about the people who are actually living on minimum wage and how they do it. For instance, when I was younger I always wanted to live in New York City, but my parents promptly told me that it is the most expensive city to live in in the United States. I know there are people living in poverty that work minimum wage jobs there, so it makes me wonder about how they do it. I once even read an article about run away teens and how they manage to start their lives up. It all seems very difficult even if they manage to have $1,000 with them at the time.

III. Due to this past week's topics, its got me thinking a lot more about the effects of having a minimum wage job. Where does the majority of the money that they make going, statistically speaking?

Sources:













(February 21, 2012). History of the Mission Statement. http://www.madd.org/about-us/mission/






(February 21, 2012). Teen Parent Program. http://www.familyworksseatlle.org/resource-center/teen-parent-programs






(February 21, 2012). Child and Family Services. http://cfsnh.org/pages/programs/TeenServices/index.html

Journal 2-4: Internet's Rights

I. In last week's journal I asked the question of what inspired great leaders such as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Upon researching this, I found that Gandhi's inspirations came from how he grew up. Mostly coming from the religions of Jainism and Vaishnavism that Gandhi grew up around. He realized that non-violence movements were always the best choice. He also mentioned that his preceded leaders taught him everything he needed to know. In a famous quote from him, he says, "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could." In this quote he is proving that he did not come up with all of his thoughts on his own, it was others who inspired him.



Also looking into Nelson Mandela's inspirations, I found that many people look to Nelson Mandela as the inspirational figure. He spent 26 years in jail fighting for racial equality, and then he became the first Black African president of South Africa. One of his most remembered and inspiring quotes is "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." He spoke these words in his Long Walk to Freedom speech. This quote shows the mentality of the human race can be changed.







II. In our Ethics class these past two weeks, we've been discussing a lot about the political candidates for the Republican party. We also briefly touched on the SOPA and PIPA situation going on through Congress, and how its been affecting various internet sites. Going off of the Republican party nominees, it seems that its really down to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, although Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are still in the running. We discussed how it seemed like Romney and Gingrich were having a hissy fit during their debates, and how Santorum and Paul weren't even really involved. Then we learned about what SOPA and PIPA were involved in. SOPA stands for "Stop Online Piracy Act," which means that the government wants to pass a law that makes it illegal to post or use certain copywrited things. And, through this the governement can shut down the website that the use was done on.



I believe that this is ridiculous that the governement wants to pass this law to stop freedom of speech on the internet. I know that the big corporate companies are losing money over it, but in my opinion if they put it out there on the web for people to see and use, then people are going to do whatever they want with it. Also, all these big company names have a ton of money, so I don't think they're losing much sleep over a little copywrite issue. Another thing is that when someone posts a certain song or item as their status on Facebook, then atleast 100 other people are going to see this, and therefore it spreads, which actually brings more money in for the company because people want to buy their product.



A connection I made when hearing about SOPA was maybe the man who started it all, Lamar Smith, a representative from Texas, maybe is just scared about his children hearing or seeing something he doesn't aprove of. It makes me think of the levels of security parents are actually having on their children and the internet. To what extent are they really going too far? I can remember in middle school, some parents would not allow their children to watch a certain movie in school even if they were of age. Also, some parents would put extreme blocks on the internet to keep their child from listening to certain music. In my opinion, this is all going too far because eventually your children are going to be exposed to certain things, and you can't protect them forever. Or else you're kids are going to feel like this:

III. After thinking more about a parent's role in a childs life, I want to research and see if they're are actual parent groups against a teenager's culture today. Are there certain parent groups that rally against teens just being teens?

Sources:


(January 29, 2012). Ask Gandhi. http://kamat.com/mmgandhi/inspiration.htm


(January 29, 2012). The Inspiration of Nelson Mandela. http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/07/Nelson-Mandela.aspx


(January 30, 2012). Stop Online Piracy Act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

32_footsteps. (January 30, 2012). Overbearing parent cat is overbearing. http://cheezburger.com/32_footsteps/lolz/View/4134429440

Journal 2-3: A Donkey's Race

I. In the last journal I wrote, there was a large imphasis on technology, and how the generations that we've lived with have changed over time. I asked the question of where it all really started? I found with my research that the first "computer" was invented by Charles Babbage. His findings of technology having to do with computers were over a long period of time. In 1822, he developed the Difference Engine which was able to compute sets of numbers and make hard copies. Later in 1837, he developed an Analytical Engine which had a memory base.

Another, thing I was wondering about was how Apple came about, or what inspired Steve Jobs to pursue this company? I found out that in 1976, Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak came out with the Apple I which had a single circuit board hooked up to a computer. Then the Apple Lisa came about in the 1970's which was based on the technology Jobs had experienced with Xerox. The Apple Macitosh came out in 1984 with all new software that became highly popular.


II. A. I can't say I really favor any of the candidates based on their views. If I really had to choose a Republican candidate though, it would be Ron Paul. I like his views on abortion because he believes its wrong, but he doesn't believe it is up to the federal government to decide on the individual's choice. Also I respect his decision to leave gay marriage up to the state, instead of trying to get the federal government involved. One thing I really liked about Ron Paul was his view on America aiding other countries. I agree that America shouldn't be involved with other countries' problems unless they are directly involving the United States itself. And the fact that he wants to eliminate taxes on gas is a huge plus because I pay for all my own gas.

B. The candidate that is least like me on the issues is without a doubt Rick Santorum. The sole fact that he doesn't believe that even same-sex adoption should take place is enough to want to give the guy a piece of my mind. Also, I can't stand the fact that he wants to make this "Santorum Amendment" for our public schools. If the citizens of the United States wanted to learn about God making the earth, they can go to church, but he needs to leave the scientific theory to the classrooms. His views on immigration are also ridiculous. He doesn't want to give in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants even though it wasn't their choice for their parents to come over illegally, and in reality they were probably coming over to give their children a better life! Also his enviormental views are absurd. The fact that he can't even respect the idea of global warming but would rather consider it "junk science" is for one being in denial, and also its a slap in the face to all the scientists who have put so much time into trying to fight it. Going along with his enviormental views, he wants to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? That makes no sense what so ever since we're trying to reserve the life of endangered species.


C. I don't believe there is a difference in my answers above. They all run along the same strain of thought. I can't decide if I would vote for someone that has different views from me and would make a good leader. I think it defeats the purpose of having your choice to vote if you don't vote for someone thats going to help get your beliefs out in the open, but I still believe that we need a good leader in America. I would have to say that I wouldn't vote for a candidate that is a good leader but doesn't share the same views because if they're a good leader than they'll be good at pushing views that could completely contradict everything I believe in.


D. Looking at which candidate I think would make a good President based on their leadership skills, I would have to say Buddy Roemer. I learned that he was in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. Also he was a governor for the state of Louisiana in 1988. Just by looking at his history in the government alone, i think he would make the best choice based on leadership qualities.


E. Even though i liked Ron Paul's views on the issues best, I'd have to say based on his past careers, he is not the best choice for president. If his past career was an OBGYN, I don't see that as qualifying to be the president of the United States. It's good that he has some past military background because he was a flight surgeon in the airforce but still that doesn't mean much. It's good that he spent twelve terms in Congress for texas, though, otherwise I couldn't see how he could fit in anywhere.


III. From looking at the candidates that are in the run for the Republican nomination, I honestly don't know what to think. My views stand here:

I'm a leftist libertarian, which actually came as a surprise to me. So for my question this week, I would like to find out more about past libertarians, like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. What was their inspirations for greatness?





Sources:

(January 2012). When was the first computer invented? http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm


Bellis, Mary. (January 2012). The History of Apple Computers. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Apple_Computers.htm

News, Pace. (2002). The Political Compass Test. http://www.politicalcompass.org/test

Journal 2-2: How Far We've Come

I. In last week's journal, I wondered if there is any procedures that soldiers and/or family members have to go through upon a soldiers arrival home from war. Unfortunately I could not find exactly what I was looking for. I was wondering if there is classes of some sort or seminars that whole families or soldiers must go through upon arrival home from war in order to help prepare a family to cope better. Also, I was wondering if there are certain things a family can or cannot ask or say to the soldier arriving home.

On the other hand, I did find an interesting program for families in the military. The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) was created in the 1980's and was created for family members with a soldier on active duty. It is a mandatory program for active-duty soldiers and helps family members with emotional, developmental, physical, or intellectual disorders. The program provides community support, educational, personnel, housing and medical services to these families that qualify. In order for a family to qualify, they must be willing for a board to review all their medical records and must allow developmental screening for any children seventy-two months or under.

II. The past two weeks, our class has been discussing the Nine Shift, which compares the time periods of 1900-1920 to 2000-2020. We took a closer look into the effects of automobiles, or cars, on the country. We came to the conclusion that automobiles make a faster and more convenient transportation for families that live in the suburbs. Also we discovered that automobiles make more jobs, such as for factory workers who produce them. We also looked into the effects of the internet on society. When being looked at closet a person could see that it can connect a person to their work from home, thus making more people be able to work from home. Also it helps people become more connected and find out things abut people and their personal lives that people back in the early 1900's could not have found out easily.

By learning about the Nine Shift it made me think more about what I really want my life to be like when I'm a grown up. I look back at people now a days and from the early 1900's and see a constant want to have a stable well-paying job, and that is all people look for. I do see having money as a necessity, of course, but what I truly want is to do something I love. If I have a job that makes me happy with my life then I will have less stress in my life and will help me live an altogether better lifestyle. I'm a firm believer in the aspect of not trying to look more than your worth or throwing your money around. I believe in being humble when it comes to finances and not trying to be something you're not. Of course I do love the luxuries of life. I really want to live in the city but have a home in the country for my fam

ily and I to go to in the summer.

This picture embodies how I want my life to be: carefree, beautiful and full of life. This is comparing to how many others caught up in the Nine Shift fee which is: boring, safe, and conservative.

During this week's class, I made some connections. I thought about how far we've really come as a society. It made me think about how far we came from the 1800's to the 1900's alone. When you take a closer look at the production of cars for example. The first production of automobiles was in Germany in 1888 by Karl Benz, more widely known as the now Mercedes Benz. The manufacturing of automobiles stayed over in Europe for a while before it came to the United States in 1895 when George Selden was granted by the United States government for a two-stroke automobile engine. It's funny to think that just a century back, you could count the number of people with cars on two hands in your town, and now you need more than two hands for just one street!

III. With learning of how far we've come in the last century, it makes me question how far we've come with technology. This week I want to take a closer look into the history of computers, especially Mac and Steve Jobs. Where did computers and the internet all start?

Sources:

Jack, Jumpn. (July 7, 2010). Simple Joys of Life. http://flockofgeese.blogspot.com/2010/07/simple-joys-of-life.html.

United States Army. (December 4, 2011). Exceptional Family Members Program. https://www.myarmyonesource.com/familyprogramsandservices/familyprograms/exceptionalfamilymemberprogram/default.aspx

(November 30, 2011). History of the automobile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile