Friday, September 23, 2016

Weekly Discussion for 9/26

Please post your weekly link to a source that you've found regarding the class theme of the "American Dream" as a part of American culture OR one of the research topics you are exploring.

As always, guidelines are the following:

For participation, we will post a link by every Monday by 5 P.M. to a source (article, movie, blog, etc) relating to either the class theme of the formation of the American Dream or your own individual research topic. Post a short summary of how the source relates to the aforementioned topic (1-2 sentences).

To receive full credit for each response, please comment on at least two of your classmates’ posts.

51 comments:

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  2. http://vaw.sagepub.com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/content/19/1/133.full.pdf+html

    Where Do You Think Domestic Abuse Hurts Most- Article by Stephanie Sweetnam.
    This article/peer-reviewed journal is centered around the reasons why women (including herself) stay in abusive relationships; which is what my research paper will be about. Sweetnam takes a different approach in talking about her life married to an abuser, by using body parts to represent the full effects of violence on every part of a female. She also goes into detail about oppression in relation to abuse; where women try to get help and end up being further victimized because of factors such as stereotypes, race, religion, etc.

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    1. This personal essay touched my heart. Getting out of an abusive relationship is easier said than done, one needs a lot of support in order to do so.

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    2. I look forward to hearing about your research it sounds very interesting. Do you plan on including non-abusive relationships, to counter argue your point?

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    3. I think the way that the author used to describe the influence of domestic violence is great.

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    4. Yes I will include some information on non-abusive relationships.

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  3. http://www.inquisitr.com/3537638/the-case-of-brock-turner-are-forever-sex-offender-registries-too-harsh/

    After hearing a lot about sexual assault cases in the news recently, I decided that I wanted to do my research paper on why there should be universal rape laws and consequences, as well as a different way in handling them. This article brings up a main point about how "Are 'forever' sex offender registries too punitive?" I do not think that they are in any way "too" punitive, rather necessary.

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    1. I agree, I do not think that having one's name on the sex offender registry list is too punitive in any way. In the case of Brock Turner, he did the crime but not enough time, so the least that can be on for "justice" is having his name be on the sex offender registry forever.

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    2. i also agree that just having his name on the sex offender list is not enough punishment compare to what he did to that women who will forever have to live with that memory. and that fact that people are say that his life is destroyed because his name is on the list is just infuriating.

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    3. I agree that lately there has been a lot of these news on this issue which makes it interesting. Will this argument support your argument or counter argue it?

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    4. I think in some cases "forever" sex offender registries are unnecessary and I don't think that someone who urinated nearby an elementary school, or a 19 year old who engaged in a consensual relationship with a 17 year old, should be treated the same way as someone who sexually abuses children. The fact that every offender is treated the same kind of lessens the severity of punishment for those actually deserving.

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    5. I feel like that will be a very interesting paper to read, and I agree that there should definitely be universal rape laws and consequences!

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    6. I agree with Fayrouz in that the situation can't just be dealt with one definitive action. Addressing the idea of universal rape laws; the problem would be in enforcement, I don't see how this would change much considering the biggest problem areas concerning rape would be just as far out of our reach as right now.

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  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEhtMHLMAss

    This video is about a rape victim (Ali) that saw her attacker again after many years. It shows how although one can "move on" from such a horrific even that occurred in their lives, once their attacker is seen again their world can crumble just as quickly. Ali did not keep quiet when she saw him again after all those years, she spoke up when she saw her attacker with a woman around his arms. She came to peace with herself and saved a woman from marrying a rapist.

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    1. i seriously felt emotional watching this. i can't imagine how it feels going through that.

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    2. This video speaks a lot about victim blaming. It is crazy to think that people would rather believe a traumatized woman is lying rather than a man actually assaulted her. Is this because we don't take rape seriously or because we are too uncomfortable to confront rape as an issue that occurs?

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    3. It is hard to accept such a traumatic experience such as rape in one's life. Whether one is drunk and unable to give consent, it does not give the sex offender the right to sexual assault another person.

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    4. This video is heartbreaking because that guy could not even own up to what he did. Instead, he made her feel like that was her problem. But, I am happy that she told the woman that story because that ended up setting her free. Telling a story like that is very hard to do but it saved Ali from that traumatic experience in her life.

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  5. http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/articles/policy-briefs/infants-toddlers-and-television

    with advancement in technology more and more children are being exposed to it at an early age. But does what they watch or how much they watch effect how the child develops? that's what i want to know. This article goes into how infants and toddlers watching to much of it can have an effect in them and how it does.

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    1. Very interesting article! My sister is 6 year younger than me and I can see the difference in her interests and whats she finds fun to do. She spends way more time using technology than I ever did as a child.

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    2. I have two nieces who are 9 and 7 years old and they both already have iphones and ipads. Overall, kids these days are always exposed to technology and its advancement. To say whether this is beneficial or harmful is situational, but it is better to be exposed to other interest rather just technology.

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    3. This is definitely interesting to see. As we know our society today, many kids already have access to electronics far earlier than most of us when we were younger. I am sure that this leads us to think of the different experiences we went through than later generations.

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    4. This is definitely interesting to see. As we know our society today, many kids already have access to electronics far earlier than most of us when we were younger. I am sure that this leads us to think of the different experiences we went through than later generations.

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    5. I have had my younger cousin show me the "right way" to play a video on my phone and I think this article speaks truth. It's evident that younger kids are watching and have more access to technology then before.

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  6. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/01/17/169634045/some-types-of-insurance-can-discriminate-based-on-genes

    This article speaks about the injustice that life insurances can get away with. Because of the advancement of gene testing life insurances can deny a person that is like to get a disease in the future.

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    1. This was an interesting article. Discrimination is a significant issue we have in the modern day.

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    3. This article reminds me of the Civil Rights Act because it prevented people from being discriminated against, when they were trying to get a job, because of their race, religion, or national origin. It just goes to show that history has a way of repeating itself in different ways.

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    4. Well if you really think about it life insurance providers have been doing this already for decades. For example, smokers or people with high risk jobs like miners.

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    5. Young men typically have to pay more(a lot more) for auto insurance.

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  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmz9cCF0KNE
    Jose Vargas, an undocumented immigrant and writer for Time Magazine, shares his story as a undocumented. Vargas discusses the critiques and hardships undocumented immigrants receive throughout their lives and emphasizes that it is our actions that can be illegal, not people.

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  8. http://lyricstranslate.com/en/tu-vuo-fa-l039americano-youd-be-american.html
    This is an 50's Italian song my Nonna (grandmother) has sung my whole life. The song is called "Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano" (You'd like to be an American). This song chronicles the experiences of Italian immigrants to the United States. The song is a perfect example of the mindset of the Italian immigrants in the 1950's that were in search of a better life in the U.S. These immigrants felt that they had to adapt to the American lifestyle in order to be a true American. The translated song is attached in the link above and there is a video on the bottom of the page so you can listen to it.

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  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_2Q-Gv6Sgo
    Jeffery Chang, also known as JefferyFever on Youtube, discusses the reason he dropped out of college to pursue his passions in singing, acting, and dancing. To some people, the American Dream is not education but rather what they really want to do in life and not what they are told to do.

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  11. https://griid.org/2013/03/30/the-war-on-white-supremacy/
    This article, The War on White Supremacy by Jeff Smith gives an explanation for my research paper which is on white supremacy. In this article, there is a picture where there are black people on the bottom, huddled together and white people stepping and walking on top of them. Even though the other colored people are not included in this picture, it shows white supremacy in the simplest form.

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  12. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html?_r=0
    This article is about the women that work at nail salons and how they are treated in that line of work. Most of these women do not have an education that will allow them to better themselves and some are illegal immigrants. Working at the nail salon they have to endure harsh treatments from their employers and they depend on the tips that they make just to support them and their children because they are not receiving an actual salary.

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    1. This article clearly shows the lives of people who work at the nail salons. The article also provides some pictures which make more explicit.

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    2. This has been an ongoing issue that I feel has never been effectively addressed, especially because those affected are mainly immigrants and also because we don't really care to think about the lives of people who provide us with services like doing our nails or washing our cars. It's like as long as they're useful why care about their quality of life?

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    3. This is a topic that I feel like doesn't really get address. You can really see how some of them struggle just to make a living.

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    4. This is really interesting. I knew they weren't treated the way they should be but i never realized that theres so much more to talk into depth about.

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    5. At one point, I recall this issue being in the news and now it seems to have died down. I wonder if anything has changed since then and I think this will be a very interesting and informative paper to read.

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  13. http://vaccines.procon.org/
    This article lists the pros and cons for the argument "Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?"

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    1. Even if there was any negatives of vaccines the positives outweigh them by a huge margin. According to the CDC vaccines will prevent 322 million illness, some being fatal.
      source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/24/cdc-vaccine-benefits/8094789/

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  14. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/terrorism-isis-motive/395351/

    The article featured in The Atlantic titled "What Motivates Terrorists?" is exactly the message I hope to relay in my essay. Cottee mentions that the "right" conditions can motivate an ordinary person to do "extraordinarily cruel things." That isn't to say that we are not responsible for our actions but members of terrorist groups, like ISIS, often have much deeper reasoning than simply an anti-american sentiment. Sometimes we do things for different reasons than we express, for whatever reason, and when talking about such an extremist, radical organization with so many supporters it's narrow minded to assume that they all have the same motivations. It also would not be the first time in history that an impressive number of individuals committed themselves to a radical cause, and I feel this should be treated no differently.

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  15. https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-animal-testing


    This article states very alarming facts about animal experimentation in just the U.S.. What really opens my eyes to this matter is how the cosmetic companies run tests on animals. They would do skin and eye irritation tests by rubbing chemicals on them over bare/shaved skin without any pain relieve. This matter should really be opened up.

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    1. I think this topic for a research paper would be really great and interesting. It would be very interesting to see opinions and reasonings explained.

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  16. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/10/24/statistics-dont-back-up-claims-about-rape-culture

    The main takeaway from this article is that while sexual assault is horrible "...a false accusation of rape can also have devastating, life altering consequences." It also explains the basis of the statistic that states that 1 in 5 women in college will be raped.

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/14/us/unc-rape-allegations/

    "Did I lead him on? Have I hooked up with him before? Do I often have one-night stands? Did I even say no? What is my sexual history? How many men have I slept with?" Questions such as these are not evident of rape apologists in the works they are simply the works of an investigation. However this case in particular falls in line with the beliefs of Fuck Rape Culture Activists. Despite the victim doing everything by the book (Immediate reporting, Rape kit etc.) it was apparent that the football player was being treated in a way which took him as the victim. Footage of the initial interviews showed a bias in that the cops made statements such as "rock on." From what I can see Allen Artis was definitely given special treatment. In my eyes it is probably due to the importance of football to a school such as UNC, either way its a shitty situation but I also point some of the blame towards the numerous false rape allegations that end up devaluing the claims made by actual victims such as Delaney Robinson. I will also continue to deny rape culture in that rapist are looked down on in all aspects of western culture; they are despised. Suggesting that young men can be brainwashed into thinking that rape is ok is absurd. Rape is more than a man being too aroused to control himself, there is a lot more going on in the mind of a rapist.

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    1. It's sad that in our society today, victim-shaming is still a thing and that people still praise rapists.

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  17. http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/320/7244/1240.full.pdf
    This article goes hand in hand with my research topic because I am currently exploring the mental health of obesity, however not narrowed it down to a certain group yet. This study speaks internationally about those who suffer the same fate.

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    1. I chose obesity as my research topic too. I feel like theres many question revolving around that topic.

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  18. http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/22/1/1

    This is an article that is part of my research. It explains how obesity is getting worse and worse. It continues to skyrocket even though we have all the information, advertisements, and actions. It's interesting how we let this become such big an issue even though there's constant reminders of obesity and it's risks.

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