Diversity Scholarly Article Summary

The article that I read was about the relationship between bullying in schoosl, and hate crimes. It talked about how according to Massachusetts law, "hate crimes are those crimes motivated by hatred against a person or group on the basis of race, religion, disability, color, ethnic/national origin or sexual orientation. Hate crimes can occur by a physical attack, intimidating or threatening behavior that puts a person in fear of immediate physical harm or damage to property, such as vandalism. ". They talk about how bullying relates to hate crimes and also how it doesn't. Mainly, they talked about how similar they are, and bullies target people who are 'different' then them, which is like hate crimes.

It shows diversity because hate crime is a big part of diversity, so does bullying. It shows conflicts between people who have different beliefs than other people, like homosexuality, race, etc. The author talks about the similarity of hate crimes and bullying. I think the author is trying to reach teachers so that they can put a stop to bullying. This will affect people that are getting bullied or people involved in hate crimes. I think that soon, they will become a bigger problem in our society. Bullying and hate crimes are a big problem and I think that almost everyone has been affected by bullying, and so I feel like now, more and more people are going to be affected by hate crimes too. This is an important article about diversity because since bullying is such a large problem there needs to be a stop to it.

I think that bullying is a lot like hate crimes. If you bully someone, most likely you do it because their different. When you're little, it could be because they have glasses or are shorter than people. As you get older, it could be because they are homosexual or have a lower economic status. I think that bullying and hate crimes are very very similar, and are a rising problem in our country.

http://0-find.galegroup.com.unistar.uni.edu/gtx/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252CUS%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528SU%252CNone%252C9%2529Diversity%2524&contentSet=IAC-Documents&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T002&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=AONE&searchId=R2¤tPosition=9&userGroupName=uni_rodit&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2CUS%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C9%29Diversity%3AAnd%3AFQE%3D%28TX%2CNone%2C11%29Hate+Crimes%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=A169592475&docType=IAC

Diversity Article Summary

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=2

The article that I read was about two thirteen year old twins, Lamb and Lynx, who have an album and are becoming very popular. However there is a lot of controversy because they have a lot of racist lyrics, and they are white nationalists and use their talents to preach a message of hate. It talks a lot about how they were raised by April, their mom and how she homeschooled them with specific white nationalists believes and how their grandpa is very pro-nazism. It talks about the pros and cons about them, and compares them a lot with rap music.

This is news because at this moment, there is a lot of racism or hate crimes happening. So when you see two teenagers who have racist lyrics, its going to be news. Because of this, I think that you might either see no more racist lyrics at all, or more likely, racist lyrics will increase. Singers and bands will test their luck and just see what things they can say. This affects any people involved in music because they have to make sure that none of their lyrics are racist. This also obviously effects Lamb and Lynx and their family because they might be in a lot of trouble. It will affect the large population because, once again, whoever listened to their music, or who has their own music have to be very careful about racist lyrics. This is important because it effects a lot of people and is a very interesting story.

My personal opinion, is that it's wrong. But there is freedom of speech and they are entitled to say what they want to say. I think that they shouldn't be able to, but that's just me. I think that a lot of the rap is the same way, but not as many people notice that it's being racist. They have the rights to say what they want in the song, even though it could be wrong.

Song Analysis

SONG ANALYSIS

Song Name: Dear Mr. President
Artist: Pink
Genre: Pop
Time period/ year released: 2006
Issue being addressed: Pink wrote an open letter to the old President Bush and it talks a lot about why he wasn't doing anything about poverty, families and the economy.
Point of View: She is upset with George Bush for not doing anything. She is upset because there are so many people in poverty and that are having a hard time, but that George Bush isn't working very hard to change it.
Song Lyrics:

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?

RESEARCH

Contextual factors: This was when the economy was falling and more and more people were falling out of unemployment. This added to the song a lot because that is what it is mainly about.

What is the issue: The number of families who are becoming homeless is rising very fast, and Bush wasn't doing much that was actually helping it. It also talks about how Geroge Bush can sleep at night and how he can act like everything's alright when it's not.

Who is affected: Anyone who is or has been homeless or unemployed is affected a lot by this. They would have a lot of the same opinions as Pink and some of them might be mad at George bush for this.

Varying Perspectives: Obviously the majority of the republicans wouldn't agree with this song because a lot of them support bush. A lot of the democrats or homeless people would agree with this song because it explains their life a lot right now.

Severity of the Issue: I think that is a HUGE issue right now. There are so many people that either don't have a home, or are on the verge of losing it. And that's just in America. In third world countries living situations are so much worse.

CRITIQUE

I saw some people that agreed with the author completely and I saw others that disagreed completely. There also were a lot of people who had mixed opinions. I think that now that Obama is the president, a lot of these people who agreed with Pink now have more hope that things will change. I think that I share a lot of the same views as her. I think that poverty is becoming a huge problem and that there are people out there that have huge houses and a ton of money left over, and that there are an increasing number of people who have no money, and no place to stay. I honestly think that if the whole country works together, things change in our country.

Fort Hood

1. What are your thoughts, feelings, etc, as you read these articles?

I think that this is a tragic moment that will definitely change a lot of people's lives. What happened is definitely a rising trend as more and more shootings are happening. A lot of the shooters have the same traits and people need to be more alert and looking for people like them.

2. What role do you think terrorism played in this massacre, if any? Why? Do you think that there was an terrorist organization behind the shooting?

I think that terrorism does have a role in this, but I don't think that it should. Obviously if someone middle eastern shoots a bunch of people from America, people are going to think that something with terrorism triggered. But the truth is that he was a US citizen, and shouldn't be looked at any differently then anyone else. I do not think that there aas a terrorist organization behind the shooting. I think that he was having the same problems that any of the other people who have done similar acts like this.

3. What role did racism or religious persecution play in this incident? Why?

I think that the fact that the Army that he was apart of was fighting a country with similar religious views may be a factor in why he shot so many people because this was probably a touchy subject, but he definitely could have handeled it better.

4. Do you think a lot of Muslim Americans have the same feelings as this man? Why or why not?

Probably. However, they don't have to hear all of the stories that happened in this war, and they are not dealing with being in the army. I think that that is another key factor in why he did this. But you still have those feelings even if you aren't fighting or working with people who fight.

5. What do you think the military could have done to prevent this from happening? Why do you believe this? Were there signs that this man had the potential to do something like this? What were they?

Some of the warning signs that they could have seen is the fact that he was harrased after 9/11. Almost all of the shooting incidents have shooters who have been bullied a lot. I think that if he was so against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, then he should have withdrawn from the Army. If people noticed this, they should have said something and tried to help him, but it could have been that he kept these problems to himself, and to the public he didn't have any problems.

6. Talk about the leadership of Kimberly Munley (the woman who stopped the shooter). What did she do? How would you have reacted in the same situation?

Kimberly Munley did a very heroic act that saved a lot of lives. She is the one that stopped the shooter, when she could have just ran away and probably ended up safe. She put her life on the line to protect the rest of Ft. Hood and I'm sure that a lot of people couldn't do that. If that was me, I would think that I would shoot at the guy too because I know that I would be saving a lot of lives. You have to be able to put others before yourself in that type of situation.

7. What does this incident say about race relations in America? Specifically with Arab-Americans and Muslims? Is there a reason that Muslims and people from the Arab world feel a certain way about America?

I think that this incident brings up a lot of tension. A lot of racism has been going on between Arab-Americans and Americans. It really is racist because that shouldn't matter. Each person should be considered an American and their race shouldn't matter. I thinki that there is a reason why Muslims and people from the Arab would feel a certain way about America because they have been rediculed a lot about their race, but what the guy did at Ft. Hood was totally out of proportion and should never be taken that far.

Second Leadership Article

This artical was written by Bill Lloyd and was talking about what it takes to be a good leader. It started with a story about how he worked in a restaurant as a general manager, he had to make a descision about whether or not to promote another employee as a general manager. He didn't really know what, but something bugged him about the employee. He realized that when this person had a task that maybe wasn't the most pleasant thing to do, he would send it on to someone else to do, when all of the other general managers would do the task themselves. He talks about how a good leader needs to step up and do things that maybe necessarily wouldn't be fun for them, and how they need to step up and do things so that others will follow them.

I think that this article talks a lot about responsibility and integrity because it says how you need to do things that are your responsibility even if they aren't something fun to do. The author talked about the key to leadership is being able to do anything that you would need to ask someone else to do. I think he is trying to reach high school aged people because he talks a lot about that is where your leadership starts and really grows. This is going to affect a lot of people. Anyone who reads it will obviously be affected and if the person who reads it becomes a really positive leader, and then people will catch on and it will kind of be like a domino effect. It will affect me because now everytime I'm in a situation where I can ask someone to do something, or just do it myself, I will think about this and do it myself. This is an important article about leadership because it kind of gives you a basic to leadership. If you can do this, than people will look up to you and think you're a good leader.

My opinion on this article is that he is right. I think that that is a very important artical. An example of this could be that you and you're friend are closing at your work and only one person is needed, you could tell your friend that you're going to go home, but then how would your friend feel? I agree with what he says about how if you shouldn't ask someone to do something if you wouldn't do it.

Article Summary- Oddities

My article was about a forty nine year old woman who turned herself in for driving drunk. The driver's name was Mary Strey and she called 911 and told the dispatcher that there was someone driving drunk and when the dispatcher asked if she was following the vehical, she simply responded that it was her. She followed the dispatchers directions to pull over and put her blinkers on until the police came. She had a blood alcohol level double the legal amount to drive.

I came across this article by looking at all of the weird stories on msnbc.com. This article stood out to me because it is rare that a drunk driver reports themselves. I thought it was also kind of funny looking and thought I should read it. This story affected the woman, the police and anyone she could have possibly hit. I think people like reading these stories because it gives them a good laugh and is a lot more light hearted then the normal news.

I think that it is very good that Mary Strey reported herself. If she didn't, she could have gotten in an accident and hurt herself or others. Even though she was intoxicated, she made a very smart idea. Drunk driving is a problem and even though it's funny, it's kind of a lesson that you shouldn't drink and drive.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33594610/ns/us_news-weird_news/

Head Butting Story!

This video made me realize how rough high school sports are getting. It made me feel like people should really watch how they act, and think before they do things. I think that he shouldn't be charged criminally, but he should get a bigger punishment. He shouldn't be charged criminally because in a high school football game, you don't always think through your punishments, and I wouldn't necessarily consider him a criminal. But I do think that he should get bigger punishments so that he learns from his mistakes.

I think that you have the same rights and protections, with some exceptions. For example, you couldn't just be walking down the street and tackle someone, but you shouldn't be able to punch people in a football games.

As the player who got hit: This would make me feel mad at the person who hit me because he shouldn't have done that. I would want him to be suspended from multiple games because he knew that he can't do that.

As the player who hit the guy: I would regret my decision, but football is a rough sport and there's a lot of action that goes by without people noticing. I would wish that I hadn't taken it to that level and I am very disapointed with my actions. I think that I should not be charged as a criminal because I don't feel that it was criminal. I however do think that I should get punished for my actions. If I was the kid I hit, I would be very mad.

As the player's parents of the son who got hit: I would be extremely mad with the guy who hit my son. I would think that. I would want the person to be charged as a criminal because he took my son out of many football games and left a permanent scar on his forhead. He knew he shouldn't do that, and yet he didn't it anyway and I think that he is a criminal.

As the player's parents of the son who hit the guy: I am disappointed in what my son did. He took it to a new level that he shouldn't have and he should be punished. I don't know if I agree with him being charged as a criminal, but he should and will be punished, if not by the state, then at home. If he made the other guy miss football games, then he should atleast miss that much as well.

Police (or state): This would make me feel uneasy. I think this because I know that whatever decision I make, it will upset one team greatly. There are strong opinions for both sides. I (personally) don't know all of the specifications about making an action criminal, but with what I do know, I would suspend the player for the season and if this action was ever done again, he would be out of all high school sports.

Teammates of the player who got hit: I think this would make me feel very mad at the kid who hit him. He took out one of our best players and for this I think that he should be charged as a criminal. I know football is a rough sport, but you still shouldn't take it to those kinds of levels.

Teammates of the player who hit the guy: I think that this people are only seeing one side. There was obviously something that the guy was doing before to aggravate him. But no one sees that side, they just see him head butting him. I think that he should get suspended some games, but definitely not a whole season. And he definitely isn't a criminal.

Coach of the player who hit the guy: I think that what he did was totally not right. He took it to another level and he needs to have time to cool off before he can play. I would give him another chance though because everyone makes mistakes.

Athletic Director/Principal: I think that this is very embarrassing to our sports program. Now everyone sees our school as unsportsmanlike when really it was just one mistake. He will definitely be punished further if he is not convicted as as criminal.

Article Summary- Leadership

Summary
The article that I read was called The Potential of Story in Leadership and was written by Sarah Nonoon. The article was about an alternative high school that had a lot of communication problems between the staff. It said that during their meetings there would often be a lot of yelling, people not talking to each other, or people not even showing up. This was inhibiting them of having a productive meeting and the director often had to make all the decisions. Sarah Nonoon went to one meeting to try and make the staff back to how it was a couple of year ago and make this school as successful as ever.
Impact
This is important because the students at this school should get the best teachers they can have, and since the meetings weren’t going so well before, they really needed someone to step up and fix this. The author, I think, was the leader in this story. She talks about putting your past behind you and just working now. She also talks about how important it is to be an effective listener. I think that the author is trying to reach other teachers so that if they are in the same position as these teachers, they can figure out how to fix it too. I think that this will affect anyone who is working. Because in almost every workplace, you will find conflict and whether or not it affects how you work, it is still important to resolve those conflicts. A lot of people work, and even if you don’t, you can use the information she tells you in every aspect of life. This article is about leadership because she really stepped up to help this school. Also every teacher at this school stepped up to because they realized that they want to change the way the school is running now.
Opinion of Article
I think that what Sarah Nonoon did was very good. She didn’t work with the school, but still she cared about it and wanted it to run smoothly. She worked with the faculty, even though it took a lot of time, to resolve differences and teach them good communication skills. She didn’t have to do this, but obviously the staff and teachers weren’t going to step up. I think that Sarah Nonoon, from what I can tell, is a very good leader.

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=7&sid=92cc2fe1-79f6-49f8-ac4d-cc971e2eea37%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ850668#db=eric&AN=EJ850668

Blog Four

In the last part of the book that I read, it talks a lot about the Hotel Mille Collines, which is the hotel that Paul worked at. In a very poor and unwealthy community, the hotel was very modernistic and wealthy looking. It made sure that the people who visited would get very good rooming. That stood out to me, because you think that the town would use the money to make the families more wealthy but they are all very selfless because they put that money towards making other people's stays good.

I think that my aunt is a lot like the people in Rwanda because she has good hospitality. Whenever I'm over there, she always makes sure that I'm comfortable and she makes a lot of good food. Another person that I think is like Paul, is my mom because she always stresses the importance of education in my life and wants me to do good in school.

I think that it's very important for us to learn about leardership because some people have obviously heard about being a good leader, but don't know what steps to take to become one. By watching these videos or reading these stories, people get an idea of things they can do to become a good leader.

So far in my book, Paul Rusesabagina has continued talking about the history of Rwanda and the farther that i have gotten in the book, he has talked more and more about the present. Right now he is the late 1900s and has talked about who has controlled Rwanda and about how that changes the country. I think it's very interesting to read about how the country changes each time a new ruler is installed. I disagree with the way that the country was ruled because it had the potential to become a really successful country but instead, failed.

Paul Rusesabagina always talks about being kind and caring. “I said, 'I'm not coming with you, because so far I'm the only person who can negotiate with the killers,” (page 54 An Ordrinary Man). This quote meanst that he cared about all of the people he had in his hotel and he didn't want to see them slaughtered, even if that meant he had to risk dying.

"Eight hundred thousand lives snuffed out in one hundred days. That's eight thousand lives a day,. More thatn five lives per minute. Each one of those lives was a like a little world in itself. Some person who laughed and cried and ate and thought and felt and hurt just like any other person, just like you and me. A mother's child, every one irreplaceable." (Page 4 An Ordinary Man).

I chose this passage because I never really thought about this. I know that each day, many people die. You can hear about those peopled who die, and you just kind of shake it off becaues you didn't know them, or anyone that knew them. But if you think about it, they had a family, and it could have been someone you knew. I wonder what murderers would do if they took the time to think about the person they're gonna kill and thought about they're life.

A time I had to make an ethical descision was when my friends wanted to go somewhere, but I didn't, so instead I went home. It was boring being at home well my friends were having fun, but I knew I made the right descision.

Since my last post, not a lot has really happened. The author has continued to talk about the history of Rwanda, and about how the conflicts of the Hutus and Tutsis came to be. It talks about it's neighboring country and how when something happens in one country, it almost always happens in the other country too.

My views haven't really changed since I last read the book. I still think that what Paul Resusabagina did was very good, and he is a very good ethical leader.

I think that a time I was put into a leadership position when I was in student senate in middle school. Back then it was pretty cool to be in student senate, and the first year, people acually did speeches and tried really hard. I thought it was neat how I got to be on it and make a lot of decisions about fundraisers and our middle school dance. There were only four people in my grade that were on it, so to be chosen I felt was a pretty good leadership role. I feel like I did okay in this position, I could have done better. I missed some of the meetings, but I still helped out. I don't think I would change any decisions that we did because I felt like they were pretty succesful for a middle schooler to do.

Well I haven't really got to the main part of the book, where Paul saves the people in the hotel. But in his childhood, he was a leader too. Since he was the first person in his school, it was a big step for him. "Each day I walked a mile up the hills to my school." (Page 13). He could have easily followed his parents and older siblings footsteps and not gotten a good education, but instead he wanted to change and even if it was hard at first. He said that it definitely paid off in the end.

First Blog

The book I read was about Hotel Rwanda, and it's the autobiography of the guy who ran the hotel. When he was briefly describing the genocide, it shocked me because of how bad it really was. He was the first person in his family to learn how to read and write and I thought that that was pretty cool because even though his family didn't have a lot of money, they knew how important education was.
It kind of reminded me of some people that you meet, that are very welcoming and make you come in their house and have good hospitality. In Rwanda, you always welcome people into your home, and so that is why Paul Resusabagina welcomed all of those people into his hotel, even though he would have been killed by the other Hutu people.

My Post

:)