Viewpoints
Middlesex University
By Michael Morales
Sociology gives people the opportunity to view the world from many different perspectives. It decreases any ethnocentric views one may have and expands cultural and intellectual horizons. I believe that there is no better way to experience sociological study than to actually go out in the world and experience first hand encounters so that one may draw certain sociological questions or conclusions to further examine.
The United States and the United Kingdom share many similar cultural characteristics yet hold striking differences at the same time. Politically they are two monumental allies that influence the world precisely. Any sociology student should consider it a fascinating opportunity to measure any similarities or contrasts by having the opportunity to travel to England.
I have been presented with the opportunity to travel to Middlesex University and I plan to take two classes that may help my program of study. The first class is called Exploring London. This class is based on hands on research out in the city of London. It not only has sociological value by being exposed to English society, but it also serves many historical values. How else can one learn about American society without learning where it all began?
The second class I am interested in taking while at Middlesex University is called Mapping Spatial Data with GIS. This class could be considered to fall under the Sociological or Geographical realm. It could be considered Geographical because it is the study of place and location. Coincidingly, however, it could be considered Sociological because it also studies people within the place. This would be a great class to take because it allows the opportunity to have hands on experience and use advanced technology and resources efficiently.
I also believe that studying abroad would set the stones for a possible future career in law enforcement. Since I can remember, I have always been fascinated with law and policy enforcement and how people from different cultures or backgrounds respond to those enforcements. There is no doubt that the United States suffers from one of the largest violence rates in the world. I would hope to one day compare and contrast different societies and how those different social interactions deal with law enforcement.
When I first visited London in 2003, I noticed that the metropolitan police do not carry guns while on patrol. This is something that is strikingly alien to that of American culture. Why is that police officers in London feel more comfortable not carrying guns while on patrol and American police consider it an outrage?
I have been to several European cities including Paris, Rome, Florence, and Athens. Out of all the cities and past experiences I have had in Europe, London is a city I feel well connected to. Some people may say it is because there is no language barrier when traveling from the United States and United Kingdom, I disagree. I speak fluent Spanish and feel very comfortable tapping in to the similar language of Italian. While in Italy I could clearly navigate my way with little hesitation. To me the United Kingdom holds a fascinating history. Its days of expansionism stretched the empire to every corner of the Earth while spreading its culture and political ideals. It is a prime example of a benevolent country that has witnessed everything. Unlike other fallen empires in the past, the UK has been able to adapt to the changing world throughout its history.
I fundamentally believe there is something dangerously wrong with American society today. With one of the most important political elections oh the century occurring soon in the United States, I presume that there will be a shift in American politics. The question is how will American respond to it? It is my hope that while in the UK I can gain a better understanding for English culture and how they interact within their own society. I believe that from my research Middlesex University can offer me a tremendous educational experience I can take with me in the future.
Immigration reform on the sociological front
By Jenn Prather
Immigration has been a controversial topic since the baby boomers and our parents were young. If we could turn back time about thirty years, and compare our cultural ideals, the western view on immigration has mostly been negative. From the early eighties until now, not much has changed. There seems to be a “labeling theory’ applied to people who want to leave their homeland to better their life and sense of self.
In America, we have the freedom to make money and complain about our expensive mortgages and our overpriced car payments. We don’t bat an eyelash when we go to Walmart and buy the twenty dollar jeans or the two dollar flip flops that would cost fifteen dollars in a well known department store. We have the rights to move freely and have choices in our lives. We can choose religions and sit next to somebody else who may not have the same beliefs, as long as they are Americans. When an immigrant comes to America, there are high percentages of immigrants that are forced into the labor markets as they earn a low wage. Meanwhile, Americans blame the immigrants for taking their jobs. These are the jobs in which most would not work because of unsatisfactory wages.
George W. Bush and his administration believe by spending millions of dollars to keep Mexican immigrants away or out of their borders, it will diffuse the overall population that is getting in. Instead of spending millions of American tax dollars on something that might work, how about a compromise. Let’s give immigrants short visas to work as a legal worker and attach some stipulations to live here full time. Let the immigrants learn the language, get a license, pay taxes and earn just as the average American does.
Americans have been ignoring the problem way too long. It will not go away. There needs to be an intervention. America is known as the melting pot and we claim to stand proud by equality and fairness. If our tactics have not worked, and more and more people are becoming illegal immigrants in this country, then why are we still doing the same thing?
Let’s think of the long term effects on the psyche of an immigrant or their family that has to suffer without their loved one. In addition, illegal immigrants send a check home every week or every month, and may not see their family for years because income is the only survival. It almost seems unbeatable or as if we stopped caring because it cannot change. The biggest change starts with awareness. How do we make different cultures aware? If we increase awareness of immigration, we can increase the reformation it will take to change lives.
I believe it starts by getting the youth involved. The new generation of college grads and local government should get involved. Higher earners and people who pay taxes should get involved. If everyone paid taxes, and we had more people whom make an honest wage, they will need to spend that money they make. Immigrants would be able to buy houses and cars instead of renting overpopulated apartments.
My final thought on immigration is to change fair working policies by stopping companies and corporations illegally transporting immigrants over the border to work in sweatshops, or under the table jobs. There should be networks or assistance for family counseling and work related programs. America needs an intervention because what our policy makers are currently mandating, does not work.
Wrong impressions of greek life
By Jenna Marschhausen
When a lot of people think about fraternities and sororities they immediately associate them with a group of college kids who haze pledges, are way out of control, and all they ever want to do is party. I’m not quite sure where all these people get their ideas to begin with, probably from movies such as Animal House, or even articles in newspapers on the negative aspects of greek life, but not all organizations in Greek life even haze at all. There’s a lot more to the Greek system than drinking. It’s time for people to see the truth about Greek life.
Some people may say when you join a Greek organization, that you are buying your friends, but that’s entirely not true, if you do pay money it will go towards a composite of all the members, clothing with your letters, as well as activities and trips your organization may want to take together. The individuals in that organization don’t pocket the money to use for themselves, which would make that statement “that your buying your friends” false. Being Greek is not only a good extracurricular activity that looks good on a resume, but it’s a great opportunity to meet new people, and make a lot of friend who have a common interest as you. The friendships that you make don’t end when college does, because when you join your joining a brotherhood or sisterhood which will last much longer then that, it will last you a lifetime.
The sorority I’m in is nationally affiliated, and we are based on philanthropy, which is one of the reasons I actually joined my sorority in the first place. Not only do I get to give back to the community with all the philanthropy that we are involved in but I get to do it with my best friends right there with me. So far this year for philanthropy we have done so much, to name a few we went to the soup kitchen to help with their spooky dinner during pumpkin fest, and we went to Vermont to participate in the building of a house for extreme makeover home edition. Not just my sorority, but ALL Greek organizations do philanthropy, here at KSC all of the Greek organizations came together and helped clean up the ashowat river. With community service you learn how to respect yourself as well as others with pride.
When you’re in either a sorority or a fraternity, you learn a lot of things that will help you in life down the road after the college years are over. Like in many organizations there are different positions that are held in order to be run properly and smoothly, Greek organizations are the same way and this provides a great opportunity to produce amazing leadership skills as well as learning both independence and working in groups, courage, moral decency, and how to separate business with friendship.
About 3% of the United States population is/has been involved in Greek life, out of that 3%, 48% of all U.S presidents are Greek, and 40% of all U.S Supreme Court Justices were Greek. I don’t think Greek life could be that bad, if about half of the men who have lead our country were involved in it.
Hopefully in the near future the good nature and all the things that different Greek organizations do for the community will be seen and publicized more often and Sororities and fraternities will eventually get a better name that they honestly deserve.
Inhibited Discoveries and Ethics
By Nathaniel Lesch-Huie
Much of what we know and do is taught. The way we communicate and go about our daily lives is instilled by greater forces than us like our parents, societal norms, and the educational system. People are trained to behave in appropriate contexts and to follow norms and they are almost always rewarded for this good behavior. There is also another type of people, these are people that respect and see the lines laid out for them but choose to step beyond them for the sake of discovery and learning. At least in the field of Sociology and Psychology there was a time when people were rewarded for their efforts to elicit new learning and go beyond what was deemed academically appropriate. Scholars like Freud and Zimbardo were able to produce many great discoveries about humans by just acting on their instinct and letting their gut guide them. Research today is very difficult to complete while maintaining your original goals and ideas because so many regulations, restrictions, and ethical guidelines keep the researcher from being able to act spontaneously which forces them to rework or condense their original ideas to fit within the terms of acceptability, timelines, and ASA approval.
Perhaps one of the most annoying terms in academics is ethics. While on one side ethics is great because it allows you to see that you do have the ability to affect people in an unnatural, unhealthy, or inhumane way, the other side is that every time you try to do something progressive someone slams you with, that’s not ethical. Sudhir Venkatesh a Professor at Columbia University is somebody who has pushed the envelope of what is acceptable and still managed to remain respected by his peers. Sudhir spent a lot of time living with and studying the trade and people of the crack industry in Chicago. Many people would immediately blow off the results or findings of his work because of the contexts in which it happened but the fact remains that he allowed himself to penetrate into a world which is otherwise impenetrable and gain real insights and information. In an article written in Newsweek online (2/1/08) about Sudhir even he himself recalls that he knew it would be controversial and there would be unpleasant situations but that was just part of the process.
The point for me is that learning should not be so much about how it is done but more that it gets done. Let’s not look for the faults but let’s look at what’s there. If we spend our whole time planning, checking, and making sure our work is academically acceptable we will never actually be able to do the real work. I have always had the attitude that there is no time like the present so if we let an idea or opportunity pass us by then we might not be able to recover or perform it in its true and original form. Academia, scholars, and associations are only good in the fact that they give us some parameters to understand our subject but if we let those parameters control us so much that we are not able to produce anymore then we must break free. There comes a time where we must let ourselves be ourselves and follow the methods that we feel are necessary. Later when we have performed our tasks then we can make the information public but we should not be expecting to be appreciated for it but more we should find happiness in the fact that the work is done and the process complete.
References
Notes from The Crack Trade, By Jessica Bennett (Feb 1, 2008). www.newsweek.com. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
Teen pregnancy and education
By Daniel Wallace
Teen pregnancy is a pressing issue concerning millions of people every year. Three out of ten females become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of twenty according to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. About a quarter of these pregnancies are to unmarried teens. The National Campaign tells us that 41% of teens who begin families before the age of 18 ever complete high school, and only 2% of teen mothers earn a college degree by the age of 30. Not only are the mothers in danger, but the children of teen parents see consequences as well, they often do worse in school and are 50% more likely to repeat a grade. Educational failure is said to be a key predictor of teen pregnancy.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is one major organization helping in the national fight against this epidemic. In 2002 this organization was given a grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help states and communities improve their teen pregnancy prevention efforts. Launched in ’02 the project-“Putting What Works to Work”- is an effort that recognizes and conforms other research-based practices that help prevent teen-pregnancy. PWWTW, as its called, work closely with states and communities to incorporate such practices into their work. PWWTW will be led by the National Campaign with support from Child Trends, Philiber Research Associates, and other distinguished organizations in the study of adolescent well-being and research. Another agency helping this cause is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS funds a wide range of health and human services programs through state block grants, including those that provide health and social services to teenagers that further pregnancy prevention goals.
What’s being done?
The best intervention for this issue is public awareness; this issue must be addressed on a national level and constantly reinforced. One such intervention has been used for the past six years and has proven itself to be useful; the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Held the first week in May, this occasion encourages teens to go to the events official website and take an online quiz testing their responses to sexually provocative situations. This event is supposed to raise awareness and provide a safe and realistic alternative instead of simply insisting on abstinence-only education.
Continuing education about this issue would be incredibly helpful. The National Campaign states that students who feel a strong connection to their school and community programs are more likely to postpone sexual activity. In general sexual education is enforced in middle school and seems to be put on a back-burner when high school comes around. The main source of sex related information is said to be the teen’s parents and not peers, when in actuality peers play a major role in relaying sexual information; this is extremely detrimental because of misinformation. If sexual education was mandated in high school teen pregnancy would no doubt see a serious decline. Youth development programs are proving promising in lowering rates a teen pregnancy according to the National Campaign. These programs include during or after school classes, school-to-work activities, community service activities, mentoring, tutoring and other activities that foster promote awareness among youth.
Republicans, Democrats and voting: Learning the ways of politicsBy Natale DiBitetto
You’re at home flipping through channels as a political map comes on the screen. It’s just a matter of time before the Presidential election is over. You hear the newscaster talking about each candidate’s future plans. You look at the bottom of the screen as the number of electoral votes each politician is receiving from the states. You sit back wishing you knew what was happening. You don’t understand what each side stands for because it’s discussed in detail. Before you can understand the details, you need to know the basics. However, there’s more to it than that. Maybe you don’t understand how voting works, either. You think to yourself, what are electoral votes? I thought that citizens cast their ballots and whoever received the most votes won that state. That’s not necessarily the case and not knowing what’s happening around you makes for a frustrating election.
The issue of unfamiliarity of politics is a problem that faces many people, especially teens, today. When teens turn 18, they’re allowed to vote so long they register. However, many people don’t vote, regardless if they’re registered, because they don’t know what they’re voting for. There is the question of whether they’re Democrat, Republican or neither and they don’t know how to tell. While tuning into a news station or radio may talk about politics, the parties and who is winning each state, you may not be able to understand unless you are already politically informed.
Democrats, also known as liberals or socialists, are the left-wing party. People of this party are more open to change and believe the government should be controlling many aspects of your life (i.e. healthcare). They are more open to changing laws such as a gay marriage law, which has become a huge issue among the country as a whole.
Republicans, also known as conservatives or constitutionalists, are the right-wing party. In general, they believe in more moral and traditional values rather than change. They don’t believe the government should be controlling your life. Republicans tend to have a stronger religious background. The separation of church and state has always been a liberal/conservative battle. Conservatives would rather bring Christian morals into government decisions whereas Democrats prefer that separation. A controversial example of this would be abortion. For the most part, Conservatives are pro-life whereas Democrats are pro-choice.
The two parties share very different opinions on penalties against people who commit crimes. Democrats tend to lean towards prosecution whereas Republican’s lean towards execution, depending on the crime committed. For example, most Democrats would rather see Scott Peterson who murdered his pregnant wife in December 2002, be jailed for life where all his rights would be taken away and he would suffer in a cell until he died. Many Republican’s lean toward Peterson be murdered because they believe he deserves to have the same thing happen to him as he did to his wife and unborn child.
On the subject of taxes, Democrats believe that they should be used towards everyone, whereas Republican’s believe they earn their money and they should get to do what they want with it. Democrats believe taxes should be taken out of the wealthier class where Republican’s tend to disagree.
To sum up the difference, Republican’s believe in small government and individual freedom and responsibility. Democrat’s believe in government programming at the expense of personal freedom and responsibility.
Voting may be a confusing concept for people who are just learning politics. Instead of the population winning a state over, the electoral votes decide who it goes to. The number of electoral votes is different in each state, according to how many number of Senate and congressional seats there are in the house. So in other words, in New Hampshire there two Senators and two house members which gives New Hampshire four electoral votes. The number of seats each house has is determined to how many people live in the state, thus leading back to population. If the population is tied, no candidate receives the electoral votes and it goes to the House of Representatives. Each person in the House votes and the candidate that receives the majority vote wins that state.
The best way to learn about politics is from people around you. Your parents, peers and teachers may have a greater knowledge of politics. Sometimes it’s hard to get both sides of the story if most of the people you talk to favor one side. Going online and listening to both radio and television talk shows is another way to learn the Republican opinion vs. the Democratic opinion. Once you learn the basics you can start to understand the specifics of politics.
mwalsh @ April 10, 2008