Dont ask Dont tell

I do not agree with don't ask don't tell. It is not fair to the thousands of gay's in the military who must must hide who they are. In no way is it fair to a gay man or women that they must hide from their fellow soldiers that they are gay.  I thought it was very interesting to learn about the annual Christmas party in the service. I never really looked at it from that point of view. Moreover,  the military should not allow straight men or women to bring their partners but not allow gays to bring theirs. I think this ruling needs to be overturned and it is obvious after the results of the study. 70 percent of people in the military think that it would cause little to no effect if gays were allowed to serve openly in the military. This top down approach of not allowing gays to serve must come to an end. Washington should not be allowed to control whether or not gays serve openly in the armed forces.

Globalization blog

I thought Americanization of the world was a very powerful article. I think it is amazing how westernized the undeveloped world has become. You can go to Jakarta Indonesia or the Niger river delta and find kids wearing a New York Yankees hat. Even though these kids probably have no idea who the Yankees or Bulls are they still have these shirts. It shows how the western world has pushed their ways on people. However, one thing that I can say from what I have learned in my Political Science class is that NGO's have a large part in the reason many of these people acquire this type of clothing. They are often donated clothes that Organizations give out to help these poor people.

Mcdonaldization is the spread of brand names such as Mcdonalds have become known throughout the world and often in the developing world.

Pessimistic hyperglobalizers are people who believe we are moving toward a "culture rainbow" as the author calls it leading to a bad thing .Optimistic hyperglobalizations is promoting good things such as free markets and democracy.

Genre for Social Action

I am choosing video because i feel it is very powerful. The type of video I will do is a youtube video that shows peoples answers. Throughout the class we have been shown that type of youtube clips and I feel that it is the most powerful when people actually see what is going on. I might use a multimedia website such a a blog or an acutally web 2.0 account. I will use the source of the ISU student services that you will be using. I might also use posters and other means to really get my point across.

Social Class and Wealth Disparities

1. Specialization of State Policy,Economic Detour, Sedimentation of Racial Inequality
The person interview was Kevin who is an older man who is also retired from working.
The themes of this article are that african americans are not given proper funding for schools healthcare and bank loans. This is ultimately wrong and I believe it needs to change. In my powerpoint I showed why this needed and solutions to the problem.
A solution to this problem is provide education to these people. The author feels that people must be educated for something to change. He also said proper legislation must happen in congress so funds for african amercians start happening.

My story through college has been very interesting. I first went to the Univeristy of Oklahoma but because of several reason i decieded to transfer. I feel that i have had a very good childhood and upbringing and with both my parents going to college i felt it was my duty to go to college.

Paragraph on Ken

Ken showed aspects of a typical middle class kid. He grew up in a working family with a mother who worked two jobs to help support the family. Ken said that he grew up in many neighborhoods but most of them were either lower middle class of middle class. He says he is appreciative of where he came from and what he has. Although it took him a while to appreciate the value of a college career he now sees it is very important. He says [heck] yes he did see the value when I asked him to reiterate his thoughts.

Article about Muslims in America

- The participants in my study are Muslims who live in america and have gone through struggles of being a muslim post 9/11 and pre 9/11.
- The section begins with analysis of what is going on now and pre-history all the way back to the columbus era of Muslims.
-I believe it is orginized very well because it gives a history but then goes in to depth about the trials and tribulations that muslims go through. This is very helpful for my topic because it is exactly what I am writing about.
-I believe the themes that emerge are that the author believes the way that Muslims are treated is wrong and hateful and that it needs to change.
-The evidence that is used is the interviews and facts that before 1980 Muslim faith was rather obselete in America. He says that only because of bad things have Muslims been brought up for a topic of discussion.
-I think what stands out the most for me is the vast amount of research this author used. I think it is very powerful when you get a lot of voices heard because it shows that people care about this topic. This is a topic that i also are deeply about because i beleive people are not giving muslims a fair chance.
-One thing that could be improved was maybe a little better methodology. it is just pretty much telling what they did and not how they got there info. But I would definitely give this paper an A

Blog entry comparioson

They writing styles of these two were completely different. The first author used more of a less serious tone and a little more informal. While the second author used a theme that was must different. Hers was serious and used the two interviews as the basis but also gave a lot of knowledge to what was going on in columbine. I liked the second better because it was interesting and kept me entertained throughout. Also Samantha, used one victim while Brian used random people who he did not know about. Samantha knew that her participants had direct knowledge to the topic she was wrting about. Another thing Sam did was just write small paragraphs of what she thought and then wrote mainly the stories of her to interviewees using little of her own voice.

Social Action Projects Participents

So far in my social action project I have interviewed only one part of my participating groups. That being my church members. I tried to get 10 peoples interviews but only managed 8 due to two people not responding. The interviews went very well. My mom let me borrow a tape recorder from her work and I used it with the participents signed release. I then transferred those files on to my computer. The other 2 aspects of my interview are not quite done yet but I plan on getting that done here in the next couple of days or week. I plan on having all of my data collected by November 5th, Friday. Moreover, I plan on getting videos of some college students and doing a little collage. Kind of like what we saw in the first couple of weeks when those students were interviewed and what they said.

Job Description

The I found was a Careerbuilder.com was for a Lawyer opening in Buffalo Grove Illinois. It said that you must have graduated from law school. Also, It required that you have a paralegal certificate. It decribes that you must advise while also sometimes appear in court. One big aspect this job said was that you must specialize in criminal law. I plan on bemoming a lawyer however not all in crimnal law. One reason for this is because it has been a dream of mine ever since i was a kid. I plan on going to law school somewhere in the midwest. Maybe At the Univeristy of Okahoma if I am excepted.

What Can I do With my Major

For my major, political science, there are numerurous job oppurtunities available. Some jobs such as a police chief, city clerk, or county legislature are just a few. However, I want to go into Law. Ever since I was a little boy I have wanted to be a Lawyer. When I found out I was not fit for professional sports, I wanted to be a lawyer. My heart lies there because I want to be able to help the world become a better place.

Free Writing Article List 5

1. This is a problamitic statement because blind people can and ultimately don't want to be treated exactly normal. It would be unfair if a blind person were treated normal. This is what Sally is trying to get across. She says that blind people need to be given special equiptment or needs to make their work efficient.
2. Sally has almost a forceful and bitter tone. She is trying to get her point across that she wants something to be done for people with disabilities. One line I found to be powerful was on page 366. She says that until something is done the empty rhetoric needs to be removed. I agree with her. Until something is completely done we can not keep just talking the talk. Something must be done to walk the walk.
3. Joseph states this because, people in minority groups are nearly twice as likely based on fact. He says that kids  are placed in special education just because they can't speak good enough english. Not only do many of these people not need special education they are just as smart as a kid not in special education they just can't express themselves because they may not know english as well.
4. The ADA and IDEA has helped america change because American's are now seeing that people with disabilites need some sort of special attention. Shapiro says that people see IDEA as a right and not a medical problel. Another thing americans due is look at

Shitty First Drafts

Shitty first drafts helped me a lot with my paper. I used to go into a paper scared to death even of my first draft. However this author states that the first draft is nothing more than just your ideas on the lines. Your paper will materialize with the help of proof readers. Also, the first draft is not meant to be perfect and mistakes will happen. This author clearly thinks that mistakes will happen on your first drafts and they aren't always perfect.

Interview Questions

During the interview of Bill, I found good information about his academic life after college. Bill is currently a criminal justice major with a emphisis on the federal level of justice. He does not plan on attending graduate school, but becauase of a major required enterprenourship he will emmerse himself that way. I then asked Bill if this is the job he saw himself doing as a little kid. He then told me "not really, I wanted to be a cop, but did not really want to go into the criminal justice field."

Lamott Blog

I would define voice in my writing as the key to a good paper. I think a way to find yourself in writing is by being passionate. Even if you are in a class that is hard to find something passionate to write about you can still use your voice. In nearly all aspects of life we can relate so that is a key to being passionate about your writing. Another way I find my voice in writing is by using strong words to describe what I am writing about. Words that inspire are one way that I try and find my voice. Lamott in this paragraphs means that you must open new persective in your writing to keep going. Otherwise your writing is like a circle. It always comes back to the same paper and you can never find your true meaning.

Asian lesbian struggle

Being a visible minority is when people can look at you and actually see you as a minority. For example the writer is chinese therefore she is a visible minorirty. Being a invisible minoirty is being a lesbian, you can't visibly see that this person is a lesbian but in reality they are. What is means to stick to your own kind is not going outside the box and just staying with the people you are most comfortable with. This may be hanging out with all chinese people if you are chinese or hanging out with all christian people if you are christian. I believe people stick to there own kind because they fear what other people may think of them. Also, like the author people may fear what there parents say about these people of a different kind. My roomate for example has a minister as a father. And I know that if he where to bring say a gay friend back to his house or a muslim his dad would not like that. She is struggling with branching out and becoming an open lesbian. Also, she struggles with losing her culture her parents want het to keep. They fear that she will lose the chinese culture. I feel that I do not have to change my identity to fit in because my friends will except me how I am. However, when i went to college last year in Oklahoma I felt that I had to act a litle bit more southern to fit in. such as not wearing certain clothing or acting in a certain way to feel accepted.

Adopting the Principle of Pro-feminism

I feel that sexism is a very powerful topic. One way that I perpetuate sexism in my life is through school. In school we have many gender roles. For example, in P.E. class girls are expected to just stand in the corner, and when they are actually participating you think they are mascualine and somewhat acting out of there typical character. I feel that I do not perputrate sexism because when I look at an add I dont just look at the women and thats the sole reason I would by a product.

American Dream Response

The author in American Dream had the goal to live out this so called American Dream. He wanted to grow up like millions before him living life to its fullest. He has gone through many different types of social and cultural revelations. For example, he had to endure a very tough childhood. Also, he had to somewhat hide being a gay individual because he felt it would effect what others had to say about him. I think the quote on page 6 is very inspiring. It really shows what he feels about being a gay individual and that living the so called dream can't happen until you accept who you are as a person. Also, this can't happen until others accept who you are. I agree with the author on this point. If you are living with a burden on your shoulder you are not living the dream.

Defining Racism

White guilt is not something that can be changed overnight. From our Grandparents to our parents this white guilt has been going on for generations. It is something that needs to be talked about in school at an early age. We need to address this so that this guilt can be stopped. Here are somethings that I think need to be done.

Get Info: If we inform people this is a guilt that can be reversed. I think this is probably one of the biggest ways white guilt can be stopped.

Do Something: Doing something is what this class is all about. If we do something, such as putting flyers out or you tube clips is one simple way that white guilt can be reversed.

Listen: Like many things in life listening is the key to success. Listening will help in more ways than one. It will get you more informed and it will help get your point across more effectively also if you know what other people have to say.

Talk: Talking helps increase people's knowledge about what you have to say. It also helps increase peoples thought and gets them thinking what they can do about the topic.

Back to the Past and Heroes and Sheroes: Look at the past and see what people have done. From Martin Luther King to Rosa Parks there are people in the past that have things to say. Also, the past can help you find a hero or shero who made an impact.

paraphrasing activity

When writing a final paper students use quotes far to often. According to James Lester, "only 10 percent of the final manuscript" should be put right in to the paper(Lester 1976, 46-47). He also believes that the writer use as few direct quotations as possible when note taking.

Child Traf in Cambodia

I thought this article was very shocking. It is terrible that children are put out and sold. You do not realize how good of world we live in until you see what other children in the world go through. Also, it is shocking to me about all the stats that were given. One strength I see with her writing is it really got me fired up and wanting to do something about this. That is what i believe she wanted to have happen. She wants people to see that this is going on and try and fix this problem.

Reflections on Breaking the Code

I found Breaking the Code to be a good activity. It helped being in groups talking about the article because we could bounce ideas off one another. Also, I found it good because sometimes when I read an article it passes right over my head. However, with being in groups it was easy to ask questions if I found something confusing. Last, I gained experience in reading and analyzing a scholarly research article.

exercise 3.4

The author in this paragraph is stating the difference between serious and polular music. Moreover, there are comparions of how serious and polular music can be examples of society. Last, the author insist that in order to explain musi, so called social forces must be taken into consideration.

Sources for paper

From the library database:
Gazette, The: Blogs (Colorado Springs, CO), August 20, 2010 The Pulpit, 2pp Mark Barna
Olga. "There is Only One God." Newstex Blogs (USA) 02 Sept. 2010: NewsBank. EBSCO. Web. 8 Sept. 2010.
MICHAEL HINKELMAN hinkelm; @phillynews.com, 215-854-2656. "'Islamaphobia' is on the rise, group says." Philadelphia Daily News (PA) 03 May 2007: 35. NewsBank. EBSCO. Web. 8 Sept. 2010.


These are just 3 sources that I have found for my topic, I plan to find more. 

Here are 3 more sources I found on EBSCOhost
Patterson, Margot. "Muslims in America. (Cover story)." National Catholic Reporter 42.33 (2006): 11-12. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Sept. 2010.
Spencer, Robert. "Why I Am Not Anti-Muslim." Human Events 60.35 (2004): 23. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. Khalid, Elmasry. "Tolerance takes a back seat." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Sept. 2010.

Free write 1.5

Step 1. How has islamaphobia increased since 9/11
Step 2. Are conservatives the only ones who oppose the mosque?
What is there main arguement against the building?
Who are major proponets against muslims in america?
Did the Glen Beck rally play a role in getting more people to go against mosque?
What has President Obama said about the mosque in New York?
What is the fear american conservitaves have with the proposed mosque near the world trade center site?

Exercise 1.1

Step 1:
Places- Fairbury, Bloomington, Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, New York, Chicago, Eiffel Tower, Uppsala Sweden, Illinois State, Stockholm, England, St. Andrews, Turkey, Istanbul, Texas, Oklahoma

Jobs- Football player, Ceo, actor, comedian, telemarketer, teacher, cook, chef, contractor, lawyer, journalist, sports reporter, television host, governor, city clerk, policeman, fireman

Trends- P90X, facebook, entourage, big brother, myspace, HDTV, underage drinking, smoking, comedy tv shows, food network, xbox, baseball, football, ESPN

Things- Baseball, football, soccer ball, tv, lamps, electricity, gatorade, cereal, xbox, stop sign, poster, air purifier, air conditioning, apartment, airplane, cars, trains, bears, lions, tigers, dogs, HDTV, lemons, apples

Technologies-TV, cellphone,internet, wireless internet, lamps, cars, trains, airplanes, computers, doorbells, watches, clocks, printers, fax machines, water purifiers, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, pizza pizzaz, alarms clocks

People- Bob brenly, len kasper, Tony Dungey, Jason Aldean, Barack Obama, John Mccain, Dan Patrick, Keith Obberman, Lisa Salters, Ben Afflick, Jason Bourne, Matt Damon, Chris Cagle

Controversies- Moon Landing, Vietnam, President election, steroids, 9/11, mosque in new york, glen beck rally, roger clemens, p.c. hawks football team party, bank heist,


History-World Wars, Korean War, Ronald Reagan berlin wall, falling of communism in russia, olympics, olympic bombing, olympic massacre at 72 munich games, abe lincoln, civil war, revolutionary war, Benedict Arnold, george washington

Habits-biting nails, facebooking, watching tv, eating midnight snacks, eating fastfood even when knowing it is bad for you, book collecting, stamp collecting, rock collecting, reading while a thunderstorm is going on

Hobbies-reading, watching tv, golfing, playing baseball, playing slow pitch softball, writing novels, writing poems, reading the newspaper, collecting quarters with states on them, watching sports on tv, going to class

Step 2:
Falling of Communism and Berlin wall

I think there are many potential good research projects in this category. There are so many things that happened during this time to write about and learn about. I think this will open many doors because as a political science major this is something that is very interesting to me.

Step 3:
Why did the wall stay up so long?
What did Reagan do to bring the wall down?
Did this help ties with Russia?
Since the fall of communism has it made the world a better place?
What is the biggest impact on people since this fall of the red army?
How many people were displaced while being under this communist regime?
What has Russia done to help countries that are now independent and are they allies now?

Narrative on Social Diversity....

     Social diversity is essential in nearly all aspects of life. In my opinion it is defined as people from different races,gender, or religion. However, it does not stop there, it can also be people in different groups such as a sports team or the band. There are many different meanings for social diversity. Multiculturalism though similar to social diversity has its own meaning as well. I would define Multiculturalism as people from different cultures, such as England and the United States, being accepting of each other and cooperating, though having different ways of life. Furthermore, social diversity is important in my life. I believe you should except all people from different diversities regardless if you think that may be weird or unusual. Last, many issues of diversity play important parts of my life, but if I had to pick one it would be race.
     Race has played a very important part in realizing the different social diversities of people. My freshman year I had the opportunity to be a manager on The University of Oklahoma mens basketball team. This managing job gave me the chance to see life from a different social diversity. Many of the players on our team were black so it was different for me coming from a small central Illinois town. However, though tough at first i would not trade that year spent in Oklahoma for anything. I learned a lot about how these players grew up and became acceptance of things that I thought differently when I started the job.  This job showed me how important social diversity is in life to be successful.
     Looking ahead in the semester, I am most looking forward to writing about educational equality. Having a father who is a teacher has taught me to believe that equality in school is just as important as equality in any other aspect of life. It is an important subject because people have fought for this right for years and it is our duty to go through on what they have fought for. This doesn't relate to my major but it does somewhat relate to the law.  After I graduate I plan on attending law school so this topic will relate somewhat to that.

Free Write #1

1. Reading and writing has been very benificial in my life. I believe reading and writing force you to think and ultimately helps you gain as much knowledge as you can. The types of writing I do outside of school are facebook post, an occasional message board post, and emails.
2. My most difficult writing aspect is getting started and grammar. I have struggled with grammar in my work since and I can remember. Getting started is tough for me because it always seems like I have a million ideas spiriling through my head. I find it tough to grasp that one idea and run with it. If there was one thing to improve it would be my grammar.
3. I like biographies and some novels. Sports biographies in general are the one genre that I find most appealing. However, a good mystery novel such as a recent favorite The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown is a book I found to be very good. There is a big connection between reading and writing. Without reading you can't have writing and vice versa, they go hand in hand.
4. Whenever it comes to research all that comes to mind is sitting at a library or a computer and slaving for hours upon hours to find one measley source. However, after reading the introduction of our text, I found that research does not have to be "boring" it can involve story telling and exciting ties to the real world.
5.Social class is one thing that I found interesting out of the ideas that were given. Being a political science major social class can involve nearly anything and I would like to somehow tie that to my political science major. Though a specific idea has not come to mind, social class seems like an interesting topic relating to many things.
6.One way I find that gets people interested is simply getting them involved. If you ask questions whether that is in a sit down interview or random people on the street. If you get people involved it makes the topic much more interesting.

Boomer Sooner,

Matthew R. Dever

Getting to know me

First blog post oh boy! Well, I grew up in a small town just north of Bloomington. I enjoy playing sports and watching them as well. In highschool I played golf,basketball, and baseball. In writing I strongley dislike commas as you can probably tell already! I attended the University of Oklahoma my first year serving as a basketball manger for the mens team. Though I thouroughly enjoyed my freshman year there, I wanted to be closer to home. That is all for now and always remember Seeing is Believing.

Boomer Sooner,

Matt