We have obviously established that an organized solution is the best. One thing we should do is check with Kevin Mullen and see if he has any of these projects planned for the future. For example, if he plans to install solar panels in the next two years we should take over the project of rebuilding the MAC, and vice versa. This ultimately will give the most good in the shortest time for our school community.

Since every group has their own idea for a social change project, that is the one that they want to see actually put into effect. I feel like that is why this is going to be alot harder to decideon as a class than the grading was, even though that was very hectic. Since every group has presented their ideas and answered questions, now we all must decide which idea would be most realistic and achievable. This however has to be doen in an orderly fashion, or else we will get nowhere. People also need to be open minded to other people's ideas rather than just their own. Even though we demonstrate a democracy in class, that is not always the easiest when dealing with opposing opinions.

class/reading discussion

I think we had a good approach to figuring out what project we were going to work on. I think that people need to realize that they agreed to something and not change their mind halfway through the decision. I also think that since we did come down to two groups there needs to be an efficiency while making a decision. I think that each group should be given a certain amount of time to make one last pitch about how their project affects Siena and the community and will bring about social change. During their pitch no one should be asking questions or making comments. Questions should be saved for a discussion afterwards where we should have a mediator picking people to raise their points so no one is screaming over each other. After everyone gets their points across then a vote should be taken...not everyone is going to be pleased. This also needs to be decided asap because its already midway and we are not going to have a grade if nothing is decided on.
as for the readings i agree with adams point that everything has a negative connotation surrounding it. I believe that this has to deal with the society that we live in that nitpicks at all the disadvantages and focuses on the bad. People in these kinds of society seem to give up and just fall into the stereotype and try not to get out because they believe that its not possible. they see everyone around them falling into this negative pattern that has been created by the society in which they live. Most could probably get out if they put their head to it and put in a great deal of effort.
I believe a lot of these people are judged on first impressions. These can be first impressions of their home, neighborhood, school, academics or anything else pertaining to their community. If you see someone who doesn't speak English as in reading 20 you automatically think of an immigrant and how they negatively affect our society. Reading 49 shows many similarities to situations seen today. An example is in New Orleans where a low income housing was built on a toxic waste landfill filled with toxins from hurricanes that occurred in the 70's or 80's. Multiple people in the community became sick and one woman said that out of the ten houses surrounding her about one person in each of the houses died. This was because the toxins were seeping in through the basement or into the water that they used for everyday living. On these house plots you could not even plant grass because it would not grow. Similar to the story these people did not have an active voice to speak out aganist the problem

Sociology Readings and Class Discussions

There were a few similarities between the four readings even though they might not have been obvious. All four readings discussed how the people in one’s surrounding environment judge a person based only by how they identify that person and the stereotypes associated with that person’s categorized identity. In reading 18, the author was not certain what his true identity was because he was always seen differently depending upon where he was. In reading 20, the author discussed some of the controversial aspects of immigration and how people can be solely judged based off of their ethnicity. In reading 49, the reader learned how the government in California wanted to put a prison and toxic waste incinerator close to a Mexican-American community primarily because the government thought that this community would not effectively voice their dissent to the proposals. However, the reader discovered that the community united together and helped protect their land and quality of life. In reading 50, the reader discovers that women in white separatists movements are just supposed to raise children and stay in the house.
All of these readings discuss people or groups that are usually negatively stereotyped in their societies. However, it becomes apparent that many times, the people being stereotyped rarely speak up for themselves and defend their identity. They allow their society to change and mold their identities, letting other people only see a part of who they are. It is true that one’s surroundings shape our identity development but it is also true that we have power over ourselves to influence who we become, by choosing who we hang out with and where, what we think and say, and especially how we act. All of these factors influence our identity and how others might think of us. Therefore, actively participating in issues that directly affect us is crucial if we want to do something worthwhile, meaningful, and important.
Relating this concept to our class discussions is very crucial. Everyone should have the ability and power to voice their opinions, concerns, ideas, and thoughts in a polite, courteous, and respectful manner. However, this has not been the case so far, possibly because we are used to living in a society where only a few people actually have the voice and power to make decisions that directly influence other people. A new method for effectively voicing one’s opinions in class needs to be established because currently the ways in which the discussions are handled leads to frustration, anger, disgust, fear, and worst of all, apathy. This new method may not totally work and may need several amendments, but I think the hardest part will be trying to find this method and coming to a compromise where most people will be able to agree to it and abide by its rules.
Finding this new method most likely requires thinking “outside the box”, referring to something totally new. I think that more time is needed to make the decisions, probably longer than the designated class time that we currently have. I think that if the class wants to work on this project, it should abandon the readings and tests that we have, engaging their time in sociology class solely on the project’s progress. However, I believe that an anonymous vote should happen first to decide that matter. Other considerations might be to have short two or three minute breaks in between the discussions to talk among one’s group outside of the classroom to reestablish one’s opinions and get support and feedback from one’s own group. I think that we should invite members from the Siena community and local government officials to the class to observe our discussions and give us their thoughts and opinions. I believe that the best outcome will be if everyone has had a chance to have their voices heard and respected. However, it is difficult to think outside the box. More thought and time will be needed to discover the best method.

How to improve the chaos

Recap/Summary

Reading 18: My Secret life as a Black Man by Anthony Walton
-Essay about the troubles of living up to the expectations that other see you as due to race. How sometimes the preemptive notions people hold when they see you may work in your favor and how other times they do not.

Reading 20: Go North, young Man by Richard Rodriguez
-Immigration, particularly illegal immigration and the hardships faced by immigrants looking to fit into America who come here only to make a better life for themselves.

Reading 49: Grassroots Activism: Mothers of East Los Angeles by Mary Pardo
-A group of mothers from east Los Angeles, despite their low racial status, work together to bring about change in their community demonstrating democratic participation at its finest.

Reading 50: House Bound: Women’s Agency in White Separatist Movements by Jennifer Fluri and Lorraine Dowler
-Talks about how the internet has become a safe haven as well as a site of resistance for white separatists, also about how women’s place is in the home, to reproduce and he the motherhood of the nation.

There are several lessons that can be learned from the reading, lessons that pertain to the way our class tries to solve problems presented. First of all, looking at the present way we go about solving problems involves several people talking loudly until they reach a decision while others mumble obscenities under their breath about one thing or another they don’t like, remain silent knowing that no one will hear their smaller voice, or try to cut into the conversation and imagine someone hears them as they add to the roar of discussion. Conclusions that are reached do not make everyone happy, and often conflict by one or two people stirs up need for a new solution. The readings indicate other situations whose problems mirror our own and perhaps their solutions can help our class. In reading 18, we can see that people look at us and see something that they already perceive from our ethnicity or some other early signs. For example, we perceived that Dr. Johnson would teach our class and by that notion of logic, he would make decisions such as creating a syllabus, grading exams and helping the class to make decisions and maintain order. After going a few classes and being faced with votes/discussions we soon learned that this was a false perception and that we would have to start making the decisions and get involved. We can now save time in discussions by starting right off doing things our way. Reading 20 shows how it’s hard for people outside of the native land to fit in and become a part of the nation. In our class there are several people who have distinct opinions, are loud, and get their obviously correct opinions out there. Those of us that are, say, science majors and out of our element in the class find it hard to fit into this new way of thinking. We don’t really fit and it’s rather hard to voice our opinions. The article doesn’t really provide solutions, rather noting that illegal immigrants sneaking into the country are disliked. Reading 49 though talks about how underrepresented groups such as though who don’t speak out normally in class are able to join together for a common cause, having our voice heard in class. I’m not really sure how to relate the last reading, perhaps something about how we could meet online through common ideas and actually figure out a project that we would all like to work towards achieving. Overall from the readings I’m proposing that to help resolve the discussion/voting problems we need to realize we are on our own, listen to everyone’s voice and encourage those who often don’t speak to do so, make a choice that satisfies the highest number of people, and possibly work outside of class to discuss options to bring up.

Thinking outside of the box for our project calls to me to think outside of the classroom, perhaps set up a chat room in which people can leave comments or discuss the project on our own time. But it is hard to force people to become involved with something they are not interested in, for it is true there are several people in class who don’t care to make the effort. We have a lot of other work, and proper incentive is needed to cause people to visit the site. It’s practically another project in itself, but it’s something to think about.

we definetly need to contact the faculty and students of Siena and also allow the parents of the students to know so they are not deceived about the cost of tuition. We should look into corporations that have Siena alumnis to give donations to this project. Having albany based corporations would be the most helpful because they will give us the most effort, we can also sell the fact that it will help them out as well.

plan

so we defiantly need to be in contact with the right people on and off campus...defiantly i think we should talk to other schools first to see how they went about their planning and how they funded and presented their idea to the college. As far as on campus...we would need permission probably from the cabinet, financial offices, facilities, student support and tacitly support. off campus we would probably need permission from colonie and make our surrounding neighbors aware of what going on... we would have to get zoning permission, and all those types of things from albany county before construction, we would need to get sponsors, a knowledgeable person who can guide us through the process, someone for installation and maintenance. we would probably have to have some meeting with senate or something like that to get them on board and possibly help with funding....any more ideas

hey guys what are we doing about the write up for tomorrow?

Social Change Project

If the class chose our social change project, further research would be needed to help make our ideas real. Our sociology class would have to notify the college's students about our project so that we could potentially get support from them. We would also have to meet some of the college's authoritative figures, such as the Dean of Student Affairs, the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Public Safety, and a representative from the Facilities department. We would also have to research Colonie's zoning laws and initiate the process of getting the proper zoning permits for the solar panels constructed on the campus. Other people would have to find out if our project could qualify for tax credits or subsidies from the national, state, or local government. Contacting the colleges that have already have the solar panels would be helpful to see if they have any helpful advice they could give us. Requesting sponsors from corporate organizations to help defray the total cost would help the college pay less money and give the companies an opportunity to advertise their company. Contacting media sources to help inform the surrounding community of what we plan to do and how it will help Siena's neighbors would be greatly beneficial to help create awareness about ways to be "green" and environmentally-conscientious. A few people would have to contact contractors and electricians who would install the solar panels and get estimates from them. A few people would have to meet with the electric company that provides electricity to Siena since the solar panels would have to be wired into Siena's electrical grid. These are a few of the things that will be necessary to successfully accomplish our project.

A good social project is one that is:
Far reaching, effects a lot of people involves community
Permanent change, something that will be in effect for a long time
Addresses a specific problem
Long term effect
Creates awareness
Sustainable
People will be passionate or excited to join and complete the project
Combines charity and justice approaches
Promotes democratic participation of full community
Builds bridges between initiatives of different groups
Expandable, scalable
Not all or nothing, there are short and long term goals so that if the long term goals are not reached the project still contributes
Reasonable
Creates cognitive dissonance ( interrupts people assumptions about the world)
Demonstrates sociological understanding
Flexible
Has a plan, is organized

Poverty Activity

I somewhat enjoyed the activity that the class participated in during Wednesday's class. It was eye-opening as to what those who are less fortunate have to go through as they are striving to live a better life. It was difficult to get money from the pawn shop and nearly impossible to get signed up for welfare on the first meeting. I can see why many poor people are very stressed and may very well give up. They are trying to provide for themselves and their families, yet few people they encounter seem willing to help them. As we have learned from the sociology readings and seen in this activity, the government does not seem very concerned about the poor's problems and they are not going to devote much of their budget to helping them. This activity illuminated the many dilemmas that poor people face and raises the question as to if poverty can be eradicated. This is a very deep question and its answer may not be determined. However, it is better to be aware of other people's situations and actively work to make them better than to be completely oblivious of what is happening to other people in our immediate surroundings.

4:30 in the lib

hey sorry i didn't see the post till now..wen are we meeting?

kristen...sorry i dont know your last name...if someone can look her up on the roster and let her know the info that would be great...just email her...

meeting

ok people, keri is sending out an email.
but i will rewrite what i think she is writing here

4:30
Library.


BE THEREEEEEEEEE

Invisible Children 3-3-09

I went to see "Invisible Children" last night and was suprised to learn about the 23 year war that has been taking place in Uganda with child soldiers. The Ugandan government has not been able to eradicate the Lords Resistance Army which regularly abducts very young children from their families to fight for them. The children are forced to kill people and destroy their lives. This obviously has a very profound impact on these child soldiers and many of them are traumatized for the rest of their lives.
There are some advocacy groups throughout the world who want to illuminate this terrible situation to the world. I had previously never heard of this conflict in the media event though it has been happening for 23 years and children continue to be abducted from their families. The documentary's message was how this situation could change for the better if people throughout the world united together and brought justice to Uganda and its people.

invisible children

I was able to attend the movie invisible children last night and it was an overwhelming experience. Its sad to think that at 9 years old these kids are using weapons and having to kill people while when i was nine i was playing outside with my friends going to the park. These kids must have to mature way beyond their years. Kony needs to somehow surrender...I became very frustrated when they waited for days for him to show and make a peace agreement. He was in the area and just did not have the decency to show up. some sort of military enforcement needs to take place but it has to be one that would not harm the children which makes the situation much more difficult. 

Grade Evaluations Perspective

It is difficult to agree on the grade evaluations because everyone has a different opinion on how they want to get a good grade. Each person has different strengths and weaknesses which they want to promote so that they can achieve a good grade. Throughout the discussion, I was trying to listen to what people were saying and seeing how their perspectives compared with my thoughts. I was not sure how much of certain percentages should be attributed to certain categories because I do not know how difficult the course curriculum will be as the semester continues. I will try my best to get the best grade I can in this class regardless of the outcome of this discussion. I think that I have not currently voiced my opinions to the whole class because I am discouraged when I see little progress being made when other people have shared their perspectives. I have little confidence that adding my opinion will help the class come to a consensus since I will only be voicing my selfish opinions which accurately represent my strengths and weaknesses. Deciding on how we are evaluated in this class is difficult because I have never done this before for any class.

this is an oversized class therefore it is difficult complete a final decision on this breakdown. It may help because it brings new ideas, but it is hard to decide on a final breakdwon unless someone takes charge, which happened. It is unfair to some because not everyone is going to obtain their desired breakdown of the class. Sacrifices will have to be made. In years past we have had this decision made for us so coming into college sociology class as a freshman makes it difficult for the underclassmen because we are not adapted for thinking on our own.

Iraq is difficult to decide due to the numerous ideas constantly being thrown into the puzzle. The pieces to the puzzle will never be put together unless sacrifices are made. All decisions in checks and balances casn not be ,made without sacrifice. Living with these sacrifices may be the hardest part of class.

evaluations

This is such a hard process because everyone has different values. Some people value essays and the writing effort over participation and visversa. It depends on where people feel their strengths and weaknesses are. We are also still not listening to each argument and discussing as a whole how each specific method would impact us in the long run. I think more thought needs to go into how much effort and time is going to be placed in each category and how we would be rewarded in the end.
I become frustrated when people immediately shut down others ideas and do not want to consider or rethink what was said because of their stubbornness and are not giving everyone a chance. I also think that are people who are fed up and are just agreeing to agree and get over the subject.
This whole idea is something we are not used to. The norm for us is that a professor hands out a syllabus and expects us to follow. Its almost chaos because some see this as a great opportunity to tune it to their own liking.

Process of grade distribution decision

This is such a hard process because everyone has conflicting ideas as to what is important in determining a grade. With a group as large as ours, it's normal that people will have different ideas. It would be more strange if everyone in our group agreed 100% on how to break up the grades. We cannot design a process to bring us to a conclusion because throughout our lives we have been taught to place the emphasis of our grades on different things. Some people like taking tests and place a lot of importance on this aspect of the grading system, while other people are more abstract thinkers and would rather have the weight of their grade placed where they feel they exceed- in group discussion.
It is very frustrating to work in a group where one or two people refuse to compromise at all, no matter what compromise is made, and stick to their personal opinions without budge. In order to make a good decision all people must be willing to compromise.
In order to succeed in decision making there must be a democratic structure with guidelines and rules that have been predetermined. In a classroom setting it should be up to the discretion of the instructor to layout a method of grade distribution, or give choices and allow us to choose from there. In a group this large, filled with students who all want what they want (some of whom will not move an inch from their own standpoint) there needs to be some sort of preexisting format to guide us to a successful decision.

Evaluation Process

We are currently in class trying to come up with a proposal in our grading evaluation. This process has taken the class more than one class. Everyone feels differently about how they should be graded percentage wise. Some groups want the tests to be a big part of our grade while others minimun. Not every group seems to be on the same page with anything. We were given a certain amount of time, and after the time was up we had to propose an evaluation process from the whole class. We however, were not able to come to a conclusion. My group seems to agree with how they feel the grading process should be broken up. It is frustrating because I thought that this would be an easy exercise. There were no limits, and everyone had a say; which did not turn out to be as easy as I had thought. Since everyone has their own say, its hard to get a whole classroom to agree on one thing. We have tried compromiseing but even that can turn into a argument just as well.

Why Im not a professor.

Humans naturally debate as to what they want, it matters how much people care. If one person disagrees with the whole they are a statistical anamoly and should be ignored. You said no voting, leaving us with just shouting at one another untill our group had the idea to send someone forward. Go us. I'm a scientist, not a sociologist. Im in this class to learn. Woo for free writting but this is so damn, yes damn, difficult because you gave us nothing to go off of and changed the rules every time we started. I am quite fed up with this process and I think it is unfair to us as students to have to make every one happy.
Im fustrated with you, Dr. Jhonson, and the one blond girl who wouldnt agree to anything we said.
Teachers cant make everyone happy, it is imposible, yes IMPOSSIBLE, to make everyone in this class happy with a single decision. And YOU said that if someone disagrees to speak up. Well that means there are 40 odd people to make happy, where 30% dont give a damn, 10% want an honest grade and 60% are here because they have to be and need that A for a good Gpa. Im all for participation, but there have to be guidlines. You cant throw a person into a new envierment and expect them to survive without any guidelines. This is just a failed experiment and shows why we need a teahcer. Basically when Tai went up she did your job, a sort of speaker of the house or authority figure that was needed to make any progress as I talked about earlier. I'm sorry for getting so upset over this but this class set up is going past involving the students and borderlining rediculous.

Evaluation Process

The evaluation process is easier than it was last monday before break. There are people that think there way is the right way. Personally, I wish that people were open minded and not think into deep about the process. Too many questions leads into getting nowhere. If the percentages were given to us, would we be questioning our professor the same we are questioning each other? I also feel that if there is not a person willing to take charge it will just be chaos and we would not get anywhere. I noticed that the first day of trying to figure out the grading policy. The classroom sounded like saga during free period. I just hope that everyone is satisified to a certain extent. It might not have been what they wanted but close to it.