Yixing Teapot Exhibition

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This passion blog post will focus on another awesome event that is occurring in Penn State. Although this event focuses on Chinese tea and my passion blog is about Japan and all things Japanese, I decided to write about this because this organization truly makes me feel connected to my culture. Even though it focuses a lot on Chinese tea brewing methods, it still makes me feel close to Japan because brewing tea is valued in most all Asian countries. The Tea Institute also teaches Japanese and Korean tea brewing methods as well as Chinese. Regardless, the Penn State Tea Club and Tea Institute will be holding events all weekend with a world renowned Tea Master from Taiwan. His name is Tea Master Teaparker, and he will be bringing amazing and delicious teas with him that you are able to try if you attend. You may also learn how to brew tea the traditional Chinese way. On the right side is a flyer with a schedule of events for the weekend. I highly encourage people to attend as this is a very rare and special opportunity for anyone that enjoys tea. All the members in the Tea Institute are very welcoming, and we definitely want more people to appreciate tea and understand the history and culture behind it. The world of tea is very large and fascinating, and I think anyone who enjoys drinking tea will have a nice time at any of these events.

brown-yixing-pot-MThe Yixing Teapot Exhibition will definitely be an interesting event. Yixing is a type of clay that has all been mined, but the properties of the clay make it perfect for Chinese teapots. This makes the teapots incredibly valuable (easily $500 to $1000), and only very skilled people are able to make authentic yixing tea pots. There are different types of yixing pots, but all of them are incredibly valuable. On the left is a picture of a very common type of yixing tea pot, and there are several small differences to be able to tell an authentic one from a fake one. Additionally, duing these events, audience members are able to practice brewing in yixing teapots, so if you are interested, this may be your place to learn. If not, you are still able to attend and enjoy excellent tea.

The lectures are mostly done by Tea Master Teaparker. He will speak about the history, certain styles and designs of the tea pot, and do several demonstrations. Overall, it’s definitely going to be interesting, informative, and you will probably get to delicious tea, so I hope you will come!

Ron Paul vs. Barney Frank

For this blog post, I would like to inform everyone about an awesome event that is coming to Penn State. Ron Paul and Barney Frank will be doing a debate at Penn State. This event is called the Great Debate, and it will be held this coming Monday, April 27. It will be in the Schwab Auditorium at 8 pm, and students are able to get tickets still on Friday on the ground floor of the HUB as long as you bring your Penn State ID.

This event is hosted by the Penn State College Democrats and Penn State College Republicans. I am involved with one of these organizations, and last semester, I was able to meet Tom Wolf through it. If anyone has any interest in politics, I highly recommend getting involved with one because it’s a great, easy, and fun way to stay informed, and there is truly a club for every political affiliation. Through these organizations, I was able to meet and feel closer to candidates that I support. Additionally, the Schreyer Honors College is hosting it as well, and our very own Dean Brady will be moderating.

Ron_Paul,_official_Congressional_photo_portrait,_2007The Great Debate between Ron Paul and Barney Frank is definitely going to be an interesting one. Ron Paul is a Republican former representative from Texas. He is currently retired, but he was a candidate for the US Presidential election twice. You may remember him from the 2008 election, where he ran against Republicans such as John McCain and Mitt Romney and Democrats such as Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. I remember I enjoyed watching the debates during this time because Ron Paul would always present the most interesting opinions. At the core, Ron Paul is labeled a Republican, and that is what he ran under in the 2008 election. When he started his political career in the mid 1970s, he was very conservative. However, he started to affiliate with the Libertarian Party instead. According to the Libertarian National Committee, the Libertarian Party believes in minimal government and maximum freedom, but it accommodates a wide range of views. In general, people who are fiscally conservative but socially liberal may occasionally align with libertarian views. The Libertarian Party is the currently the third largest party in the nation, and, although he is retired, Ron Paul is definitely seen as one of the largest figureheads of Libertarianism. In recent years, Paul has identified himself as a Constitutionalist rather than a Libertarian. Regarding this, he has said, “In Congress I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not the Republican platform.” His Constitutionalist/libertarian views were definitely apparent during the debates in 2008, and likely the Great Debate coming here on Monday. Additionally, his son, Rand Paul, is currently running for President in 2016. Rand and Raul hold very different views (Rand is much more conservative), but I am curious to see if he mentions or promotes his son at all on Monday.

Barney-Frank-300x225On the other hand, we have Barney Frank, who was a Republican Representative for Massachusetts from 1981 until he retired in 2013. He is most widely known for being a prominent gay politician, and he was the first person to publicly come out while in Congress. He identifies as a Democrat, and he is a strong advocate for social justice and civil rights, especially for the LGBT community. He said, “I do have things that I would like to see adopted on behalf of LGBT people: they include the right to marry the individual of our choice; the right to serve in the military to defend our country, and the right to a job based solely on our own qualifications.” Additionally, he has a very bold stance, titled “Frank’s Rule,” where he maintains that he will out any closeted gay politician that harms the LGBT community. He said, “I think there’s a right to privacy. But the right to privacy should not be a right to hypocrisy. And people who want to demonize other people shouldn’t then be able to go home and close the door and do it themselves.” To be honest, I was not as familiar with Barney Frank as I am with Ron Paul, but through some casual research, I felt that these actions really speak about his character and ideals.

Overall, I think this will be an excellent and thought-provoking debate, and I am really excited. At first, I was really excited for Ron Paul because I have casually followed him since he ran for President in 2008. Although I identify more as a democrat, Ron Paul is one of my favorite conservatives, and I love hearing his opinions. Additionally, after learning more about Barney Frank, I am equally excited to hear his perspective as well. I like that neither of them are the traditional cookie cutter Democrat or Republican. I’m excited to hear the perspectives of those who branch out and follow something slightly different. In conclusion, the two summaries about the people speaking at the Great Debate are meant to give a surface description as well as some core values that they hold close to them. The descriptions did not necessarily go in depth with any of their policies or specific ideas. However, I am sure their opinions and views will come out clearly during the Great Debate on Monday.

 

Social Security

While researching potential topics for my issues brief, I decided that the controversy surrounding social security would be great for the assignment and following advocacy project. Although my issues brief would focus more on personal finances for retirement rather than persuading for one side of the political argument, this blog post will focus equally on all sides of the issue surrounding social security.

First, it is important to understand what social security is. Social security is a program that benefits retired, disabled, or deceased workers and potentially their families. This system relies on current workers paying for the benefits of those who are no longer working. Typically, a worker pays 6.2% of his or her earnings (up to a cap), and the employer will match that, contributing a total of 12.4% to social security. The money is then distributed as various social security benefits. According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, “About 158 million Americans pay Social Security taxes and 57 million collect monthly benefits in 2013. About one household in four receives income from Social Security.” Additionally, average social security benefits in January 2013 were as follows:dd159_ss_1

  • $1,264 a month for retired workers
  • $1,217 a month for widows or widowers over the age of 60
  • $1,130 a month for disabled workers
  • $1,735 a month for a disabled worker, spouse, and one or more young children
  • $2,536 a month for a widowed mother and two children

800px-Social_Security_Worker_to_Beneficiary_RatioThe issue surrounding social security is that within our lifetime, social security is predicted to have benefit cutbacks or tax increases to maintain at its current level. The people that are most likely to feel the impact of this would be our age group. The reason that this would have a major impact is because programs like social security keep people out of poverty. According to the NASI, “Social Security plays an important role in keeping older Americans out of poverty. The poverty threshold was $11,011 for an aged individual and $13,878 for an aged couple in 2012. About one in 10 Americans age 65 and older is poor, by this measure. If they had to rely only on their income other than Social Security, nearly half would be poor. Overall, Social Security keeps 21 million Americans out of poverty, including nearly 14.5 million seniors and 1 million children.” However, by the time current young adults reach retirement age, social security will have changed significantly. It is predicted by the Office of the Chief Actuary of Social Security that at the current rate, trust fund assets would be exhausted and only 77% of the benefits currently will be received in 2033. There are a couple different approaches to handling this issue.

Social-Security-benefitsOne way would be to increase taxes in order to pay for the same social security benefits. By increasing taxes on workers, those who benefit would be able to receive relatively the same amount of benefits. According to the Congressional Budget Office, starting in 2016, the program’s spending will consistently be greater than its revenues. If funding is not found elsewhere, that means this would increase the deficit. It could be balanced by raising taxes by 2-3% total, which means a 1.5% raise for workers, because it would be matched by employers. Ways to increase social security revenue include:

  • Raising the taxable earnings cap, which is $113,700 in 2013
  • Raising the Social Security tax rate in the future
  • Earmarking other taxes for Social Security in the future
  • Investing part of Social Security funds in equities
  • Extending Social Security coverage to the 25 percent of state and local government employees not now covered

Another way would be to reduce benefits. Reducing benefits would decrease the size of the program, but it would also help to not increase the deficit more because this is such a costly program. According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, ways to reduce benefits include:

  • Further raising the eligibility age for full retirement benefits
  • Raising the eligibility age for early retirement benefits
  • Lowering the cost-of-living adjustment
  • Indexing benefits for new beneficiaries to keep pace only with price increases, instead of wage increases
  • Gradually scaling back benefits

A completely different way would be to privatize social security, which would mean that each individual worker is responsible for his or her retirement funds. Funds would likely be used for long-term investments in order to accumulate for the future. Proponents of this argue that this way would allow workers to directly see the future benefits of the money they save. This also prevents social security surpluses to be spent on other programs, since each person saves in a private account. Additionally, proponents say that these types of investments would benefit the economy. Those who argue against privatizing social security believe that it would be a very costly system to begin, and the transition period would severely hurt those who rely currently on social security. Additionally, if anything were to fail with the stock market, many would lose their retirement funds.

Either way, social security is an important issue for people our age because we are likely the ones that will see major changes and have to make decisions about how to fund retirement. Personally, I know I want to help retire my parents, so whatever happens, I will at least be able to make sure my family is taken care of while I am working. Furthermore, it would probably be a smart and proactive decision to start saving for my own retirement immediately. In a macroeconomics class, we discussed that saving approximately 10 to 15% of earnings would be enough to pay for a person’s retirement. In a situation that could go either way, it would be best to be prepared. If it becomes privatized, having personal savings its essential, and if benefits decrease, you would have additional savings to live comfortably.

Japanese School

When I was younger, I attended school in Hiroshima, Japan briefly, and there is a strong contrast between American and Japanese school systems. Granted, I only attended pre-school and second grade, but even that alone was very different. For this blog post, I will be focusing on elementary education in Japan.

318484_1840661751252_670023003_nI remember several things from my experience in second grade. First, my family had to buy a school uniform and a randoseru, which is a traditional type of backpack. The picture on the left was taken during the first day of second grade. I am wearing the traditional uniform, and I am standing next to my cousin. The uniform has to be worn everyday, and each set is around 20,000 – 30,000 Yen ( $200 – $300). Girls wear a white collared shirt, a gray jacket, and a black/navy blue skirt. Boys wear the same thing except they wear long pants instead of a skirt. Regarding the randoseru, it is a stiff, leather backpack that elementary students must have, and it is typically an additional $200. Girls have a red backpack, and boys have a black one. There is also a hat that is occasionally worn as well (I am wearing it in the picture). After elementary school, the uniforms change slightly, but regardless of the school or location, a similar uniform will be worn by all students.

SchoolLunch10There are several differences within the school compared to American school systems. For example, when entering the school, Japanese students take off their outside shoes and put on indoor slipper-type shoes. Lunch is also served in the classroom, and I distinctly remember not being able to go to recess until I finished my meal. Lunch is typically a bowl of rice, soup, noodles, meat, and milk. Lunch is made from scratch and it is very tasty and healthy. Another major difference between an American and Japanese school is that students sometimes cleaned the school during recess instead. Children were delegated different tasks. I remember cleaning the hallways, classroom, and I remember for some reason, my favorite was cleaning the garden outside. This time used for cleaning is coordinated school wide, so all students would be cleaning at this time. Finally, another big difference is that there are no school buses. At 8 years old, I would walk with other classmates to and from school. It is common for children to walk to school, but usually students in the same neighborhood walk together. High school students may even have to take a train to get to school.

Regarding the classroom, they are fairly comparable to an American elementary school classroom. There are about 20 – 30 students in each room and one teacher that teaches all subjects. The school day is around the same duration starting around 8:30 – 9:00 and ending around 3:00. However, the school year is longer because the year starts in September and ends in July.

Outside of the classroom, a typical student is involved in academic extracurriculars. In second grade, I had an abacus class one a week and a calligraphy class twice a week. Additionally, and this may just be at the particular school I attended, but I felt that I had significantly more homework than in an American elementary school (I’ve gone to three, two in Pennsylvania and one in California).

Overall, the elementary school system in Japan is very different from America. In my opinion, it’s a little more intense and academically focused, where as America’s feels more well-rounded. In Japan, the school year is longer, the students are expected to be independent at a young age, and there is more work outside of the classroom.