Category: RCL Blog

Intro to my e-portfolio

I am really excited for this semester to be over, but just as equally excited for our last project. This project seems like a great opportunity to show off our best qualities and share what we are most passionate and caring about. I like that we have the chance to have full creative design over our website and that this will be here for anyone to find.

For my project, the website platform I think I will be using to develop my site will be Wix. I am still in between Wix and Word Press, since Word Press is more like our Penn State sites where you have to put in your credentials. But I am going to lean more towards Wix because I have heard from a majority of my peers that this is easy to navigate, but the only thing I am hesitant about is not being able to change the design if I don’t like it later on. I also read the Wix vs. Weebly article and it seemed that the author was suggesting to users to utilize Wix over Weebly. I don’t think I would prefer Weebly either because it is more design template based and I know I won’t be going overboard on the design of this website.

For my e-portfolio, I will be focusing on the topic of things I have been reading a writing about recently, which circulates around the theme of advocacy. I have done a lot of pieces based on advocating for simple human rights such as around criminal justice reform, sexual assault reform and health and wellness change. I want my website to resemble how much I care about the common decency we all deserve as human beings and how passionate I am to bring about a positive change in anyone’s life. I’m not sure who I would like my audience for this website to be, either my friends or a future employer would suffice. The tabs i plan to incorporate into the site include a home one, with general information about myself, a page explaining my passions while highlighting my artifacts, a page for my extracurriculars in the past and while I am here at Penn State, and a tab for my résumé. I don’t want to make my site look to busy so I think I am set on the amount of tabs I will include. The color scheme I think I would like to incorporate is green, white and blue or pink possibly.

Advocacy Project Paragraphs

One of the ideas I have for my advocacy project is looking further into Penn State’s healthy food options that are on campus. I have not yet done any statistical research to see how it affects students, but from mine and peer perspectives, the food options present on campus are a pressing issue each and every single day. I am someone who really likes to watch what I eat and am always looking for good healthy food in my reach. The audience I would be targeting would be either the Penn State Administration to invest in different health options or Penn State University’s Food Services, so they could look to change up the dining hall menu or add more vegetables, healthy entrees and starches to it. I think this is something to advocate for and would reach a large group that is also affected by this because making generally poor eating choices leads to students being lethargic and not producing the best work. Eating poorly also leads to bad habits and mental health issues. It is nice that the salad bar but it is just simply not feasible to keep getting a salad everyday; or having to uber eats and spend extra money on food that is not campus that is healthier and then students end up with a turbulent amount of meal points left.

Deciding what is ethical is dependent on what you define as ethical, which may vary for many. It depends on the relationship with the person you are trying to persuade and on the nature of the belief and or behavior that you are hoping to change. I think the “Photograph as Witness: A Portrait of Domestic Violence” can be a piece of art or a piece oof advocacy based on how you look at it, but from my perspective I see it as more a piece of advocacy. The piece was ethical because it collected evidence with consent, was constructed and published in a proper way. The author made the issue seem urgent and important but also did not dramatize it in any way. The outcome as stated by Maggie was to bring more awareness to domestic abuse and I think that can be achieved through ethical communication. Some audience members could view this argument as being manipulative rather than persuasive because it could paint all men as being the bad guy; but still in my opinion it is an issue that isn’t visibly shared. It doesn’t really go the extra mile to make an appeal to change to a policy, which would really make the difference.

Issue Brief Paragraph One

Title: Striking a Change in the Criminal Justice System

Introduction paragraph:

It is known world wide that the United States is known for having the highest mass incarceration rate since 2013 compared to all other countries, it has been hurting our status as a country and many citizens. This is an issue I believe not many Americans consider important because it does not effect them directly, unless they know a family or friend unjustly incarcerated. Or simply we are still a racially motivated country that has only 37% people of color making up the entire population but 67% of the prison population, is it fair to say this is due to current sentencing policies, implicit racial bias and socioeconomic inequity? Our country went through such a turbulent period to be “tough on crime” in the 80s which led to a dramatic growth in incarceration; but we are now seeing more people incarcerated now than during this time period in the 80s. Sentencing and prison reform is talked about occasionally and doesn’t receive a lot of media coverage but the problem is not getting any better. The following policy I propose will be in order to financially allocate money to sentencing and pre-trial reform state wide and addressing racial disparities in the courtroom. Every one deserves a fair fight and the correct amount of justice served.

 

Continuation of Issue Brief

I appreciate all of my peers’ feedback that I received and am glad there are others that believe this issue is at the level of urgency I described it as. There are true problems at the root of our criminal justice system that need to be sorted out sooner rather than later. Even though this issue has been proven to be a nationwide problem on a federal level, it may be more practical for me to focus on what states are doing so it becomes more narrowed down; I believe states can follow a good example set by another. I will express exigency on this issue by making it known how many cases in the past year have been discussed and reviewed for having excessive and unfair sentences. I will also be discussing how I mentioned before in my previous blog post how social media brought about awareness of most of these cases and how nongovernmental workers contributed to this change. It says a lot when a whole group of strangers over the internet can see how unjust the criminal justice system is and that is the wake up call they get. There are more inmates that haven’t reached public service yet that desperately need to escape their debilitating sentences that do not serve the implications of their crime. Finally, to once more discuss exigency I would explain how people in power over the last year have increasingly used internal bias to make decisions about sentences.

To discuss the rhetorical situation of this issue brief I would make sure to include it right away in the introductory paragraph. The factors that play into the rhetorical situation now are that we are in a time stamp in history where people are using their voice and directly challenging people in charge and policy makers. Social media has done a great job at circulating petitions and passing around informations of what inmates need help and I think that should continue but we need to do more past this rhetorical situation. I would be addressing state officials, secretaries, communication specialists and policy makers addressing how we can allocate funds to help eliminate racial bias in pre-trial and sentencing reform. The audience I would also like to reach are families who don’t have a voice or the resources to fight the fight of bringing a loved one home.

Issue Brief

The issue I have decided I will be briefing on will be related to what I have previously discussed in my civics issue blogs, located around criminal justice reform. Now there is a lot to try to fix and implement in the U.S. criminal justice system, but what I will be narrowing down on is the issue of diminishing mass incarceration by pretrial reform, sentencing reform and post-conviction reform. It feels like the proper kairotic moment to discuss this issue because people are finally really sharing information about cases with unfair sentences trying to gain clemency, a pardon or even get out of the death penalty. 2020 has been a year where we have started to really use social media to talk about important issues and not just about fashion, sports or celebrities. Right now the bare minimum that ordinary people can do to alleviate the issue is sign petitions siding with a clemency; but we need to move forward in a direction that prevents these unfair sentences to begin with and eliminate racial bias as well in the courtroom.

Looking back at the Keyword entry on “Causes”, a sentence that seemed of importance to me was, “any one problem can have multiple causes”. Now going back to issue brief I will be discussing I was having a bit of a hard time figuring out if there was more than one type of cause to this enormous problem. I believe the cause that mostly plays a big part in this issue would have to be intentional cause; which signifies an issue happens because one person, group or institution deliberately created the problem or knowingly allowed it to persist. I think this perfectly encapsulates the U.S. criminal justice system because everyone is about power here and will allow their opinions and biases to get in the way of decision making. There are police officers, jurors and judges that will let their racial bias take control of a case and an innocent person of color could walk away with life in prison. Since the cause of my issue is intentional, this means the reform would have to include removing the bad apples in the situation and curb unethical unethical practices for pre and post trial.

Policy making to me seems like the most difficult part of this whole process, and I get that there is a lot of elements that need to be heavily researched and evaluated carefully. The policy instrument I would most likely implement into this issue brief writing would have to be system changes; system changes would directly address the problem of corrupt people in power and harsh ideologies held within the criminal justice system. I think this would be beneficial for this issue because it would get right to the heart of the issue and could lead to creating more direct policies about unfair sentences and allocate funding to judicial services and reduce the number of individuals incarcerated under excessive sentences. The only downside I can see as a result of using this instrument would be that it could stress already scarce sources, it wouldn’t be beneficial in poverty ridden environments, where crime also seems to have the highest rates. But I still believe this is the best possible route for this issue.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/reports/2020/10/07/491314/reimagining-federal-grants-public-safety-criminal-justice-reform/

Draft for “This I Believe” speech

A popular ideology in having a great social life means getting to experience fantastic events or memories with loved one or close friends; that you should always have them by your side for day you know will be memorable. That can be nice and fulfilling, but not always in my eyes. I grew up believing you make friends for the sole purpose of having someone to rely on, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to talk into and someone who would help me at the drop of a hat. You make friends early on because we are taught that to be a foundation of our social life, but we learn that friends come and go like a revolving door. It is nice to finally find a true, strong, genuine connection with someone you label a friend; until they let you down in ways that teach you a valuable lesson.

I was 14 years old, finishing up my first year of high school, just becoming comfortable with the friends I made this year and grateful to have them in my life. It was a 4 o’clock morning with crisp spring air and I was getting ready to see an early morning concert with one of my “best friends”, my dad was kind enough to drive us in to Rockefeller center to see the show. 10 minutes before I leave the house I send a text to my friend “Leaving in 10 minutes see you soon” five minutes pass by with no response so I send another text with the same message, my stomach is starting to turn now as the worst case scenario whirls around in my head. I text that I’m leaving, still no response, pull up to her house and call her about 5 times letting each call ring to the last possible second, also trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, as tears build up in my eyes and I feel choked up I realize it was time to just head into the city without her; I was not going to miss out on an experience because I was alone now. Standing next to all these girls with their friends waiting for the music to start, hearing them laughing, talking about what song they were most excited to hear or what their plans were after made me more upset that I was not sharing this experience with my friend; but once the singer came out all that sadness, self pity and disappointment went away. I learned to make conversation with people next to me so I wasn’t uneasy. The concert came to an end and a feeling of relief and content swarmed me.

This experience made me believe in experiencing things by yourself. It taught me you don’t always need a friend by your side for every moment that you will feel a whiff of euphoria in. This experience has made me grow up and become more confident to walk by myself, attend an event by myself or even travel by myself. It is best to experience activities like these on your own so you can really relish the moment and be happy that you got to live within a passion of yours. My belief in experiencing things on your own pushes you to satisfy yourself and learn to enjoy just the company of yourself, without relying on others.

Final ideas for blogs

My civic issues blog will based around the broad them of social justice, with the main topic being about prison reform and issues with prisoners receiving the death penalty for nonviolent crimes. I believe this will be very beneficial for me as well as my peers reading because it is a very pressing and relevant issue happening in our society today; we aren’t always informed about cases like these and I would like to bring more light to the situation.

My passion blog I have decided to continue writing about locations to travel to in the future or other trips I have previously taken. I have gained so much positive feedback from my classmates last semester with my posts so I feel I might as well stick with it. The research I have done for it has lead me to find so many new and diverse locations to travel to and hopefully I have inspired others to want to travel to these places as well one day.

Ideas for Blogs

Two ideas for my “This I believe podcast” are listed below

1. This I believe… always stay in contact with early childhood friends; friends made at younger ages tend to be the ones who are more genuine and know you for you.
2. This I believe…Music shapes your appreciation; Music is one of many powerful artistic sources that open your eyes to knew feelings and as if you’ve known the artist your whole life.

Two ideas for my passion blog are listed below

1. Sticking with my original idea of traveling, my travel experiences or places I would like to go; but I realize this topic has become more difficult to work with due to COVID circumstances.
2. Another route would be talking about serial killer cases or cold cases, because I am very interested in that area and watch a lot of true crime documentaries.

Two ideas for my civic issue blog are listed below

1. Exploring the issue of the death penalty for non-violent crimes or just prison reform in general. I feel it is a very relevant issue that is just gaining light, especially on social media where petitions are made to stop or reverse a death row charge.
2. Another topic I am interested in is child abuse in homes but focusing more on mental and verbal abuse and helping kids recognize at an earlier age what abusive signs are from parents.

Extra Credit Reflection Post

I was so intrigued by what Dr. Ibram X Kenedi spoke about in this stream about his recent book and the elements of being anti-racist. In all of today’s ongoing issues with systemic racism in our country, I had never heard the term antiracist until tonight. When I first heard the term, I definition I associated with it was what most other people assumed about it at first, which was not making any racist comments or committing racist actions and showing support for the African American community and other minorities. But it is much more than that, it is about showing courage and vulnerability to step up to these racist thoughts and put more of verbal stop them, saying “I’m not racist” is not enough. By saying “I’m not racist”, I learned, that you are being racist because you are being complicit to others racist actions. I like how Dr. Kenedi mentioned that this common excuse is also rooted in teaching people how to deny being racist. I think this was a powerful statement and has open my eyes to those around me who use this phrase quite often and I finally see the problem with it. Another part of this stream that I like that he touched on was that white people have a hard time recognizing how they are not being racist. This is an ideology that has been present for while, something that ties to it is white people not recognizing their privilege. I think both of these concepts are deeply rooted within the home or neighborhood and then carried on into the school and higher institution settings. Today in society, white people are progressing more to understand their privilege and what it has granted them in life, for example being able to go to a better structured school, have more access to medicare and even live in better neighborhoods. Curriculum itself is the main problem in that it provides continuing structures and conditions that feed into racism.

Dr. Kenedi had me so intrigued the whole time because he is just so genuinely passionate about what he is fighting and demanding justice for. One point that got my attention was when he mentioned whites and African Americans can make a difference inside and outside the system. I was intrigued by the notion that in order for people to actually be part of the cause they must consider if they have the time, expertise, and funds to give to local and national racial justice organizations to help them fight on the frontline. Now within the system he brought up great examples of when people are in positions of power and they use those positions to benefit the collective group of African Americans or just to benefit themselves. One intersectionality of it was when African American Individuals are in high positions of policy making and they use that power to reinforce racism. By reinforcing this racism onto their own group they are only doing this to selfishly benefit within their work field and don’t care how the outcome will affect their society. The major take away I have come to agree with from this speech was we must start raising children in an anti-racist society so we protect them from entering a higher racist community. I really enjoyed Dr. Kenedi’s speech and I hope to hear more of him in the future!

TED Talk Feedback

Going into my TED Talk i was very nervous to perform it because I felt it had to be executed rather differently than how I presented my speech for the previous assignment. From my point of view I believe I did a better job than I expected with executing my information and articulating my speaking points. Memorizing it was much easier when I had the visuals to aid me. I did have a hard time cutting down how long I was speaking for to make sure I did not go over the grace period so in some points I feel as if I was speaking too fast. The feedback I received from my peers was very helpful and I appreciate their perspective and ideas about what I can incorporate into my paradigm shift paper. Some positive comments I received was a good job on including COVID and how it has affected the quality time families are spending together. Another positive was that I did a great job explaining the meaning and outcome of this shift. A aspect I would need to focus on, importantly in the paper, is explaining WHY the paradigm shift is occurring. I touched on it briefly in my speech but I should go deeper into it within my paper. Some examples I am looking into diving into are both parents working/being tired and spatial layouts of modern homes. I also need to elaborate more on how this shift impacts society such as people and children in my paper. I am not sure really how i am going to tackle this yet but hopefully some more research leads me into the right direction. One final thing I would have to avoid saying in my paper is that “white isn’t the norm” anymore. Instead I should phrase it as we are progressing towards a more diverse and accepting idea of family structures. I will be looking to apply these changes and strengthen my weak points for my paper.