For my last passion blog post I wanted to change it up a bit. Rather than focus on one particular movie, or a wrap up post with only concluding thoughts, I want to write about one of my favorite genres of movies. 

A repetitive theme that is present in many of my favorite movies is period pieces based off of classic novels. Not to be confused with modern movies inspired by pieces of classic literature, though they are good as well. 

Movies I enjoy that follow these guidelines are: Pride and Prejudice (2005), Little Women (2019), Emma (2020), The Great Gatsby (2013), To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), The Wizard of Oz (1935). There are so many more as well, but these ones happen to be my favorites.  

I think that these films really help to point out things in the books that might have been overlooked when reading. Novels that sometimes tend to be written with a discourse that is slightly unfamiliar. For example, I really started to get into reading Jane Austen novels, many of her novels have been adapted over the years. I found that reading the books then watching the film to follow really adds to the experience. 

Out of those few movies listed above my two favorites are most likely Pride and Prejudice and Little Women. I would say that both of those follow pretty tightly to the original plots. In Pride and Prejudice the settings for a few of the plot points are changed, but the words stay pretty much the same. The same thing can be said for Little Women, with only a few events being altered. 

Regarding Little Women, both the novel and the film put such an emphasis on family and women’s rights that I really find such a comfort in that story- even though there are some tear-jerking moments. 

Part of the reason why I really do like these films is because of the familiarity with what is going to happen. These are stories that have been being told and passed down for generations, to see them being played out is really a pleasing idea. 

These are the movies that I tend to always put on when I need something to watch because most of the time they are just great stories that translate so well to the big screen. Due to that, these are my favorite films. 

To wrap up this passionate blog thread, I would like to conclude by saying that movies carry such a large amount of influence and can really shape personalities and be a source of inspiration for so many viewers. I love to consume media, a big portion of that is song and film. For me to have an outlet to express these ideas was really a fun opportunity! 

Throughout the entirety of the two semesters I have taken of RCL, many of the focuses I chose surrounded ideas of media and politics, and how those entities interact. I knew that I wanted to continue to do that for my civic issues blog, but with a slightly different spin. 

For my civic issues thread I decided to focus on the severe lack of accurate representation of minorities in the U.S. government. Through upsetting data and research, it was able to be concluded that this was something that definitely needed to be addressed. 

It is hard to come up with the solution right off the top of my head. It will take a considerable amount of time for the appropriate changes to be made. This will mean through elections and getting the right people confident enough to believe they are good candidates. For minorities in general, it is rather hard to picture themselves as the appropriate governmental candidate because they do not see people who they look like in those roles. 

It makes sense why some individuals would feel a lack of confidence when considering a campaign because there have been so few trail blazers paving the way. In order to inspire the change that these minorities deserve we must push them to believe in themselves and their capabilities. 

For the several blogs in this thread, I talked about the lack of racial, gender, and age representation in places such as Congress and the White House. Also known as places that have a large effect on the policy of the United States. 

As aforementioned in earlier posts, the policy that is drawn up in these establishments, that will directly affect everyone, should be an accurate portrayal of what the public good actually desire. 

Without even getting into polarization, and how far apart the ideologies are in government currently, there is even more pressure for this diversity to occur rather soon because of the need for change in the human rights department. 

Also, many of the hot-topic issues that will be on the ballot in the upcoming election are quite heavy and essential freedoms it would seem. For example, abortion is something that will be voted on for a while until a consistent “law for the land” is established. Abortion is an issue that really should only be talked about from the point of views of women and healthcare workers, not old men. 

There are some things that I did not have a chance to talk about but ideas such as different religions and orientations are minorities that need to be represented as well. 

I truly do hope that during my lifetime I see these changes occur. I can only hope that I will be able to inspire that change in some capacity. As an ever changing world continues to diversify, it is only right that the governments, not just in the U.S., but everywhere, follow promptly.

For the advocacy project I have decided to go down a similar path that was explored in my persuasive essay. I will be advocating for healthy social media habits. As I was writing my persuasive essay, and collecting the necessary research for that, I discovered how illiterate many people are. 

With that being said, social media plays such an important role in society today. It will be my main goal to get users more comfortable with using the various platforms, but also red flags to be aware of before reposting, or sharing out information. 

I have seen this happen to my loved ones where they read something on social media and believe it to be true, when really it is fabricated. Many times my mother has seen a recipe or hack that is simply not true, but she is not able to pick up on the clues that are alluding to that. 

Adding on to that idea, my main target audience for this project will be older adults/seniors who struggle with using social media. It is so understandable why the older generations may have a hard time adapting to the ever-changing world of technology. It may be easy for someone my age to criticize those who do not get social media, but I realize that the older generations grew up without this being a main factor in their lives. Also, younger generations are set in their media habits since they are more frequent users, but adults/seniors are more impressionable in this situation. 

The main motivators to want to be changed are security, education, and well-being. All three of these factors are important motivators, but each has their own appeal. For security reasons, social media is filled with scams that target the older community into giving up their social security numbers, credit card numbers, ect. They deserve the opportunity to feel secure and safe when using social media. 

Being educated is a feature motivator because some may feel helpless when using social media, so this would be an opportunity for them to gain essential knowledge. 

To tie these two motivations together, striving to improve their well-being is also a motivator that would lead them to wanting a solution. As previously mentioned several times, the world is filled with social media, those who do not know how to spot the red flags are at severe risk, so this may be an outlet for them to seek information to protect themselves. 

Some of the possible solutions I will propose are fact-checking with multiple sources, checking out other posts on the account, and seeing what people are saying in the comments. All of these ideas may lend themselves to older audiences feeling more comfortable when using social media, leading to healthier social media habits. 

For the fourth RCL related blog post on this thread, we were tasked with finding a website that was asking for donations, or for a cause that we generally do not really support. I took a stab at finding websites that were humorous at first, but unfortunately, came up short handed. However, after revisiting the post instructions, I decided to search for a website that was against a cause that I support. With that in mind, I searched for a website that supported the idea of gun rights. That is where I stumbled across the Second Amendment Foundation. 

By no means am I trying to put down those who support this idea, rather I am simply viewing this website, and cause, from the eyes of someone who thinks that there must be regulations on guns in the US. I fully understand that making changes, or even removing the 2nd Amendment in general is a tough task, but still there can be several policies added to ensure the safe use of guns if there must be guns present across the country, which I still do not really find to be necessary. 

Right off the bat, immediately after clicking on the website link, the viewer’s eyes are met with several iconic American symbols mixed with a plethora of red, white, and blue designs. With this I am left thinking, if one does not support this cause, does it in some way make them less American? No, but that is what the website seems to imply. 

The main tagline on the first page of the website reads as follows: “Become a part of the most effective pro-gun rights group.’’ The organizers claim this, but then have no details to back it up. Perhaps if they provided how much effect they had on the legislature, or if they were able to really get anything done, then it would be a much more powerful statement. If I were looking to affiliate with one of these groups, that may inspire me to do so. 

One of the most lacking areas of this website is where they are asking for donations. Instead of common phrases such as “Donate here”, or something along those lines, the website says “Give Now”. This feels less like a plea and more like a threat. When describing where that money will go towards, all that is listed is “Your contribution will help us to continue winning firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time.” This statement is quite vague. Many more questions arise from that such as, how is that money helping win a lawsuit? 

At the end of the day, this website seems to put a focus on collecting money, and not much else. I have no doubts that the organizers truly support the cause, but they do a very poor job of convincing others to feel the same way. They tend to make many loose claims, and then provide no proof to back them up. This website can do with major improvements.

*link to website *.

Social media is extremely harmful to the future of politics in the United States. For the persuasive essay, I am choosing to write about the negative influence of social media on the political sphere of the United States. This idea is especially intriguing to me because the effects of social media, since it is a rather new phenomenon, are still really unknown. Also, the climate of politics in America is extremely toxic, and the end of that toxicity is nowhere in sight. 

Specifically, political polarization is a very apparent problem that has been plaguing politics for several years now. Political polarization is essentially used to describe the gap between the two main political parties in the U.S., the Democratic and Republican parties. As the two parties that are meant to create laws bipartisanly drift further and further apart, so do their ideologies. Less compromise is seen and more hostility arises. 

In my thesis I contribute the harmful effects of social media as a main brewer of this political conflict. This puts more of an emphasis on the question of value, rather than calling for any specific policy to be drawn up. A policy that would fix this would be to ban all social media in general, but that is something is simply unfeasible, some would argue it as being impossible. 

I was able to find a very helpful book to aid me in my argument. It is called Frenemies: How Social Media Polarizes America and is written by William and Mary professor, Jaime E Settle. Settle is an Associate Professor of Government, as well as a co-director of the Social Science Research Methods Center, which helped her publish articles in the American Journal of Political Science. 

Based on the title alone I immediately gravitated to this book. Besides the obvious connection to the theme of my essay, the book includes amazing visuals, such as graphs and images, that add new pieces of context to the conversation of polarization in American politics. I have taken a few classes where the topic of polarization has come up, so fresh information is appreciated in order to further my understanding of the idea. 

Social media acts as a meddling point for anyone, anywhere to chime in on issues and comment on mostly anything they choose. While this is an important feature if used appropriately, many users abuse the comment section and use it to point fingers at those they do not agree with. It should go without saying that comment sections are brutal when it comes to current political issues. 

Some of the current research questions I have are: What will the future look like if polarization continues to grow? How does social media create a greater distance between the political parties? Is there any way to limit political discourse on social media without infringing on constitutional rights such as the first amendment?

This passion post will focus on another one of my favorite movies, The Empire Strikes Back. The fifth episode of the Star Wars franchise is one that really fueled my love for the movies. 

As I write this I have to admit, while I do enjoy the movies, I am not really into much else within the world of Star Wars. I know there are superfans regarding this world, but I generally just think they are entertaining and rather funny. 

Growing up, my dad always tried to get me to watch the Star Wars movies with him. I continuously turned my nose based on the preconceived thoughts I had about science fiction. As a reader growing up the furthest into the science fiction genre I delved into was the Harry Potter series. With that in mind, when I finally grew in age, I ended up watching the movies one night. I saw the first one (Episode IV) and then went right on to episodes V and VI. 

It is not really typical for me to enjoy the sequels and beyond any original movie. For example, I enjoyed Godfather I more than Godfather II, an opinion that not many people share. Though with Star Wars it was one of the instances where I enjoyed the development shown in the second movie. No real reason behind that other than the fact that I believe the plot to be a bit more involved. 

In The Empire Strikes Back the audience is introduced to iconic characters such as Yoda and see original characters such as Luke Skywalker explore deeper into his lineage and train to become a Jedi. Also, within this movie the audience sees Han Solo’s and Princess Leia’s relationship progress further from their initial cold meeting. 

Much of the defining moments of the franchise happen within this movie. The ever so iconic line of “I am your father”, often misquoted as “Luke, I am your father”, is a main plotline of this film. 

The Star Wars movies are just those classics that everyone should try to watch at least once. I ended up being so pleasantly surprised with the movies. There is the chance that you just want to watch the next ones and then end up being entranced by them, as was I. 

Regarding my initial perception of the films, I really do not believe that to be the case with these movies. They are rather plot based and while the plot is set in space I would say that is about the only science-y feature of the movie. The force is also an interesting aspect of these movies and seeing the role it plays as the movies unfolds is an interesting part of viewing

The idea that there is seemingly a lack of racial diversity in an institution is not a new idea. However, this is an idea that has plagued American politics since the birth of the country. The history of America is based upon the roots of white men who had land and a lot of money. It is quite sad that some of these internalized ideas still are present in society and government today. 

After a simple google search it would appear that the workers in the federal government are a representative sample of the American public. Yet, when looking at a deeper level it is revealed that within the senior executive positions of the federal government, this representation goes away. 

This says a lot of the structure of the government, I believe. On the outside, it appears that the diversity is fitted appropriately to the proportions of the U.S. population. When in reality, the ones who are truly making the decision within the high levels of the government are a majority of white men. 

As the country is continuing to become more and more diverse it is still rather scary that the country’s laws are being made as they were 200 some years ago. 

Even if we look at the role of the president, only 1 out of 46 was non-white. I think within all roles of the government that would be a similar truth. Speaking on the role of the president, it is an important symbol of the U.S., so hopefully down the road it will possibly feature someone of a different gender or race. 

As mentioned before, the country is continuing to evolve into a more diverse nation. The representation of the 50 states needs to be on par with the people that it is meant to represent. Racial diversity is something that can be incorporated into many other places, but it needs to to start in the government. As I explored in the other civic issues posts it is a necessary idea for governmental representation to actually be a representative body for what the country wants. 

With a more diverse government the voices who have been previously hushed now have the outlet to be more comfortable expressing their ideas. When faced with problems with legislation it is important to have that identification with someone who has the capacity to make these policy changes, local or federal. 

If that identification does not exist, it deters people from even wanting to participate in politics. People, and voters, need that group of people who look like them to have that comfort feeling and identity within the political sphere.

For this blog post I was tasked with talking about a solution from the universities side. I believe that expanding and implementing new policies for on-campus housing is one area that the university can improve. 

I have had a few experiences with the housing at Penn State, some good, some bad. I would like to focus, however, on second-year and beyond living.

The current housing situation at Penn State looks to be basically a lottery system. Students who choose to stay on campus after freshman have to register in the eliving database. Then, later down the road, the student will then receive an email acting as an invitation to pick from what is left on the website. The invitations are sent across a timeline of 3 days. By the third day, it is very likely that your first choice will simply not be left. There is seemingly no order, or even seniority, to the invitations. 

I do think that this system is majorly flawed. One aspect that could help to resolve the issues within this is possibly the option to keep your same room year after year. 

When doing some comparisons with other large schools across the country, I found that Liberty University, which has the largest student body in the country, has an option to pay $250.00 and reserve their same room for the following year. 

The idea of renewing the same housing contract for the next year is an idea that is explicitly not allowed at Penn State currently. Yet, this would help to resolve many of the problems with trying to scramble before the housing deadline. 

Also, I believe that if more people were secure in their lease for another year, there would be less competition downtown. However, this could also be achieved by adding more housing options. There are about 5 housing options after freshman year on campus. Two of these options are within the same freshmen housing communities. 

Living with freshmen I think is something that deters students from wanting to stay on campus. If you do not get one of the upperclassmen areas, you are left with basically a repeat of freshman year living conditions. 

Whether this means that the university should add more buildings, which is a very slow and tough process, or reserving one of the current smaller freshmen dorms only for upperclassmen. Either of these options would also decrease any competition for downtown living, which may also lead to cheaper rent prices. 

I think the root of the housing issue is the lack of on campus housing options, forcing people to think their only option is signing an overpriced lease downtown, or many miles from campus. 

The solution for the housing situation is not very clear, but I think that starting to allow students to keep their same room would relieve a lot of the stress that builds around the housing selection time. 

During Sunday evening of this past weekend, the worthwhile 66th Annual Grammy Awards were held at Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, California. I tuned in to watch all 3+ hours of the ceremony! While the actual awards ceremony is what many people are buzzing to watch, I was very intrigued by the red carpet fashion. 

The Grammys are an event that tends to be a bit classier, in my opinion, whereas events such as the MET Gala are opportunities for celebrities to be adventurous and to try out new styles. 

With that being said, some celebrities definitely wear some interesting outfits and pair questionable accessories. I like many of the celebrity outfits, but some are not to my taste. Like many others I often like to watch videos on people reviewing/critiquing the celebrities outfits to see if my opinions are a part of the general consensus. 

I am not one to comment on these videos, or any video in general, but others use the space as a way to communicate their own thoughts. 

For this post I was able to find a comment section on a TikTok reviewing the fashion from the Grammys that definitely had something close to debate/deliberation. 

This comment section featured several differing opinions on the various outfits debuted on the carpet. For example, one creator mentioned how she did not think that Taylor Swift had a very cohesive look. As a response to this one commenter wrote how Swift “sometimes sacrifices fashion for her little Easter eggs/nods to her music.” I thought this was an interesting take on the creator’s comments. 

Another commenter offered some more sophisticated advice, “If I were her stylist, I would’ve done some Galliano Newsy dress. Then have diamond or pearl necklaces layered. Then toss on some black Loubie pumps.” Clearly, people have many opinions on the look. 

What I found to be the most interesting aspect of this comment section was that there were some people who plainly agreed/disagreed with the creator, while others tried to offer different viewpoints on the topic. 

I think that this is a vital aspect of good deliberation. Instead of arguing over a certain take, the commenters attempted to provide new information to try and offer new sides of the solution. This is an example of what I believe to be successful deliberation. 

However, on other videos other people found conflict trying to defend their favorite artists outfits. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a video that had a more peaceful comment section. 

This all goes to show that there can be good discussion on social media, while simultaneously some comment sections resemble that of a modern warzone. Much has to do with the topic of the video and also, I think, who the creator of the video is. Some creators pull in viewers of certain age groups/opinions that lend their way to a more conflicted comment section.  

My civic issue topic is the focus on the lack of representation within government. The most convenient place to find examples of this is within congress, which is where I believe contains the least amount of diversity. For this post I will focus on the lack of gender representation. 

According to the PEW research center, one of the leading databases for governmental data, “Women make up more than a quarter (28%) of all members of the 118th Congress.” That is the same as saying 153/535 members. I think that number itself is very demonstrative of the problem. 

Let’s take a deeper look at the issue at hand. Currently in the United States the population is made up of 50.5% women and 49.5 men. It is safe to say that just by looking at the numbers, women should probably have around the same percentage in congress, 50%. 

This gap goes to show that there is a lack of female representation within the world of politics, even though there is clearly a very small marginal difference when looking at population statistics. 

Something that is somewhat positive when looking at the data is that there is definitely an upward trend with the amount of women who are serving in congress. However, it certainly will not do any good if the percent is changing a few percent each year. 

I think that for so long politics was seen as a “man’s world” in the sense that it was something that women did not get involved with. This is obviously, just simply not the case anymore. Women have just as much a place in politics as anyone else. 

One of the largest reasons why this is so dangerous is when it comes to the policies that affect women directly. I find it laughable that it is expected for men to know and vote on these policies. For example, when looking at the overturn of Roe v. Wade, which was decided on in the supreme court, could lead to congress trying to pass a permanent bill banning abortion. If enough members of congress agree to pass the bill, it will go to the president. 

Regardless of what the outcome would be, one would hope a bill like that would never reach the desk of the president, but if it did it would be more of a comfort knowing it was voted on by women, for women. Not the other way around. 

It is severely important that this specific gap in government is closed, for the sake of the future generations of women in the United States. As the population of America is becoming more and more diverse, it is only right that the institutions and the governing bodies are also adjusted in order to be a fair representative of the American public.