Paragon of Teamwork

At first I thought of the final exam project as just another research paper and PowerPoint in which most of the information would be off the internet and with just enough work to get an A or B. I had this mentality because of the fact that I was going to work in a group and I didn’t want to get stuck with all the work or have the problem of not communicating with the group. So I thought of just having everyone do a part and e-mail it to me on a certain day put it together and turn it in. After I was with my group I decided to propose an idea that would go above and beyond Natasha’s expectations just to see what the group would say. I proposed to host and event, video tape it and present it to the class. This task I knew would be difficult and time consuming and I was only up to it if the group as a whole would be up for it. Turns out I had an amazing group. Everyone contributed an enormous amount to the entire project and the dedication to the project was just unexpected and surprising. My partners , Danielle, Veronica, and Niko were great. Everyone worked in sync and we were very effective as a group. We all spent countless hours on editing the video, which was the hardest part of the project. I was surprised at how much cooperation there was in the group and how much desire to contribute to the project. I feel that I was really lucky in having my group members because I got paired up with individuals, that like me, expect nothing but the best. This mentality and atitiude is conveyed in the final product, and my pride and joy, the video “Darfur, The tragedy Unknown.” I just want to give thanks to my group members for having such an amazing project, and thanks Natasha for inspiring the group to give 110% effort…..

Jena 6

The Jena Six refers to a group of six black teenagers who were charged with the beating of Justin Barker, a white teenager at Jena High School in Jena, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, on December 4, 2006. The beating followed a number of racially-charged incidents in the town, of which the earliest that has been reported was when three white students hung nooses from a tree at Jena High School. Over 20,000 people have gathered to march in the town because they claim that the charges brought upon the Jena 6 were racially driven. From my perspective I believe that there was little control in this school and that discrimination was present at the school. But I believe the way that the black students handled this was play out dumb. By resorting to violence they basically shot themselves in the foot. They could have handle the situation in a myriad of other ways that would not have led to their incarceration. Yes, although the discrimination the white kids were practicing was wrong, two wrongs don’t make a right. If the black kids would have told a school official or involved the authorities, the white kids would have gotten in trouble and nothing would have happened to them. By resorting to violence in order to retaliate they basically have no case, and what ever punishment they get they deserved. They assaulted another person just because that person called them a name, that doesn’t mean that they have the right to hit anyone.

Millenial Students

After watching the video, at first I was amused at the comments and overgeneralizations made, but then, after thinking back I was a little annoyed. The video classifies millennials as those born between 1980 through 1995. They classify this group, which I am including in, as people who have very little business etiquette, are selfish, and all throughout their lives have been rewarded for mediocre performance. This bothered me because although there are many uneducated and rude people from my generation, that does not mean that they all are like that. I feel that this has a lot to do with ones upbringing, morals, ethics, and personal goals. For example, in the environment I was raised in, I was taught to be very polite, well mannered and professional. I would never show up to a job interview in flip flops or exposing any tattoos. The video states that millenials are not concerned with gaining work experience, and are only worried about getting in to good schools and academics. I feel this to be another overgeneralization. I am a person who always strives to be the best at everything I do and I feel that being able to balance a job and perform at a college level in my academics is just a part of being a well balanced person. I have been working since I was 13 and saving money in order to buy the car that I have always wanted, a 350z,, which I bought a year ago and costs me $14,000. At the same time I maintained a 4.0 unweighted gpa average in high school and a 6.1 weighted gpa. I was a part of a community service project that started a movement to provide food and shelter to homeless people in miami-dade. I also applied and was accepted to Duke, UM, FSU, UF, and FIU. I currently attend FIU and am getting paid $4000 a semester to be here. At FIU, with the help of other millenials, I started a movement to raise awareness for the genocide in Darfur. My list of credentials keeps on going and going, but what I am getting at is that I am very well rounded and I am not only focused on myself, I care about others and issues that are affecting our community, and I have done things to help these problems. At the same time I have maintained a job at a sales company where I have to be in a shirt and tie, and I have maintained an A average in school. So when I watch videos that try to classify me as a selfish, mediocre working, uneducated, inexperienced individual it bothers me….

A Day Without A Mexican

A Day Without a Mexican is a perfect illustration of how the work and efforts of Latin American people are taken for granted in the United States. The film does not focus on where the Latinos went, but instead focuses on what happens to California without them. The movie shows how many of the jobs that no one wants to do, but are necessary in the community are performed by Latin Americans. For example: construction, washing cars, harvest work, etc. These jobs, although hard and usually unsatisfying, need to be done in order for the community to progress and move on. Throughout the movie many statements are made to hint that Latin Americans are the backbone of the community, and that without them California would not be what it is today. I feel that the movie utilizes appeals of logos in order to demonstrate to the audience the importance of Latin American immigrants in California. The movie states that 20% of K-12 grade teachers are Hispanic. It also states that the agriculture, which is worked on by Lain Americans, is California’s #1 industry. Throughout the movie many Latin American accomplishments in California are mentioned. This is done in an effort to show that Latin Americans are involved in ever aspect of California. The movie even goes on to state that Senator Shaw is a Latino, 8 of the los Angeles Dodgers are Latin American, and 60% of construction workers are Latin Americans. Although the film is a good representation of the influence that Latin American people have had on California, some things in the film bothered me. For example, the movie is titled A Day Without a Mexican, but the movie does not only focus on Mexicans but many other Hispanics, and therefore is classifying Latin Americans as Mexicans. Another statement made in the movie is that all Hispanics on the West Coast are Mexican, another generalization that categorizes Hispanics as one group.

Fidel Castro

Well comming from a Cuban family, I have a bias opinion about Fidel. Like many of the other students, I was raised entirely in a Cuban family and therefore I have heard an endless amount of criticism about Fidel and his lack of concern for the Cuban people. My grandparents and father where born in Cuba and my grandmother moved to Miami when my father was four, in an attempt to protect my father from Castro and his tyranny. The move to Miami caused the divorce between my grandparents because, my grandfather was a supported of Castro and communism. A couple of years later he was arrested in Tallahasee and imprisoned for 7 years for conspiring against the United States. He was a spy for Castro.

The stories my grandmother has told me about Castro are horrific. My grandmother used to have a 2 story house with a farm, and was forced to leave all those things to Castro and his government. Aside from material things, she has also told me stories about the countless innocent lives that Castro and his regime took. Basically, ever since my childhood I have been conditioned to identify Castro as well as communism in a negative manner. I dont think that any positive ideas about Castro, from the movie, although may interest me and promote me to reserach into Castro and his reign of terror, will change my opinion about him or what he stands for.

The Car

Well since this week we are allowed to write about what we want, I decided to talk about my car. I drive a nissan 350z in pearl white. My car to me is my pride and joy. I keep it in perfect condition and I wash it every week. It is a 2004 enthusiast package that a bought for $14000. This car stock brings 245 wheel horse power, but with the modifications I have done to the car, I am at about 360 wheel horse power. The modifications that were done on the car cost me about $2300 and took one week to install. With $2300 I was able to buy an intake, headers, test pipe, y-pipe, 3 inch custom piping to a single exit exhaust, a computer to tune, and nitrous. I also bought a set of bronz wheels that cost $1000 and a set of sport max tires, which cost $1500 plus installation. The car looks great and I get a lot of compliments when I take it to car hangouts. The car placed 3rd in Hot Import Nights, a car exhibiton that is held in Miami Beach.

Although I enjoy my car and it brings me a lot of joy, it also brings me sorrow (lol). Well the exhaust on the car is very loud, and so far I have gotten 2 tickets for disturbing the peace because of it. Also I have gotten three speeding tickets and a tinted windows ticket for having 5% tints. My last ticket was for street racing and by far it will be my most expensive ticket. So far I have spent about $2000 on tickets so that my license has 0 points. Aside from tickets and cops, the car also attracks a lot of haters. About 3 months ago some kids from my highschool saw my car parked at a friend's house and decided to egg it and rip my front bumper. Thank God that me and my friends caught them and they got arrested and are currently paying for all the repairs on the car.

Although the car brings me lot of headaches, it is a great car and I think that I am gonna be staying with it for a long time.

Petraeus Warns Against Quick Pullback in Iraq

A couple of days ago I came across this article that caught my attention. There is also a video of general Petraeus's report to congress.This interested me greatly because my brother is currently a sergeant in the United States Marine Core and was just sent to Iraq for the second time in 2 years. This article discusses the strong objection the senior American commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, has against the pullback of troops in Iraq. On Monday September 10, Petraeus presented his argument in the Cannon Caucus room in Washington, where many past debates between Congress and the White House have been held. The general was determined that the strategy, favored by the Democrats, would be ineffective and potentially hurtful to the progress of American objectives in Iraq. He feels that the situation in Iraq “remains complex” and that the only way to successfully complete American objectives in Iraq is “over time.” Many anticipated a lot of tension between Democrats and strong supporters of the war, but that wasn’t the case on Monday because the warnings given by such a high ranking officer, with medals on his chest and four stars on his shoulder, would be hard to argue against. According to the article, Petraeus along with Ryan C. Crocker, where once again put in the uncomfortable position of having to appeal Congress in order for them to give more time for their strategy to work. Due to the amount of time as well as the amount of lives lost, many, especially from the Democratic party, have started to lose faith in the efforts and strategies of the arm forces in Iraq. Despite a lot of opposition, Petraeus’s reassured his audience that objectives in Iraq are being met, and more specifically objectives and actions against “Alkida Iraq” are also being met.

I am a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, and I feel that removing troops from Iraq at this point in time would not be wise, and at the same time would sacrifice all the efforts and progress that America has already achieved in Iraq. I understand that countless lives have been lost, but I feel we are too far in to stop now. I believe that if America pulls back troops and begins to eliminate its presents in Iraq too soon then all the countless soldiers that gave their lives died in vain.