Milgram Study

Last week in my psycology class we were reviewing examples of why normal people do bad things to other people We went over the Jewish concentration camps and attempted to understand why normal human being were intentionally inflicting pain on others. We watched a video about the Stanley Milgram Study in Stanford. After watching the movie I came home and researched other finding by him. In Why Good People Do Bad Things by Stanley Milgran he attempts to study the reason behind people’s actions. Milgram’s experiment gives us an understanding of what factors are associated with people’s actions when doing wrong. His series of experiments tested how people respond to authority figures when faced with difficult decisions such as hurting other person.  The experiments revealed that even good people who have set values tend to do bad things when asked to do so.

In Milgrams study the participants were given a task, they were asked to administer a shock wave to the other person every time that person got an answer incorrect. The participant administering the shock was cognizant of how intense the shock waves were and how severe they can get. This study was administered to different groups of people and the outcome remained the same. The study demonstrated that the majority of people are willing to compromise their personal values in order to complete the task the authority figure implemented. Many of these people were sentient of how wrong and immoral their action was, yet they still continued to obey because they felt a sense of responsibility to the authority figure.

Vocabulary Words

Sentient- Able to perceive or feel things

Cognizant- Having knowledge or being aware of

HIV Guest Speaker

Yesterday in my Health class we had a guest speaker who came to talk to us about HIV,  he is only 24 years old and has been living with HIV since the age of 17. He shared many interesting facts with the class. He explained that for adolescents living with HIV, the issue regarding taking medication is difficult. This is due to the fear of social isolation and rejection by family and friends when their medication discloses their HIV status. Suboptimal medication adherence is associated with higher viral loads and can lead to further complications such as drug resistance or infections. Young people in the United States use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs at high rates. Both casual and chronic substance users are more likely to engross in high-risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex, when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Poor young people are at high risk for HIV infection if they are exchanging sex for drugs or money.

HIV/AIDS education needs to take place at correspondingly young ages, before young people engage in sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection. Schools are important partners for reaching youth before high-risk behaviors are established. Sex Education classes can give information to adolescents before they become sexually active. Other HIV/AIDS prevention resources include individual, peer, family, church, and community programs. These resources can also help reduce the incline of HIV/AIDS in young people.

It is also important to give adequate health care access to all youth who are already sexually active. Programs such as Planned Parenthood are great resources to have for all communities and especially those communities whose youth is at higher risk of HIV/AIDS infection. Giving youth the knowledge that there is help will prevent further increases in HIV diagnoses.

Vocabulary Words

Engross- (1) Absorb all the attention or interest of. (2)Gain or keep exclusive possession of (something)

Adherence- attachment: faithful support for a cause or political party or religion

Violence in Mexico

This morning when I was getting ready for school I was listening to the Spanish news about all the violence in Mexico and the continuous amount of bodies that are being found on a daily basis. According to the news, yesterday in Juarez, Mexico there were twelve dead bodies found in a minivan. Within in those bodies there was the body of a ten year old kid that was severely tortured and then burned alive. I don’t understand how there are people in this world that are capable of doing such horrific acts. I continued heeding to the new about the ongoing violence occurring in Mexico. I felt horrible when they presented another gruesome story. They stated that there was a seventeen year old female found dead on her bed with severe torture wounds. This was awful, but what really shocked me was when the news stated that this teenager was found with the body of her new born baby next to her, also dead.  Based on the evidence they found that the girl was pregnant at the time of her torture and her murderers had opened her stomach and pulled the baby out. Gross! It was then discovered that all of the violence that was happening throughout the country

How can individuals have the heart to do this to another person? It makes me sick to see what Mexico is turning into. My parents were both born in Mexico and they would always tell me stories about how amazing and fun growing up in Mexico was. Today my parents don’t even want to go to Mexico, not even on vacation. They say that the country is nothing like it used to be years ago. Most people live in fear that they could get killed or kidnapped and rarely leave their house after dark. I believe that some type of cure has to be found for the outrageous violence in that country. The major problem that has to be addressed is the drug cartels and the venality in the government. The government is now hand-by-hand with the drug lords trafficking illegal substances to the U.S.

Vocabulary Words

Venality-prostitution of talents or offices or services for reward

Heeding-Pay attention to; take notice of.

Aphorism

In class we were talking about aphorisms, and I came up with this one “He who has lived a day has lived an age” by Jean de La Bruyere. After researching it I discovered that it is a philosophical aphorism. This aphorism is in general associated to everyone who has taken a single breath of air. The statement ‘he who has lived a day has lived an age’ can be proven true with a simple test of knowledge for any single individual. For example you may ask a person a series of questions and then repeat those same questions one year from now. It can almost be guaranteed that, that person’s answer would not be completely the same as the answer from the previous year. This is because he/she has experienced and learned new things that might have changed their view or acuity on those questions you had asked a year back. However the answer may in fact remains the same but that person’s exact response is not.  The word “day” can be construed as a moment in live where an individual acquires new knowledge therefore the word “age” can be interpreted as a lifetime. By lifetime I mean that a person’s lifetime can be quantified by knowledge, if you live one year as oppose to one day you have gained a whole year of new experiences that, in turn, for you can be reflected as a whole century or “age”.

Vocabulary words

Acuity- Sharpness or keenness of thought, vision, or hearing.

Construed- 1.Interpret (a word or action) in a particular way.2.Analyze the syntax of (a text, sentence, or word).

Bad Friday

         Friday was one of the hardest days of my life. It was about 1 o’clock in the afternoon and I was at work when my phone rang. My father was on the other end of the line.  His tone was serious as he explained to me in Spanish that a car had just hit my Chihuahua, Coky; my baby of 14 years.  Quickly, I gathered up my things and left work. On the way home all I could do was picture the acutest scenario. I prayed that my dog was alright. As soon as I got home I held my dog and instantly noticed that his eye was pulled out of the eye-socket. It was horrible seeing my dog in this state. I quickly rushed him to the emergency veterinarian, where they immediately took him in. Coky was trembling and was in a deep state of shock.
       The vet made me wait in the lobby while he performed a couple of tests and x-rays to determine his condition. About 3 hours later the vet informed me that according to the x-rays, my dogs jaw was broken and his eye had been pulled out of the eye-socket. They explained to me that based on the impact of the accident the outcome could have been worse. They told me he would first need to be stabilized in order for them to perform the surgery and to put the eye back in place. They issued me a quote of the cost of the surgery and the medications. The grand total ranged from 3000 to 4000 dollars. This is a considerable amount, yet I didn’t hesitate to go forward with the necessary procedures.

        I am just thankful that he is okay and is recuperating quickly. I can’t imagine what I would have done if something worse would have happened to him. It’s amazing how such small creatures can be such a big part of your life. Every day when I come home, he is the first one to greet me with joy and happiness. I don’t understand how many people have pets, yet they don’t get attached to them in any way. Many of my friends who own dogs say they never take them to the vet or even on an afternoon walk. I always tell them that that is not a good way of life for those animals. But I guess some people just don’t seem to understand.

Vocabulary Words

acutest- (of a bad, difficult, or unwelcome situation or phenomenon) Present or experienced to a severe or intense degree.

recuperating- Recover from illness or exertion.

Psychology Flash Back

           Last week in one of my psychology classes we learned about cognitive dissonance. I learned that cognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. According to the theory of cognitive dissonance, people have the desire to reduce stress by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. People deal with dissonance also by justifying, blaming, and denying their actions.  As I was learning this in class I began to think of a time in my life when this had happed to me. I experienced cognitive dissonance when I intentionally lied to my parents about taking an over-the-weekend school trip to Death Valley.  I told my parents that it was a class trip and we would be leaving on Saturday morning and returning Sunday night. However, the truth was that I was going to Reno, Nevada with my boyfriend and some friends. This was the first time in my life that I lied to my parents in such a drastic way. Certainly, I am not saying I had never lied to them, just that usually it was “little white lies” here and there, but never to this extreme. I am a type of girl who deeply believes that lying is not a good thing, especially when it comes down to lying to once own parents. I would always criticize my girlfriends for always lying and never conceding the truth to their parents and here I was doing the same thing they did. 

            The discomfort I felt after lying to them was very unique. I knew that what I was doing was not right and if my parents were to find out they would be very disappointed. To them I was the example of the perfect daughter. At family parties I would hear my family’s conversations about their children, while my aunts and uncles complained about their sons and daughters, my parents praised about me. This made me feel proud about my beliefs and actions. Yet, in this case my actions were clearly inconsistent with my beliefs. I was lying to my parents. After discovering how guilty I felt I concluded that it was my own fault. I recognized that if I had not lied to my parents I would not feel as bad as I did. I had a choice to tell them the truth and ask for permission, and instead I decided to take the easy route and just lie and tell them something I knew they would not oppose of. To make myself feel better I tried justifying my actions by making myself believe that “if I hadn’t lied then I wouldn’t be on this trip right now.” However, this did not work for me. I experienced extreme anxiety and distress after lying to my parents. I felt so disappointed with myself that I remember not even having fun that weekend. I wanted to tell my parents the truth, but felt too scared and ashamed to confess my lie. This made me aware of the inconsistency between my attitude and my behavior, but instead of changing my belief I decided to change my behavior. As a result of this I never again lied to my parents again. The feeling that I had from my behavior was something I did not want to feel again.

Vocabulary Words

dissonance- A tension or clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements.

conceding- Admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.

Discrimination Today

           Today I as I was watching the news there were a number of stories addressing the rise of discrimination in the U.S. It instantly occurred to me that discrimination is becoming a major concern today. I don’t understand how in such a diverse country, as the U.S., discrimination is inexorable. Although this country advocates for freedom and equally it does not guarantee relief from discrimination by our peers. In the past several years discrimination towards Hispanics has increased dramatically, this is due to the economic downfall the country had endured. The public has responded to the economic crisis by finding someone to blame. The easy targets are clearly minority groups such as Hispanics, Asians, and Blacks. The view that Hispanics are all immigrants who come to this county only to steal the little jobs and resources of the tax payers is one that many individuals have decided to take and thus resulting in discrimination towards the Hispanic community. I come to this conclusion because as a Hispanic woman I have witnessed many instances of discrimination towards friends, family, and even myself.

The one experience of discrimination that I will never forget is when I had my first job interview. I was 18 years old living in Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz is a mostly white populated city, only a small percent of minority groups) I was called in for a group interview for a position at Macy’s in the mall. I arrived at the interview and found that all eight (8) applicants were White Caucasian girls except for one. I actually didn’t think much of it because I was used to being in a milieu where I was the only Hispanic in my class room. Then the person conduction the interview walked into the room and greeted everyone. We began to have a group discussion and one by one we all said why we would best be suited for the job. In my opinion I believe I was more qualified than most girls there, since I had more experience in retail as oppose to most girls whom this was going to be their first job. Also the other Hispanic girl said she had, had some experience as well. When the group interview was done the person conducting  it stepped out of the room for a couple of minutes then came back and said thank you for your time but only the people whose name I call will be interviewed by a supervisor. She began reading the names and the girls whose names were being called began exiting the room into another room. When this person was done reading the names only me and the other Hispanic girl were left sitting in that room. The interviewer said I’m sorry but right now we don’t have a position available for you guy, thank you.

I remember leaving that room with a naught in my throat having an indescribable feeling. At the time I didn’t know what to do I just went home and cried because I knew this was a racial discrimination that someone had just done to me. I felt shame and I didn’t even know why. This feeling lasted a couple of weeks until I finally spoke to my mother about it. She was furious and wanted to proceed with legal actions but I convinced her otherwise.

Vocabulary Words

Milieu-environment; surroundings ; ambience ; setting ; medium

Inexorable- Impossible to stop or prevent: 

The Dress

Yesterday when I went to get my dress fitted I realized that I will be a married woman in less than 45 days.  For the past couple of months with school, work, and planning the wedding; I never really had the time to think. As I looked at myself in the mirror with a big white wedding dress, I must say, I felt a level of fright within. I presume it is panic because I had never had that feeling before. After the fitting I took a minute to analyze what I was actually feeling. I came to the conclusion that it was a feeling of excitement mixed with a feeling of anxiety. I believe I felt this way because wearing my wedding a beautiful wedding dress was my dream since I was a little girl. When looked at myself in the mirror I realized my dream was about to become a reality. Today we are only 45 days away from the big day and I couldn’t be more excited.

I try not to think about it too much because I don’t want to be like most brides that get super caught up in their weddings, or as most may call it, a “bridezilla”. Fortunately I have been busy with work and school, that the wedding planning I have been doing on my spare time and hasn’t hampered with my life at all. My fiancé is very pleased with how we have handled the wedding planning because we have done every step together and calmly. I hope that when the day comes it will be everything I ever dreamed of and more.

A couple of my bridesmaids and close friends are planning my bachelorette party in Las Vegas in the middle of November. I am a little concerned because in the middle of November I have a lot of term papers due. Hopefully I can get them done before then and not have to worry about it in Vegas.

Bridezilla-  a bride-to-be who focuses so much on the event that she becomes difficult and obnoxious.

Hampered- 1.to hold back; hinder; impede: A steady rain hampered the progress of the work. 2.to interfere with; curtail: The dancers' movements were hampered by their elaborate costumes.

My Little brother

Every week the one thing I look forward to the most is attending my little brother’s soccer games. Tomorrow he is scheduled to play two games back to back and I just can’t wait. I don’t know why but they are so exhilarating. Although it is a game between only 10 year old kids, watching them is very electrifying. My little brother plays right-front- forward for the team, and not just because he is my brother I am saying this, but he is the best forward on the team. His dreams are to be a professional soccer player, and at the paste he is going at right now I think he can achieve it. He is in the U11 for the San Jose Earth Quakes team, in this team they have the best soccer players who are under 11 years old, and thus when they play everyone is excited to see them. Tomorrow is going to be a very important day for them because there will be sponsors at their game picking kids they want to help to achieve their goal in their professional soccer career. It would be amazing if he were to be picked because, although they are just kids, this is an opportunity that can help shape their entire future.

Everyone in my family is convinced that Manny, my brother, has what it takes to be one of the sponsored kids. He is disciplined and very talented for his young age. The good thing about Manny also is that he just doesn’t only want to be a soccer player, but he also wants to be a doctor. Sometimes I admire his keenness to be successful, which is something many kids are now lacking as they grow older. I remember when I was his age I was just as enthusiastic about school and my future career in law, but over the years it seems as if it has slowly gloomed way. I hope his enthusiasm lasts him his entire life.

Electrifying-exciting

Keenness- eagerness; enthusiasm

School and Work

            A couple weeks ago I was reading an article in the New York Times by Carla Rivera.  In this article she stated that in California only 14.8% of full-time college students actually graduate within four years. The amount of time it’s now taking college students to graduate has doubled. Approximately 60% of full-time students now graduate within an eight year time frame. This is amazing to me; luckily I fall in that 14.8% of full-time students graduating within a four year time frame. It has been very hard and exhausting at times to be a full time student and also have a full time job. In the article I read that about 75% of college students now also have a full-time job aside from school, this is probably the biggest reason why it is taking so many students many more years to obtain their degree.

            I began working at the age of sixteen at an amusement park. Back then I was only working part-time so work never was an issue. Then, when I graduated high school and went on to college I wanted to have more money therefore, I decided to take on more hours at a retail store as a cashier. At the beginning handling school and work was very easy because the tasks given to me at work were simple and didn’t require more of me. However, a few years later, in my junior year of college I wanted to be completely independent and decided to get a full time job that required more responsibilities. The first semester I was certain working full time and going to school full time was not going to be an issue, yet by the end of the semester I realized I was erroneous. At the end of the semester when it came down to term papers and final exams I felt that I had no time to study or finish my work. I was doing scantily at work thinking about school and I was doing poorly at school thinking about work. When the semester was over and grades came back it became clear to me that full-time school and full-time work is not such a good idea. Although my parents were willing to help me out through school I felt a sense of independence I just couldn’t bring myself to let go. So, instead of reducing hours at work I decided to enlist in only three classes a semester and make up the other classes during winter breaks. It has been working out for me so far and I hope it remains that way.

Erroneous- wrong; incorrect  

Scantily- Poorly; inadequately

Yoga Class

It is extremely hard for me to think of topics to write about. I have so many things going on in my life, yet finding something interesting to write about is so complicated each week. I think I will write about my Friday mornings yoga class. I had never taken any type of yoga class in the past and didn’t really know what it was like. This semester I decided to try it since I needed the unit anyway. My expectations of this class were way off. I thought that yoga was a relaxation method where the main concentration is your breathing and stretching. I never thought it would be such a complicated process. I have only had that class about four weeks and I have learning so much about it. Let me tell you, it is not the easiest tasks in the world. The different positions are very complex and entail a lot of work. My first three times in the class instead of achieving relaxation, I achieved frustration. The instructor made us do many positions that I didn’t even know my body can do. Instead of slowing down my heart beat, it elevated it as if I were jogging. Luckily, today for the first time I actually fared to control my movements and somewhat regulate my breathing. However, just when I was getting into the yoga routine the instructor incorporated more complex movements that again through me off. Hopefully in the next class I can manage to control the new movements, if not I will never take yoga again in my life!

Fared- Verb: Perform in a specified way in a particular situation or over a particular period of time

Entail- to cause or involve by necessity or as a consequence

Mortgage Fraud

It is amazing to me how so many individuals are being scammed in the housing market. I work as a loan officer for an independent company and on a daily basis I hear of new stories where families were scammed out of $4000, $ 5000 and even $10000.

After the housing market crashed in 2009 many people became desperate to save their homes and began looking for help. People were willing to pay thousands of dollars in order to stay in their home. As the need for mortgage assistance increased, the amount of people willing to help also increased. Many of these small companies were not looking to help the people; instead they saw a way of taking advantage of their distress. These companies promised people that they would save their home and lower their mortgage payments. Other companies promised to take the bank to court and lower their principle balance to the current market value, which is unreasonable to think of. After hearing all of these promises the people became hopeful and foolish.

People were charged for loan modifications that were never achieved, thus they ended up losing their house. Others were charged for civil law suits against the bank that were never even taken to court. Some companies even disappeared after receiving the money from the clients and did this all throughout the country. After discovering that these companies were doing fraud the government implemented a new law, that companies could not charge upfront fee for loan modification. However, even with this new law people were still being asked to pay and many of them did.

When these *fraught individuals come to me after being scammed 2-3 times, they appear so *despondent. Most of them just want to forget this whole nightmare and short sale their properties. They no longer believe in any company actually helping them, all they want it to be stress free.

*Fraught- Marked by or causing destress; emotional.

*Despondent- Feeling or expressing despondency; dejected

Introduction

   

     Since this is my first blog entry I will begin by introducing myself. My name is Karen, I am twenty two years old. I was raised in Santa Cruz California, but at the age of seventeen my family and I moved to San Jose. I am a senior at San Jose State University and will be graduation in May 2012 with a major in Political Science and a minor in Psychology. I am in the process of planning my wedding which will take place December 17th.

     My fiancé and I decided to get married through the Catholic Church since both of our parents are devoted Catholics. The experience of planning our wedding has been very exciting but at the same time very frustrating. It has been frustrating because I never imagined the amount of requirements that are needed in order to be married in the Catholic Church. It has been meeting after meeting and class after class.  I understand that certain preparation is needed before marriage but seriously this has gone to an extreme. Today, for example we spent three hours in a couple’s counseling talking about finances and sexuality. The topics we discussed were common sense and extremely superfluous. My finance and I are very overwhelmed with how they have decided to prepare couples for marriage. I asked the priest why the church had implemented all these new requirements and he stated that it was because of the rising divorce rate. He said that according to the Catholic Church all these counseling classes would prepare us and thus, attenuate the chances of divorce. If this is true, we will see.

*1. Attenuate:
        to weaken or reduce in force, intensity, effect, quantity, or value.
*2. Superfluous:
        being more than is sufficient or required; excessive, Unnecessary.