Week 16: Oral history reflection/Final post

I'd like for you to reflect on your oral history project. What did you learn about peace from this individual? What does this individual have to offer to the world that is unique? Also, what do you have to offer to the world that is unique, perceptive, insightful? Do you believe that individuals have a responsibility to make use of these qualities or to contribute accordingly? Explain.

I learned from him that it is up to people to do kind acts regardless of what situation they are in or who they are with. He said that enacting revenge only continues the cycle of violence that is present throughout society. He says even if someone intentionally does you wrong, to not retaliate because it helps no one and only further these petty type of dilemmas. He gave advice and insight to anyone that asked for it. He lent an ear to listen to people's problems and helped them recover from whatever they were going through.

I can only offer insight into my own personal situations. Not everything is as it seems. Make sure you know the whole story of a situation before jumping in to rush judgment. It is easy for one to assume and stereotype or even mis-characterize another because it's easy to do. It takes virtually no work to vilify someone, especially if you haven't been in their position before. So rather than rush to anger about trivial events, perhaps it is best to be patient and try to understand the problems that other people are going through so that, if their is something that needs to be discussed or fixed, it can be done so under mutually beneficial circumstances.

I do believe people have some sort of responsibility to others if they have a quality or skill that can be helpful to those around them. However, sometimes other people can be demanding and put a strain on that person that is trying to help. So I understand if skilled people or people with helpful qualities don't accept a community position. But I think there is a point to where sometimes it is just necessary for that person to step in the the betterment of the community. So not everyone needs to contribute but I posit that if everyone did their best to help out someone else, violence in general would be down in all areas.

Week 13 - Intended Major

1) My intended major(s) is/are: Computer Science and Information Security. I have only added InfoSec as a major since attending KSU. Well, I've always liked the idea of understanding and implementing complex technical skills to build programs and secure data.

2) The four type of professional experience that can help me in my studies are:

-job shadows (where one follows around someone already in a job position that you want so that one may experience the intricacies and nuances of a real world job.)

-internships (a short-term hands-on experience which lets one maintain their study time while also working usually part-time for a company they wish to apply to and so one gets a feel for how juggling responsibilities and keeping focus will feel like)

-co-ops (basically one semester, one will study and be able to concentrate on academic responsibilities, and the next semester, one can essentially, "intern" for that period of time, allowing one to be devoted to their work) and

-volunteering (a position which one devotes time to an organization, simply because one wishes to, not because they will receive payment).

I believe an internship would be my best option. It would allow me to continue learning at school while experiencing the life of a job at a company. If I still wish to apply to that company, I can; but if I do not, then an internship will allow me to find out if that environment is right. The next best would be a co-op. It woiuld allow my to concentrate on my studies for a limited time, then be able to devote my attention full-time to a temp job position.

Week 10: GALILEO

The author, James, Heft, basically gives a general overview of Christian history and goes on to show the attitude of a sizable group within the church, as well as the papal authority. What the author describes is a pendulum of Church (and the populace's) doctrine. He states that Christians, in the first century did not want to join the Roman Army, but then later on, joined in on the Crusades, and as a final swing, most Christians (particularly) Catholics, have embraced the idea that even more limited war and rules for those wars are needed to usher in peace.

Heft lists the Popes who have tried to push the Church into a "peace" era but notes that Pope John Paul II, like the Enlightenment philosophers, changed the perception of peace by linking war action to an affront on the rights of every human being involved. John Paul II drastically moved the "just war" theory in a new direction by exposing the sins of the Church from centuries ago, also imploring that relations between factions continue to exist even after armed conflict has ruined the countries involved. Heft says mainline Protestants has endorsed John Paul II's ideas of restrictive warfare and forgiving aftermath but somehow a good number of evangelical churches actually support preemptive war and do not share the same talk of peace that Jesus himself gave to his disciples.

Heft, James. "Religion, World Order, and Peace: Christianity, War, and Peacemaking." Cross Currents60.3 (2010): 328. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/50958853/Religion-World-Order-And-Peace-Christian

Week 6: Mark Braverman

1) We as humans strive for the attention and affirmation of others. A wall is the anti-thesis of that; it suggests willful separation due to my dislike or annoyance with you. However, a wall also signifies order and isolation of people that others may deem to be threats (whether real or imagined). This type of "segregation" tells us 2 things: 1) That the people instilling the wall aren't murderous monsters on an ethnic cleansing campaign (for the "short-sighted" hyperbolists out there) and 2) that there is a threat to be quelled, whether it is justified or not. The supposed "intellectuals" who continue to vilify Israel while not recognizing the threat posed by extremists (because they are real and do exist), only continues to anger the Jews who feel persecuted while pandering to the Palestinians, who for years, have been unwilling to cooperate yet arrogant enough to believe that they are entitled to a land they lost not only in Abrahamic times but just as recently as 1948.

I believe the first step is to leak out that Israel is willing to compromise (perhaps even paying reparations to the families in controlled areas) and maybe even have a news conference where the leaders agree to meet for the explicit purpose of reintegrating both peoples. Then, every week, tear down a certain section of the wall (with proper appropriate support, of course). The next step would be to have public meetings and votes (all adults, no exceptions) to show the Palestinians they are willing to reinstate what the UN proposed almost 70 years ago. However, he Palestinian must show that they are willing to support this move. All random bombings in civilians areas must stop and any public outburst of aggression on Israeli citizens must cease. It makes no sense for one side, who has been on the brink of extinction for milennia, to be the ones to give up the up the land they earned. After the previous have been done, the actual proposal is that the original UN Partition Plan be re-drafted with approximatively half the land given to the Israelis and half given to the Palestinians, with the UN having oversight over Jerusalem but delegating any possible changes to the people of both states. Have the ICJ (or other nations) keep both sides in balance and see how it goes from there.

2) A tribal mindset allows the most optimum way of surviving. It is considered "barbaric" but one needs to be ruthless (or at least, uncompromising) if self-preservation is the ultimate goal (and considering the size of Israel compared to other nations, I would say it is a legitimate form of governance). However, this tribal mindset can lead to arrogant circumventions of justice, allowing very few to be tried fairly without a preconceived bias of harm to the state. I understand that in this supposed "modern era" that people have learned to talk with one another to talk most problems, but usually the people who argue against the "tribal mindset" do not have all the information that a gov't has and as a result do not know what the choices are in a given situation. Simplifying human nature and then applying "logic" to it, especially if it is used to help a population survive, is amateurish at best. It is preposterous to assume that we unelected citizens can someone how criticize gov't for it's justified misdeeds because of some idealistic notion that people are good and therefore no one should harm anyone, despite being under constant threat of annihilation. (To be honest, I expected more from Dr. Braverman)

3) It is, at its basic roots, the most common trait among humans. Everyone suffers; the poor, the rich, the tall, short, fat, skinny, pretty, ugly, smart, dumb (these words are pretty much used to describe subjective points of view). No one can escape being hurt, not those who lock themselves away or even those who are constantly in the spotlight. Human suffering is what binds one of us to the other and allows for an instant emotional or spiritual connection to people who we would probably never would have considered friends.

4)

1. I am Gabriel Gonzalez. I am 21 years old have interests in music, computing, history, and social sciences.

2. Simply put, to earn a degree in order to obtain employment in "a fast-paced business environment".

3. I need food, water, shelter, clothing, like everyone else. Some personal quiet time for my interests.

4. Social injustices really stir me up. Finding the "truth" (whatever that entails) also drives me.

10. Pay attention, delegate more time to studying my lessons, and researching material outside of what is given in class in order to gain a broader perspective.

11. I think I have been successful in understanding and applying the material I've learned from class to short-term goals such as tests and labs.

12. I need assistance on concentrating and using information that I have learned to form ideas which help others.