"The Noble Feat of Nike" by Johan Norberg

How do multicultural corporations such as Nike affect poor countries such as Vietnam? In "The Noble Feat of Nike" by Johan Norberg, Norberg informs the reader how Nike is helping the Vietnamese economy by providing jobs for citizens of Vietnam. Though you may think that these factories are just working innocent people for small profits, the actuality behind the fact is that in comparison to working on the farm, Tsi-Chi, a Nike factory worker in Vietnam, says that she not only makes five times as much as she used too, but also that she does not have to work 10 to 14 hours in the hot sun. By working as a Nike factory worker, she gets regular wages, free meals, free medical services, training, and an education. People working at the factories wish that Nike would expand so their relation could also be provided a job.
As Johan Norberg writes, a generation ago, if he asked the Nike worker Tsi-Chi what she wished for her son, she may have said that she wants him to work on the farm, but now after the creation of the Nike factory, Tsi-Chi says that she wishes that he is able to get a good education. "In recent years the number of children who have gone from child labor to educated children has increased to 2.2 million," says Norberg.

Many people, especially in the United States, believe that the only reason factories such as Nike are moving to foreign countries, is so they can produce the product at such a lower cost. However, for many factories like Nike, the reason as to why they produce their product in a foreign country is so that people like Tsi-Chi can send her child to school to get an education. Before I read this article, I was one of those people who made that assumption. Now though, I see how these factories have improved the living styles of several Vietnamese people. The little things that we are provided daily, such as food, an education, and housing, are a reward for Vietnamese factory workers at Nike. Now we may ask ourselves, why are we so selfish when we have everything we could ever ask for? I hope that the Nike factory will be able to improve the economy of Vietnam and provide more jobs to the Vietnamese. Every time we buy a pair of Nike shoes, we are contributing to the money that all those Vietnamese people are making. The more shoes we buy the larger the Nike factory is able to increase their profit. I think that if more people read Johan Norberg's article, they would all have a different look on companies such as Nike. Norberg has truly shown how sometimes we are uninformed about the things we say.

"Arranged Marriages get a Little Reshuffling" by Lizette Alvarez

As a new modernized world approaches, the belief of arranged marriages which are a tradition in the British Muslim faith, are progressively getting to be a more lenient practice. According to Lizette Alvarez's article "Arranged marriages get a Little Reshuffling," Lizette talks about how the number of Muslims practicing this tradition in the old-fashion manner are decreasing. More Muslims in Britain are instead leaning towards a more informal approach. Normally how arranged marriages work are that the young woman is introduced to the family of the her future husband and the two families sit and talk. As Ms. Sapra a British Sindu says, "You sit there looking cute and like the ideal housewife. The matriarchs do the talking." After ten formal arranged meetings, Sapra no longer takes this route, instead she has resulted in the new norm speed dating. For many young Indians and Pakistanis speed dating is slowly becoming more popular and the formal arranged methods are becoming more informal. Instead of meeting with the family first, the younger generations are meeting the prospective mate without the involvement of the families. As the author says, "what is happening is that the arranged marriage is becoming a bit more open and children are getting a bit more say in this so it becomes a nice compromise." However for some elderly parents, they begin to worry that their son or daughter will go unmarried with this new creation. Though some traditions of Muslim practice remain the same, the idea of arranged marriages continue to shift towards the modernized culture, in order to c0unteract the change in the world.

Though I am not a Muslim, I believe that in order for a marriage to work their has to be some sort of connection. Why should two people have to suffer through life as a married couple if they do not love each other? Love is the sole reason as to why a relationship works. Without love, there is no relationship. I think that this "reshuffling" is for the better. It will allow British Muslim men and women to be able to share that larger connection with their spouse. Though the parents may be just looking out for their son or daughter, it is the son or daughter who has to live with the other person. Arranged marriages may ensure that all Muslims become married, but I think that I would rather not be married then to be married unhappily. Marriage is forever. We should at least all have the ability to choose our spouse!

Creating an (In)clusive Environment of Racial Realities on Campus (ISCORE)

At the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity on March 6th, 2009, I attended a session called Creating an (In)clusive environment of racial realities on campus. At the beginning of the session, the speakers were walking around and talking to people. However, after they started their demonstration, I realized that the speakers were only talking to people wearing glasses, all other people were not included. Prior to their presentation, I was not even aware that people without glasses were being discriminated against, but now I am able to see that many times, it is not obvious that people are being discriminated against, either because of their skin, religion, or even appearance. These things are happening everyday in our world, but what can we do to make all people, no matter what skin color, feel included? Reginald Blockett and Brittany Johnson, second year masters candidates, informed me about a few tips to help make our world more accepting of diversity and the different types of racism that occur daily.

The first type was racial micro-aggressions, which consisted of subtle insults to those of color. For example, often times people will say, "You're not like all those blacks." This phrase subtly insults blacks in general. Though it is not obvious, it is still racism! The second type of racism was "color-blind" racism. "Color-blind" racism is when people do not pay attention to race, so patterns of social inequality result. These are just a few of the different types of racism, that are occurring daily.

As a diverse campus, it is important that all people feel equal, but how can we accomplish this goal? The easiest and most obvious way to accomplish this goal is to "treat people the way you want to be treated" or the golden rule. This means not saying things that would discriminate against any person. If all students on campus were not racist towards people of different ethnicities, then people of color would feel more included. Alls it takes is one person to make a person feel hurt. If we all respect one another, then no one will get hurt or offended. Some examples of how the university has made all types of diverse people feel welcome is by the creation of the multicultural center in the Memorial Union, learning communities, academic study halls, and even fraternities and sororities. Also there are several different organizations on campus that are aimed specifically to certain cultures of people. For example, one organization that pertains to black chemists and chemical engineers, is the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers or NOBCChE.

I believe that though racism is not as extreme as it was 100's of years ago, it is still a problem in the United States. I think we as a nation have made huge progress this year with the election of the first black president, or Barack Obama. However, there is still room for improvement. By treating everyone with respect no matter who they are and where they come from, we as nation can decrease the amount of racism in this world. We are all people and we all have feelings, whether are skin colors are the same or different, we still live in the same world . Why should one person not be granted the same respect as another person?

Dora the Explorer: Multicultural or Stereotypical? (ISCORE Conference)

I attended the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity (ISCORE), and at the conference they had a session called "Dora the Explorer: Multicultural or Stereotypical?" At the session they proceeded to provide us with information about the show in general. However it was up to us to decide whether we believed that the show provided a positive or negative feedback to children. Some of the statistics they provided were that every day 8.8 million viewers watch Dora the Explorer, and the show is featured in 15 different languages around the world. Out of all the children's parents in the United States who supported the show, 80% of the the support came from white families. What ages though of children are attracted to this television show? The majority of children watching Dora the Explorer are between the ages of 2-5 years old.

After hearing a bit of information about Dora and the show, I had to make my decision. Was the show stereotypical or multicultural? I believe that Dora the Explorer is a great impact on all children in the world. Dora is not only an adventurous young Hispanic girl, but she is also very intelligent and kind. With the help of her backpack, Dora is able to solve many problems in her environment. She teaches kids not only Spanish words, but she also teaches them how to solve problems. Dora the Explorer represents all the underrepresented Hispanics in the United States. She is the diversity that young children need to see. In the earlier creation of Dora the Explorer, Tiko was once a Hispanic character who just slept under a tree. However, because this showed a negative stereotype, the creators of Dora the Explorer changed Tiko's role. By revising the show, we are able to see that the purpose of Dora the Explorer is not to provide stereotypes, but instead to show the different diversities of people in our world. Dora's outgoing interactive nature causes many children to be engaged in the show. Dora the Explorer is not stereotypical in my opinion. I believe that the show has positively impacted all children throughout the world.

Should the drinking age be lowered?

For many years, people have asked the question, "should the drinking age be lowered?" In my personal opinion, I believe that lowering the drinking age will just cause more people who should not be drinking to drink even more. The majority of the people who are protesting the drinking age are those who do not even obey the law. I do not even logically see a good reason to lower the drinking age when the people protesting do not drink legally and responsibly now. If we lower the drinking age, the number of people killed by intoxicated drivers will more than likely increase, and the number of deaths caused by alcohol will also increase. Several men argue that if we have to sign up for the military than why should we not have the ability to drink. I believe that until I see all the men who think the drinking age should be lowered actually go to war, then I will say to them that they can drink all that they want, but until that day comes I do not believe that they should have that opportunity. Other people who are protesting the drinking age argue that the number of people dying from binge drinking will decrease. I heard from a fellow classmate the following story. A young college boy who was about 18 years old was being hazed at a fraternity. However, the boy ended up drinking enormous sums of alcohol and died because the fraternity brothers were so claimed afraid to take him into the hospital because he would be charged for drinking illegally. The mother of the boy said that if the drinking age were lower than my boy may have made it to the hospital. Personally, why would anyone even take the risk of questioning whether obtaining a charge was even relevant to the chance of life or death. We are all aware that the drinking age is 21. We all aware of what happens when we drink enormous sums of alcohol. And we especially are all aware of what the outcome is if we get caught. If you want to make the decision to drink illegally, then you have to live with the consequences. It is the law and until the law saws otherwise, if you are under 21, you are not allowed to drink!

Imagine if the child who died was killed by someone who was driving while drunk, do you still think that the mother would want the drinking age to be lowered? Until you are on the other side of the fence, you do not realize the side effects of lowering the drinking age. I have never had a family member die from a drunk driver, but I have seen the long term effects drinking can have on a person. Many times people think that they can just drink and drink and drink, and then just quiet. Drinking can become an addiction just like smoking or any other drug. Once you start it is hard to quit. There is a big difference between social drinking, which consists of drinking in a reasonable size portions, and drinking just to get drunk. I do not think that it is a problem to drink, but I do think that until you actually are old enough to drink responsibly, which is 21 in the United States, then otherwise you should not be allowed to drink.

"Reading the History of the World" by Isabel Allende

For many people, including my self, we do not realize all the simple but satisfactory things we are able to do in life. Reading is amongst the group. As Isabel Allende states, "Books allow me to see my feelings put into words." In the article, "Reading the History of the World" by Allende , she describes her life when she was young. Unlike other children perhaps in different countries, Allende was not allowed to share her opinion and feelings on several matters. She had no way to say what she wanted to say or do what she wanted to do, except through reading and writing. Often times we forget how lucky we are to be able to read and write. Hundreds of years ago, many people did not even know how to read or write. Imagine growing up in a life not having that ability. Communication would be so much more difficult. In the article, Allende talks about how her and her mother always wrote letters to each other, and how the tradition continued when were daughter went to Spain. Because Allende was thousands of miles away from her mother, writing was the only way for them to keep in close touch. By sending letters they were able to share all their experiences and feelings regarding several matters though distance separated them. When Isabel's daughter went to Spain, they had a three way letter chain so they could all keep in touch. Reading to them was a way where they could always remember each other. It was the key to their life.

Allende believes that all people should have the opportunity to read. She discusses how her uncle Salvador Allende, who was president of Chile, made it possible for all Chileans to buy books from the "Quimantu" at reasonable prices. Like Isabel, Salvador Allende saw the importance of of all Chileans being able to read and write.

Whether we read non fiction or fairytale, French authors, Latin authors, or Russian authors, Allende states that, "Our backgrounds determine our strengths and interests as readers." For example, if you grew up in a society where religion was of significant meaning, than a book about your religion may intrigue you perhaps more than another reader. Or if politics was of importance than a book discussing the current health care system may be interesting. We as readers are drawn towards book that interest us.

I believe that reading and writing are an important part of life. Without books we would never be able to expand our knowledge about the world, and learn about several different things. Books are a means of learning. For me reading is a way for me escape from all my problems. It allows me to relax and not worry about all the other things going on in my life. It is the time where I can read what I want to read, and not just because I have too. I believe that all children should have the opportunity to read. As Isabel Allende says, "Not reading is like having the spirit imprisoned "