Education - The Best Solution To Hate Crimes

Thanh Nguyen
13 Dec. 2010
FD5 (Final Exam)

Hate based on race, sexual orientation, and religion exist in any society. When this type of hatred fuels a people into taking violent action upon those that they hate, it is a hate crime. This is a type of crime that every society has to face, especially American society. With these kinds of crime still around, we definitely do not live in the “paradise” as some people so call America. Although there are laws that prohibit people from committing hate crimes, hate crimes still happen even now. So are laws really the best solution to hate crimes? I doubt it. Maybe hate crime laws help in some way, however law enforcement is not the best solution to eradicate hate crimes. [Thesis]From my experience, I think the best solution to eliminate hate crimes is through education[Thesis].

First of all, we need to examine the purpose of the Hate Crime bill. The bill’s purpose is to use the law to punish the perpetrators of hate crimes. However, can it really be used to prevent hate crimes in the first place? According to National Acrimony and a Rise in Hate Crimes, the number of active hate groups in the US has grown from 474 in 1997 to 762 in 2004, and in the past four years the number of hate websites has risen from 366 to 468. Also, the FBI reports more than 9000 hate crime victims in 2003 excluding the unreported crimes. The Hate Crime Prevention Act was established in 1998, and the occurrence of hate crimes appear to have increased over the years. Apparently, the bill has had little to no effect to rate of occurrence of hate crimes.

No one is born to be prejudice, and people were not born to hate; rather, we learn it from others in our early stages of life. The way people are raised is a main factor in how they view other people who are different from them. Do their parents view other races as inferior or equal? Children often pick up on their parent’s view of other people. Therefore, parents can easily teach their children to be prejudiced against others who they consider different. Another influence on someone’s views is one’s peer group. One might be a completely rational and accepting person, however when thrown into a situation where the social norm is discrimination, that person might simply conform to the view of others in the group. Taking this stand from experience, I once held hateful views of people who were different from myself. When I was younger, living in a Asian cultural community, I heard people described homosexual people as “weird” and “immoral”, and before I realized it, I began to think of these hateful views as normal in my own mind as well. I was not born to be prejudiced towards homosexuals, rather I learned it from those in my surrounding environment. I prejudged others even before interacting with them. Later on in life, when I had more interactions with homosexual people, I learned that they are just the same as any one of us and “it matters what you call people” (Pramila Jayapal). From my personal experience, I know that education is the best solution to completely eradicate hate crimes.

Education at an earlier age can prevent kids from developing prejudices toward others because of their differences. When they grow up, they will be less likely to commit hate crimes. For older kids, we can educate them to let go of whatever hate they may have against others. There are many ways we can make people realize why hatred against others is wrong through education. Early education for kids, or a workshop program for parents and teachers on how to teach their children to recognize and prevent the presence of prejudice and discrimination are just some of the methods. However, from my perspective, the most important thing to do is to teach all people the moral value of a human being, and how we are all similar in some way. When we pass that value on to our children, they are less likely to commit hate crimes against others. Beside, we have to teach them the value of our society, and demonstrate that we do not tolerate this type of crime, and that there are consequences for such actions.

At this moment, hate crimes are increasing in American society. We only focus on the laws against hate crimes and how to punish perpetrators. However, we failed to understand the root cause of this problem. How a person views something related to racism and hatred, directly reflects on how society has raised them. People were not born to hate. Rather they learn it from others. People commit hate crimes against other because they failed to understand the value of human beings. Those people only see others as different and make them outcasts in their own mind. The only solution to this problem is to use education to teach them the moral value of the fact that we are all human. And for our children, we need to pass that knowledge and our moral value on to them so that they learn from our mistakes and can pass it on to others. If we can do this, it will help our society to reduce hate crimes drastically in the future.

Works cited:

Chansanchai, Athima. “Bias Crimes Found in All Areas of City.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 4May2006. 13 Dec 2006 [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/268997_bias04.html?source=mypi].

Knickerbocker, Brad. “National Acrimony and a Rise in Hate Crimes.” csmonitor.com. 3 Jun 2005. 13 Dec. 2005 [http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0603/p03s01-ussc.html].

In Defend of Ward Churchill's Case: Freedom of Speech and The US Policies

Thanh Nguyen
07 Dec. 2010
FD4

Should you never question your boss? Or should you not speak up in a meeting because people do not listen to you? Or do you think your ideas are stupid? Does these thoughts sound familiar to you? While I do not know if any of you have ever heard such phrases, I have been told these very words by people in the past. What these statements have in common is they each express a fundamental lack of trust in the “freedom of speech”- the first amendment of the US Constitution; which states, “The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference”. This amendment is the very first in the list of all the amendments in the US Constitution, it is also the most important and fundamental aspect in building a stronger society for America. The First amendment protects the right of people to say what they think and feel. However, the question is: does the First Amendment really protect the right of people to express their personal perspective even when it goes against the popular views of others? Or do the protections of the First Amendment not apply when we become the target of others whose beliefs we have gone against? These are the questions that people have asked the government regarding the case of Professor Ward Churchill, who had offended others when he compared some of the victim of the September 11^th attack as “little Eichmanns” in his essays and books. [THESIS]Even though the statement is insensitive and maybe somewhat outrageous, Professor Churchill does have the right that every American citizen has according the U.S. Laws – that is the right to freedom of speech[THESIS].

As you have probably heard before, the case of Professor Churchill, who made a controversial statement about the tragedy of September 11^th, involved his essay “Some people Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens”. In this essay Professor Churchill compares the “technocrat corpation” in the heart of the World trade Center as “little Eichmanns” and refers to this tragedy as the “chickens come home to roost”. He claims the event on September 11^th were unavoidable and, from his point of view, a natural result of what he called “unlawful US policy”. Due to these statements Professor Churchill was fired by the University of Colorado at Boulder on July 24, 2007.

One of my classmate, Ryan Watanabe, stated in the class discussion that “Speakers such as Professor Ward Churchill misuse the First Amendment to hide behind these obnoxious claims.” I must disagree with Mr. Watanabe on his stance that Professor Churchill abuses his right to freedom of speech. Professor Churchill's words are somewhat harsh and insensitive, and may even be viewed as outrageous, unpatriotic, or even treasonous in the public opinion. However, he did not violate his right. Professor Ward Churchill' case reminds me of my friend I know in high school who literally hated the US government. He always talked about the US being unjust, and how they killed thousands of people during wars. Was he being guilty for speaking his thoughts? I don't think he was. According to the First Amendment, we all have the right to freedom of religion and the freedom to express ourselves free from any government interference. From my point of view, my friend and Professor Churchill have the rights to express themselves, as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Freedom of speech has always been a very important right for all US Citizens. America is a country of laws and freedom. Each and every one of us has our freedom and the right to be protected in this country. No one has the right get take away those rights from my friend, Professor Churchill, or any one of us. In the case of Professor Ward Churchill, he was fired for what he believed in, and for expressing his point of view to the public. Is this the “justice” that we all believe in? Is this the system that we put all our hope and faith in?

I agree that Professor Churchill may have been insensitive toward people, as also described by my classmate - Nor Nordin, in our class blog. Nordin stated that, “his views on the tragic event where more than 2000 Americans were killed are insensitive and cruel.” I cannot agree more with Nor Nordin; Professor Churchill’s words are indeed cruel, and though I wish he did not write those hurtful word or had made some concession to those who were felt truly hurt by his statements, I also believe that there is no doubt that Professor Churchill had the right to express his feelings and beliefs. To be fired for expressing himself, from what I know, is not justice as the people against him so call. In addition to that, Professor Ward Churchill did claim that those who he compared to as “little Eichmanns” was not intended to include food-service workers, children, janitors, and passers-by who also were killed during the tragic event of September 11^th. In reality, Professor Churchill’s words were actually quite ambiguous, and I believe that those who are free of guilt will surely take it lightly as a mere metaphor. However, for those who have guilt, I feel that his words must have seemed like daggers stabbing deep into their hearts. It is the people who sense hatred and feel threatened most by Professor Churchill’s statements that have worked to harm him after he had taken his stand and spoke out with the truth.

In a transcript from the popular Fox News show, “Hannity & Colmes”, Hannity and Colmes fail to understand Professor Churchill's purpose as merely expressing his belief on what the US government did in the past. Professor Churchill did not incite the terrorist who caused the tragedy in the September 11 event, as Hannity and Colmes suggest, but rather he was pointing out what was the root cause of the terrorism we experienced. In his statement that, “roosting chicken come home to roost”, Professor Churchill did not speak against the US out of hatred for his country, but rather he tried to remark on the fact that for those who supported the US army, and as for the people who died in battle, these people can hardly be considered to be completely innocent. If his this original intentions were to try to overthrown the US government, then Professor Churchill may have indeed violated his First Amendment protections, but this is obviously not the case, and it remains that his original intention was never meant to show support for the act of terrorism, but only to point out how the US government has been at fault.

Professor Ward Churchill was right to quote Malcolm X, “chickens do indeed come home to roost.” There will be chickens coming back to America for many years to come whether US citizens like to acknowledge it or not. That is the way of life, what goes around comes around. Taking his stand on this issue, America has indeed commit many crimes all around the world, and waged many campaigns to invade and take over the lands of indigenous people, and this has helped found the US all the way through the post-World War II era. Such acts are crimes that the US has committed on both moral and legal terms. These are facts and there is not so much as a denial from the US of their occurrence. With imperialism aside, now the US government is trying to make their policies with the primary purpose of dominating and controlling the world financially. I believe that those are the key words and root causes which lead to acts of terrorism toward the US. There is no doubt that the US, or rather, the people who are at the top of the power structure in the US government, bear the responsibility for the crimes that America commits against other countries and people. All these crimes I mention, which are committed by the US, are supported by many types of evidence: documents, academic lectures, and textbooks. There is no question about it. The US has contributed to hurting people whether it is direct or indirect.

Even though Professor Churchill’s use of words in writing and speech is unpleasant and shakes people up a bit, his words get a reaction from people and makes them re-examine their beliefs. Although I do not totally agree with his way of using his words, and his harsh way of stating the truth, perhaps it is just his way of doing things. Besides, he is right that the US government has committed wrongs since the beginning. Crimes by the US have killed tens of millions of innocent people. Professor Churchill is also right about the fact that many American people are ignorant and thereby immoral by choice. His criticism is merely speaking for the people who are hurt by the US government. So who can we blame? From a young age, we were taught to believe what we supposed to believe like, “be careful what you say?” or “stick to a textbook” or “believe in the authority of the government's decisions.” Those are the beliefs and philosophy of life that Americans grow up with, that is what the government wants every one of us to be – people who believe in the system unquestioningly and absolutely.

From my perspective, regarding the accusation that Professor Churchill had violated the freedom of speech, he is innocent. Rather the University of Colorado, without truly understand the purpose of Professor Churchill’s essay, jumped to conclusions, and violated Professor Churchill’s rights by wrongly firing him. Even though his words are unpleasant and insensitive to many, he is not wrong and did not violate his rights, because his opinions are protected by the First Amendment of the US. He does not deserve to lose his job for that. What Professor Ward Churchill tried to do is take his stand on what he truly believes in. What he hopes to get out of his essays, even though it puts himself at stake, is for Americans to understand what truly happens now as a result of US policy. The bottom line of my argument is I do agree with Professor Churchill, chickens do “come home to roost,” and there are many chickens awaiting America for many years to come. With the policies of America at present, terrorism will continue to occur whether we like it or not. If the US is still choosing to be ignorant about this ruthless fact, only god know what may happen to America in the future.

Works cited:

"First Amendment: An Overview." N.d. Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. 02 Dec 2010.

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html]

Nordin, Nor. Online posting. "KAP Eng-215: Attack Ward Churchill". 22 Nov 2010. Laulima Discussion. 02 Dec 2010.

[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

"The Bill of Rights." N.d. NARA Webpage. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. 20 June 2004. [http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/bill_of_rights_transcript.html]

"Ward Churchill vs. Hannity, Colmes & Horowitz." _FoxNews.com_ 7 Apr. 2006. 02 Dec 2006.

[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,190967,00.html]

Watanabe, Ryan. Online posting. "KAP Eng-215: Attack Ward Churchill". 22 Nov 2010. Laulima Discussion. 01 Dec 2010.

[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c]

Log of Completed Activities
_X__Nov 9t- Intro to Paper #4. Read the Guidelines for Paper #4. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Nov 15M- Complete readings for paper #4. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Nov 22M- Laulima Discussion: Attack Ward Churchill
_X__Nov 29M- Laulima Discussion: Defend Ward Churchill
_X__Dec 3F- RD4 due. [50 pts] Review the Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Dec 6M- RD4 evaluations due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Dec 8W- FD4 due [150 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)

In Defense of Ward Churchill: Freedom of Speech and Public Opinion

Thanh Nguyen
03 Dec. 2010
RD4

Should you never question your boss? Or should you not speak up in a meeting because people do not listen to you? Or do you think your ideas are stupid? Does these thoughts sound familiar to you? While I do not know if any of you have ever heard such phrases, I have been told these very words by people in the past. What these statements have in common is they each express a fundamental lack of trust in the “freedom of speech”- the first amendment of the US Constitution; which states, “The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference”. This amendment is the very first in the list of all the amendments in the US Constitution, it is also the most important and fundamental aspect in building a stronger society for America. The First amendment protects the right of people to say what they think and feel. However, the question is: does the First Amendment really protect the right of people to express their personal perspective even when it goes against the popular views of others? Or do the protections of the First Amendment not apply when we become the target of others whose beliefs we have gone against? These are the questions that people have asked the government regarding the case of Professor Ward Churchill, who had offended others when he compared some of the victim of the September 11^th attack as “little Eichmanns” in his essays and books. [THESIS]Even though the statement is insensitive and maybe somewhat outrageous, Professor Churchill does have the right that every American citizen has according the U.S. Laws – that is the right to freedom of speech[THESIS].

As you have probably heard before, the case of Professor Churchill, who made a controversial statement about the tragedy of September 11^th, involved his essay “Some people Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens”. In this essay Professor Churchill compares the “technocrat corpation” in the heart of the World trade Center as “little Eichmanns” and refers to this tragedy as the “chickens come home to roost”. He claims the event on September 11^th were unavoidable and, from his point of view, a natural result of what he called “unlawful US policy”. Due to these statements Professor Churchill was fired by the University of Colorado at Boulder on July 24, 2007.

One of my classmate, Ryan Watanabe, stated in the class discussion that “Speakers such as Professor Ward Churchill misuse the First Amendment to hide behind these obnoxious claims.” I must disagree with Mr. Watanabe on his stance that Professor Churchill abuses his right to freedom of speech. Professor Churchill's words are somewhat harsh and insensitive, and may even be viewed as outrageous, unpatriotic, or even treasonous in the public opinion. However, according to the First Amendment, we all have the right to freedom of religion and the freedom to express ourselves free from any government interference. From my point of view, Professor Churchill has the right to express himself, as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Freedom of speech has always been a very important right for all US Citizens. America is a country of laws and freedom. Each and every one of us has our freedom and the right to be protected in this country. No one has the right get take away those rights from Professor Churchill. In the case of Professor Ward Churchill, he was fired for what he believed in, and for expressing his point of view to the public. Is this the “justice” that we all believe in? Is this the system that we put all our hope and faith in?

I agree that Professor Churchill may have been insensitive toward people, as also described by my classmate - Nor Nordin, in our class blog. Nordin stated that, “his views on the tragic event where more than 2000 Americans were killed are insensitive and cruel.” I cannot agree more with Nor Nordin; Professor Churchill’s words are indeed cruel, and though I wish he did not write those hurtful word or had made some concession to those who were felt truly hurt by his statements, I also believe that there is no doubt that Professor Churchill had the right to express his feelings and beliefs. To be fired for expressing himself, from what I know, is not justice as the people against him so call. In addition to that, Professor Ward Churchill did claim that those who he compared to as “little Eichmanns” was not intended to include food-service workers, children, janitors, and passers by who also were killed during the tragic event of September 11^th. In reality, Professor Churchill’s words were actually quite ambiguous, and I believe that those who are free of guilt will surely take it lightly as a mere metaphor. However, for those who have guilt, I feel that his words must have seemed like daggers stabbing deep into their hearts. It is the people who sense hatred and feel threatened most by Professor Churchill’s statements that have worked to harm him after he had taken his stand and spoke out with the truth.

In a transcript from the popular Fox News show, “Hannity & Colmes”, Hannity and Colmes fail to understand Professor Churchill's purpose as merely expressing his belief on what the US government did in the past. Professor Churchill did not incite the terrorist who caused the tragedy in the September 11 event, as Hannity and Colmes suggest, but rather he was pointing out what was the root cause of the terrorism we experienced. In his statement that, “roosting chicken come home to roost”, Professor Churchill did not speak against the US out of hatred for his country, but rather he tried to remark on the fact that for those who supported the US army, and as for the people who died in battle, these people can hardly be considered to be completely innocent. If his this original intentions were to try to overthrown the US government, then Professor Churchill may have indeed violated his First Amendment protections, but this is obviously not the case, and it remains that his original intention was never meant to show support for the act of terrorism, but only to point out how the US government has been at fault.

Professor Ward Churchill was right to quote Malcolm X, “chickens do indeed come home to roost.” There will be chickens coming back to America for many years to come whether US citizens like to acknowledge it or not. That is the way of life, what goes around comes around. Taking his stand on this issue, America has indeed commit many crimes all around the world, and waged many campaigns to invade and take over the lands of indigenous people, and this has helped found the US all the way through the post-World War II era. Such acts are crimes that the US has committed on both moral and legal terms. These are facts and there is not so much as a denial from the US of their occurrence. With imperialism aside, now the US government is trying to make their policies with the primary purpose of dominating and controlling the world financially. I believe that those are the key words and root causes which lead to acts of terrorism toward the US. There is no doubt that the US, or rather, the people who are at the top of the power structure in the US government, bear the responsibility for the crimes that America commits against other countries and people. All these crimes I mention, which are committed by the US, are supported by many types of evidence: documents, academic lectures, and textbooks. There is no question about it. The US has contributed to hurting people whether it is direct or indirect.

Even though Professor Churchill’s use of words in writing and speech is unpleasant and shakes people up a bit, his words get a reaction from people and makes them re-examine their beliefs. Although I do not totally agree with his way of using his words, and his harsh way of stating the truth, perhaps it is just his way of doing things. Besides, he is right that the US government has committed wrongs since the beginning. Crimes by the US have killed tens of millions of innocent people. Professor Churchill is also right about the fact that many American people are ignorant and thereby immoral by choice. His criticism is merely speaking for the people who are hurt by the US government. So who can we blame? From a young age, we were taught to believe what we supposed to believe like, “be careful what you say?” or “stick to an textbook” or “believe in the authority of the government's decisions.” Those are the beliefs and philosophy of life that Americans grow up with, that is what the government wants every one of us to be – people who believe in the system unquestioningly and absolutely.

From my perspective, regarding the accusation that Professor Churchill had violated the freedom of speech, he is innocent. Rather the University of Colorado, without truly understand the purpose of Professor Churchill’s essay, jumped to conclusions, and violated Professor Churchill’s rights by wrongly firing him. Even though his words are unpleasant and insensitive to many, he is not wrong and did not violate his rights, because his opinions are protected by the First Amendment of the US. He does not deserve to lose his job for that. What Professor Ward Churchill tried to do is take his stand on what he truly believes in. What he hopes to get out of his essays, even though it puts himself at stake, is for Americans to understand what truly happens now as a result of US policy. The bottom line of my argument is I do agree with Professor Churchill, chickens do “come home to roost,” and there are many chickens awaiting America for many years to come. With the policies of America at present, terrorism will continue to occur whether we like it or not. If the US is still choosing to be ignorant about this ruthless fact, only god know what may happen to America in the future.

Works cited:

"First Amendment: An Overview." N.d. Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. 02 Dec 2010.

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html]

Nordin, Nor. Online posting. "KAP Eng-215: Attack Ward Churchill". 22 Nov 2010. Laulima Discussion. 02 Dec 2010.

[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

"The Bill of Rights." N.d. NARA Webpage. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. 20 June 2004. [http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/bill_of_rights_transcript.html]

"Ward Churchill vs. Hannity, Colmes & Horowitz." _FoxNews.com_ 7 Apr. 2006. 02 Dec 2006.

[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,190967,00.html]

Watanabe, Ryan. Online posting. "KAP Eng-215: Attack Ward Churchill". 22 Nov 2010. Laulima Discussion. 01 Dec 2010.

[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c]

Honesty - The Foundation of Our Lives

Thanh Nguyen
16 Nov 2010
RFD3

In life today, honesty is something that we often overlook. People can be dishonest for variety of reasons. Most of the time, they lie for their own benefit, or to get out of trouble. However, those lies might create a bigger problem later on. To me, honesty is the vital link of our lives between people. Almost all the relations we have are based on people's honesty. Honesty is a solid foundation to build up to a better relationship with our families, in our romances, and in our work environment. It is not only for creating relationships, but it also plays a role in speaking out what and how we really feel about something or someone. Without honesty, our lives will fall apart. [THESIS] Therefore, today more than ever, being honest is a key aspect to maintaining one's quality of life[THESIS].

In my classroom's forum, my classmate Megan Young states that, “I think the most compelling reason to be honest all the time is to have a clear conscious.” to which I could not agree more. For many people like Megan, honesty is an essential desirable aspect of their lives and relationships, it forms the foundation for trust relationships and provides the communication necessary for work and romance. According to the survey documents “Decade Of Moral Deterioration”, students indicate that honesty is very important. And 95% agreed with the statement that, “it’s important to me that people trust me.” Interaction among people represent trust. It is a very important keyword in people's relationship. Trust will bring people closer. How can you have a relationship with someone when you do not have communication? And how can you communicate when there is no trust? The answer to those two questions is quite obvious. If there is no trust there will be no relationship. Trust is a very fragile thing and it is easily broken. Once trust is broken, there is the chance that it may never be recovered. Having a relationship means to put your trust in that person by giving them honesty and respect. It is not only for romantic relationships, but also for family members and friends. Honesty helps us to build a solid foundation for our lives.

The very same concept also applies in people's working relationships. The three most important elements in a working relationship are honesty, consideration, and respect. Most likely the honesty element is the hardest thing to achieve. Without honesty, there is no trust, and without trust, nobody will like to work with you. Respect and consideration can be achieved in several ways, but being honest is the most genuine way of gaining the respect of others. Having people's trust will bring respect and consideration. Being honest is the key to success in your career. On the other hand, there are also many people who believe that too much honesty can be a bad thing, and so they choose not to know about something that could upset their lives. However, from my perspective, I believe that the role honesty plays in our relationships helps to provide us with the highest quality of life.

Honesty is not an easy thing to achieve, but being honest with others means to treat people with respect, even when it is not convenient. There are situations in which giving out the truth could mean informing people of the worst. However, if it is the case that you must tell them the truth, then it is better to do so than to lie. In most cases, people like hearing the truth even when that information could be painful. However, I believe this concept should apply to grown-ups only; in some case it is better not to tell the truth to children when letting them know the truth might hurt them.

According to the article The Truth about a Child's Compulsive Lying, Dr. Quek Timothy states, “it is difficult for parents to control the lies that children will encounter outside the home, it is more useful to start eliminating lies from within the home”. Today, parents are afraid that their children may become deviant and dishonest, and might even become untrustworthy later on in their lives. Rather than learning dishonesty from the outside environment like school, television, etc.; children learn their first lesson of lying at home. Children always look up to their parents as role models. They learn everything from their parents, even bad habits and dishonesty. For instance, when a ten years old hears his/her mom lie to her friends during a conversation and the child knows that the mom is not telling the truth, then, he/she might think it is okay to lie to others because it is okay for the grown-ups to lie to their friends. Then, when the child goes to school, he/she might practice dishonesty and lies to their teachers or friends because he/she thinks it is okay. Therefore, the roles of being a good parents in this society is very important. It is best for parents to teach children the value of being honest by practicing honesty themselves. That way, the value of honesty will be passed on to our children. Our children today will become leaders of tomorrow. Hence, teaching honesty to our children in the their early stages of life will help them to become trustworthy in their adulthood. And they will one day pass the value of honesty on to their children. Life is made of relationships between people. Honesty will improve those relationships between us. Therefore, teaching our children to be honest will benefit them in the long run, and will surely improve the quality of their lives later on.

In conclusion, being honest is definitely the most essential element in our life relationships. It implants trust inside other people. Honesty is the key for improving our quality of life. It is the foundation to build a strong relationship between family members, friends, lovers, and even co-workers. By teaching honesty to ourselves, and passing it on to our children, we fulfill our roles to our families and society. Helping our children to understand the value of honesty means to teach them to become trustworthy people to build a stronger society in the future. And for us, honesty will bring us respect from the people we interact with in the long-run.


Works cited:

"2002 Report Card: The Ethics of American Youth: Press Release and Data Summary." Josephson Institute of Ethics Webpage. 30 October 2010

[http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/Survey2002/survey2002-pressrelease.htm]

Quek, Timothy. "The Truth about a Child's Compulsive Lying.” A Child's Compulsive Lying. 08 April 2003. 01 November 2010. [http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jamess/lying3.htm].

Young, Megan. Online posting. "KAP Eng-215: Honesty in Employment, White Lie, Honesty". 26 Oct 2010. Laulima  Discussion. 30 Oct 2010.

[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

Log of Completed Activities

_X__Oct 13W- Intro to Paper #3. Read the Guidelines for Paper #3. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 18M- Complete readings for paper #3 for paper #3. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 22F- Laulima Discussion #1
_X__Oct 26t- Laulima Discussion #2
_X__Nov 1M- RD3 due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Nov 5F- RD3 evaluations due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (No confirmation required.)
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Honesty - The Foundation of Our Lives

Thanh Nguyen

English 215

11/08/2010
FD3

In life today, honesty is something that we often overlook. People can be dishonest for variety of reasons. Most of the time, they lie for their own benefit, or to get out of trouble. However, those lies might create a bigger problem later on. To me, honesty is the vital link of our lives between people. Almost all the relations we have are based on people's honesty. Honesty is a solid foundation to build up to a better relationship with our families, in our romances, and in our work environment. It is not only for creating relationships, but it also plays a role in speaking out what and how we really feel about something or someone. Without honesty, our lives will fall apart. [THESIS] Therefore, today more than ever, being honest is a key aspect to maintaining one's quality of life[THESIS].

In my classroom's forum, my classmate Megan Young states that, “I think the most compelling reason to be honest all the time is to have a clear conscious.” to which I could not agree more. For many people like Megan, honesty is an essential desirable aspect of their lives and relationships, it forms the foundation for trust relationships and provides the communication necessary for work and romance. According to the survey documents “Decade Of Moral Deterioration”, students indicate that honesty is very important. And 95% agreed with the statement that, “it’s important to me that people trust me.” Interaction among people represent trust. It is a very important keyword in people's relationship. Trust will bring people closer. How can you have a relationship with someone when you do not have communication? And how can you communicate when there is no trust? The answer to those two questions is quite obvious. If there is no trust there will be no relationship. Trust is a very fragile thing and it is easily broken. Once trust is broken, there is the chance that it may never be recovered. Having a relationship means to put your trust in that person by giving them honesty and respect. It is not only for romantic relationships, but also for family members and friends. Honesty helps us to build a solid foundation for our lives.

The very same concept also applies in people's working relationships. The three most important elements in a working relationship are honesty, consideration, and respect. Most likely the honesty element is the hardest thing to achieve. Without honesty, there is no trust, and without trust, nobody will like to work with you. Respect and consideration can be achieved in several ways, but being honest is the most genuine way of gaining the respect of others. Having people's trust will bring respect and consideration. Being honest is the key to success in your career. On the other hand, there are also many people who believe that too much honesty can be a bad thing, and so they choose not to know about something that could upset their lives. However, from my perspective, I believe that the role honesty plays in our relationships helps to provide us with the highest quality of life.

Honesty is not an easy thing to achieve, but being honest with others means to treat people with respect, even when it is not convenient. There are situations in which giving out the truth could mean informing people of the worst. However, if it is the case that you must tell them the truth, then it is better to do so than to lie. In most cases, people like hearing the truth even when that information could be painful. However, I believe this concept should apply to grown-ups only; in some case it is better not to tell the truth to children when letting them know the truth might hurt them.

According to the article The Truth about a Child's Compulsive Lying, Dr. Quek Timothy states, “it is difficult for parents to control the lies that children will encounter outside the home, it is more useful to start eliminating lies from within the home”. Today, parents are afraid that their children may become deviant and dishonest, and might even become untrustworthy later on in their lives. Rather than learning dishonesty from the outside environment like school, television, etc.; children learn their first lesson of lying at home. Children always look up to their parents as role models. They learn everything from their parents, even bad habits and dishonesty. For instance, when a ten years old hears his/her mom lie to her friends during a conversation and the child knows that the mom is not telling the truth, then, he/she might think it is okay to lie to others because it is okay for the grown-ups to lie to their friends. Then, when the child goes to school, he/she might practice dishonesty and lies to their teachers or friends because he/she thinks it is okay. Therefore, the roles of being a good parents in this society is very important. It is best for parents to teach children the value of being honest by practicing honesty themselves. That way, the value of honesty will be passed on to our children. Our children today will become leaders of tomorrow. Hence, teaching honesty to our children in the their early stages of life will help them to become trustworthy in their adulthood. And they will one day pass the value of honesty on to their children. Life is made of relationships between people. Honesty will improve those relationships between us. Therefore, teaching our children to be honest will benefit them in the long run, and will surely improve the quality of their lives later on.

In conclusion, being honest is definitely the most essential element in our life relationships. It implants trust inside other people. Honesty is the key for improving our quality of life. It is the foundation to build a strong relationship between family members, friends, lovers, and even co-workers. By teaching honesty to ourselves, and passing it on to our children, we fulfill our roles to our families and society. Helping our children to understand the value of honesty means to teach them to become trustworthy people to build a stronger society in the future. And for us, honesty will bring us respect from the people we interact with in the long-run.


Work-cited:

Quek, Timothy. "The Truth about a Child's Compulsive Lying.” A Child's Compulsive Lying. April 8, 2003. November 1, 2010. [http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jamess/lying3.htm].

Young, Megan. "Honesty in Employment, White Lie, Honesty". Online posting. Oct 26, 2010. Laulima  Discussion. Oct 30. 2010.
[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

"2002 Report Card: The Ethics of American Youth: Press Release and Data Summary." Josephson Institute of Ethics Webpage. October 30, 2010
[http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/Survey2002/survey2002-pressrelease.htm]

Log of Completed Activities

_X__Oct 13W- Intro to Paper #3. Read the Guidelines for Paper #3. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 18M- Complete readings for paper #3 for paper #3. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 22F- Laulima Discussion #1
_X__Oct 26t- Laulima Discussion #2
_X__Nov 1M- RD3 due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Nov 5F- RD3 evaluations due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (No confirmation required.)
_X__Nov 8M- FD3 due [125 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)

Honesty - The Foundation of Our Lives

Thanh Nguyen
Oct 31, 2010
Honesty - The Foundation of Our Lives

In today life, honesty is something that we often overlook. People being dishonest for variety of reasons. Most of the time, they lie for their own benefit, or to get out of trouble. However, that lies may create a bigger problem later on. To me, honesty is the vital link for our lives. Almost every relations we have today are based on people' honesty. It is a solid foundation to build up for a better relationship in our families, romances, and work environment. is not only for relationship, but it also means speaking out what and how we really feel about something or someone. Without honesty, everything will fall apart. [THESIS] Therefore, today more than ever, being honest is a key aspect to maintaining one's quality of life[THESIS].

In my classroom's forum, my classmate Megan Young states that, “I think the most compelling reason to be honest all the time is to have a clear conscious.” to which I couldn't agree more. For many people like Megan, honesty is an essential quality to their lives and relationship, it forms the foundation for trust relationships and communication necessary for work and romance. According to the survey documents “Decade Of Moral Deterioration”, students indicate that honesty is very important. And 95% agreed with the statement that, “it’s important to me that people trust me.” Interaction between people represent trust. It is a very important keyword in people' relationship. Trust will bring people closer. How can you have a relationship with someone when you don't have communication? And how can you communicate when there is no trust? The answer to those two questions is quite obvious; if there is no trust there will be no relationship. Trust is a very fragile thing and it is easily broken. Once trust is broken, there is the chance that it may never be recovered. Having a relationship means to put your trust in that person by giving them honesty and respect. It's not only for romantic relationships, but also for family members and friends, helping to build a solid foundation for people' lives. The very same concept also applies in people's working relationships. The three most important elements in a working relationship are honesty, consideration, and respect. Most likely the honesty element is the hardest thing to achieve. Without honesty, there is no trust, and without trust, nobody will like to work with you. Respect and consideration can be achieved in several ways, but being honest is the most genuine way of gaining the respect of others. Having people's trust will bring respect and consideration. Being honest is the key to success in your career. On the other hand, there are also many people who believe that too much honesty can be a bad thing, and so they choose not to know about something that could upset their lives. However, from my perspective, I believe that the role honesty plays in our relationships helps us to create the highest quality of life.

Being honest is not always easy, but being honest with others means to treat people with respect, even when it is not convenient. There are situations in which giving out the truth could mean informing people of the worst. However, if it is the case that you must tell them the truth, than it is better to do so then to lie. In most cases, people like hearing the truth even when that information may be painful. However, I believe this concept should apply to grown-ups only; in some case it is better not to tell the truth to children when letting them know the truth may hurt them.

According to the article The Truth about a Child's Compulsive Lying, Dr. Quek Timothy states, “it is difficult for parents to control the lies that children will encounter outside the home, it is more useful to start eliminating lies from within the home”. Today, parents are afraid of their children become deviant and dishonest and may even become untrustworthy later on in their lives. Children witness dishonesty almost everywhere like school, television, etc. Rather, they learned their first lesson of lying from home. Children always look up to their parents as role models. They learn everything from their parents, even bad habits and dishonesty. For instance, when a ten years old hears his/her mom lies to her friend during a conversation and the child knows that the mom is not telling the truth, then, he/she may think it's okay to lie to others because it's okay for the grown-ups to lie to their friends. Then, when the child go to school, he/she may practice dishonesty and lies to their teachers or friends because he/she think it's okay. Therefore, the roles of being good parents in this society is very important. It is to teach children the value of honest by practicing honesty themselves. Then, that value will pass on to our children. Our children today will become leaders of tomorrow. Hence, teaching the value of honesty to our children in the their early stages of life will help them to become trustworthy in their adulthood. And they will one day pass the value of honesty on to their children. Life is made of relationship between people. Honesty will improve the connection between us. Therefore, teaching our children to be honest will benefit them in the long run. It will surely improve the quality of their lives later on.

In conclusion, being honest is definitely the most essential element in our life relationships. It implants trust inside other people. Honesty is the key for improving our quality of life. It is the foundation to build a strong relationship between family members, friends, lovers, and even co-workers. By teaching honesty to ourselves, and passing it on to our children, we fulfill our roles to our families and society. Helping our children to understand the value of honesty means to teach them to become trustworthy people to build a stronger society in the future. And for us, honesty will bring us respect from the people we interact with in the long-run.


Work-cited:

Quek, Timothy. "The Truth about a Child's Compulsive Lying.” A Child's Compulsive Lying. April 8, 2003. November 1, 2010. [http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jamess/lying3.htm].

Young, Megan. "Honesty in Employment, White Lie, Honesty". Online posting. Oct 26, 2010. Laulima Discussion. Oct 30. 2010.
[https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

"2002 Report Card: The Ethics of American Youth: Press Release and Data Summary." Josephson Institute of Ethics Webpage. October 30, 2010
[http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/Survey2002/survey2002-pressrelease.htm]

The Power of Advertising (FD2)

Thanh Nguyen
October 12, 2010
The Power of Advertising (fd2)

Today, advertising has become an important part of modern business and industry. As the economy growing, advertising businesses are also growing fast. Everywhere we go, we see and hear about ads: on walls, on TV programs, on radio, on the internet, and even on the ground. But the question being asked is what impacts ads have on our society? Does it really affect us in a negative way? Or does it help us to become more aware? [Thesis]From my personal experience, even though ads have some negative impact, yet they in general have positive social and economic impact on our society [Thesis].

Advertisers today have their ways to target consumers. Now, everything is computerized. Advertising companies have all the tool for collecting the data they need for advertising purposes. Advertising Companies use strategy to target certain group of consumers for a certain product using terms that we can easily understand. They use all the approaches trying to promote their sales. In fact, advertising itself is very expensive. The average cost of a thirty-second commercial on television is about 200,000 dollars during prime-time. It could be one of the reasons why the price of some products is so high. Even movies and television shows enjoy huge profit of replacement money just to depict a product in the story line or on bodies of actors. But the return profit is much bigger comparing to the cost of advertising. It contributes greatly to the growing of our economy.

Ads could also be use for an educational purpose. In our class forum and discussion, Krizia Bawilan mentioned that ads help us to be more aware with smoking and other illegal drugs. I totally agree with that statement. Today, teens’ drinking and smoking have become a bad influence on our society, especially our children. Children are growing in the society fully of bad influences no matter where they go. For instance, I went to pick up my little cousin yesterday at Washington Middle School. While waiting for her inside my car, I saw a guy who is around his 20’s wearing a graphic shirt that said “weed, I am smoking it!” on it. Apparently, smoking weed is definitely illegal in Hawaii. understand that a thirteen years-old may not be fully understand why smoking weed is so bad, but at least they have some ideas about what smoking weed do to them thanks to educational ads. Just imagine back in time before advertising was populated, that graphic t-shirt could do a lot of damages because people did people did not have the knowledge about weed if they did not try it themselves. Today on media, we see and hear a lot about smoking weed and what it can do to people mind. Last week, I saw an anti-weed commercial on www.youtube.com. The commercial is about the two male friends. They went to a party with a bunch of other friends. At the party, their friends was tempting them to hit weed the first time and they took it. After a several hits, they began to hallucinate, and see themselves driving their cars on the walls at the speed of 120 miles/hour. At the end of the video, these guys decide to take their imagination to reality and went racing after the party. One guy got into car accident during the race and was hospitalized. About the other guy, he regretted because he talked his best into smoking weed with him and got into a car accident while he could say no to weed when his friends give him the first hit. Because of educational ads like this, we are more aware of the consequences of smoking weed, thus we can avoid it.

Another positive impact of ads is to help us to be up-to-date. Today, many people are into fashion and daily trend. Whether we like it or not, fashion always exist for centuries. It can never be denied that we are eaten up by the fast growing advances and updates in the fashion world. Fashion ads now become more and more important to fashion lovers. Fashion ads help people become more aware of the new growing trend of fashion. Currently, fashion field is growing faster than ever. In our class discussion, David Guerrero stated that “advertisements brainwash us into buying their products”. I have to disagree with him. I do agree that ads are very diverse today. Sometimes it makes us confused because there are too many options to choose from. However, that is when the decision-making comes in place. The diversity of ads gives us the power to choose what the best is for us. For example, fashion ads become more diverse than ever. The variety of styles helps people to combine things over and make up their own styles for the latest trend. In the Old Navy ad I saw on television yesterday, a female was choosing her sweater for work. At her work place, there were four other women who were wearing different stylish sweaters walking behind her when she was working in the background. At the end of the commercial, the narrator made a statement that said “only you, only at Old Navy!” The commercial was okay in general, however the statement “only you, and only at Old Navy!” at the end of the commercial was not true because of anyone of us could get nice sweaters like the one in the commercial at other apparel shops. It is not necessary that we can only buy nice sweater only at Old Navy. This type of fallacy falls into generalization fallacy category. However, the commercial did give us a lot of information of the new growing trend of sweaters. Thus, we can use it as a guideline to create our own styles.

From my personal experience, I think the statement “In general, ads or commercials ultimately have a negative impact on our lives” is just a different point of view from different people. To me, advertising plays a vital role in our daily life. It gives us the knowledge and the power to choose what is the best for us. So, the bottom line is decision-making. As long as we are careful in our decision-making, ads will come in handy in helping us choosing what is best for our needs and wants. That is the power of advertising.

Work-cited

Brock, John. “Advertising directs our lives, but where are we headed?”. The Post and Courier. March 6, 2008. <http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/mar/06/advertising_directs_our_lives_but_where_32776>. October 2, 2010.

Bawilan, Krizia. "Yes, ads have negative impacts!". Online Posting, 9/27/2010. Laulima Discussion. 10/04/2010.

Guerrero, David. "Causes and Solutions". Online Posting, 9/27/2010. Laulima Discussion. 10/04/2010.

Iqbal, Maaz. “Social & Economic Impacts of Advertising”. Enzine Articles. March 29, 2010. <http://ezinearticles.com/?Social-and-Economic-Impacts-of-Advertising&id=608191>. Sep 30, 2010.

Log of Completed Activities
_L__Sep 17F- Intro to Paper #2. Read the Guidelines for Paper #2. (Confirmation reply required.)
_L__Sep 20M- Complete readings for paper #2. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Sep 24F- Laulima Discussion: Ad Pros and Cons
_X__Sep 28t- Laulima Discussion: Logical Fallacies Exercise
_X__Oct 4M – RD2 due [50 pts]. Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 8F- RD2 evaluations due [50 pts]. Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 12t- FD2 due [125 pts]. Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.