My research project for Legal/Ethical Issues in Higher Education

For my Legal/Ethical Issues in Higher Education I had to create a policy that I would want to have on a college campus. I chose to do my research on hate speech relating to college campuses. My goal was to create a policy that would ensure all students on campus feel welcome, safe, and not discriminated against individually or collectively. I was originally thinking that banning hate speakers from campus would be an easy solution but I quickly found out that trying to make a policy involving speech is very tricky. There is a very fine line between freedom of speech, hate speech, and hate crimes. Through my research I found that more speech,not less, seems to be a better solution. However, I still feel a campus should be a safe space for it's students. Hate speech has a domino effect on people's attitudes and actions. A guest speaker may come and go easily but the aftermath of their message stays on campus. In extreme cases students can become injured and college property can be damaged. This project ended up being rather frustrating in the sense that I really did not find a straight forward solution that would appeal to all.

My law classmates did help me come up with an idea that would allow students to be more involved in the selection of speakers who visit campus. They suggested that a panel of opposing and supporting students, of the guest speaker, sit down before the invite is given and discuss any concerns or hopes relating to the speaker. One other take away from this assignment that I learned was the importance of learning to listen to one another. To learn how to push away that feeling of needing to be right and be able to understand opposing views and why they exist in the first place.

Interesting Research Findings

Reading The Rise of Enlightened Sexism by Susan Douglas inspired the idea for my final project. For my final project I am researching one of my favorite TV shows from the 90's, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. The show first aired it's pilot episode in January of 1993. I have learned that it had 14 million households watching on the Saturday night prime time television slot. The show stared British actress Jane Seymour and many sites I have looked at call her the 'queen of the mini series'. She was well known before taking the lead on Dr. Quinn. 

The show ran for six seasons and had a viewers of all ages watching, which is very uncommon. Most fans feel the show ended too soon and were surprised by the abrupt cancellation. It is unclear exactly why it was cancelled before nicely wrapping up the story. Supposedly ratings dropped,even though it continued to beat out rival shows and also cost production was an issue. However, several sources suggest that it was cancelled for featuring a female lead and not capturing the 'right' viewers.

 The show was a Western but featured several things uncommon to most Westerns. "Unusual elements for a western included main characters who were African American, Native American, and  ‘a female lead character, the central authority figure.” (Dow, p.165) When I was younger I never really stopped to appreciate the post feminist ideas featured on the show and it has been interesting to research now.

Ms. Bev, My Dad, and trying my hand at poetry

Yesterday I went to visit my substitute grandmother Bev. She is turning 91 this summer. Ms. Bev is absolutely the most amazing and inspiring lady I have ever known. She is a true artist. For many decades Bev painted the most beautiful paintings of landscapes, animals, and cultural paintings. I’m honored to have her paintings hang in my house.

She loved to travel when she was younger and lived in Hollywood in her late teens / early twenties. While in California she met movie stars and sewed costumes for a film studios. Half her wardrobe is handmade and stunning. While out on an adventure, Bev met a drummer in a jazz band, George. The day George met Bev he said to a friend “That’s the gal I’m going to marry.” Three months later they got married with $15 dollars in the bank.

I didn’t know Bev till she was in her 60’s, we have a large age gap between us. I love spending time with her and hearing about her life. She’s been on many adventures. Yesterday, Bev was telling me how after she was no longer able to paint because of her arthritis that she tried her hand at poetry. She said “The Lord closed one door for me but opened another.” She shared some of her poetry with me that she wrote in the early 1980’s. It was simple, funny, and wonderful.

I’ve always wanted to be like Ms. Bev. I had red hair like her for most of my life. She finally let her hair go gray at age 88. I haven't mastered how to sew or paint but it’s on my to do list. I thought I would try my hand at poetry though.  

As some of you already know, my Dad passed away this term. It has left a huge hole in my life and heart and has been a real struggle to keep going with day to day activities. I was very close with my Dad and he will forever be apart of me and who I am. I wrote some poems about how I’ve been feeling relating to the loss of my father and I wanted to share them on my blog. In the future I hope I can write happier poems in his memory.

A Happy Place

A happy place remains in my head

I can go there for a short while

I see his face and it smiles at me

His hand seems but just out of reach

His voice echos with words of wisdom

It is comforting and painful all at once

This place in my head will be my safe space

My escape from the void of a harsh reality

 

    Absolute Stillness

I thrive surrounded by color

I bloom looking upon rainbows

My time to flourish has passed

The light has faded away

I’m alone in the dark

I wilt into the blackness

There’s a lack of color

A hole left in my heart

Strength

It’s very strange to try and be normal,

When the normal you knew is now gone.

Trying to move on and stay in the present is exhausting.

Everything is unfocused and hazy.

Trying to care seems pointless,

When what you cared most for is gone.

Yet, I keep moving

By some unknown strength I accomplish tasks

Goals are being completed.

Not just for me but for you,

My strength, my courage,

My Dad.

      Finding My Way Back to Color

I know I will find my way back to the color.

You taught me better than to stay in the dark.

Lessons from the past will remain in the present.

The future will be colored by your lingering words.

Time has halted.

No, time just feels halted

Time doesn’t stay in a bottle

And I can’t go through time with you

Even if you’re the one I want most to go through time with.

Childhood doesn't last for eternity

But your love will, as will mine.

How should police practice be changed ?

I think improving the relationship between cops and young Black men would be essential to changing how the police practice and also improve the relationship between the community and the police officers. If it were up to me to make suggestions on how to improve these relationships I would make very simple, practical suggestions. First, I would suggest taking a look at the community at large. If the population of the community is made up predominantly of African Americans than I would say you need your police force to reflect this population. The police force should also be made up of individuals who are from the community and understand the difficulties of that area. I think police forces should evaluate the personalities and attitudes of the officers more carefully. If the officers are individuals who hold to negative stereotypes about people in their communities, than they are not the right person for that job. You can’t be policing justly and fairly with preconceived notions of your suspects.

After adjusting the police force I would attempt to repair the relationship between the community and the local police. Having the police get involved in the community as more of equals versus their normal authority status would be a good start. The police could hold a meet and greet at a community center. They could host town meetings to get dialogue flowing between them and community members. This would allow them to hear the expectations and needs of people in the community. I feel change is possible. It would probably be more complicated than I made it sound but still possible!

Gender Oppression

I feel like there have been many shows, fictional based, that try and represent having strong female characters. Game of Thrones has many women representing royalty and power. The Fall has a strong beautiful female detective leading murder investigations as does Law and Order SVU. 13 Reasons why has a young, smart, pretty teenager as a leading character. Bates Motel has a female who is slightly crazy, a single mom, and business owner. Even though these shows feature beautiful, strong women, they also feature a theme that represents how women are still the weaker sex. All of these tv shows show women being raped. These were recent shows that I could think of off the top of my head. I’m betting you all can think of even more shows on tv or movies where rape occurs on screen.

Sometimes when a show features women being raped they let the women get revenge to their rapist. Kill the man, chop off his man parts, or throw him in jail. Other times they show how the women's lives have changed or even come to an end as a result of the rape. There are still other times when a show will just move on with it’s plot like the rape scene was no big thing. In my opinion this last example is the worst.

I worry that when you show a rape scene and do not address properly, that it says this is an accepted part of our culture. I worry that the lack of respect shown to women on tv and in films will influence young males and their attitudes towards women. These are just fictional examples of how disrespecting women can influence viewers.

Even more threatening to our society is our President saying “when you are a star you can grab women by the pussy. You can do anything”. Not fictional and not acceptable.

Personal Finance

I came across an article posted by the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Should College Students Be Required to Take a Course in Personal Finance?’ The title instantly caught my attention and I found myself thinking Yes! As someone who has struggled financially, I can’t help but wonder that if I had taken a mandatory course focused on how to manage personal finances as an undergrad, perhaps I would be further along in my goals than I currently am today. Notice that I said mandatory course. I know the younger version of myself would never have signed up for a personal finance course unless it was a requirement. Personal finance has a serious scary tone to it that would surely involve math!

The article started by saying “Being knowledgeable about money management, budgeting and finance is no guarantee of success in life. But ignorance about such concepts often comes at great cost.” (WSJ) By not having all college students take courses in person finance universities are hindering the students chances of becoming successful financially. The article continued by saying that in 2015 the US was ranked 14th for it’s low financial literacy rate of 57% and that multiple studies have confirmed that college students do not understand how their student loans work. (WSJ) When college students graduate they are often starting out with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt. Shouldn’t Universities be ensuring that their students know how to tackle paying off this debt without defaulting?

Knowing how financial instruments work is an important life skill. Wall Street Journal says that “Teaching personal finance is not about describing financial products, it is about teaching the principles of financial decision-making so that people understand how financial instruments work.” (WSJ) Knowing how to budget and understanding inflation are skills that will help people become financially stable. The article continued by saying that the lack of understanding has not just hurt people individually but collectively and this is a large contributing factor to our country's current economic state.

I found the questions that the Wall Street Journal was asking focusing on the future of current young adults very interesting and also a little disturbing.  

“Looking ahead, will young people saddled with student loans be less likely to buy cars and homes? Will their ability to engage in transactions that require not just liquidity but good credit ratings be hampered? Will they veer away from starting their own businesses or pursuing advanced degrees? If they are not saving enough for retirement, will they have to be rescued from poverty in old age—and at what price to the country?” (WSJ)

These questions scare me because some of them have already come true and I want to prevent the end one from happening. I don’t want to have to be rescued from poverty. I want to possess the tools and knowledge to become financially successful. It’s not like I am even worried that I will never become rich, being rich has never been a goal for me. All I really want is to be able to support myself and my family at a comfortable level. Bills paid, food on the table, and presents under the Christmas tree. I have a feeling there are many other people that feel the same. I think financial stability would become more attainable for younger adults if their institutions insist on them taking a personal finance class while being an undergraduate. This class would provide life long tools and skills that could save many people from making irreversible financial mistakes.

Social Media Activism

What do you think about the role played by social media in contemporary social movements and activism?

I have mixed feelings on how useful social media can be when it comes to social activism. I feel that many people use social media to vent out their frustrations politically or otherwise. They can debate with “friends”, strangers, and share “news” posts to support their views. It can be draining to investigate who is posting true news and who is posting from non-credible sources. Most days Facebook makes me angry. I avoid it or I open Facebook and after two minutes I’m so annoyed that I close it and ask myself ‘why do I even look’?  

Moving on… I do think that Facebook and other social media sites have helped form support groups and build online communities. As mentioned in the prompt, the Women’s March is a great example of how social media has contributed to mobilizing people. The massive amount of support from people who attended the March was a result of word spreading country wide. Without the use of social media the number of attendants would have been lower. I think social media will continue to help movements grow because of how fast information can be accessed online.

People may hear about an event through a weak connection, like the Women’s March, but when people take to the street and actively participate they create a strong, noticeable community with a louder voice. It's much easier to ignore a virtual movement than a protest with thousands of people.