Journal 5

          Statistics are always interesting to observe.  While the numbers definitely indicate certain things and can help explain things, there are often other questions that statistics lead to.  The USI graduation statistics show a clear decrease in a classes original members as the class progresses.  It also shows how the percent of remaining/graduating students changes over the years.  While this information is important, it also helps to know the cause of the seemingly consistent decrease in class size.  Since the numbers do not reveal this, the cause must be gleaned through other sources.  One cause for this decrease, as we mentioned in class, is that USI is seen as a fallback school and a midway or transition school.  Meaning that many people come here with the idea that they are going to leave for a (in their minds) better school.  Another reason is the less than rigorous admissions process.  With lower admissions criteria, it is easy for an unmotivated student to get into USI, but not so easy for them to succeed here.  Regardless of cause, the numbers clearly show the decline in class size from beginning to end, but also show a slowly growing graduation percentage.
          As I have yet to finish the book, I am not entirely sure the connection between our graduation rate discussion and the theme of education.  Obviously, Malala believes in everyone right to education.  This belief was instilled in her by her father, who believed in the use of words rather than violence.  I think that education is so important to them because they must fight for it.  Many of us take for granted how "easy" it is to get an education in the US.  By taking it for granted, we've lost sight on what is important in a school setting: learning.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in the social aspects of certain schools and prestige, that we forget how great it is we have these massive communities to learn in.  Also in I am Malala, she talks about the movement against women in schools and how they deserve an education.  This can translate to our culture too.  However, rather than women, it is the impoverished that can't attend school.  Looking at the graduation rates, it is easily possible that some of the people that leave USI leave because they can longer pay for it.  This is truly a shame.  Intelligent and hardworking people, full of potential, come from all socioeconomic backgrounds, and education, even university level, should be easily accessible to them.  Finally, perhaps it is that attitude of students here vs. Malala's.  If the attitude of students here was as education oriented as Malala's, would the rates be higher?

Journal 4

          From a technical standpoint, any student who has cheated is technically academically dishonest.  However, like most things in life, this issue isn't purely black and white.  A lot of the reasons for cheating we talked about in class lend to this grey area of when cheating is a real issue.  In high school, I think cheating wasn't a big deal at the petty-busywork-assignment level because teachers typically gave homework for one of three reasons: for sheer busywork/not wanting to teach on a particular day, to create a grade "buffer" so that passing the course is easier, or to check for understanding.  I think teachers rarely give out homework "for the hell of it" because that would just make their grading more time consuming.  Therefore, I think it's safe to assume it is for one of the reasons above.  When you look at these reasons, all of them have some type of academic purpose, directly related to the material and grade of the course.  This brings up the question of why, then, is it "okay" to cheat in high school if there is still a clear academic component, even to such busywork.  I think, it has to do with attitude towards high school classes and what the end result is.  The ultimate goal of high school, nowadays, is to prepare students for either college or tech school or some other form of post-secondary education.  This influences the idea that high school doesn't really matter as far as a career goes, it is just a step.  Also, this lends to the idea that high school courses don't matter.  Which circles back to reasoning that cheating is okay.  Aside from reasoning that cheating is okay, some people understand and accept that cheating is wrong, but cheat anyway to gain scholarship money or acceptance from loved ones.

          Moving out of the high school and into college eliminates some of these issues such as the "it doesn't matter" mentality.  It also introduces new deterrents by way of strict rules ending in zeros in classes and the threat of dismissal.  These rules help to prevent students from cheating, but that doesn't mean the students are no longer academically dishonest.  In my opinion, academic honesty is more than not cheating.  It is a mentality of "my work is my own" and understanding why cheating itself is wrong.

          The number of people that admitted to cheating was rather large although not very surprising.  In fact, as some of my classmates speculated, I think that the few people who said "no" are either lying or lying to themselves about what cheating is.  While most of the class has cheated, I would venture to say that most of them are actually academically honest because I think they understand why cheating is wrong and have, since high school, refined their opinions on sharing work.  At least I have.

Journal 3

          I enjoyed this activity very much.  The in class portion was not only interesting, as it revealed something new about people's families, but also thought provoking as it made me reflect on my own views and those of my family.  Obviously, origin and upbringing play a huge role in our social perceptions and prejudices, and that is quite apparent in the class discussion.  Several of my classmates attributed certain familial opinions to things like culture, parental occupation, and religion.  For instance, an overwhelming majority of the class stated their families would not want them to date a person of the Islamic faith.  While I'm there is some racial prejudice involved, most of my classmates cited religious conflict as the reason for the answer "no."  The rest of the Muslim column further illustrates that there is little "ill will" towards Middle Eastern people , with only four people saying no to them as neighbors.  Something that was a bit disheartening was the number of families who would say no to dating an African American.  I understand that there is deep-seated prejudice against African Americans in the United States,but I also thought that prejudice wouldn't be present in the families' of Honors students.  I'm not saying that Honors students are superior to other students, but there is a correlation between excellence in education and more liberal views of the world.
          Throughout the class exercise, I was curious to see how my classmates' viewpoints differed from their families.  Overall, the class was more accepting and tolerant than their families.  One interesting, but not so surprising stat was that there was no change in the "Muslim dating" cell.  I think this reflects well on everyone because, again, this is primarily a religious matter and does not show a distinct underlying racial prejudice.  The most interesting, and sad, column for me is the "illegal immigrant" one.  I understand why many people would not want to date an illegal immigrant; there are many issues that can arise such as them getting deported, legal issues involving the citizen, and lack of acceptance by the family.  However, it was sad to see how many people said no to their citizenship.  While 4/5 of the class were fine with them as neighbors and friends, 1/2 of the class didn't want them to have citizenship.  That means that something like 2/5 of their class would deny their accepted friend and neighbor citizenship.  That is seriously messed up.  Now this may just be my opinion,but any person worthy of friendship deserves, at the very least, to have their friends want them to belong to the country.  Besides the strangeness of people not wanting their friends to citizens, the fact that half the class would not want illegal immigrants to be citizens, in my opinion, is ridiculous.  I understand that there are instances where people who are here illegally want to terrorize and harm America.  However, the immigration laws for this country can be ridiculous, and I believe that any person who respects the government/country and is willing to work deserves citizenship. (of course, this is simplified and I don't mean to downplay the necessity for background tests and citizenship classes)

Journal 2

          I think the scripture passage surmounts to the statement, "if you talk the talk you have to walk the walk," or some other cliche saying like, "actions speak louder than words."  While these catchy sayings and meaningful quotes sound so nice, following through is more difficult than perceived.  While I'd like to say that I have overcome this difficult task and performed the work of God, I generally haven't.  The second statement/situation dealing with the homeless man asking for food is a situation I have been in before.  While I have many different excuses and reasons for not doing anything, they don't negate the fact that I consistently do nothing but look on and drive.  Of course, I can't be the only one to look on without acting.  This thought, while further justifying inaction, simultaneously adds the continuation of the problem itself.
          While I understand that excuses don't make up for not doing something, it can shed light onto the situation.  The main two reasons I have never spontaneously donated (meaning being asked on the spot for money by an individual) are: I was rarely in control of the situation and even if I was, I don't often carry cash or a surplus of nonperishable food items.  An example of the first reason would be when driving in an area with people begging (usually when travelling in other cities), I would often be with my parents or a member of a much larger group.  I saw this as enough a reason not to do anything.  However, in the church scenario, I have $40 dollars and am mostly in charge of when I leave.  Well, there go my two good excuses; now what? Considering I just left a Mass where the homily specifically taught on good works, I am most likely a bit more fired up than usual about helping the less fortunate.  Normally, I would lean towards not giving money to a total stranger due to the fact that I have little as it is and that I have no idea what they actually want it for. However, because the woman asking for money abandoned the stereotypical street corner and came directly to a church, she seems a bit more genuine and humble.  Also, she specified that she needed the money for medicine for her husband.  This adds vulnerability to her already convincing list of traits.  The combination of her genuineness and my current attitude towards good works would lead me to give her $10.  I would also urge her/take her to speak with the pastor.
          Some people may ask if $10 dollars and a polite send off in the right direction was enough.  I suppose the more righteous of the world would do more, but ultimately any act, when done with kindness, is good work.

Journal 1

          While Heinz's Dilemma brings to light the issue between good intent and bad action, it is often times less clear cut in real life.  For example, the intent may be more neutral such as messing around with a friend and the action may be accidentally taking it too far and physically hurting them.  While the intent wasn't necessarily good or bad, the action certainly could be considered bad.  However, because it was simply an accident, this example isn't really exemplified by Heinz's Dilemma.  Heinz's Dilemma deals with a distinct moral issue.
          Something that has become resoundingly present in the past 100 years or so is scientific innovation.  The goal of most scientific research is to discover something new (usually) for financial gain or the sake of knowledge.  Because it can be reasoned that many industries that promote scientific research are in the business of people and selling them some type of improvement, scientific research can be considered good intention.  Despite this good intent, scientific research is often developed into something that leads to bad action.  For instance, Einstein's work indirectly led to the development of the atomic bomb.  While Robert Oppenheimer is credited for creating the bomb, and the US government is who actually used it, Einstein's good intentions led to a bad action.  This example, while better than the first, still doesn't fully exemplify Heinz's Dilemma.  While there are both good intentions and bad actions in this example, the whole process does not rest on one person's intentions/actions.  In order to be a true real-life example of this philosophical tale, the "guilty" person/party must have a truly good intention and knowledge that their action is wrong.
          Sticking with the scientific theme, I believe a true real-life example of Heinz's Dilemma can be witnessed in the experimental labs in Nazi Germany.  While the research and experiments the scientists did are almost universally considered immoral, the reason for which they did it was good, at least for their side of the war.  They performed experiments in order to help their troops survive certain ailments.  So while their intentions were good--for their overall war effort, which isn't necessarily good for everyone--their actions were absolutely bad.