Student Issues

Our group selected and discussed eight different essays addressing a range of subjects. Some of these essays focused on issues related to students, while others focused on issues related to our citizenship in this country and the world. The essays allowed us to consider issues that were familiar to us, as well as issues that were beyond our own personal experiences. Each essay provided us an opportunity to consider our future and how we view the world and the discussion allowed us to explore and gain insight into how we and our group members felt about these important issues. â€Å"Could Your Facebook Profile Throw a Wrench in Your Future? discusses the danger to future employment posed by information posted by students on Facebook (Dince 44-48). While some of the information in the article seems somewhat out of date, but the overall point of the essay remains relevant: You should be careful about what you put on your Facebook page because employers may be looking at it. Some people may be offended by this and it is certainly not very professional for an employer to go to great efforts to find out private information about you, but job applicants should not be surprised if employers choose to look for information about them on the Internet. Employers have difficult decisions to make when hiring employees and they want to use all the resources that are available to find out who the applicants really are. When we apply for jobs, we work hard to put our best foot forward and employers often want to know what we are really like. Information on the Internet is one way to see how an individual interacts with friends and family, personal issues he or she may have, and problems he or she may have. Many of us may feel it is an invasion of our privacy to have employers looking at our personal relationships or how we use our private time. However, we need to accept that information we put on the Internet, whether it is on Facebook, MySpace, a blog, or a website, is never truly private. We also need to be looking forward to our future plans and goals when we put personal information on the Internet. Information that seems appropriate or innocuous to us as students may appear immature or irresponsible when we are looking for professional employment. Once we put information on the Internet, it may never truly ever go away, so we have to consider that when deciding what to put on the Internet. â€Å"Earning and Learning: Are Students Working Too Much? focused on how college students are increasing focusing more time on working. I have seen this phenomenon first hand through my own college experiences (Kramer 61-65). I originally attended college right out of high school more than ten years ago and lived in the dorms and did not work. I knew students that worked, but they generally only worked a few hours a week and most of my fellow students did not work. As I have gotten older, I have observed relatives, acquaintances, and my fellow students after I returned to school feel an increasing expectation and pressure to work while they are going to school. Some of this may simply be out of necessity because of the decreasing availability of student aid. I also think that changes in cultural and societal influences have encouraged students to expect more material objects such as computers, cell phones, home theaters, game systems, and vehicles. When I was in college, the expectation was that we would eat ramen for four years and very few students had a television or computer. We all knew we were â€Å"starving students† who live a more deprived life for years, but that when we graduated we would be able work towards all those material objects. When I talk to students just starting out now, they seem to expect all the comforts and privileges that had living at home with their parents and this leads them to focus more on earning money and less on their schoolwork. While this is certainly not true for every student, I think cultural and societal pressures have affected the priorities of many students. â€Å"The Nontraditional Student in You† article (Compton & Shock 169-173) reminded me of my own experience as a non-traditional student. When I started college, I never expected that I would become a non-traditional student. I expected that I would complete college in four years and continue on to a career with my college degree. Much like many other students I know, my plans were interrupted by other circumstances of life. I took a break from school because of health problems. I then got married and for financial and practical reasons, decided to help support my wife while she finished school. At that point in my life, I felt as if I had moved on from the â€Å"college† stage of life and continued working. After working several years, I became frustrated with my ability to progress in my job and wanted to be able to have more career options. I was not able to pick up and move to a town with a university and the local community college offered extremely limited options for me since I had already completed two years of college. When I investigated other opportunities, I became aware of the increasing number of programs available online, which were option that were not available in the past. I was able to enroll in the online program and Chadron State and will finally be able to complete my degree next spring. I have encountered many nontraditional students with similar experiences. Their life experiences led them to other paths besides a college degree. After frustrations with their career options or earning potential, they decided they needed to complete college. The opportunities provided by the Internet have allowed many of these students, like me, to complete their degree and open up new opportunities. â€Å"Independent Media Alternatives† discussed the importance of independent sources of news (Barsamian 189-194). Most mainstream sources of media such as major news networks and newspapers focus on what will be popular or appealing to the general public or advertisers. While some good reporting undoubtedly takes place, the mainstream media outlets tend to shy away from positions or stories that are controversial or â€Å"rock the boat. † They sometimes focus so much on appearing fair and unbiased that they miss the truth. Since independent media sources are less focused on corporate success and less indebted to the powers that be, they can tackle controversial or groundbreaking issues. They can also help keep mainstream media focused on the important issues and make sure they are being honest. The Internet has provided even more opportunities for independent sources of media. Regular citizens can create blogs or websites to report news information at little to no cost. This allows even more individuals to report on what they observe. This allows media to belong not just to corporations, but to any individual who wants to share his observations and experiences with the world. This allows us to get more honest, unfiltered access to news from more diverse perspective. â€Å"Less Privacy is Good for Us (and You)† advocates for invasions of our privacy when they benefit others (Etzioni 131-135). The underlying issue is that many Americans think the right to privacy is inviolable, but protection of privacy at the expense of the danger of others is more important. There are undeniably situations where the life of another depends revealing someone’s private information would lead most people to agree that it would be appropriate to violate that right to privacy. However, privacy should not be violated anytime there is a potential benefit. While the right to privacy is not specifically listed in the U. S.  Constitution, many of the Amendments protect specific privacy interests and many other state and federal laws protect other aspects of privacy. It’s fundamental to a free society to protect citizens from undue intrusion by the government, and protecting privacy is an essential piece of that. While there are valid reasons to violate privacy when more significant interests are at stake, all interests and rights should be carefully balanced. Privacy should not be violated when the threat to other interests is only speculative, but only when it is truly necessary. Hate Radio† focuses on the hateful or racist statements made by commentators, most of who are on right-wing or conservative radio (William 163-172). While I do not listen to these stations, I have heard reports of some of the most outrageous and offensive comments. I find racist statements deplorable and believe that radio or TV personalities that make them are having a negative impact on society. However, I would never advocate censoring them because as much as I find their comments reprehensible, the same free speech rights that allow me to criticize them protects their right to say whatever they choose, regardless of how harmful it is. I think the appropriate response is not to censor them, but to speak out against them and encourage others to do the same. Pressuring companies to pull their ads from radio or TV shows that contain hate speech and encouraging consumers to boycott the products of companies that advertise on them can be an effective tool to make a statement against them. â€Å"Who and What is American? † discusses the way we define ourselves as American (Lapham 3-15). Lapham argues that define ourselves by labels such as â€Å"Asian-American† or â€Å"African-American† divide us and is contrary to the idea of us all being American. American culture and history is full of diverse people from diverse backgrounds all united by a common identity of being American. I believe that it is important for us each to recognize and celebrate our own background and culture as well as recognize and celebrate our common purpose as Americans. In that sense, labels can be positive and destructive, depending on how we use them. As long as labels are used to celebrate our personal and cultural heritage, they can help us identify with others and express our unique backgrounds, which is all part of the experience of being an American. If we use these kind of labels to reinforce stereotypes or create divisions, they can be destructive. Unlike the author, I don’t believe that the use of labels is inherently negative, but that we should instead use them carefully and be sure that we are using them in a positive, constructive manner. â€Å"The Internet: A Clear And Present Danger? † raises concerns about the harmful information that is available to children on the Internet and advocates for more restrictions and regulations to Internet content (Cleaver 173-178). It is clear that the Internet is full of pornography and predators. Some regulations and enforcement is important to keep children from accessing offensive or damaging information or being the victim of predators. The government has limited power to regulate and control those that post information on the Internet, especially since it is difficult to trace some Internet activity and many posting information are outside of the United States and beyond our government’s jurisdiction. The most important defense against the risk the Internet poses to children is parents. Parents need to control and monitor their children’s access to the Internet to ensure they are using it safely. Parents can observe their children while they are using the Internet, keep their computer in a public place in the home to monitor it, view their children’s past Internet activity, limit access to chat rooms, and block inappropriate sites. They can also teach their children about appropriate Internet use so that when they do use the Internet on their own, they can make safe choices. While some government action is can be helpful, the most effective way to protect children is through their parents. Parents should take the initiative and the responsibility of making sure their children’s use of the Internet is safe and productive.