By: Nikko Genoese The Great Debate between College Dems and College Republicans was busy and widely marketed. Former governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley and former New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte were some of the biggest attractions for the Great Debate. Other attractions included some of the recent political firestorms taking place around the globe. The Great Debate was a place where young avid Republicans and Democrats came together to talk about “where we are and where we wanted to go” As an avid Republican, I did push the belief that we were on the right track. I have faith in the economic and foreign policy decisions that President Trump has made to an extent. I believe that his sole purpose is to get America and its citizens on the road financial prosperity and secured from foreign and domestic threats. I stood up with fellow Republicans for beliefs that the monetary and fiscal policies that he is putting in place will be different in the years under Obama for the better. We hold it to be true that when a president cuts taxes for everyone that the money generated from increased investment and consumption will out weight the deficit created by cutting taxes. Furthermore, we also believe that the decisions levied on the Keystone Pipeline and TPP were in the best interests of country. We also discussed with our collegiate counterparts that the president was meeting with leaders of every industry and was taking the steps to garner total political input in order to create the best legislation for those interests. Some of those groups include, but are not limited to the auto industry, labor unions, educational leaders, and many more. When it comes to foreign policy many Republicans believe President Trump is leading from the front with decisiveness and from a position of strength. In past years we have witnessed unpunished aggression from many countries such as Iran and China. Iran had captured and disgraced American Sailors on global television after a minute navigation error in the middle east. China also aggressed the Japanese, a U.S. ally, but annexing islands in the South China Sea with the intention of building military installations. We discussed with our Democratic class mates that was no longer the case. Both countries are now timid in committing acts of the same levels of aggression. China has since taking a reduce presence in the South China sea as tensions with N. Korea and the United States intensifies. Iran has also been less aggressive than in the Obama term and realizes that they will no longer get money in return for fake friendship. Another point of side discussion of students at the Great Debate was the military strikes ordered by Trump in the Middle East. The Republicans and Democrats alike felt that this was a strong showing of Trump’s foreign policy. The initial attack was felt to be warranted by my fellow classmates. They felt that it was the right course of action following the horrific murder of innocents by Assad. We also agreed that Syria would never be a peaceful state with a tyrannical dictator at the helm. Furthermore, we also agreed committing large amounts of troops to the battlefield in Syria would deepen economic deficits and cost would outweigh the benefit. The second strike in Syria was also widely accepted by both the college Democrats and Republicans because it served its purpose in deterring and destroying ISIS in that area. However, the Democratic students felt that it emboldened the enemy while Republican students felt in did the opposite, especially to North Korea and their allies. However, some areas where the Trump administration struck deep divides were Immigration and Domestic National Security. The left-winged students felt that it was unfair and not the American way to seclude refugees from the Middle East from our country’s security. They also felt that the Trump administration had over stepped its boundaries. They explained that he had targeted religion because he was triggered by racist beliefs that all refugees have a high chance of becoming embolden to do lone wolf acts of terror. Republican Students fiercely resisted those beliefs that Trump acted solely on his perception of the Muslim religion. Whether or not it was a small or large majority of the refugees that could potentially be lone wolf cells, the chances were too great. We also illustrated how there are many neighboring countries capable of taking on the burden and security risk. We also pointed out how lone wolf acts have become rampant in past years and recently high in European countries who took in refugees. In conclusion, we believe that all matter discussed were constructive communications between people of opposing political views. I also felt that the discussions before and afterward we much more interesting than the actual debate itself.
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By: Nikko Genoese We Are Talking About Race was an eye-opening experience for many students of all different races, religions, and ethnicities. As a student who is multi-cultural it was pleasing to add to the discussion. To many peers and myself this proved to be a great deliberation because of the way they now looked at future and past interactions with students and how we could learn from each other. I greatly enjoyed sharing my own experiences and realizing how I became a cultural aware person in my first year of college.
We spoke at length about what classes, experiences, and opportunities students had to learn about races other than their own. For myself, I had the experiences that came with involvement on campus and living in a coed dorm here at Penn State. Sharing my experiences in UPUA, University Park’s Student Government, I was able to share the opportunities I had to meet and understand new races and cultures. As a member of the UPUA Freshman Council, I was charged with research and outreach for many initiatives targeting greater inclusion at Penn State. This required several freshmen and I to go and speak in front of crowds of different people. Although the tasks were difficult and required avid public speaking skills, it did get easier as it went on. We believe that not only because we were practicing communication, but because we were also becoming more comfortable talking about race and different cultures. Another way I was able to connect and understand other races was by interacting with students who lived in my building. On my freshmen floor, there was many different demographics of students that fostered an understanding of the cultures outside my dorm. I became friends with students from different races originally from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Through daily conversations, I had the opportunity to understand how different races went about daily necessities and social interactions. Just talking and being tolerant of another race was all that was necessary to learn to understand. While I learned how to connect with those students closest to me in my residence hall, I also learned how to interact with people of the same race somewhere else on campus. We Are Talking About Race was an incredibly beneficial deliberation to attend. During this event, many students realized that in their daily lives they could do more to appreciate another race. We concluded the best opportunities came from getting involved in one of the largest universities in the world. With so many different students from different places, Penn State is a perfect place to gain better understandings of races other than your own. Most importantly, as a participant of this deliberation, I implore you to learn about other races. This will require you to step outside your comfort zone and ask difficult questions. At first you may be discouraged by the reception of the other party, but once your objective of understanding them is received you will be immersed in a cultural melting pot here at Penn State. By: Nikko Genoese We Are Talking About Race was an eye-opening experience for many students of all different races, religions, and ethnicities. As a student who is multi-cultural it was pleasing to add to the discussion. To many peers and myself this proved to be a great deliberation because of the way they now looked at future and past interactions with students and how we could learn from each other. I greatly enjoyed sharing my own experiences and realizing how I became a cultural aware person in my first year of college.
We spoke at length about what classes, experiences, and opportunities students had to learn about races other than their own. For myself, I had the experiences that came with involvement on campus and living in a coed dorm here at Penn State. Sharing my experiences in UPUA, University Park’s Student Government, I was able to share the opportunities I had to meet and understand new races and cultures. As a member of the UPUA Freshman Council, I was charged with research and outreach for many initiatives targeting greater inclusion at Penn State. This required several freshmen and I to go and speak in front of crowds of different people. Although the tasks were difficult and required avid public speaking skills, it did get easier as it went on. We believe that not only because we were practicing communication, but because we were also becoming more comfortable talking about race and different cultures. Another way I was able to connect and understand other races was by interacting with students who lived in my building. On my freshmen floor, there was many different demographics of students that fostered an understanding of the cultures outside my dorm. I became friends with students from different races originally from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Through daily conversations, I had the opportunity to understand how different races went about daily necessities and social interactions. Just talking and being tolerant of another race was all that was necessary to learn to understand. While I learned how to connect with those students closest to me in my residence hall, I also learned how to interact with people of the same race somewhere else on campus. We Are Talking About Race was an incredibly beneficial deliberation to attend. During this event, many students realized that in their daily lives they could do more to appreciate another race. We concluded the best opportunities came from getting involved in one of the largest universities in the world. With so many different students from different places, Penn State is a perfect place to gain better understandings of races other than your own. Most importantly, as a participant of this deliberation, I implore you to learn about other races. This will require you to step outside your comfort zone and ask difficult questions. At first you may be discouraged by the reception of the other party, but once your objective of understanding them is received you will be immersed in a cultural melting pot here at Penn State. By: Nikko Genoese Take Back Our Campus: Preventing Sexual Assault at Penn State was an incredibly moving deliberation that informed and provoked students. This experience of openly debating topics and brainstorming initiatives was refreshing in the fact that sexual assault has become an epidemic. Some of the approaches that were established and expanded were help offered, bystander intervention, and alcohol awareness.
Help Offered was one of the most compelling approaches that drove the deliberation group to act. In this approach, it was illustrated how some bars had systems in place to help women get away from situations where they felt endangered. The system was simple, there would be a flyer in the women’s bathroom stalls that explained certain signals and expressions that were code for help. Some of the things that were available were a call for a taxi, someone to walk the individual out safely, and also calling the police. The deliberation group expanded on this approach by supporting to make the code system a campus wide standard in all bars and fraternities. Another approach covered was bystander intervention and how it was responsibility of every student of Penn State. Bystander intervention was explained in a way more commonly known as “if you see something, do something”. To students who socialize in many different environments there are many readable signs that an individual may be in distress. For instance, if the perpetrator is visibly pursing sexual relations with an individual that could be considered not to be attracted, it was your responsibility to step in. Furthermore, this approach detailed how students can be the difference in stopping an incident before it has potential. By remaining vigilant and maintaining integrity a person who may not be in the right frame of mind may be stopped and corrected by one individual and avoid harmful fallout on both sides of the situation. Alcohol awareness, in particular, has a large presence in sexual assault incidents, the approach that was established was how to limit alcohol from affecting possibilities of being assaulted. In this approach, it was explained how alcohol affects consent, reading of sexual signals, and the terrible sexual misconduct incidents that occur when someone is incapacitated. We expanded this approach by specifically talking about sexual assault in fraternities at Penn State and how alcohol effects those incidents. The small deliberation group concluded that in order to reduce and effectively eliminate sexual assault all approaches must be practiced in fraternities. In conclusion, Take Back Our Campus: Preventing Sexual Assault at Penn State was beneficial to attend for information and future experiences. Through this deliberation the group explored how bystander intervention, help offered, and alcohol awareness could be the difference in someone’s life. The deliberation was open to everyone’s input and own experiences which greatly added to the depth and critical thinking to the conversations. Not only was it covered that these approaches were simple and feasible, the group also illustrated that it nothing short of a responsibility of every student. Most importantly, students left with new found seriousness in the fight against sexual assault here at Penn State. |
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