Outside reading #8 : Culture

Today I did a reading on the culture of the deaf community, or deaf culture. It talks about the views hearing people have on this culture. One view is that they are impaired by not hearing and they are not "normal". Another view is that they just have their own culture and share common interests with everyone. They have their own language of sign language. If you think about it, we do not think say someone speaking Spanish is impaired because they do not speak English. Of course they can not hear, but there are many ways to get around that and do the same things as anyone else would do. They share sign language with other people in that culture, the only difference is that they are not majorly centralized in one place like other cultures. In other words, they do not originate from one place. However, there are many similarities that people of that culture share. Common obstacles they need to cross and common views from a judgmental society. You get to chose how you want to view the deaf culture. Do you see them as impaired from their "abnormality" or do you see them as just another common culture?

http://www.signmedia.com/info/adc.htm

Outside reading: Religion/Spirituality/Belief/non-belief

I read an article on the mission that World Vision has for the world. World Vision is a Christian organization trying to help people in need all around the world. Their Vision statement is this,

"Our vision for every child, life in all its fullness;

Our prayer for every heart, the will to make it so."

This organization has sponsored children which is a way to help people in need pay for what they need such as food, school, and clothes. They take donations and you can give gifts to people in impoverish areas such as giving a goat, bed, bike, cow and other helpful gifts to enrich these people's lives. Also, they have mission trips available. In fact, my mom and brother have gone on two mission trips to Uganda, Africa through World Vision. World Vision does all of this because of their belief in the Christian Religion and it is so helpful to people all around the world.

http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/about/our-mission

Outside reading: Gender and Gender Roles

I read an article on gender roles and how people thought they should be. There was a survey that many people took to get the statistics for the article. It also talked about where gender roles came from. One view they had on that issue was on how they were raised, or how their parents used gender roles to raise a family. They also said how the male and female brain is different and how men and women are smarter in certain subjects. For instance, women are often stronger in language in the left side of the brain. In this survey they asked people their opinions and I was suprised on how many people, both men and women, wanted gender roles to be like they were "before". How I took this was when men were the bread winners and women did all the domestic help around the house work. Although some people want that to be the way our society runs, I do not think that people who want jobs outside of their "gender role" should be limited to do so. Yes, men and women are common in their own ways but not everyone has the same aspirations and are good at the same things, thank goodness. If that was true, it would be surprising how much did not get done. Society gave us gender roles it is our choice to use them how we think they should get done.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/gender/gender22a.htm

Outside Reading: Culture different from my own

There are many cultures that live in different ways than I do. When I think about this topic a culture that seems fairly different from my life would be the life of a celebrity. In the spirit of the 51st Annual Grammy Ceremony airing tonight I read a short article on the Location of the Ceremony. It is in the Staples Center and was first performed there in 1999. I remember, at a very young age thinking that I did not want to be a celebrity. I simply thought it was unappealing that everyone would know everything about me. I wanted a more private life for myself. Of course, probably not thinking of all the luxury and riches that came with that life style. Still today I am extremely thankful for the culture that I live in. It is simply fitful for me, and if I were a celebrity I probably would not fell that I was in the right place. Everyone has a culture that they belong to. Each culture has their pros and cons, but are usually just right for the people in them.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008May21/0,4670,GrammyAwards,00.html

Outside Reading: Facing a difficulty

I read an article about Michael Phelps and his recent struggles while off track from his normal schedule. Phelps did extremely well in the 2008 Summer Olympics swimming for the U.S.A. However; as many might know, Phelps got caught smoking marijuana and now has to face the consequences. He is getting a lot of criticism from fans and sponsors and feel like he has let them down. But, the biggest difficulty he feels he has to face is the disappointment in himself. He knows it was a stupid thing to do and he guarantees that it will not happen again. On the other hand; as stated in the article, this is not the first time Phelps has struggled with substance abuse. Unfortunately after the Athens Olympics he was caught drinking while driving. When he is not on his swimming schedule he seems to not have any guide lines at all. His family and friends are supporting him and helping him carry out the right path for this extremely talented man. Phelps has learned who his true friends are during this hard time and I think that can be true during any difficult time. It seems the true friends are there for your benefit but the bad friends some how drift away from your side and are just another critic of your life. Everyone faces difficulty at some time or another, it is important to learn from those times and move on.
http://www.kare11.com/sports/sports_article.aspx?storyid=538721&catid=24

Outside Reading: Natural Disaster

I read a text on Avalanches. I learned how they form, what they are doing while they are occurring and how to try to get out of harm if a victim of this terrifying natural disaster. I learned that there are many opportunities to know that an avalanche will happen. Knowing this now made me realize how important it is to inform and educate oneself. As I thought about it, this is true in many instances. Some situations that would include this important way of living could be striving for a higher education. In today's economy, being in demand for a job can be a tricky thing. If you have in impressive education background you might look more appealing to a possible future employer. Also, something else that I learned from this article was how to get out of an avalanche successfully. There were many steps but near the end, the article states the probability of getting out alive related to how long it would take. In a nut shell, the faster it took to get out, the more probable it was that you would live. In some situations this also can be related to being unemployed in the sense that the longer it takes to get a job, the more debt you get buried into. This is why it is so important to inform yourselves to get through life as smoothly as possible. Most people think that natural disasters just happen, and there is nothing we can do about it. This may be true in some cases but there is always something to do that can change an awful, out of control situation for the better.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/avalanche-profile.html