It has returned.  The sale of all sales that brings together the students of California State University, Long Beach.  Walking past the food court towards the Nugget Grill and Pub, one gets sidetracked with the large crowd in the Southwest Terrace.  

The small terrace is filled with students who are sifting through piles and piles of clothes and squatting to search through boxes for warehouse priced street-wear clothing such as Obey.

Every semester, Zeta Phi Rho puts up an Obey sale not only to raise funds for the organization, but also to bring the campus together and help show how well established the fraternity is said senior engineering technology major Chris Pham.

The fundraiser generally has a consistent success rate in funds.  This time around, however, it did not profit more than the last sale.  

“. . . It wasn’t as successful, because we usually have an afternoon rush, but didn’t this year,” Julio de la Cruz president of the fraternity and senior biochemistry major said.  

The reason for the small profit is due to the date of the sale.  According to Cruz, the sale is normally held within the first few weeks of the semester, because everyone is on campus trying to add classes or purchasing books at the bookstore. 

“Whereas having it later in the year, students ditch class or come to campus less often,” Cruz said.

According to onlookers, the sale had a nice turnout.  “The products were great, but I didn’t buy anything ’cause I’m sadly broke,” said sophomore nursing major Stephanie Lomboy.  “I do believe it was successful because different types of people came out.”

Just a Taste of College Work

Knowing that an AP course would be difficult, I took on this class in the summer.  The workload was light and not difficult.  It consisted of reading and taking notes of the first three chapters.  Once school began, it slowly became more and more difficult for me; specifically in the critical analysis questions, because I could not apply what I had just learned.  I already knew that I was a learner based off of the book itself.  I knew I rarely applied what I learned and that led me to my problem.  Being in this class helped me realize that I cannot just base my knowledge on hard facts and not feel the need to apply it to elsewhere or come up with things on my own based on what I learned.

Once we began having class once a week, I thought, “Oh this will be so easy, class once a week.  I am sure she will not give loads of homework.  Plus, it should not be difficult to have a week to study for a class.”  Boy did I have it coming.  I did not take into account the new AP course (Macro) and how much more busy I would become.  College applications, school activities, family, college- related events, etc. consumed my time to the point of stress overload.  My dad purposely told me to not join sports, because he knew I would be busy.  I would always say, “Don’t worry once college applications are done with, you can relax and focus on school only.”  Well, that did not happen either.  It definitely lightened the stress load, but more things came onto my plate to do.

Anyway, because of this AP course, it has given me a taste of what college has in store.  Mrs. Simonds would always say that there are classes once a week and you have to study without being reminded or having a review.  I finally get it.

I did not enjoy doing the power-points online.  I like working with books, not with computers.  I know computers are supposed to make your life easier, but the hours spent online are not healthy for your eyes and I am guilty of being distracted with Facebook and such.  Again, this has taught me that I need to get use to doing things online, because college work will require computers.  I am very glad that I know all of this now and am preparing for it.

The section that I made a power-point on was not as difficult as other sections, because it was so familiar to me already.  But it did not seem to have many important things in it.  Also, it was difficult to not overlap information on a topic that was in a different unit.  I had made two detailed slides on a topic and realized that it did not go with the course outline of my unit.  It went along with a different unit so I had to delete those.  It was rather frustrating, but still beneficial.

Questions of the World

1. From 1914 to the present, nations such as India, Yugoslavia, and many African nations did not take a side during the Cold War .  The goal of this policy was to avoid involvement in the Cold War and maintain and increase economic progress. What is the name of this policy?
2. All of the facts are true about OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) except

a. Goal: to control the price of oil through cooperation

b. Power lessened as a result of overproduction and the Iran- Iraq and Gulf wars

c.  Established in 1960 with member nations including Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Iran, Qatar Kuwait, and Venezuela

d. Lost trust of other countries when they excluded exports to China

3. I controlled the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991.  The reforms I introduced were glasnost and perestroika.  I also backed free- market reforms and agreed to not enforce the Brezhnev Doctrine.  Who am I?

It’s Crunch Time

“Head to Head” was a wake up call for my lack of effort into this AP class.  I did not realize how important this test is and that I cannot treat the class like a non- AP class and expect to pass the AP test.  Already behind in my reviewing, I am setting up times and days of purely “AP review”.

The court case quiz we were assigned to make up somewhat helped me.  I could probably see some of the court cases listed and give a brief summary over the topic but I would not know much about it.  Court cases are difficult for me to learn mainly, because the name of the court cases barely match the subject it is about.

Today in class, March 16, was a good review day.  The Wiki work is going to be very essential in my review.  I think it will be a great way for the class to review.  This project focuses in on the ESLRs as well.  Being in a group, we have to learn how to communicate and cooperate together outside of the classroom and be creative with our work to make it fun and interesting for the other classmates.

Hopefully, this Saturday, I will do well on the exam.

Worlds at War: Part 1

The Great War, WWI, erupted in 1914 undermining the devastation yet to come.  Soldiers went to war with a skip in their step.  Jolly to be serving their country.  Civilians at home were delighted at the sound of war.  The realities of war would hit them like a tsunami; clearly, it was much worse than that.  In Europe, the countries were torn apart by national rivalries, colonial disputes, and nationalist apparitions.  As the European imperial powers tried to collect their natural resources in their colonized lands, it created quite the growing tension among Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and the United States.

Germany and Britain now competed for the top spot in the economy.  Powers were challenged and economies were suffering.  The spark of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.  Because of the secret alliances made among the countries, war declarations were made one after another.  The first global war was now in play.  New weaponry was used such as mustard gas, airplanes, tanks, submarines, machine guns, and missiles.  Soldiers lived in fear, committing suicide every time they left the trenches to fight.  Back home, life was difficult as well.  Women worked the men’s jobs, some being exposed to TNT turning their hair yellow and skin orange.  Yellow journalism and propaganda fueled the country to support the war.  The United States came out on top hardly having been affected in its economy due to the war.

The glory was short lived when the Great Depression came.  Roosevelt’s New Deal was to jump start the economy using Keynes’s government intervention views.  In Russia, Lenin imposed the state- sponsored program of rapid industrialization.  Japan was not hit terribly in its economy like that of other countries because it did not depend on its exports.  World War II came to way and proved to be more destructive than any previous war.  Everything was reshaped after the war.  In this now highly interdependent world, dealing with problems of global magnitude required the cooperation of nations who resent each other.  Although the League of Nations was begun by the United States, the U.S. itself did not join.  That led to the end, but now we have the United Nations to discuss and resolve nonviolently the problems among the nations.

It’s My Rights and I’ll Fight if I Want To

“Integrate Don’t Segregate” is the first image you see opening to Chapter 5: Civil Rights.  Immediately the difference between civil rights and civil liberties is noted.  Civil liberties are limitations on government-what they cannot do, whereas civil rights specify what government must do.

African Americans have always been under servitude even before the Columbian Exchange.  It has taken way too long for those rights to come about.  I cannot imagine what they went through to be so successful in having Obama as our first black president.  The discrimination and terror they faced were worth the rights they acquired.  Although Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) still advocated racism against blacks, it was a step in the right direction considering culture at the time.  The Plessy case created the “separate but equal” doctrine stating that segregation was legal and constitutional as long as the facilities were equal.  It was overturned in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka because it was a denial of the equal protection of the laws.  However, whites have been experiencing difficulty in getting equal rights as well.  A good example is the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978). It was the first Supreme Court decision addressing the constitutionality of affirmative action plans.  It ruled that Bakke must be admitted to the school because the admissions policy was based on race as the sole criterion-race cannot be the sole factor.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated and led nonviolent movements which helped bring about more civil rights legislation.  Since then, that desire has been passed on to women, older Americans, persons with disabilities, and homosexuals.  After World War 1, women across western Europe fought for their right to franchise (vote).  The trend soon began in the United States.  American women sought equality not only in politics, but also in the workplace.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits gender discrimination in the workplace.  It extends to sexual harassment and wage discrimination.  Age discrimination in employment is the most widespread form of discrimination.  Mandatory retirement was outlawed in 1986.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990) was the most significant federal legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

“The shot heard around the homosexual world” was the Stonewall incident.  In Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), it was ruled that homosexual conduct between two adults was a crime.  In 2003 it was reversed by the decision in Lawrence v. Texas stating that laws against sodomy violate the due process  clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Same- sex marriage has become one of the most sensitive political issues.  So far, the Supreme Court has given the decision of allowing same- sex marriage to the states.  Massachusetts was the first state to recognize gay marriage.  In Baehr v. Lewin (1993), the Court ruled that denying marriage licenses to gay couples might violate the equal protection clause of the Hawaii constitution.

It is difficult having APGOPO class once a week, but researching the court cases and having other students talk about them are very helpful, especially in the work-study load.  Going through the amendments help as well in learning the subject of each amendment.  I noticed that a blog I did over the summer about the “Right to Bear Arms” helped me learn when we discussed which amendment that was in.   I remembered reading an article that stated it was in the Second Amendment.  Upon noticing that, I have been trying to watch the news more or pick up a newspaper and read some articles to help my participation and overall knowledge about our nation.

Here We Go, Come With Me, There’s A World Out There That We Should See

I would have to say that this unit was probably my worst unit yet.  I do not think I did absolutely terrible on the test, but it was not my best.  The class discussions and lectures were helpful, but I believe the solution to the problem is for me to spend more time in these topics.  It is less stressful when work is divided among the class.  Yes, it is more beneficial to do all the research yourself, but it relieves you mentally and you still get a review by reading what your partner put.  That is a major reason why AP World is one of my favorite classes.  It may be an AP class, but it is actually a fun and enjoyable class.  Learning about the world’s history is rather intriguing as well; especially when we learn something out of the ordinary beyond PERSIA.  Boy does ‘PERSIA’ seem ancient.

What I am worried about the most for the AP test is the detailed-ness of it all.  Will I need to know details that seem minute to me? For example, a certain war that happened or stating a punishment for breaking Hammurabi’s code.  I was very thankful in being given ten extra minutes for the DBQ because I was not close to being finished.  Grouping during the required ten minutes of reading really helped, but I felt that I had so much to write I could not write it fast enough.  I rarely have a problem with not being able to write fast enough, so I was confused as to why I struggled so much on this DBQ.  Especially since DBQs should be the easiest because the answers are right in front of you.  Hopefully, I did not do terrible on the DBQ.

Anyway back to the group work or class discussions.  The pair ups and reading aloud in class help me a lot and going over the Study Questions in class help as well.  I realized that I had answered a question on the Study Questions incorrectly and was more than relieved to catch it.

So we are on a new unit and it is about a new age of thinking.  Man’s objectiveness is being questioned and no longer is anything absolute.  New ideas such as Freudianism or the uncertainty theory come about that trigger a whole new era of writing, art, and lifestyle.  I am learning a lot of new things from this section and being reminded of things I have learned prior.  It is very interesting how one man’s thought can influence a generation.  As the title of my blog states, there is a world out there that we should see.  Being in this class has made me want to travel and be at the places I read about and to just feel the cultures and history that has thrived there.

It’s foreign, domestic, and all about America

Government class is only one day a week.  Nothing has really changed aside from the new material being covered.  I am surprised at what I remember from only having class one day a week.  I know I should brush up before class starts.

Reading about foreign policy in chapter 14 was the worst and best chapter.  I felt like I did not have any notes to take which was the good part, but the downside was that it felt like a storybook to me.  Given, it was very interesting, but it made me worry about what I needed to know and what I did not need to know.  I did well on the quiz and test so I must have picked up some things.  I did not know that the president could make treaties with other nations without Congress’s approval.  I was happy to read that because I think the president should have a power that is solely his without checks.  Clearly, the people of America trust him enough to make the right decision hence giving him such a title.

Although the president breaks the rules by sending troops or does things that are not in line, it shows that he is not being a puppet like other nations. Diplomacy is another great power of the president.  If America is doing excellent other countries willingly please America to get the president to acknowledge them and form a relationship.

It must be difficult to have to handle both your nation and those around you.  There are tons of problems that arise in America and tons more with foreign lands.  It is great that the president has tons of government agents to help him out.  The Bill of Rights is probably brought up every day in court cases.  I believe that it is good that the judicial branch has control in that area or else the president would accumulate great animosity towards him.

It was surprising to me to find that the Bill of Rights originally was not intended for the state governments and that state governments had their own form of Bill of Rights.  The Bill of Rights was probably created originally for the national government so that the Anti-Federalists would not be deprived of their rights given by their states.

Tons of court cases have occurred adding to the rights even today.  Until Lemon v. Kurtzman in 1971 I did not know the reason why or how public schools came to be non religious.  I like the idea of school vouchers because it allows the money to support either institution without the government choosing.  It is becoming a much more level playing field of secular and nonsecular schools.  It is way more expensive to fund and be involved in a private school than a public school.

I have read scandals in newspapers that famous people have sued others for slander or defamation of character.  I at first thought it was a ridiculous case to take to court but now understand that it is against the law to do that.  It adds to the morality promoted by government.

The permitted restrictions on expression for a “clear and present danger” is a good check on a civil liberty.  A civil liberty that stood out to me was the exclusionary rule.  The exclusionary rule is he judicial policy prohibiting the admission at trial of illegally seized evidence.  Police do abuse their power at times and that is a great check on those who are titled to protect American citizens.

Opium War: Results 1750-1914

What was not a result of the Opium War?

a.  a series of unequal treaties with Britain

b. boosted China’s economy greatly

c.  China payed for the war and opium

d.  Various nations’ spheres of influence

e.  Chinese nationalism increased as groups worked to rid the country of foreign influence

Karl Marx

The nineteenth century philosopher, Karl Marx, did all of the following except.

a. developed a socialist theory with Engels in response to the changing nature of the workplace that resulted from the Industrial Revolution

b.  his ideas formed the backbone of numerous political parties

c. defined class struggle as the proletariat obtaining their income from the bourgeoisie who work to make money.

d.  has his idea be adopted by a number of nations including China and Vietnam

e.   all of the above

 

The correct answer C.  Marx defined class struggle as the proletariat working to make money while the bourgeoisie obtained their income from the work of the proletariat; the bourgeoisie exploited the working class