Jim Crow of Fraternity Row

After reading this article about some of the actions made by the students in different fraternities with racist remarks towards the black community I thought this was completely inappropriate and that there needs to be an end to it. When the Civil Rights Movement ended it was seen as if racism around the world had been eliminated, but these discriminatory acts are still active today and are nearly as powerful as the racist remarks made years ago. This behavior on these campuses should definitely be outlawed and banned on these campuses because when the African-American students are being abused through the students making fun of them by dressing up as a stereotypical black student when throwing "ghetto parties", they are being emotionally damaged and this can alter the ways they go about their studies at the schools. I believe the fraternities such as Beta Theta Pi should be erased from all universities because the discriminatory acts made have taken it way too far and a simple apology is not enough and a statement should be made by the university so that this stops immediately. As Auburn's Vice President of student affairs stated,  "there is no acceptable explanation for the appearance of students in Ku Klux Klan robes or blackface" makes the statement that the students have taken it way too far and that changes must be made in the university.

Indiana University Speech Codes

When reviewing the speech codes of Indiana University I found that they do a good job of protecting the students from being discriminated against as the policy of "fighting words" is enforced in their efforts to protect everyone from harassment. They have an area called Dunn Meadow where all students may excercise their freedoms of speech which allows everyone a chance to be able to express themselves. These speech codes do not change my opinions on this school because I believe that these policies by the administration are greate and they have created a great way to protect all students from discriminatory actions by others. I believe that these restrictions on their speech codes are legal because as they allow fighting words it may infringe on the First Amendment of freedom of speech, but it is one of the legal ways allowed to alter the freedom of speech and they are not fully taking away the freedom of expression or speech, they are just limiting it to an appropriate rate.

If a party such as the ones described in the article previously that occurred at the University of Auburn where present at an Indiana fraternity I believe disciplinary actions would be made immediatley. I think that they would suspend the students taking action in these harrasments and possibly eliminate the fraternity from being active on the campus. I would definitely agree with these actions because if the students are taking the discriminatory actions too far then changes should be made and a statement should be visible so that these events never occur again.

When exploring FIRE's website more I found that I agree with many of their perspectives when they express their meanings of the freedom of speech and the limitations allowed in the different universities.  The restrictions of the codes protect the students because when things such as fighting words are enforced in the speech codes it is protecting the students from being discriminated against and follows the policies of the speech code.

The Holidays

On a day like today all the non-Jewish kids in the school thank people like me for having today off of school. They get the whole day to do whatever they want, while on the other side I am forced to spend these days with my family. Not saying that this is a bad thing, but some of the things I have to do I feel as if I am being tortured. I had to go to services today for a couple of hours and it is probably some of the most boring hours in my life. I completely take pride in the fact that I have been blessed with the religion of Judaism, but I also am not very into the religion as a whole as I tend to keep my mind wondering during these services not wanting to be engaged in the services. I sometimes think about how I would rather be at school than have to go to these services because it is at least somewhat interesting to me. I love to see my family and have a great dinner with them during these holidays, but if  I could find a way to avoid the boring services then I would enjoy the holidays so much better. Overall I am still proud of my religion and would not replace it for any other religion because I am fortunate to be part of the small percentage of Jews in the world.

Amazon's New Kindle Let's Users Avoid Ads

In the new age of technology new products seem to be appearing all over the world causing the competition to rise every day. Amazon one of Apples main competitors has been very successful with their work on the new Kindle Fire trying to compete with Apple's popular iPad. Besides the fact that these competitors are making millions on the products they sell, they also are making a large portion of their income from the advertisements on the different applications within these tablets. With some complaints of all the advertisements appearing on the new Kindle, Amazon decided to make an adjustment to the product hoping to satisfy its customers. They are offering people with the option to pay an extra $15 to eliminate all advertisements from appearing on their tablet. In my opinion I would definitely not pay $15 to avoid these advertisements because even though they may be annoying to look at when using different applications, it is not enough for me to pay money to eliminate the advertisements. As I would not pay the extra money to eliminate these advertisements to also goes along with the decision I would make if I were to ever purchase a tablet. I do not believe the Apple iPad is not all of what it is hyped up to be, even though it is great to watch movies and play games, $600 is way too much to pay for a product like that. The Kindle is priced around $200 and I believe that is the better buy even though it may not endure some of the features of its competitors tablets. These tablets will play a huge role in both of these companies success and changes like the ones Amazon is making like giving customers the option to eliminate advertisements will help in maintaining this success in their products.

Strausburg Shenanigans

Phenom pitcher for the Washington Nationals Stephen Strausburg is starting to approach his innings limit for the season and questions surround Strausburg and the other decision makers in the clubhouse including coach Davey Johnson. This is Strausburg's first season after coming off a Tommy-John surgery  that he had last September to repair his elbow. Manager Johnson said that he plans on letting Strausburg pitch two more outings before shutting him down for the season and not allowing him to pitch throughout the playoffs. One of the most recognized agents Scott Boras was one of the reasons why this procedure is most likely going to be followed because he wants to prevent his client Strausburg from getting a career ending injury. Although the coaches and some doctors may say that this is the right thing to do for the Nationals ace pitcher for the long-term, I completely disagree with these actions. The Washington Nationals are currently in first place fighting for a playoff spot with one of the best teams in the National League. This may be one of the Nationals only chance to ever win a World Series and I think that they should go for the gold and keep Strausburg pitching if they want to achieve this goal. It is obvious his agent Scott Boras wants to shut him down so that he can stay healthy and later on get a long term contract with a team, but in the end it should be the players choice the end his season to protect himself or risk it in order to have the playoff experiences and a chance at receiving a ring.