Week #6 - Advocacy

            In life it is important to advocate for those who are unable to advocate for themselves. As a society, we praise those who go out of their way to come to the aid of others. The news channels are full of stories about ordinary people rescuing cats and saving drowning children. We love the warm feeling we get inside when people do good things. However fuzzy feelings aside, when push comes to shove (sometimes literally) people are more likely to do absolutely NOTHING. This is called the Bystander Effect.

            Malala and her father are some of the few people to overcome the bystander effect and take action in a time of need. For Malala it was standing up to the Taliban’s demented regime, but for common Americans what do we have to come against? One thing is neglect/abuse.

             In a scenario brought forth in class we discussed an altercation between a young man and woman in the school parking lot. The man was yelling at the woman and becoming physical with her. Although approximately eighty people walked past this disturbing scene only one person stopped. This one person did not say anything, but only gave the man a stern look, causing him to walk away angrily. The girl was left visibly shaken up. Although an older woman stopped and helped, 80 people did nothing.

            What causes our cowardly non-actions? Some would say self-preservation. If you intervene in the situation the man is likely to yell at you or even assault you. Others would say that it is not their business to intervene in someone else’s life. However are we not all connected? Are we not all human? Do we not have some sense of camaraderie with our fellow man? It is our responsibility to be an activist. It is our responsibility to be advocates. Would you not want someone to advocate for you if you could not? Of course you would!

Journal # 5 - Graduation rates at USI in light of "I Am Malala"

As we learned in class, the USI graduation rate for four and six years is not as high as it should be. There are multiple reasons for the graduation rate to be so low at USI. The Graduation rates for both four and six years are less than 40% each. The four-year graduation rate is actually less than 25%. These numbers are too small.

            The graduation rates for USI are very low for multiple reasons. One reason is that many students transfer away from USI after starting school here. Another reason is that USI has low standards of admission, and therefore the student body isn’t as motivated as many other universities. However, on a larger scale graduation rates are low at USI because of the American view on education. In today’s society, many students have lost the zeal for education. This differs greatly from other nations.

            For example, as we’ve read in our I Am Malala books the Children of Pakistan are motivated to get an education. Malala herself was so motivated to get an education that she was willing to go against the Taliban’s heinous regime, and even got shot for going to school. This extreme example shows that the American education system is doing something wrong.

            Education is one of the main themes in I Am Malala. Through Malala’s story we see the importance of education. Education is unlike any other thing in the world. With an education people can move up social classes and free themselves from oppression. An education can change a person’s life in a way that no other thing can.

            If American’s valued education the way many other culture’s do, the graduation rates of USI and all other universities would be much higher. Education is so easy to come by in America, however in many other countries an education can be almost impossible to attain. Maybe if was more difficult to get into college, we would value college more and in turn, work harder in school.

            In conclusion, the USI graduation rates are very low. One reason that the graduation rates are so low at USI is because the students do not value education, as they should. In I Am Malala we see that other cultures value education so highly that they would risk their lives to become educated.  If American’s valued education like people did in other countries such as Pakistan, the graduation rates could be much higher.

Journal # 4- Academic Dishonesty

            In class we discussed cheating. We took an anonymous survey of who has and has not cheated. Twenty-one people said they had cheated, and only five people said they had not cheated. The questions for this entry are: 1- Does cheating mean you are academically dishonest? and 2- Does the USI Creed effectively deter cheating?

            First, I do think that cheating means you are being academically dishonest, however that does not mean you are an academically dishonest person. For instance, I was one of the twenty-one people who had cheated. Personally, cheating was never used for important things. When I did cheat, it would usually be on a small assignment that I had either forgotten to do, or that I could not get a few answers on. Also, I occasionally let people cheat off of me on tests. Although these things are wrong, I would never cross the line into more serious cheating. For example, I would never cheat on a test, plagiarize, or cheat on an exam like the SAT.             All of these forms of cheating are wrong, but some of the forms of cheating are more serious than others. Because all forms of cheating are wrong, they are also all academically dishonest. But occasionally being academically dishonest does not mean someone is an academically dishonest person. An academically dishonest person cheats more often than not. Academically dishonest people are lazy, and would rather let other people do the hard work for them. Although, cheating occasionally when you forget to do an assignment is academically dishonest, it does not mean you are an academically dishonest person.

            As for the USI Creed, it really does nothing to deter cheating. The creed is just a few sentences that say, “I will not cheat, because cheating is bad.” However, just saying that cheating is wrong, doesn’t insure that people won’t cheat. The only things that deter cheating are careful measures taken by the professor, thorough examination of all assignments for cheating, and severe punishment for those who have been found cheating. However, taking the measures to prevent cheating can be time consuming and complicated, and examining every assignment turned in would take copious amounts of time. So in reality, cheating is very complicated to prevent and there is no perfect deterrent for it.

            In conclusion, cheating means you have been academically dishonest but not that you are an academically dishonest person. Also, the USI Creed and other similar anti-cheating measures are not effective means of deterring cheating. Cheating is a complicated problem and cannot be effectively deterred.