Plessy v. Ferguson Debate

So, today, November 2, 2016, was the first time I debated in class today, and even though I forgot about the slaughterhouse cases, it went alright considering. The whole idea of litigation teams works wonderfully, as long as the team works as a team, which my team doesn't. My team needs to work on communication, and start working together to get everything done. Having to do this project by myself, I learned a lot about not only the Plessy v. Ferguson case, but myself as a person. I learned that team projects don't always work out, but that's okay because if it can be accomplished with a team, it can be accomplished alone. I learned that I can only control so much, and that when something isn't going right it's okay because there's always other options.

Regarding the Plessy v. Ferguson case, its an interesting, but morally difficult case. You have to battle with yourself about what you think is morally right, and what the law is. We all know that segregation is wrong, but at this time period, there is nothing that we can do about it, because its the law. When it comes to court cases, precedent always supersedes morals.

Should John Mann Be Responsible for What He Had Done?

On September 28, 2016 we had our first in class debate on State v Mann on the issue of slavery. This case was based on a slave named Lydia who was brutally beaten by her owner John Mann. Mr. Mann is saying that he has the right to do what he did because Lydia should obey her master since she is owned by Mr. Mann. The state is saying that this isn't the case, that even though slavery is legal, slaves are still property. It is wrong to damage property, and what Mr. Mann did was simple battery and assault which is against the law. Throughout the course of the class we debated many different aspects of each side, and in the end slavery ended up winning which in my opinion isn't right. Although I had to accept this outcome, it still makes me mad because I feel the state had a stronger argument. Mr. Mann assaulted Lydia and should pay for what he had done.

The First Presidential Debate

For my American Politics class I had to do a Film Assignment on the First Presidential Debate. In this debate there were a lot of topics that were covered, some that I felt were more relevant than others, but nonetheless were all interesting to hear about. I thought it was funny how each of the candidates were low-key attacking each other at first, but then attacking each other harder as the debate went on. Hillary was purposely trying to get Trump mad and off topic and she succeeded. Both of the candidates have very different views and opinions about how they want to achieve everything for the future. Hillary wants to make things better for the middle class and work her way up from there, whereas Trump wants to start with the wealthy and have everything trickle down. I think the reason why Hillary won the debate is because Trump very rarely answered the questions. He was too worried about defending the accusations Hillary used as a fish hook to throw Trump off course, which he took each time. I'm looking forward to watching the next political debate to see how each candidate acts, and what topics they discuss.

Trump Comes to Campus

Last Tuesday, September 20, was a very interesting day on campus. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump came to campus and held one of his campaign rallies here. The reason that this is significant is because most of us are 18 or above and are able to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. Another reason this is significant is because it raised some tension here on campus. Some people thought that by Donald Trump coming to campus it violated what the school was about, and who we are. Personally I really don't have an opinion about this. The way that I look at situations like this is you get out of a situation what you make of it. You may not always agree with what you are given, but each item you are given holds something for you to learn from it. By campus hosting Donald Trump it does not mean that the school necessarily supports Trump, it just shows how campus is open to everyone and everything. Some of you may not know this, but campus extended its invitation to host a rally to all the presidential candidates. The only one who accepted the invitation was Donald Trump. So the campus wasn't trying to go against their values, all they were trying to do was be nice and help out. I mean yeah it was also a publicity thing I'm sure, but hey its all what you interpret, and what side of the story you choose to look at.

I personally was not able to attend the rally. I did receive a ticket, and was planning on going to the rally, but due to personal reasons I was not even on campus when Trump was here. Now some of you may ask, how can you form an opinion on this if you weren't there? Well the simple answer is I didn't have to be here. Politics is politics. Anywhere you go you are always experiencing politics in one form or another. Trump was here, but he was also on televisions and radio stations all over the nation. Trump coming to campus was an interesting event, but in the end it was very peaceful and ran smoothly. No matter who you choose to vote for, or whether or not you choose to vote, don't get mad at situations so easily. Take a step back and try to analyze the situation from all perspectives.

Team Savannah.. The Members

A little over a month ago I had moved down to North Carolina from New Jersey. Always being the awkward and shy girl, when I heard that it was time to work in a group project in my First Year Seminar class I was a bit worried as to how it was going to go. I wasn't sure if my group was going to like me, or if they would look at me like I was crazy. Upon sitting down with my group though, I realized that my view of the whole process was super skewed. Everyone in my group was super nice and welcoming. They were open to getting to know me, and I was open to getting to know them, which gave us all the opportunity to learn new and interesting facts about each other. One common thing that almost all of us shared was the fact that we all have dogs, which is actually how we came up with our team name. My dog's name is Savannah, and it just so happened that Austin's girlfriends name is Savannah and she had actually traveled to Savannah. Sam was so fascinated and excited by the fact that we had three different forms of Savannah that he wanted that to be our team name and it just kind of stuck; so now we are Team Savannah.

On team Savannah there are five members; Sam, Austin, Matt, Patrick, and myself. Most of us reside up north, both Sam and I being from New Jersey, Patrick from Maryland, and Matt from Long Island. Our last team member Austin is the member who lives the farthest away; traveling all the way from High Point North Carolina. Don't worry Austin we know it's a long trip. Sam, Patrick, and myself all play some form of an instrument, guitar being the most common. I personally don't know how to play the guitar even though I do own one. My main instrument is the flute, but I also play the piccolo. Austiin and Matt are the sports people of the group playing one or more of the following; football, lacrosse, wrestling, or track. All of us are involved in campus in one form or another. Whether it be the Teddy Roosevelt Club of Excellence (hiking), Society of Physics, Entrepreneurship Club, Greek Life, the Rowing Team, or just focusing on academics. We also represent a wide range of majors; Mathematics, Business, Biology on the Pre-Med tract, Finance, or Criminal Justice on the Pre-Law tract.

All together the process of getting to meet new people was nerve racking at first, but ended up not being that bad. Everyone here is super nice and welcoming. It's a lot different then back home. The process of meeting new people has taught me to keep my eyes open because you never know who is among you. You may find that the person sitting across the room is actually just like you, and may end up becoming your best friend.