Today was a pretty interesting day. We had two guest speakers, Marcia Cone Tighe and Myrth York. They are from the National Women's Fund and they spoke to us about the movie we watched last night called "Iron Jawed Angels" and how we reflect upon seeing that movie. To me, it was a really good movie but shocking also. It opened my eyes to how much it took for women to get to where they are today. I also did not realize that Alice Paul played such a huge part in earning women's right to vote the movie acknowledge what she and the rest of her crew had to go through such as being forcibly fed while in prison. I did not know that Woodrow Wilson acted that cruely towards the rights of women and how other mens perceived women back in those days. It is such an inspiring movie and it inspired me to become one of those leaders.
After that, we talked about ethics in leadership. We broke up into groups to read different scenarios and we had to answer the questions on the back. Basically they were ethical dilemmas and we had to decide what to do if we were in that position. After reading different scenarios in a group, the class got back together to basically debrief the whole situation and how we would react. There were many different opinions because different people have different beliefs and I respect that. One of the situation that I thought was interesting is when a boy got in trouble for cheating on his test and later on his dad cheated to get into the movie theater. Later on, the boy asked his father why it was okay for him to cheat at the movie theater but not okay for him to cheat on his test. The father answered saying that cheating at the movie theater doesn't count because it is not hurting anybody. I believe that cheating at the movie theater is worse than cheaitng on a test because whent he boy cheated on his test, he was only hurting himself. The father was hurting the business. I can relate to that because parents often do that for example my father. He was not the best of the best because there were many aspects of him that were considered unfatherly. However, he always tried to teach us right from wrong. Whenever he did do anything wrong, he always lectured siblings and I that it is not the right thing to do so don't be like him. Well I guess by seeing his experiences have made me a better person in general. Well that is all for now. Gina, Mercedes, and I will be going to the Brown Bookstore. Toodles!
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2 comments:
Thanks for your insightful comments, I agree with most of your comments but I politely disagree with your analysis on cheating. Cheating is just bad, no matter who does it. It is equally bad for both the father and the son. The son is hurting the other students who have played by the rules. They may receive a lower grade through no fault of their own and not receive the benefit of their effort. Thus it gives a false sense of their aptitude. In college not everyone is going to get an "A" because their will be a curve and one's grade will be judged against the other students.
It is like a track and field race. Everyone may do great but you are only going to have one winner and if you are qualifying for the U.S Track team, they are only going to take the top three from the race. So, we want to make sure that everyone has the same set of tools and no additional enhancements.
Yes, the father is hurting the business and the employees who work hard every day trying to keep the business open. So, keep this in mind, cheating is just plain wrong!
Ethics is very important and that is why when I run for School Board I never cheat and I never take down another person's signs and I always comply with reporting standards. Ms. Kronenberg call it Karma and so we try to work with the highest of integrity to ensure that everyone will have confidence in us and in this project working with the ILC students.
Keep up the good work Meuy. You have acquired a powerful voice through this program. I see that you are expressing yourself and sharing a lot of your past. I am glad that you are gaining confidence and seeing that we are wanting to help you achieve your dreams.
See you when you return.
Charles T. Ramsey
School Board Member
West Contra Costa
Unified School District
Meuyyy⎯Something that came from women’s suffrage that is even more useful than women being afforded the same constitutional rights as men is the value of a single vote.
Most people aren’t aware but when a Constitutional Amendment is put forth it first has to win the approval the US Congress and Senate before being sent to the individual state legislatures for their approval. It’s then required not that a majority of the states approve nor even for two thirds to approve. For a Constitutional Amendment to become law it has to pass in three quarters of the states. It doesn’t matter what the issue is, Meuyyy, a three to one margin is TOUGH.
With the 19th Amendment, it passed in the Congress and the Senate both only by a margin of one vote and when it came to passage by the states, in order to get the 75% margin it came down to one state: Tennessee. If it failed in Tennessee, it would have failed and had been a dead issue. In the Tennessee state legislature, as the movie depicted, it came down to one vote. Representative Harry Burn changed sides (at the request of his mother) and changed history forever. The vote of one person changed the way women in the US would be treated forever.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your vote doesn’t matter.
Keep in mind, too, that what these ladies were jailed for was sedition⎯a crime usually used to punish anarchists who try to overthrow the government. What these ladies did was unfurl a banner in front of the White House with a viewpoint condescending to the President and they were given lengthy jail sentences for it. Can you imagine how full our jails might be today if they jailed everyone who said something negative against our President?
I don’t want it to appear as though we’re ganging up on you, Meuyyy, but Charles could not be more right about that ethical dilemma your group debated. When it comes to right and wrong there are no shades of gray. It’s either right or wrong. Cheating the movie theater or cheating yourself⎯there’s no difference. What Charles wrote was correct in that when the boy cheated on the exam he cheated his classmates but even more importantly he cheated himself. He chipped away at his moral character and made himself less of a person. It all starts with small steps, Meuyyy, where cheating on a test where he doesn’t see anything wrong with his actions leads to worse things like cheating on his taxes, cutting in front of people in the lines at Starbucks and squirting into that parking space ahead of the guy that was patiently waiting for the space to clear. The next thing you know, a spouse has been cheated on, you’re being acclaimed as the winner of the Boston Marathon even though you took the bus part of the way or you’re being sworn in as the President when voters are denied their right to vote. Where does it stop, Meuyyy?
When you think about it, I think you know in your heart that there was no difference between what the father did and what his son did.
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