Man and Wife, Black and White

My uncle, Peter, got married over the weekend to his new wife, Anna, and although Peter and Anna are both Asian, their wedding led me to think about interracial marriage. Some questions that posed in my mind were: What if Anna was Caucasian? Is interracial marriage more common than marriage between people of the same race? 

I did a little research and found that the Pew Research Center did a study of interracial marriages in 2010. Of the 2,096,000 marriages in 2010, about 275,500 were interracial, and 192,850 of those interracial marriages had a Caucasian partner. I found it interesting when The New Observer stated "White Americans are statistically the least likely to marry outside of their race, although because of their numbers, are involved in...interracial marriages more than any other group." Why are White Americans "least likely" to marry outside of their race? 

Most people would agree that interracial marriage has increased tremendously throughout history. A 2013 GALLUP poll says that 87% of the 4,373 Americans surveyed approve of interracial marriage. This is a huge jump from the 4% that approved in 1958. 

A sociology professor at Cornell University says that "The rise in interracial marriage indicates that race relations have improved over the past quarter century."

What are your thoughts on this quote? Do you think that relations between different races in the U.S. have really improved? Why or why not? What do you think about interracial marriage in general? Approve or disapprove? 

Links to all the articles can be found here:
The New Observer, GALLUP, NY Daily News

Standard System of Testing

As I was thinking about what I should blog about this week, I decided to talk about a major topic in my life: Standardized Testing. I feel like as a junior it's an obligation to be preparing for the ACT. Many students study for the ACTs in order to better their chances of getting into different colleges, but I think there's always an undeniable sense of worry that students have while taking the test. 

Students put all their hope in a number that, some people believe, proves our intelligence to schools. Apart from the stress students put on themselves, there is always pressure to study for SAT, ACT, and other standardized tests. They are generally emphasized by schools, parents, and the peers around us because of the requirements that colleges have regarding the tests. Although standardized tests are a common part of American culture, many have gone against and questioned the fairness of it. 

There are many different articles about the pros and cons of standardized testing, but I chose this one to look at. I picked this article, written by procon.org, because of the #2 pro and con of the article. Both completely contradict each other; one says that "Standardized tests are reliable and objective measures of student achievement", while the other says that "Standardized tests are an unreliable measure of student performance." 

So what's your opinions on standardized testing? What does this system (standardized testing) say about America?

"Home"Less Veterans

Political Cartoon about Homeless Veterans  

Studies from the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness show that more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year, and 23% of these people are military veterans. Phoenix, Arizona has reached an amazing achievement, becoming the first city to reduce the number of chronically homeless veterans living in the city to zero. A 56 year old veteran named Robert Stone fell into alcoholism and a failing heart after serving at California naval bases for 3 years. He said “I’m coming up on nine months sober, and a big part of it is because I have a roof over my head” (Santos). The government has made it a top priority to get U.S. veterans off the streets by 2015.  To read more about Phoenix’s plan click here, and to read more about the government’s opinion on homeless veterans click here.

You may ask why the government has made this a top priority. Why not focus on the national debt or crime rates in major cities? The simple answer is that the veterans deserve a better life than homelessness. They have spent many years serving in the military, protecting and supporting the nation from behind closed doors. People who have dedicated their lives to protect their "home" should not be "home"less.

After reading this article I thought about Jane Addams, the creator of the Hull House. The Hull House was the first homeless shelter built in Chicago, IL and considered one of the most influential settlement houses in the nation. The idea of homeless shelters have passed down from 1889 to 2013. I find it ironic that the Hull House was directed toward immigrants coming into the U.S., but now, it is the defenders of our country who need this basic assistance. 

How do you think Jane Addams would react to this turn of events? What does this issue of homelessness REALLY say about U.S.'s military spending and care for its citizens?

The Data Leak

Right after Christmas, 4.6 million people received a special gift from a group of hackers. 4.6 million people had their usernames, phone numbers, and their region area displayed on http://www.snapchatdb.info/. The last two digits of the phone numbers had an "x", but anyone can figure out the numbers with trials of combinations. To see if your information was leaked, click here. Unfortunately, even if you delete your snapchat, your phone number still remains on the list. Some people wonder why this leak hurts anyone at all, but by having the information of the snapchatter, hackers can use that information to get into other accounts connected to that phone number. For example, Google accounts, Facebook, and other sources of social media connected to that number can be accessed. Read this article for more information about this leak. To read more about the dangers of this leak, click here.

After hearing about the leak I checked to see if I was on the list: and I was. I took down my phone number from all my other social media accounts. This leak made me think about the security of my information on all my social media accounts. Chris Gayomali of "The Week" writes: 

     Snapchat is a messaging service that destroys pictures after they are sent. It is very popular. The company prides itself on security and privacy, and maintaining the trust of its users is paramount to its success.

Knowing that even Snapchat, a company that "prides itself on security and privacy" got hacked, worries me about the amount of security Americans have in all their accounts, from snapchat to the bank.

How much security do you think Americans really have? Do we have full control over our own accounts? If not, will we ever?