Freedom of Speech Final Paper

            Within the United States, we have the Amendments in the Bill of Rights for each

individual in the United States. From first amendment Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the

Press, to the last amendment Undelegated Power kept by the States and the People is within the

US Constitution. I’ll be talking about the Freedom of Speech the first amendment. Not only how

important it is but how it is endangered by individuals that are abusing it and censoring others

views in violence. What is the definition of freedom of speech? The right which is guaranteed in

the first Amendment in the U.S. Constitution to express belief and ideas without unwarranted by

government restriction.

           

            All over the United States alone there has been controversies between free speech & hate

speech. Hate speech has become such a huge discussion as of lately. What is the definition of

Hate Speech? A speech in which is expressed hatred towards a particular group of

people.(“Merriam-Webster dictionary”) Is Hate speech protected under freedom of speech? No

it is not protected by freedom of speech. Within an article in the New York Times explains a talk

with Natalie Shutler over a book by Howard Gullman. (“Free Speech-Hate Speech Trade-Off

The New York Times”.) Here’s another example: The huge NFL (National Football League) talk

is the not saluting the flag. It not protected by free speech. Thanks to the court case of West

Virginia Board of Education vs Barnette.

Then we have those that wish disavow anyone’s freedom of speech. Those that have been

doing this, is individuals in groups such as Antifa, BLM (Black Lives Matter). It’s not the whole

group but just a selected few that would go out of their way to try to prove with violence and

saying it is supported by free speech in the long run it’s not. Look at what happened within the

University of California Berkeley. Individuals like Ben Shapiro, and Milo Yiannopoulos have

been attacked cause the shutdown free speech week. During “Free Speech Week” a group of

students were planning it at the University but the mayor canceled it before it took place. (“The

Washington post article UC-Berkeley Free Speech Week canceled.”) Large amounts of damage

were the result of the protest.

            Again it’s not the whole group it’s only a small group of individuals that would go out of

their way to censor someone else’s objective ideas and views. We have the same thing in the art

world. We have both Norman Rockwell and Shepard Fairey. Both have done heavy political art

pieces. Here’s a little back story on both of these artist. Norman Rockwell was born in New York

and was talented at a young age. He received his first commission at the age of 17. All of his

images were loved by the public but not by critics. Norman Rockwell’s reason for his art work is

because it was grounded of the world around him.

            Then we have the latest topic of free speech. Theirs the whole NFL (National Football League) protest.  It’s where professional players did not stand for the national anthem. As employees to a company professional athletes don’t have the first amendment right to protest at games. The first amendment applies to a matter of law only government action takes place. It’s up to the Teams owners to take action against the players. Free speech isn’t just a legal guarantee it’s civil right. We don’t really care if our speech, or the speech of someone we want to listen to, is suppressed by the government as opposed to private action. What we care about is getting to speak and listen. That’s what the players have done in the NFL. They may not be protected by the first amendment, but its matter of free speech in general. NFL owners don’t have to respect the players protest but they know that many individuals that sees it would be upset if the protest was suppressed.

            There a rule to support this. The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.

Links:

• NFL and Free-speech protesters have lost sight of what they’re protesting
• “Hate Speech.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, 
• “The Free Speech-Hate Speech Trade-Off.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017, 
• “What Does Free Speech Mean?” United States Courts, 
• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YH3e_ZcIC0&t=4s

Chronicles of Colin Kaepernick

I've been so inspired by the movement and sacrifices Colin Kaepernick has made this past year. With a simple silent protest he sparked a nationwide conversation on racism and equality. He chose to boycott the national anthem during preseason. At first he just sat down, but at the third preseason game he decided to kneel. A simple media tweet sparked a national convertation.

Two days after the game Kaepernick spoke with media and thoroughly explained what compelled him to protest. He felt he couldn't stand for a national anthem of a country that is constantly failing black and minority communities over and over again. 

The country, NFL league and players have since had split opinions. What people don't understand this has nothing to do with veterans, it has to do with the social INJUSTICE that minorities in this country continue to face. 

Because of his protest contoversy, Kaepernick, a superbowl quarterback has been blackballed by the NFL and was not picked up by a team for the 2017-2018 season.

For the opening of this season the NFL owners decided to misconstrue and dilute Kaepernick's message. Locking arms "in support" of each other. Which is not what the entire movement is about. The NFL has been fining players, channels stop broadcasting the national anthem, and even our president has tried to stop the NFL players and citizens from shining a light on the racism and social injustices people of minorities face in America.

I created a website in honor of Colin Kaepernick and all of the work and sacrifices he has made. I also decided to make an autotune soundtrack as a timeline of all his tribulations and accomplishments.

link to my site:

Colin Kaepernick; An Important Protest Of Our Time

sexuality and Female Athletes

women who play the game don't receive the same treatment.  in my blog i talk about different sports being viewed differently then what we do when men are playing. Words or action that differs women who are extremely athletic to their sexual part is what brings down the respect. Sponsoring sports is what helps expose the team and their athletic division. also helps athletes become famous for their skills but sadly women don't get the same amount of sponsors or fans. Fans are also important to the sport and female athletes only get certain kinds and amount. 

 https://myviewforfemaleathletes.blogspot.com

Hopshin Institute of Tech of New Jersey

      As an individual who observes the world economic state quite frequently, I tend to look for things that could really impact the country and our financial status. In 2008, the world nearly crumbled due to the housing mortgage crisis and it took a major bailout by the United States government to prevent that from happening. The issue there was debt outweighing the assets, false mortgage applications or fraud, and greedy bankers that provided loans with teaser rates to people that truly could not afford them. That was considered the American dream, home ownership but unfortunately it was obtaining the dream by any means necessary that ruined countless lives.

      Beside owning a home, the next huge life accomplishment that many Americans strive for is obtaining a college degree. Many of the current enrolled students are first generation college attendees or graduates. In addition, the world is as competitive as it has ever been and having just a college degree is not enough. In terms, what does that do to the people that only have a high school diploma that were never accepted into a college? What those individuals that have college degrees but want to advance deeper into their careers but couldn’t? The answers to these questions would contribute to the outstanding, growing total of student loan debt that plagues the United States of America.

     The college tuition debt is a huge problem and it comes from all sectors. Baby boomers refusing to retire, the number of highly qualified candidates for one job, and a swinging economy limit job growth. In addition, the creation of For-Profit colleges would sell many teens and adults the dream of a college education but at almost triple the price and half the worth. The goal is to target students in low economic areas and minorities and use government funds to maximize a student’s financial aid to pay for the term of the school. This is not to say graduates of For-Profit schools are not successful, but a good portion of the schools hold little value in the job market and leave students with enormous amount of debt that they are in no position to afford. This leads missed payments, horrible credit ratings, the inability to establish credit and borrow funds, and ultimately create additional debt within the economic system.

HOW EASY COULD IT BE?

   We did a look up of the For-Profit colleges recruiting tactics and found out their main source of enrollment came from cold calls. We also looked into the way some of the cold calls were handled and if the student or in this case client mentioned one source of weakness, the caller would pounce on them.

In comes Hopshin Institute of Tech of New Jersey, a phony For-Profit college that we created sitting in my office. We cost $77,000 per term and each term runs for 12-15 months pending your course of study and we teach EVERYTHING. We called 94 random people in the 07305 zip code of New Jersey, see our numbers below.

Typical REAL recruiter     :  200 calls every 4-5 hours if possible. (High commissions paid out.)

Hopshin Fake recruiter   :   94 total calls for one day.

Real recruiters closing rate :   16% monthly rate.

Hopshin FAKE recruiter :    contact 17 individuals, 3 questioned, 1 potentially was willing to           meet and possibly sign up.

Hopshin Potential Gross revenue : $77,000. ( SERIOUSLY! $77,000 POTENTIALLY FOR OUR FAKE SCHOOL. LOANS BACKED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.)

What Did We Say???

    Majority of our callers were quite rude and told us to screw off, wouldn’t you? A person calling you to try to sign up for a $77,000 per term school and receive your bachelor’s degree in that time has to be a scammer. Now if you know the right words to say, you can possibly get your way in the door and make money for your company. Here are some of the selling points we tried to work on.

1.     Receive your college degree in 12 months, plus finding a job is seamless with our contacts in many industries.

2.     Do it for your kids!

3.     Who doesn’t want career advancement? With our program, get your Masters and climb that corporate ladder. Plus we offer online courses with skype, webex, and cisco facetime classes.

4.     Already have that masters? Get another one. If you do not want another, how about our PHD program.

5.     DO IT FOR YOUR KIDS.

6.     How much money are you making now? Why not make more with a degree?

7.     Everyone has a college degree! Having a college degree is the new high school diploma.

8.     Your retired? Perfect! Now you have all the time you would need to learn something new. New language, computer skills, or new want to learn to trade stocks? We can accommodate.

9.     DO IT YOUR FAMILY.

HOW OTHERS FEEL ABOUT THEIR FOR-PROFIT EXPERIENCES

(These are only opinions but show true emotion)

Trevor

 San Jose

“I owe DeVry University roughly $60,000. Yes I made some poor choices, and yes I could have went to community college for nearly nothing for two years then hit the traditional 4-year university. However, I was too trusting in my yearly 20's, like many young people, to research other options. The solution here is simple. Keep these institutions open, because they can be a force for good, but mandate that each student take an "information session" by an independent party that gives beneficiaries of Title IV funding, namely the students, options on the cost vs benefit of different colleges and universities. If we care about our youths' education then we deserve to educate them on the choices they have, not hope or expect they'll learn it in primary schools or in their homes.”

Janel

 North Carolina 

“I now know that something needs to be done after taking out a PARENT PLUS LOAN in the tune of $34,000.00 for my daughter to attend the Art Institute NYC. This was only for one term and I had to travel to New York las weekend to pick her up because I became ineligible for any more loans. I know I was dupped and there is nothing I can do about it. My daughter is depressed and I am angry that these predators can operate like this.”

Jefferson

 Baltimore, MD 

They need to launch an attack on Laureate, Inc. as well. Laureate is the Baltimore based parent company that owns Walden University and whose CEO, Doug Becker makes $600K a year plus bonuses. All they care about is profit and 95% of their students hail from African-American backgrounds. Shut them all down!

DDH

 CT 

The for-profit colleges have been more aggressive than the non-profit colleges, but both are equally guilty of making promises that could never be fulfilled, using government loans and grants to generate revenue - all the while boasting about their effectiveness and independence. Both sectors need to be held accountable, and it only makes sense to begin with the colleges with the highest default rates. Can we please have a little common sense here? If Congress would stop "listening" to the lobbyists, something could be done.

My final project was something near and dear to my heart. I often get asked why I am such a strong supporter of LGBT rights as a straight woman. And the answer to that would be because although I am not a part of the community, I still witness how tough it is through my friends. Some of my closest friends struggle with being a part of the LGBT community, and I hate seeing my friends get the short end of the stick.  The first time I witnessed bullying against LGBT rights was my freshman year of high school. I went to a performing arts high school, and there was a big population of students apart of the LGBT community, and our vice principle was homophobic. For some reason only, the gay students would always get in trouble and I then realized I didn’t want to witness that for the rest of my life. My project is the coming out stories of various friends of mine as well as advice they have for others on a pride flag. My intent is to be able to hang this up somewhere some day, so people can read it and hopefully know that they aren't alone.

Final Project: Sexual Violence

            

         My final project was about sexual violence. Sexual Violence is and has always been a major issue in our society, yet those who hurt women and men have not been given the right punishment. Some manage to brush it off like it was nothing or even given hush money to keep quiet. Not anymore, Sexual violence hit big in the media these past couples of months with big celebrities like Harvey Weinstein and the multiple actresses he harassed and assaulted in the past decades. Since then multiple women have come forward to share their story of the other high-profile men who have assaulted them whether its NFL player, Music moguls, Comedies, directors, chefs and tv host. And let’s not forget that our own President of the United States is being accused of sexual harassment and no one has done anything about it. Women shouldn’t be hushed for what happened to them. I created a Tumblr that not only contains reblogged content but also with the permission of these strong human beings their experience with Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment. While also incorporating artwork based on sexual harassment.  

https://itsmybodymystory.tumblr.com

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/powerful-art-exhibit-powerfully-answers-the-question-what-were-you-wearing_us_59baddd2e4b02da0e1405d2a