"School Grades"

I feel frustrated. I have been very busy during these passed weeks. I have been busy with school work and some family responsibilities. I know that this is not a major issue, but I feel that I have a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time. I have had not enough time to sleep and have meals. I know I have good time management skills, but sometimes I get frustrated and end up leaving my duties for the next day. I am already in the seventh week of the semester (almost half a semester) and I feel like I have not done my best job yet.
So far I am satisfy with the grades I have in two of my classes, math and English, but not with the grades I have on my other two classes, sociology and psychology. I am not surprised that I have an A plus (100%) in my pre-calculus class since math has always been my favorite subject. What makes me happy and is a surprise for me is that I believe I have an A in my English class. This makes me happy because, even though that class is supper hard for me when writing essays and responds to readings, I still have a good grade. But what disappoints me a little bit is that sociology is a fun and easy subject but I have a C on it. Most of it is common sense, but I missed a couple of points on an assignment and that brought my grade sown to a C. On the other hand, I am struggling with my psychology class because everything I am learning is new to me.

Hanging Tongues: A Sociological Encounter with the Assembly Line

In the essay, “Hanging Tongues: A Sociological Encounter with the Assembly Line,” William E. Thompson, a sociology professor, describes his analysis and experience in the meat-packing industry affecting workers’ lives.
Thompson begins his essay by giving a visual description of a particular meat-packing industry that employs over 1, 800 people. The plant is divided into two sections: slaughter or kill floor and processing. Most of the equipment is made of stainless steel. The most dominant feature he describes is the combine smell of fresh meat, blood, and smoke. But workers are so focused on the salary, which in most cases exceeds the minimum wage by at least $5.50, that the smell is not a problem to them. In this place employees work as a social network (the social ties radiating outward from the self that like people together) at a fast speed slaughtering 187 head of cattle per hour with the exception of two breaks they are given. On average, a worker hangs, brands, and bags between 1,350 to 1,500 beef tongues. Workers would work ahead of the line to add a few more minutes to their break. Because the work is monotonous, they feel like the machines have control over them. Employees feel more like objects or products than people, a term for this is alienation (Max’s term for workers’ lack of connection to their product of their labor; others use the term in the general sense of not feeling a part of something). To get out of the routine, workers tend to daydream which is dangerous because this causes accidents and improperly done jobs at the same time. The job requires undivided attention.
Thompson also describes other aspects of the dangerous meat-packing job. Serious cuts occur almost daily. Getting infected with animals’ blood is also another problem. Workers who constantly cut meat suffer of muscle and ligament injuries. Although the job is dangerous and any worker can become a victim, the meat-packing company is proud to have only three employee deaths in a period of twelve years.

Sociology Reading 2nd part

I was glad that this reading was not as long as the previous one. I found it interesting because it provided several examples, details, and information. As I was reading it reminded me about a high school lecture were my history teacher commented about a book called “The Jungle Book” that included similar topics as this essay. The most interesting part was how Thompson described the setting and the smell of the beef plant. It is sad that these people work under negative working conditions. It was funny to read about how employees express their individuality by violating some of the company’s rules without getting caught. I was surprised to find out that about 187 heads of cattle were slaughter per hour and about 1,500 per day. In contrast, I was not surprised by the financial benefits of the job because I was aware that people in these areas have a decent salary.

Sociology Reading

This morning I read an article from my sociology textbook. It was about the meat-packing industry. This short paragraph focuses on what some of the workers do when violating the company’s rules.
Thompson explains that violating the rules of the company without getting caught is a fun thing to do. Sometimes workers destroy some of the product or equipment used for the production. They have fun by cutting and throwing out chunks of meat which is not allowed. Sometimes these pieces of meat get contaminated when landing on the floor. Sense its status (the position that someone occupies in society or in a social group, in this case the position of the meat is food product) is food product that their family will most likely eat, they do not do it as often. In addition to ruining the product, it decreases their salary, too. Going against the roles is a challenge, a fun thing to do, and a way of expressing freedom and individuality.
Finally, Thompson explains that many people stay in this job because the salary exceeds minimum wage. The job is dangerous and physically hard but the salary is decent. At some point, employees plan to take it as summer job but later they get in debt and have to keep working there because leaving the job is almost impossible. Employees may not have a high status job but they are happy knowing that they have acquired nice belongings thanks to the job they have.

A School Assignment

I did not know what else to write for this week’s journals, so I decided to about the scrapbook I created while I was in high school.

I have kept a black and pink binder in my room since ninth grade because it reminds me of my high school years. First of all, my AVID teacher, Mr. Stokes, introduced the final project to the class. It consisted of collecting pictures, letters, and assignments from any time of our high school course. He told the class to collect pictures. These pictures could be of family members, friends, teachers, parties, field trips, football games, dances, assemblies, anything. He also told the class to ask our dearest friends and teachers to write us some “words of wisdom”. The lastly, Mr. Stokes told to the class to go through all the assignments being done during that year, 2006, and choose three of the ones we were very proud of because we got a good grade or an encouraging comment from the teacher. This seemed to be a fun and exciting project, however, I did not want to do it because I thought it was a waste of time. It had nothing to do with academics or the class. To be exact, I had no desire to complete the project for the reason that I had few pictures and assignments I could used.

“Friendship”

This passed weekend I went to church and found the sermon very interesting.
Here is what the youth pastor talked about:

Friendship is shared by both men and women. We all share the need for someone to talk to, share our joys and tears, hopes and dreams. There are many types of friendships. Every individual needs a friend. Friends feed basic needs. Friends make a difference in our lives.
In order to begin any friendship people need to risk reaching out to someone new. Risking is being simply who one is. Self-honesty helps to accept others as they are. Often, people have a natural ability to develop friendship by using behaviors such as listening actively, sharing unconditional love, sharing time, laughs, secrets, responsibilities, caring with compassion, responding to physical touch, giving gifts, giving words of comfort and affection, and spending time together. All of these abilities help to develop a friendship.
How can a friendship be maintained? People have a difficult time maintaining friendships. This is due to the everyday activities such as distance, lack of time, being parents, family members, and workers or students. Commitment and dedication are some of the elements needed to maintain a friendship. A commitment through the good and bad times helps a friendship to last. A true friend is there for the other person, even when they do not really feel like being there.
Friends deserve the chance to be forgiven. We should always want to save friendships by thinking about how much they mean. Friends should be treated as one wants to be treated. Talking to them about the feelings related to the conflict and listing from the other person’s side are steps that will lead to forgive those friends who had broken the relationship. But, we should keep in mind that the goal is reconciliation no personal victory. Friends are kept by making a commitment of being with them during the good and bad times. We will all gain something when we find a person to call friend.

“Mathematicians”

The careers that appeal to me the most are the ones in the mathematics field. Since elementary school, math has always been my favorite subject. The careers I am most interested about are in areas such as Physics, Accounting, and Mathematics.

Mathematicians use symbolic language, mathematical theories, computational techniques, and the latest computer technology to analyze and solve problems. There are two classes of mathematicians: theoretical and applied mathematicians. Theoretical mathematicians develop new principles. Applied mathematicians use theories and techniques to solve problems. Mathematicians usually work alone in an office for long periods of time. Their jobs may also include overtime work, information and analysis, and travel. The degree of education and training mathematicians need is a minimum of a bachelor’s degree but in some cases a Ph. D. degree is the minimum requirement. Besides having math skills, they are organized critical thinkers and sometimes have knowledge of a second language. Although the jobs in this career are expected to decline, mathematicians get paid from $3,604 to $11,013 per month depending on their experience.
If I was to be in the stage of life where I had to choose a career, then I would choose becoming a mathematician. I believe I would have a higher chance of being successful in this career because I already have some of the skills required. But most importantly, I believe I would be happy doing this everyday. The only aspect that I do not like is that jobs in this field are expected to decline.

Today, in my sociology class, I was asked to summarize my thoughts and ideas about the Yanomamo Indians of southern Venezuela. This is what I wrote.

This essay was quite interesting. I enjoyed reading it because it provides many detailed examples. I was already aware that there are still cultures like this in the world today. What I found most interesting is that, although the Yanomamo Indians do not live in a civilize environment, they have similar characteristics as a civilize person. For example, they treated Chagnon as a friend only when they notice that he was becoming like one of them. This makes me think that people would treat others nicely when they share common qualities. I believe this happens with every culture not just with the Yanomamo Indians. I did not like the fact that men, members of this tribe, were allowed to have several wives. I probably disagree with this idea because that is not acceptable in my culture. I admire how Chagnon was able to adapt to the Indians’ way of living, which would have been a difficult task for me because I am very attached to my culture.

"The Yanomamo Indians" 2nd part

During his visit to the region, Chagnon faced cultural shock (the distortion that people experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and no longer depend on their taken-fro-granted assumptions about life). It was not what he had expected. He provides the reader with several of the Indians’ descriptions most of which displayed bravery and ferocity. He also describes them as very demanding in the way that they would not accept “no” as an answer when they asked for something: food, a machete, or tools. The Yanomamo Indians would not stop asking after they had been refused for about six months. Because of Chagnon’s new attitudes and behavior, the Yanomamo Indians started to like him. They became friends because they had more things in common…These Indians acted aggressively to people from other tribes and sometimes even with their close ones: their wives and brothers. The Indians were aggressive to their wives by beating them several times. Another important aspect from the Yanomamo Indians is that for them was common to have five to six wives in addition to several affairs with many more women.

"The Yanomamo Indians"

Today, in my Sociology 1 class, I learned about the Yanomamo Indians’ culture.

In the essay “The Fierce People,” anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon describes his personal experiences, when living for about a year and a half, with the Yanomano Indians of southern Venezuela. His major duty in this region of the world was to learn more from the Yanomamo culture (a groups way o living), and to find and record their genealogy data. Chagnon remembers the fear he felt when he had to be introduced to the Yanomamo Indians. This tribe would stare at him because he was a new individual in the region. Chagnon describes them as “the fierce people,” intimidating, aggressive, and demanding. He also describes the Indians as being naked and duty looking.
As the time passed by, he learned their language. He also learned to become aggressive and demanding like them. He also learned techniques to gain personal benefit. For example, when an Indian would steal some of his supplies, he would ask for the person who did it and later pay back by stealing something from that person, too. At the end of the day the Indian would come back and exchange the item. Chagnon also learned how to gain personal benefit from specific situations like fights. For this tribe, mentioning the name of a deceased tribe member was a taboo (a norm so strong that it often brings revulsion if violated). This taboo made it harder for him to find out about the Yanomamo ancestors. Since a group of people was against another group, he would contact the enemy. This enemy was most likely to answer his questions accurately without worrying about the norm since the Indian did not care about the person he was giving information about. With the Indian’s help, Chagnon was able to obtain accurate information about the Yanaomamo Indians. Therefore, he was capable of tracing back some generations.