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The article points out a misconception that people from other countries often make about the U.S. When people come to the U.S. they believe that life will be better here. The fact is that they might have a better chance of success, but in exchange they lose their roots or origins. Often times people become aware of the environment in which they live and realize that they need to cut all ties with the place they once called home. The persuit of education in order to better yourself usually is a lonely road that offers no shelter from the emotional seperation that the student faces during their college experience. On the road to college sometimes family and friends have to take the back seat. The college pace is to fast for them to keep up and relationships become more distant and eventually end. The gap between the students education and his parents will often prove to be the reason for the student to seek isolation. The more the student learns in college the further away the student is taken from the familiar world that they used to know and accept as the norm.
 * American Paradox**
 * //The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts// by Alfred Lubrano
 * ART RANGEL:**

Fighting Self-Doubt**
 * ERIN HINOJOSA:

The article is about the author, Alfred Lubrano. He speaks of his experience of growing up in working-class Brookyln, NY. Then, he goes on to tell about how he attended Lafayette High School and then attended Columbia University; which was 90 mins away from his house. Lubrano talks about how after he first started attending Columbia he began to notice the differences between himself and his father. He then speaks of how his families usual dinner conversations became un-interesting because they spoke about general stuff. Lubrano states that he never shared his thoughts at the dinner table because his new found college ideas would have been upsetting to his parents.


 * ALFRED LUBRANO =>**





**Pictures of Downtown Brooklyn, NY.**
http://images.google.com/url?q=http://wnyheritagepress.org/photos_week_2005/lafayette_hs/lafayette_hs.htm&sig=__krmq1x4PGX754MUUgafPm0Hfn7o=





Then, Lubrano talks about Richard Rodriguez and tells how Rodriguez book discusses how "the scholorship boys learned to withdraw from the warm noise of gathered family to isolate themselves in their books" (p.422). Lubrano then tells that when he personally interviewd Rodriguez, Rodriguez tells him that in his book he describes how kids move from two antithetical places: home and school. The home is a now place that is un-changing. The school is on another level that is looking toward the future.


 * "**THE SCHOLORSHIP BOY MUST LEARN TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM THE FAMILY CIRCLE IN ORDER TO SUCCEED ACADEMICALLY.**" -Rodriguez tells Lubrano. (p.422)

Lubrano then states how because of the distance he creates from his family he ultimately feels like he is losing his family. He goes on to say that his self-pity made him feel even more lonely.

Lastly, Lubrano states that his father got up early each day to work at Columbia and then to another job site, while he attended Columbia. Then, he states when he got done with Columbia he was a different person; he got the better end of the deal.



Lubrano, Alfred. “The Shock of Education: College Corrupts.” __Signs of Life: In the USA__ 5th Edition. Maasik, Sonia, and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. 420-426.



Macbeth and Other Foolishness**
 * DANIELA POPTELECAN:

In the second half of Alfred Lubrano’s, //The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts//, he writes about the differences between how middle class kids and working class kids are groomed by their different status and families, which effects their ability and desire to learn. Lubrano gives an example of how both might approach learning Shakespeare while middle-class kids might understand the importance and usefulness of learning Shakespeare in school, working-class kids do not necessarily understand it’s usefulness and are more concerned with immediate needs. Lubrano then goes on to examine other areas that would have an effect on the differences between middle-class and working-class students. In better areas there are usually better teachers, while in poorer areas the teachers are not as well-trained and focus more on test scores, which means they try to teach the children how to pass the test and obey rules. Each of the class’ home life is also a factor to their learning, in working-class the home life more like a military, conformity is the norm, things are dictated, no questions asked, kind of place. With this attitude there is less language in the home and that translates into lower reading scores and lower grades for these students. In contrast, middle-class families are more verbal and take time to explain things to their children, instead of conformity they are more collaborative, and all are things that help the children when they enter school. In addition to all of this, when it does come time to prepare for college, in middle-class families there is support from the family and friends which help make the decision for them to go easier.

Next, Lubrano moves to specific cases of two females that were both from working-class neighborhoods and went to against the norm by going to college. The first is Rita Giordano, who grew up in Brooklyn and went to Syracuse University. Whenever she returned home her friends didn’t understand what she did at school or why she even went so far away. She soon realized that they had little in common to talk about. When talking about going back home Rita said, “It was confusing to come home and see people thinking that you’re not doing what they’re doing, which meant you’re rejecting them.”

The other person that Lubrano talked about was Loretta Stec, who was from Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She went to Boston College and in her case it was her boyfriend who was trying to hold her back. His name was Barry and he worked construction and for the summer between her freshman and sophomore years she also worked construction with him. After returning to Boston College Barry decided to go up to Boston to bring Loretta back with him. He made a huge scene yelling and screaming for her to come with him, which embarrassed her and made her realize that she didn’t want to be with him any longer.


 * Syracuse University**


 * Boston College**

This article is about the differences and difficulties that children of working-class neighborhoods much go through to go to college. It shows how when they do decide to go, that they are leaving a world they were apart of, never really able to fully return to it. There is such a distance created by the result of their higher education.


 * //Blind Spot// by Randall Kennedy
 * GINA LEPORE:**

The second half of Blind Spot by Randall Kennedy is about the knowledge of racial profiling and how it has a great impack in our lives.One thing that really suprise me when he said "Opponents rightly argue however that not rigorous emprical proof supports the idea of racial profiling as an effective tool of law enforcement"(p447). That hit me hard as an African American that is not something the I would like to here that police officer have if out for me just because I'm African American. Randall also gave example by saying "that in Florida 80% that were stop and search were black and Hispanic". At the end of his article he says that racial profiling will not end and it something that we will just have to go through as people.
 * MONIQUE WILLIS:**

Question for Peers 1. Have you been effected by racial profiling? 2. Do you think that police officer use racial profiling in today age? 3. Do you think that racial profiling will end? and if so how will it end?

Video Clip of Racial Profiling http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2236651703674441065&q=racial+profiling&hl=en

Examples of Racial Profiling http://www.amnestyusa.org/racial_profiling/report/index.html