Karla Nuñez

In class writing

Marginalisation, discrimination and the health of Latino immigrant day labourers in a central North Carolina community.

In this academic Journal, there was a study targeting the discrimination faced by latino day labourers in central North Carolina. According to the studies they found three main links that allowed for discrimination. The three main links between discrimination/marginalisation and poor health were dangerous work that resulted in workplace injuries or illnesses;  unsteady employment that caused stress, anxiety and insufficient funds for healthcare; and exclusionary policies and treatment resulted in limited healthcare accessibility. One of the men that was studied informed them of the anxiety and pressure they have regarding work and their health.

Fleming, P. J., Villa-Torres, L., Taboada, A., Richards, C., & Barrington, C. (2017). Marginalisation, discrimination and the health of Latino immigrant day labourers in a central North Carolina community. Health & Social Care In The Community, 25(2), 527-537. doi:10.1111/hsc.12338

Free Writing

why does social class affect work? why should academic standing affect your worth many parents force their children to attend colleges and look down on manual labor work i think it affects more females than males. Males do not really get looked down upon if they choose to do manual labor instead of going to college why do careers matter to prove our self worth i want to write about why going to college is seen as the best thing for many families and how children are looked down upon if they do not seek higher level learning i think one has the ability to choose whatever job they like as long as they are goal oriented and aren’t slackers one should get a job where they actually enjoy what they are doing instead of living life while working a stressful job one’s best qualities should be highlighted in their career of choice

Families believe stereotypes so their children are forced into careers that they not really like and are looked down if they choose to work in manual labor. I really want to  research this idea because I feel that many student often choose their majors because of familial influence.

Where do these stereotypes come from?

In my hometown, many people work in agricultural labor, such as grape picking and also date picking. The temperature is very hot where I am from, so I can imagine the physical discomforts of working in the heat.  I have also heard many stories of people having certain health problems due to always being hunched over in the fields. Physical labor is very demanding and sadly one’s health pays the price. I also  know someone who works as a care taker and sometimes he is stressed due to handling people’s disorders. Work is very demanding and society pays a lot of attention to how we make money, so we often overlook the discomforts in order to keep a job.

Homeless Concern a never-ending story in Coachella Valley

In the article of the Desert Sun, which is my hometown’s newspaper, we see that there is a huge debate about what do about homelessness.“People say, ‘do something about homelessness.’ Tell me what. What am I going to do about homelessness?” said Ginny Foat, a Palm Springs councilwoman who has long spearheaded local discussions about homeless services. “It’s a community problem, but nobody wants to look at it as a community problem. It’s been relegated to the (city’s) task force.” I felt that the above quote relates to Desmond’s “Home and Hope” because homelessness is a problem that is often ignored by the majority of communities. There is no awareness to this issue and it affects communities day by day.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/palm-springs/2016/05/26/homeless-shelters-housing-first/83997748/

Karla, Brandon, Leo

Pacific Collegiate Charter:

Completion of Advanced Placement courses is required for graduation, as is study of at least one foreign language. Students must also complete at least 20 hours of community service per year

Oxford Academy:

Requirements of 4 AP classes to graduate

At the end of their sophomore year, students choose between a business track or a health and science track to supplement their core courses.

The top schools are private and the failing schools are usually public. The fact that there are AP requirements is probably why they are more successful in academics than the failing schools.

Both of these schools have a big percentage of full time teachers and small class sizes.  The teachers are also available after school.

Karla: I went to a private jesuit high school. There was no requirement of AP courses, but we did have to do a lot of community service. My school had small class sizes and the professors were very available after class. I could say that my high school was a balance of both of these types of schools.

Reflection (Brandon):

After looking at what makes these high ranking high schools in the United States, I can say that my high school fell well behind these requirements. Whether it be the lack of AP classes offered or the student to teacher ratio, my high school didn’t stack up to the high schools shown on the list. In addition, the support given towards students, while still present, is nowhere near the amount said to be towards those in high ranking schools. Furthermore, the state and budget of my school pales in comparison to the private and sought after institutions for education.

Reflection (Leo): After researching about those successful school in the US, and compare my high school to those high ranking high schools, I found that my old high school could be considered as a failing high school, there are no AP classes requirements or foreign languages studies requirements, and sometimes we don’t have enough teachers.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california/districts/anaheim-union-high/oxford-academy-1748

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california/districts/santa-cruz-county-office-of-education/pacific-collegiate-charter-3854

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050100376.html

In elementary school, I went to a school that was public and had a majority of latino students. I felt that I did not really realize culture distinctions until middle school, where I went to a school that had a variety of different race groups. Class distinctions were not really noticeable in middle school, because it was still a public school as well. Private school really changed my perceptions on things. Race and class distinctions were noticeable.  The rich only conversed with the rich. The rest of the classes were left to hang out with each other. Before the presidential election of 2016, there was a lot of racial tension in my senior class. Many people were so ignorant and it just baffled me. Discrimination was not really there but at the same time it could be seen through the cliques.  These experiences really showed me to have a certain patience for ignorance and opposing viewpoints.

White Latin Americans(wiki)

This article talks about the origin of fair skinned latinos who are often portrayed as white european.  I feel that this article did not really talk about the skin color discrimination that many Latin American countries have. In the article it is stated that “some American media outlets have criticised Latin American media for allegedly featuring a disproportionate number of blond and blue-eyed/green-eyed white actors and actresses in telenovelas, relative to non-whites”. This is actually very accurate which is surprising to see coming from a wikipedia article. The above quote was the only source of skin color discrimination found in the article. I am upset that it did not talk about how Latin American media sources depict indigenous people as lower class and poor. That is the reality of the skin color issue. Wikipedia lacks some information that is crucial to know about and that is where we have to watch out.

According to my research, MIT was deemed as the top university in the world in 2018. I also did some research on MIT’s scholarships and they would only be given out if it is financially necessary.  This goes to show how difficult it is to attend these elite schools. A low income student has to battle two different aspects when it comes to attending these top tier schools. Admittance and financial aid are two problems that higher education bring. These resources show that higher education is definitely a competition to gain privilege of going to a top school.

QS world university rankings 2018: statistics. (2018, February 28). Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2018/feb/28/qs-world-university-rankings-2018-statistics

Tuition and Financial Aid. (n.d.). Retrieved March 05, 2018, from http://web.mit.edu/facts/tuition.html

Karla, Kelly, Maddy

Center for Disease Control:

“Food deserts are areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet.”

Limited access to affordable, healthier foods is one factor that may make it harder for some Americans to eat a healthy diet and could negatively affect their health

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, there are “higher rates of obesity found in low-income and racial/ethnic minority groups in the U.S.  Environmental barriers to healthy eating are often greater for people who have lower incomes, less education, and language barriers, and traditional healthy diet education campaigns often fail to reach them.”

Additionally, a lack of access to supermarkets combined with greater access to convenience stores increases this trend (Harvard).

On Civil Eats (“a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system”), writer Jodi Helmer brings up one potential solution: modern food courts.  Trendy food courts are emerging in urban areas, with one example “serving a diverse mix of foods, including burgers, ramen noodles, Ethiopian cuisine, and Mexican ice cream, in a range of price points.” A potential problem with this solution is that it doesn’t clearly address how people suffering poverty will be helped.  Clearly, food deserts are a problem that disproportionately affect poor communities, and trendy food courts might not be accessible. While it is still unclear if this is a viable solution, there are other options.

An initiative called the Urban Food Project “encourag[es] corner stores to buy, sell, and market fresh produce, [and] improves healthy food access and the local farmers who make weekly fresh produce deliveries gain new markets for their fruits and vegetables” (Helmer).

Food Swamps(the atlantic)
new research suggests food deserts might not be the culprit—or at least not the only one—for the high prevalence of obesity in certain areas. Instead, food swamps might be to blame.

In addition to being low on grocery stores, food swamps are also crammed with unhealthy food options like corner stores and fast-food places.

Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods (John Hopkins magazine)

According to new research by Kelly Bower, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing, When comparing communities with similar poverty rates, she discovered that black and Hispanic neighborhoods have fewer large supermarkets and more small grocery stores than their white counterparts. Bursting with junk-food options, these smaller establishments rarely offer the healthy whole-grain foods, dairy products, or fresh fruits and veggies that a supermarket would provide. When it comes to having healthy food options, says Bower, “the poverty level of a neighborhood certainly matters, but even beyond poverty, the racial composition matters.”

references:

Access or Gentrification-Can a Food Hall Transform a Food Desert? (2017, February 09). Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://civileats.com/2016/12/09/access-or-gentrification-can-a-food-hall-transform-a-food-desert/

Toxic Food Environment. (2016, April 13). Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/food-environment-and-obesity/

Khazan, O. (2017, December 28). Food Swamps Are the New Food Deserts. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/12/food-swamps/549275/

Kelly Brooks / Published Spring 2014. (2014, March 10). Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2014/spring/racial-food-deserts/

In my family there is a weird tradition of eating orange rice with bananas, this is a popular mix in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. This would be used by all social classes, so it is very inclusive. In my culture beans and tortillas are common among all social classes, but the less fortunate would probably eat it more often. Nobody looks down upon these two food combinations because they are used in all social classes. A snobby person would probably not want to eat this as often as the less fortunate would because of the popularity among the lower class.