Tag Archives: america

Election Complexion

By Jonah Vroerop

Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula

[3½ minute read]

Voting is arguably the most important facet of our democracy. It is the vehicle through which the voices of the common people reach the ears of leadership and the only way in which we can choose who represents us, both on a world stage and in our local governments. Many people think that Americans dislike talking about politics because it is rude or private. However, this is largely untrue. Yes, Americans may be hesitant to tell you which candidate they voted for or plan to vote for but engaging in conversation about political topics or asking someone’s opinion of a candidate is not rude at all. In fact, you may learn some things about American political history from these conversations and you may begin to understand why politics are such a barrier of change in the United States.

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

2020 is a big year for a lot of reasons, among which is the presidential election. In November, American citizens will cast their votes for the President and Vice President of the United States of America. Americans have the option of voting at a local polling station (usually a school, gymnasium, or community center) or via mail. The mail-in ballots are very important for many Americans, especially those who live out of their home state or state of permanent residence, since American voting laws mandate that your vote is counted by your state. The result of this year’s election will rely heavily on mail-in ballots, since many will likely be taking precautionary measures to avoid possible COVID transmission.

COVID, among many other things, has made this election pivotal for saving the lives of thousands of Americans. Our current administration has made an abysmal effort to address the coronavirus pandemic and as a result, America has had 7.3 million cases and over 200,000 deaths. The environment, racial inequality, and economics (partially due to covid), have also emerged as influential factors in the 2020 election. And so, if Americans want to see changes and progress in these areas, we will have to vote in record numbers. Although the election results are impossible to predict, we know that both leading candidates (former VP Joe Biden/Kamala Harris and the incumbent candidates Donald Trump/Mike Pence) still have a very realistic chance of winning. Therefore, the small percentage of “swing voters” in the United States will be the individuals that determine the outcome of this election. The states that have the highest numbers of these voters (we call these states “swing states”) are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Since the Presidential candidates win the votes of most of the states “all or nothing” (meaning that if the majority vote for one candidate all electoral votes of the state will go to that candidate), even a small number of voters in a swing state have a very large amount of electoral influence.

Photo by Louis Velazquez on Unsplash
Continue reading Election Complexion

Taking English for Granted

By David Schroeder

[4 minute read]

Language is not something I really think about on a day-to-day basis. Most of the time, I just go through my day freely communicating with ease and not running into any language-related problems. I feel like this is the way a lot of native English speakers living in America feel, and I’ve found that it is a very ignorant way of thinking. Everyone should acknowledge that being fluent in English is a major privilege that is often overlooked or taken for granted by native speakers.

During my first conversation session at ALI, I was talking with an international student specifically about what our high schools were like. He said that he had a few required classes that he had to take during high school, and that one of them was four years of English. I mentioned that I was also required to take a foreign language and my conversation partner was puzzled by this, and he questioned me on why I would be required to learn any other language besides English. This forced me to step back and think more deeply about English.

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My conversation partner’s statement is sad but true, because in a practical sense, if you know English, there is not a need to know any other language because of English’s dominance in the world. This is unfortunate, because it is not fair to rate languages above each other because it creates a big disadvantage to those who are not native English speakers, and thus they are given the burden of learning another language (usually English) out of necessity.

Continue reading Taking English for Granted

A State of California

By Jason Her

As a California native, I know Californians often take pride in where we are from using terms such as NorCal for Northern California, Bay Area, CenCal for Central California, and SoCal for Southern California to represent our hometowns. All of these have their own unique identity that make these terms special because of the culture, diversity, agriculture, scenery, national parks, and overall history of these areas we live in.

Photo from Pixabay

Northern California 

NorCal, a region located in northern California, is most easily recognized by the city of Sacramento, the state capital where Arnold Schwarzenegger once served as the governor. Aside from the capital, NorCal is also known for being a “foodie heaven”- as the birthplace of the farm-to-table movement, home of wine country, and the location of four of the 12 restaurants to receive three Michelin-stars in the United States. It houses the largest railroad museum in North America where restored engines and cars are exhibited. It is home to some of the tallest trees in the world located in Redwood National Park. In addition to these infamous trees, this region has one of the largest concentrations of ski resorts in the world in the city of Tahoe. With an abundance of outdoor activities available year-round and gastronomy culture, NorCal a great place to visit if the great outdoors and food are your thing.

Bay Area

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

The Bay Area is a region located along the northern coast of the Pacific around the San Francisco Bay, Oakland and San Jose. Significant landmarks include the notorious prison of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Aside from these landmarks, cable cars and Levi’s jeans were invented here. One of the oldest and most established Chinatown’s in the United States is located here, with origins dating back to the Gold Rush. Controversial claims about the invention of fortune cookies were created in this Chinatown area as well. The Bay Area is also home to Stanford, one of the world’s leading research universities. One section of the Bay Area, known as Silicon Valley, houses some of the top tech companies of the world including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Tesla. While this developed tech sector makes the Bay Area the most expensive region in the United States, it is still a paradise for anyone looking to get into a major tech company.  

Central California

Photo from PublicDomainPictures

Though CenCal is a region often overlooked because of its location, it is not lacking in culture and identity. Known as the Great Valley of California, agriculture is the primary industry producing an array of fruits and vegetables with Fresno proclaiming itself as the ‘Raisin Capital of the World’. The world’s largest trees are located at Sequoia National Park and the highest peak in the lower 48 states, is Mount Whitney. Of all the universities in California, the latest one was built in Merced, located near Yosemite National Park. It is a major tourist attraction and famous for the Half Dome where The North Face apparel company fashions its company logo from. In Madera, the Fossil Discovery Center is the site of one of the largest middle-Pleistocene fossil excavations in North America; while in Atwater, the Castle Air Museum has the largest display of military aircraft in the state. Although known by few, CenCal is surrounded by everything and growing.

Southern California

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

SoCal is known for many reasons, from the bright lights of Hollywood, to Disneyland, to the San Diego Zoo. Aside from these attractions, Los Angeles is the only city in California to have all four major professional sports and previously hosted the Summer Olympics of 1984 and will again in the year 2028. The world’s first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 in San Bernardino and has spread throughout the world, while In-N-Out Burger has become an icon eatery of SoCal. Death Valley is one of the hottest and driest places in America, with the lowest point below sea level being located there as well. Fallbrook is known as the Avocado Capital of the World. With more than 150 breweries, San Diego held the title of Craft Beer Capital of America, crafting flavors of all sorts. With so much to do in SoCal, it is ideal for anyone regardless of age.

Each part of California is unique and different, with a rich history and culture that distinguishes the differences amongst each area, California is truly a state like no other, a place for anyone who plans to visit or live. 

Featured image from Wikimedia Commons

Jason is first year of graduate school majoring in Social Work. He was born in Fresno, CA but raised in Merced, CA. He comes from a huge family with parents who are immigrants of the Vietnam war. Because of this, Jason understands the importance of education and the struggles some may go through to achieve their education. Shortly after high school, Jason joined the Marines, serving for nearly 10 years. While in the Marines, he had the opportunity to travel the world and experience the various cultures showing him how important the English language is to some. In his free time, Jason likes to train martial arts and workout for mud obstacles races such as Tough Mudder and Spartan. He loves the outdoors such as hiking and camping. Aside from the outdoors, Jason often likes to keep up with current events and research what is happening around the world to help him get a better understanding of world conflict. He looks forward to working with international students and being a support for them by showing them they belong her