This blog was created as a group assignment for our English class.
Generally, the blog is about home space and how such a place makes us feel as it is a home to us.
Members of the group:
- Hamad
- Abdulaziz
- Christian
- Hector
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Pride Center Grand Opening
LGBT Friendly Community
A home is
viewed as a place where you can be protected, safe, and secure. Also,
a home is a place where you are surrounded by “family” such as a
mom, dad, siblings with similar values,beliefs, and ideas. However,
a home does not only have to be a home in the traditional sense, it
can also be a community, a place, school, etc.; this can be where
ever you feel that you can be yourself or protected. A place that I
consider home is the LGBT ( Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender)
community at California State University , Northridge (CSUN) because
of the resources, the people,the new Pride Center, and the safe and
welcoming environment for a LGBT student.
The LGBT
community at CSUN may not be strong because there is an “estimate”of
3,500 LGBT students. I thought that had an active LGBT community, but
I still feel safe to know that there is a community on campus that
accepts all students for who they are. More students seem to
understand more and be open minded and they do not judge or bully the
LGBT students. CSUN is trying to make the campus feel safe,healthy,
and a learning environment not only for students but also for staff
and faculty. As known in the Huffington Post , Campus Pride had
ranked colleges and universities based on LGBT policy inclusion,
student life, academic life, as well as other relevant practices.
California State University, Northridge fits into their standards
because we have LGBT resources, Lesbian Fraternity (Gamma Rho
Lambda), and Vote For Equality.
Additionally,
there are many Resources are known to be on campus such as the LGBTA
club, LGBT peer mentor program, National Coming Out Day, Day of
silence, and especially the new Pride Center. The Pride Center was
open in Fall 2012 and its an place where students who are LGBTQ can
go and feel safe and secure. The Pride Center mission statement is
online and states “ The Pride Center supports lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and questioning students,faculty
and staff through programming and
educational
outreach to improve the campus climate for LGBTQ individuals as well
as advocate for the respect and safety of all members of the campus
community.” Also, the LGBTA club is a great environment to go
because everything is secure, safe, non-judgmental, and a great way
to meet new friends.
On
Thursday ,September 27 ,2012,the Pride Center opened on campus. The
opening of the Pride Center is important because it provided a
physical space where students can go talk to peers, get information
about coming out and same sex health, and be able to speak to peer
mentors. As written by a CSUN Student ,Mayra Escobedo,“The Pride
Center came into existence after almost two years of students' hard
work and petitioning for a new LGBT resource center”(Daily Sundial)
. Student in the LGBTA club two years ago had the idea of a newly
resource center for LGBT students, so they set up all the paperwork
and got petitions started. The Pride Center is believe to be a great
resource for LGBT students and community on campus because now
students have a place were they can have more resources about coming
out, HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation, etc., and also a safe environment
to do homework or just hang out.
In
addition to the resources available to LGBT students, most
CSUN
are not judgmental toward LGBT students .Especially, in the LGBTA
Club because everybody is just trying to socialize, meet new people,
and make new friendships. Everybody who is new to the club is not
immediately welcomed. In particular, the LGBTA club board members
really help students talk to each other by having icebreakers and
getting those to try to talk to each other. A great experience for a
new student who does not know much the LGBT community or just need to
make new friendships.
The
CSUN staff and faculty plays an important role in helping LGBT
students feel safe and protected in the environment of CSUN. There is
a peer mentor program where there are student staff, who help other
students talk about either how to come out or just every day life or
any problems. The university counseling services has a support group
for LGBT people called the Gay,Lesbian,and Bi-sexual support . The
LGBTA Club has advisers that show up to the meetings once in awhile
,and you can also speak to them if you have any questions. Also,
there is an Ally program where they have trainings to show you how
you yourself can be a helpful ally to the LGBT community, Today there
is also a Queer studies minor in CSUN that students can get into,but
they are trying to make it into a major for those who are interested
into knowing more about Queer studies.
Furthermore,
CSUN does give an LGBT student a safe and secure environment to be
themselves because of all these resources they have around campus.
When going around campus people don't look at you nor bully you for
just liking the same sex and students are more open minded about LGBT
students now than they did in the past. My first year in being at
CSUN I was shy and I really didn't know anybody besides my friends
from high school. As my first time going to the LGBTA Club table
they made me feel like I can talk amongst them and be somewhere safe
and meet other LGBT students. I already knew the whole campus because
of the Educational Opportunity Program ,and it was a big help to me
because I did not feel lost at all like others will. Also, outside of
the CSUN campus people do not stare or look at you for being gay,
lesbian, bisexual, or transgender at time they might stare, but you
should not care because it your lifestyle. It is great to know that
there are resources around campus to make any LGBT student feel part
of the community and feel like students, staff, and faculty
understand that we are also a community.
Other
college campuses are trying to be a LGBT friendly campus.” Schools
such as Stanford University, Minnesota Carleton College, and Georgia
Emory University are ranked as the top three
LGBT
friendly university/colleges in the United States”(Huffington
Post). Campus Pride Executive Director, Shane Windmeyer, states, “
Every student deserves to feel safe on campus, and all of these
colleges are committed to creating a more LGBT -friendly
campus.”(Huffington Post) I agree that each campus should have an
LGBT friendly environment, so each student will feel safe being on
campus and feel secure to not be judged. For example, CSUN has the
Pride Center where students can go hang out, do their work, or just
relax while waiting for class. Inside the Pride center they have
other resources to help students understand more of the LGBT
community and events. There is a website called Campus Pride were it
leads you to find an index of finding LGBT friendly campuses and also
the rating that each campus falls in. On the website they set up
goals to help campuses and one goal states,“ Offer
an ongoing, effective measurement tool to improve the quality of life
for LGBT and Ally people on college/university campuses and to assist
campuses in becoming more LGBT -Friendly.” (Campus Pride).The
website seems to be a good resource for campuses to know how they can
also become an LGBT friendly campus.
In
conclusion, a home just does not not have to be a home it can also be
an environment, community, place, school, etc. because I feel that
the LGBT community in CSUN is my home cause of the resources, the
students, faculty and staff, the environment, and other campuses that
are LGBT friendly. The resources can be such a great help to LGBT
students because it will help them feel more comfortable to be on a
campus they are new to and also meet new people thanks to the
resources. Also, with the LGBTA club it is a great resource to have
because it is where you can meet the board members, other LGBT
students, and have fun with the activities and discussions. The
campus on CSUN is believe to be LGBT friendly because as a student I
feel safe to be on campus and I can just be myself as well as other
friends of mines do too. You do not have to hide yourself no more
because you might of felt that you could not be who you are at home
but now since your independent and free you can be yourself. Along
with that there is staff, faculty, and students that you can always
talk to so you would not feel alone and get the feeling to feel more
comfortable in the CSUN environment. A home does
not have to be an actual home it can really just be anywhere where
you feel you can call home such as a school, place, environment, etc.
Essay: Meaning of "Home"
Meaning of “Home”
Each one of us has the place
which brings back good memories, is the symbol of comfort and wellness, revokes
memories related to music, objects, colors, people, and dishes. This place is
called home. It is kept in our memories as an ideal one, even if it is not so
perfect. Home serves as a kind of fortress to us, our freedom and deeds. The
word home is a many faceted word that combines
different concepts. Home is culture, religion, the place where you live,
friends, relatives, neighbors, cuisine, personal objects and environment. Home
should be the place where you feel
secure, free and in the state of wellness and physical well-being. It is often
associated with parents, siblings, warmth and comfort. However, international students do
suffer a lot from this psychological sickness, and so when they lose at least
one of these components they feel homesick and start to understand the meaning
of the word “Home.”
Home is considered as a place
where you were brought up, which is related to the childhood memories, toys,
favorite dishes, and traditions. Sometimes it happens for those international
students while in the middle of the school day they have an unrestrained desire
to go home. They close their eyes and see unforgettable masterpieces – a
kitchen, a cozy bed room, a living room, a bathroom, or soft carpet under the
feet. It is related to their best
memories, family, relatives, and history. Generally, these images are the houses
of our grandparents or parents. In these spaces the family gathers and has a
wonderful time together. This place brings back warm memories about the
childhood and family holidays. Even music and flavors may make you think about
this kind of home. These are the things that any person may miss when he
is away from home for educational reasons. In fact, close relations to home cause the feeling of
homesickness. In order to find an academic opportunity abroad international
students leave their homes, families, and friend. Being in a different country
they grieve for the places, objects, people, buildings, social networks and
culture. In spite of modern technologies which give people ability to speak to
their relatives, this feeling is very common for international students who
constitute a special group of students all over the globe. It may affect the
person’s behavior and mental well-being.
Those
students often miss every single object at their home. And that is why home is a varied and rich union of family and personal
objects. Some people evaluate objects found at home (Csikszentmihalyi 52). Very
often a guest cannot notice special elements of design which were developed by
one of the family members, furniture or decoration, made by somebody of the
relatives, pictures or valuable for heart things which are passed from
generation to generation. Individuals exhibit very strong connections and
relations to personal mementos. Even rooms, whether it is a kitchen or living
room, is one of the mementos which bring their memories back. In this way, Home
may express different aspects of our past. It is the place directly connected
with our biography, as here we had physical and special representation (Brahm 152).
In addition, it is the place
where you live, the building, its design inside and outside. It is the place
where we live, keep our properties, have a rest, receive guests, spend leisure, eat, drink, and watch TV etc. You come home after a
hard day, take a bath, lie on the sofa and do anything you want, you have freedom
of actions. Such a house or an apartment may have a link to your past at the
same time being a door to the future. In such a house you feel comfortable; you
come back to the house willingly and with great desire. For someone it may be a
huge cottage, or a house at the seaside, for others a tiny one room flat with a
kitchen. The size of your home does not mean anything. The things inside it
mean all. It should be associated with physical state in which we feel mentally
relaxed.
As for international students home
may convey the meaning of geographical location, for example a city, town, or
country. The country is usually associated with traditions, which seem significant
when you leave you native country to study abroad. It is the way people live,
the way they speak, architecture, design of houses, national music and many
other things. As an example may be taken an Arabian Gulf house, with its special
atmosphere; they are different from American ones by their cultural peculiarities,
design, colors and unique styles. As
it is a continent of cultures, world famous histories, and a mixture of customs
and traditions represent it, and it is really difficult to find a place
overseas where you may feel as comfortable and relaxed as there. Houses of the
Arabian Gulf countries are typically stucco or stone, the lines are simple,
furniture is lavish, and you may see a variety of ornamental rugs.
Furthermore, Arabian Gulf cuisine is rich on a variety
of spices. Walking along the street you will definitely smell their fragrant
flavor. All there characteristic features of the Arabian Gulf make a distinct
understanding of what home is, when referred to as a location. When we are in a foreign
country, we have an opportunity to contrast and to compare everything we encounter
in the streets, in behavior of people, traditions, culture, and the way life is
percepted. Then we start to find positive features in our native country and
realize that there are almost no disadvantages as everything is so familiar,
close to heart, and friendly, rich on traditions which seem so close,
interesting, and old and worth following.
The memories, which arise when we think about our country as a home,
become related to the house itself, a building where we grew up and that is
when the feeling of homesick begins.
In this case, there are several reasons of being
homesick and culture shock is one of them. International students, especially
those who do not understand the language well, and who come from countries with
considerably different cultural backgrounds, have troubles adjusting to the
surrounding environment. The greater the differences between the host culture
and the native culture, the stronger feeling of homesickness will the student
experience. Culture shock causes desire for family and familiar environment. The
second reason is time difference which sometimes makes communication with
relatives almost impossible. They start feeling lonely expect the cases when
they can make friends easily. Language is considered to be the third reason of
homesickness. Sometimes international students do not speak perfectly, do not
understand the professor, and cannot express their ideas. These factors may
cause a great trouble for any international student.
As a result,
the effects include sadness, loneliness, sleeping problems, headaches, anxiety,
isolation, and difficulties at the university or college. Unfortunately the
feeling of homesickness is long lasting and may lead to social alienation
(Hendrickson 285). According to some
studies, students who study far away from their houses experience the feeling
of homesickness more often than those who study close to their parents
(Poyrazli 264). Those who feel homesick often have poor progress in
studying, get lower scores, and are more often depressed in comparison to students
who are not homesick (Poyrazli 264).
Thus, home is a word which embraces and has very vast
meaning. It reflects our values and beliefs that are usually associated with
the childhood which is always deep in our memories. If anything reminds us
about any aspect of beliefs or values which were followed by the family, no
doubt that you will immediately think about home. In this context home is
defined by neighborhood and ethnicity. Home is a place of memories, with
certain design, traditions, technology which support our memories. It is also a
place for practical and social activities; it is the place of individual and
collective accumulation of memories. In many cases people start appreciating
home after moving out, changing the place of living or losing relatives. Only
after it the person begins to realize how deep the meaning of the word is, how
important it is to keep relation to our home, maintain friendly, positive and
favorable atmosphere within it. In this case the proverb “East or West home is
best” is really truthful. A home holds our family and cultural heritage,
history of whole generations, reflects acceptance and limitless warmth. Being a
form of love, it is associated with a tree which has deep roots. You feel at home, you feel
comfortable and at ease in the place you are in.
Works
Cited
Csikszentmihalyi,
Mihaly, and Eugene Rochberg-Halton. The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols
and the Self. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Print.
Brahm,
Gabriel, and Mark Driscoll. Prosthetic Territories: Politics and
Hypertechnologies. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995. Print.
Poyrazli,
Senel, and Damian Lopez Marcos. "An Exploratory Study of Perceived
Discrimination and Homesickness: A Comparison of International Students and
American Students." The Journal of psychology 141.3 (2007): 263-80.
ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 18
Oct. 2012.
Hendrickson,
Blake, Devan Rosen, and R. K. Aune. "An Analysis of Friendship Networks,
Social Connectedness, Homesickness, and Satisfaction Levels of International
Students." International Journal of Intercultural Relations : IJIR
35.3 (2011): 281. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Abdulaziz Alkhodir
Professor Bieber
English 113B
30 October 2012
Home Ownership in Saudi Arabia
Looking for home is one of the hardest job people face in their life, whether they are rich
People or poor people. Because wealthy people have a lot of money they do not find what
exactly they want, so they still look for the best . On the other hand, some of poor people
cannot even pay for one room rent, and that is really harsh. Home ownership is one of the most
important issues that people talk about in their daily life in every country, including Saudi
Arabia. Although Saudi Arabia has one of the strongest income in the world, most of Saudi
people have some difficulties having a home. I believe that to get rid of this Problem, Saudi
government should rise their employee’s income, impose fees on the vacant lands and active
mortgages.
Unfortunately, the salary for the Saudi person is not fair enough comparing with other
countries that have as much budget as we do. When we talk about salary, we are talking about
two main categories, people who work for the government and people who work in private
companies that belong to some merchants. Although people who work for the government get
higher salary than people who work for private companies, it is still not enough. The private
sector in Saudi Arabia prefers to hire foreign workers than Saudi workers because of two reason.
First reason is, they say that foreigners workers are more professional than Saudi workers, the
second reason is foreign people accept less salary than what Saudi worker needs. I think both
reasons are unreasonable, the fact is that not all of foreign workers are better than Saudi
workers as well as usually foreigners who work in Saudi Arabia live in houses that the
companies provide them as part of their contract, this creates a substantial advantage to them
because they do not have to pay living expenses home. According to Alarabiya News “Recent
figures show that the Saudi government has issued 1.1 million visas for foreign workers over the
last 12 months. In comparison, 83,000 Saudis have been hired in the private sector during the
same period”. this number causes high rate of unemployment in Saudi Arabia approximately
10% of Saudi people are unemployed. Alarabiya News adds that to address this problem, the
labor ministry created a new decision is called “Nitaqat” designed to boost the nationalization in
the private sector. However, this plan did not work as well as expected because of the criticism
that they had from the business owners.(Alarabiya News) According to a Saudi short film, Saudi
economists believe that people who want to own their house, their monthly incomes must be at
least 4000 dollar a month. The percentage of Saudi employees who earn that salary is about 10%.
The average income for Saudi employees who work for the government is about $1,920 and
about $850 for people who work in the private sector .(Monopoly) Therefore, there is a huge gap
between the income level required for home ownership and the average Saudi’s income. So one
of the solution is to rise the monthly income for the Saudi citizen, and I do not think this is
something hard to do since Saudi Arabia is one of the richest countries in the world. Moreover,
the population of Saudi Arabia is only 28 million and 6 million of them are foreigners
In addition, Since Saudi Arabia has many vacant lands are owned by private individuals
for investment purposes, this is very lucrative for the rich people. However, it is very unfair for
middle and low class people since there is no taxes on those lands, there is no incentive for those
owners to develop the land. Some merchants buy a big number of those lands and keep them
under their names, so when people want to buy vacant lands from the merchants to build
them, they find them very expensive because the demand is much more than the supply. It is
kind of corruption and it is like the idea of stock market, and this problem can be solved by the
imposition of annual fees like what other countries do in order to make a balance, so the
percentage of that monopoly will reduce month by month and then there will be a balance
between supply and demand and the vacant land, houses and apartments will stay in reasonable
rate that most of people can handle it. It is basically, as same as the idea of taxes, and people who
have lower income can get the benefit from it.
Although Saudi Arabia has the largest real estate in (GCC) Gulf Cooperation Council,
it has the least developed mortgage market and that has really impacted Saudi home ownership
(The National). According to Business Intelligence, having mortgage in Saudi Arabia has been
debatable issue for the last decade because of religious purposes since the interest is prohibited
by Islam so banks cannot approve that kind of business unless they get benefit from people.
Therefore, most of the difficulties in having home started 10 years ago when people did not have
the ability to pay cash for having home due to the monopoly issue. Thus, 65% of Saudi
population on rent.(Business Intelligence) this is considered as a huge number comparing with
other countries. Some of Saudi people started getting loan from the banks. However, some of
them could not even return the money back to the bank so they went the jail. Everyone in Saudi
Arabia started talking about this issue as one of their hot topics in the media. Recently,
mortgages have been approved by Council of Ministries. According to Arab News, “The Council
of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, approved on
Monday the much-awaited mortgage law, which would regulate the Kingdom’s real estate
financing and investment, and boost its mortgage market”.(Arab News) this decision seems not a
big deal for some people who already have mortgage in their countries, but it is really big deal
for Saudi citizens, as they will get benefit from banks and life will be much easier for them.
Especially for youth people, we have to keep in mind that Saudi Arabia is a young country. Most
of Saudi people are between 18-30 years old, soon they will get married and they will get the
benefit from that decision they will be able to own home, car and their future will be guaranteed
because of the strong economy. In 2008, when the financial crisis happened, Saudi Arabia
economy was not affected, so I think that makes people and banks feel more comfortable about
the mortgage.
In conclusion, I would say that, decision- maker in Saudi Arabia must be faster and more
flexible when they plan to take a decision. In my opinion, rising the salary for Saudi people is the
easiest decision, it might not be the best unless if Saudi government becomes more strict in terms
of giving visas for the foreigners workers. Otherwise it cannot work as good as people expect.
Imposing fees on the vacant lands is also a smart idea and it should be active as soon as possible
to make a balance between the demand and supply, so the prices of those lands will be
reasonable. Finally I would say that mortgage is a new thing in Saudi Arabia I hope it will be a
good solution for the Saudi young generation, so people can have the chance to own their homes.
( work cited)
“Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia weaken nationalization effort” Al-Arabiya News: Al-Arabiya
News, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
Monopoly Saudi short film. YouTube. YouTube, 2011. Web. 22 Oct 2012.
Bundhun, Rebecca. “Saudi homes market hurt by barriers to mortgages.” The National: Abu
Dhabi Media, 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012
“Saudi addresses housing gap as home ownership deficit rises.” Business Intelligence: Business
Intelligance Middle East, 4 Sep. 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2012
Hanware, Khalil. “New law expected to boost mortgage market.” Arab News: SRBC, 3 Jul.
2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)