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You think Dr. Pepper is only sexist?

Not only does a 10 calorie drink being advertised as a man-only beverage unleash sexism so did a class field trip to KDKA-TV.

As my honors mass media class entered the doors for our KDKA tour today, no one would have thought that our tour guide would be sexist. And sexist to who? Me. Yes, today during the tv station tour I was called out for sitting in a chair.

After standing on the main floor of the studio, we moved to the control deck where one person controls the cameras and the TelePrompter resides. As we make our way in this small long space, I end up in front of a chair and instead of dealing with that awkward feeling of “Oh there is a chair behind me and I am standing right in front of it, I don’t want to fall over.” So I sat down and within seconds the tour guide tells me that “Young men should not sit when young ladies are standing.”

I let her repeat herself a couple of times because I wanted to see what she is insinuating with her tone of voice. Well, I got the picture that she wanted me to move out of my seat for a girl who was around me. So I asked the girls around if they wanted to sit down. They all declined. Then I turned back to the guide and said they all said no. Well, I then asked if she herself would like to sit down in the chair. She smiled and said no. Then she muttered that we will suck it up and as she was about to turn to continue her presentation I explain to her that I am gay.

I said that because I wanted to get the point across that I am gay and by that I feel more like a woman as oppose to a straight male. I naturally feel more for women. She responded I know. And then I tell her that she was being sexist. She denied it and we repeated ourselves twice, then I quickly knew oh lets move on because obviously she wasn’t going to budge. So I say okay and with my look on my face told her that she needs to continue her presentation.

_______

That was the story of the day for me. The epitome of negativity that I experienced thus far. I was appalled by the simple fact that she knew I was gay and still categorized me under gender specific qualities to tell me when to sit and when not to sit. Blatantly being sexist. It might be a misfire to manners, but like my mother said chivalry is dead. It has been dead for many years. And because I am Gay that should prescribe me with some notion that I have a feminine essence stored within my personality to relate to women and fit in more smoothly. Greater than that, no one cares about who got to the seat first. Males and Females, Females and Males are the same.

I am deeply impacted by this situation and will not be giving KDKA my time or efforts for anything. What took place is uncalled for and even if the station is in the top 20 for the market, I rather not become sexist in any industry I choose to work for.

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Categories Blog, Blogging, Careers, Culture, Debate, Late Night, Life, Opinion, Television

Tangled Slinky: The lies in higher education and beyond

11 Oct

A post like this one has gone on by for too long.

My so called University (if you do extensive research, you will figure it out, but that is NOT the point), has the audacity to lie to me about my financial aid. Ok, so apparently, I was quote on quote “missing” a document. A verification worksheet document. I find out today that this document, this flimsy sheet of paper, is to verify my government standing based on my status as a student and how much money I actually make.

A week ago, my mom told me that I was missing a part of my financial aid packet and it was this Verification Worksheet. Well, I go to the office and the counselor ( I actually forget her name) informed me that “Oh, Bernard. I am sorry but looks like we lost this sheet when you filled it out before.”

Well, the Bernard who expects everything to be in order at all times courageously speaks up and asks for his file. The file comes and no verification form was present in there for this school year. Ok, maybe there was another office mess up. Of course. Every year there has to be something wrong with financial aid. Does anyone else have these problems? Leave a comment!

After I get a copy of this document, which mind you is on a piece of cardstock, I just had various flashbacks to the summer. My mom is into scrapbooking so feeling the weight of this paper immediately transported me back to when I was home in the scrapbooking room. My summer had some rumblings of family affairs, that honestly are out of my control and I am giving it all back to Mother Earth to deal with, because I choose not to.

So with the frustration of having to fill this sheet out to verify my life and to tell my mom that I needed her signature and then realizing afterwards we are not rich just hit me all at once. Yes sometimes, I wander outside of myself and believe that my family is secretly hoarding millions of dollars. Nope, not at all! My mother doesn’t have a fax machine and doesn’t work, so I am glad this school believes in a high-class lifestyle. I simply forget that it is a private school, and rich kids go here. Silly of me to have amnesia when it comes to class warfare. Well, I called my mom to tell her what happened and to get a signature nonetheless. We poor folks rely on the U.S. Postal Service, which in itself is a joke because they will shred your headphones if you mail them. So don’t mail your headphones!

Literally, my boyfriend (yes I am gay) received his headphones in the mail cut apart. Logically thinking would tell me that squishing would have flattened the buds, not slice wires into two pieces. Nope, the wires have been sliced! And I sure as hell did not do it. If I was angry or upset with him ( my Self-Observation skills are impeccable see Chakra Awakening to understand) he and everyone else will clearly feel the wrath of this fiery Aries more in-depth and it does not require destroying headphones to make my point clear. Yes, so I am not sure who exactly chopped up my boyfriend’s headphones, all I know and sense is that corporations, government, and ignorant (in its truest form) people are not reliable and we need alternative humanistic metaphysical practices to transform these times.

Coming back, from a small tangent, well in the course of a week. I learned much more about this paper and this school. I learned that the school will lie to its students in order to get a paper completed. I also learned today that this paper was to be filled out not only because it was lost or misplaced, but because I was “randomly” chosen to verify my standing in money. I don’t know how accurate random means in this regard, because I am aware that governments, corporations, and mean people will do anything sneaky and clandestine without proper communication.

All I know is that lies are being told instead of the truth, and this situation just proves to me that if you fall into the category of being “uneducated” then ignorant people, government, and corporations will assume you are stupid and just a number. So my advice is you need good self-observation skills and strong communication skills because anyone ignorant will abuse you and surround you with negativity so that it consumes your life and they will make sure you are in living in a fearful and oppressed state.

If you ever had similar experiences, please do share, because you are not alone!

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Categories Advice, Blog, Blogging, Careers, Clue, Culture, Debate, Family, Life, News, Opinion, World

Bernard receives The Sophomore Leadership Award

9 May

And the award goes to…

On the evening of April 29, 2011, at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, the former Hilton, located in Pittsburgh, PA, excelling Point Park University students and prestigious university faculty members as well as notable administrators smiled and posed for photos on the red carpet as they checked-in for the 2011 Outstanding Student Awards, an evening to celebrate student achievement.

And there sat at table number 20 a boy with his soft auburn hair and tie dyed hands from the earlier end of the year festivities of dying shirts and bags, Bernard along with friends munched on some fine salad and were astounded by the pure elegance of the hotel ballroom, but certainly Bernard and his table mates did not know what to expect of his award nomination for the Sophomore Experience in leadership.

The evening began with some funny and inspiring YouTube video clips that involved Point Park students from the powerful dance flash mobs of the G-20 summit to some of the Pittsburgh Playhouse performances like Thoroughly Modern Millie and Carousel. But the excitement of the evening certainly took Bernard by surprise as he watched the video montage capture his first ever Pittsburgh Light Up Night debut!

I did not know they even did this. I am slightly embarrassed, but truly happy that it was displayed to more than 100 people in the room. This means I got exposure!

And he certainly did.

Point Park University President, Paul Hennigan and Senior Vice-President for Academic and Student Affairs, Karen McIntyre welcomed the evening with some delightful campus-wide achievements as well as some reflective moments that various students have about Point Park. As the night progressed with award presenters and happy recipients, there the nerves just bubbled inside of Bernard and his award category for The Sophomore Experience Leadership Award was called upon.

As the community director and The Sophomore Experience coordinator, Katie Munsch described the achievements of the award recipient having helped the visually impaired at the Job and Intern fair, the amount of fireworks that went off in Bernard’s head was unimaginable and all sound left his mind as he turned deaf in recognition. With tears in his eyes and excitement in his heart, Bernard walked eagerly to the stage and shook the president’s hand and accepted his award.

I just remember feeling really excited and completely deaf to what was going around me. This is my first award ever to be formerly received and I am on a cloud right now.I just remember going back to my seat and asking if I smiled and if there was clapping, I feel like I just had an outer body experience.

Even though Bernard did not literally leave us for some astral plane expedition, he did manage to dance as he exited the stage with his award in hand and a mile long grin on his face. The energy just seems to not escape from this future television talk show host.

The evening did continue with more honorable awards like Outstanding Advisor, School-based awards, and even the highest achievable award, the President’s Award which the recipient gets an engraved bison-statue. Which graduating senior, Veronika Panagiotou accepted for an overwhelming impact on the quality of life at Point Park through her dedication toward service, leadership, and contributions to the community.

As the night ended with an ice cream sundae buffet in the ballroom lobby, Bernard did manage to take more pictures with the president of the school for his award and congratulated numerous award recipients and nominees.

It was truly blissful to see the excitement and joy in their eyes. I felt the energy in the room and it was certainly positive. I know what award I am going after in the coming years, that is another reason for coming to these events. You get to see what is offered to you and then you can work hard toward achieving it.

There were no acceptance speeches provided by any of the award recipients, most likely due to time constraints, but Bernard did manage to express his utmost gratitude for his accomplishment on his personal blog on Tumblr and you can read his thanks and understand better of why this evening was so inspiring to him.