May 27 Assignment

1. One of the statistics that impressed me was the mean family income for Asians; the highes one of all categories. I was curious and did some reasearch on my own and found out the Asians were the race that adapted quickest to the American culture. They explain as well that the high numbers are due to the fact that in Asian families, 5 to 6 members are working and that will explain the increased mean income of the family. Another statistic that shocked me was the percentage of highschool graduates of the Hispanics (46%) and of the Asians compared to the white population (86%; 89%). Also, the number of Asians with college degrees is higher than that of white people (49%; 30%). I think that the statistics are hgiher for the Asian pupulation due to the Simpson's Paradox. The fact that there are significantly more whites that Asians it is understandable if the percentages are lower. If the actual number of people were given, the discrepancies would be more relevant. I believe that for the rest of the statistics, those that include bank loans, owning a home, being stopped by the police, they are haphazardous. A controlled experiment would need to be carried out to obtain conclusive evidence. I also read about how black children have a higher probability of drowning when in pools or beahces due to the racial divide in the sport. It is said that when blacks arrived from Africa to America, they were not allowed to swim (for they thought that was a method of escape) and thus generations of black did not know how to swim. As America became more integrated public pools (that at the time only accepted whites) closed instead of accpeting blacks in.
2. There are some theories that athletes, with specific origins, have a predetemriend ability to to better at that particular sport. Some have been proven wrong and some right. For instance, the fact that mostly Kenyans and people of West African descent win races in the Olympics is because it has been shown they have fast-twitching muscles that allow them to run faster. This is opposed to the theory that black people can't swim because they are less buoyant. Most black people have a hard time swimming due to the racial divide on the sport. They also refer to the environment and sports. They give the examples of hispanics and hot weather. It is said that becaus they live in tropical weathers they have a greater resistance to heat and thus explains their great performance in baseball. That statement is false. They also say that white people are better at sports in the snow because they are better suited to this environment; the statement is partly true but not becaus ethey endure the cold necessarily, but because of their wealth, knowledge of the geography of the location and antional interest.
3. To prejudge someone is to basically speculate on the person's intentions, personality, culture, origin, religion, etc. based on your first impression of his/her physical characteristics. Sometimes when you meet a new person you start formulating ideas in your head on how the person might be (personality, interests, charatcer, etc); but that is part of the human species. It has been scientifically proven that the visual first impression of something is a deciding factor in whether we like the something in question or not. Usually, when you meet someone, you judge the person by what he is wearing, his face, accessories, the way he speaks, the shape of his eyes, size of the nose, the way the ehar is arranged.
4. The story will be posted in a spearate post above.