How Social Class Figures Into Sports in America

Ok I thought I was going to be able to swing the articles I used in my annotated bibliography but after trying to combine them into an abstract for this assignment I realized that I have good articles individually but together they don’t provide sufficient enough evidence to state my point for my final paper (especially reading through your posts about your paper topics!).

My original plan: discuss the advantages and disadvantages one’s social class has on their participation in athletics. Social class has a huge impact on many aspects of sports in America affecting participants at all levels. Whether it is the lack of money available to purchase the proper equipment that puts you at a disadvantage or the advantages a person gains when participating in a sport at a very wealthy high school; every individual’s success in sports is affected by their social class.

Since social class is such a touchy subject in America to begin with, I had trouble while looking for articles to use for my annotated bibliography. While I found articles that discussed a few ways in which social class affects sports, I was unable to really find any specific examples. I assume this is because no one wants to admit that they allowed someone’s social class to affect their decision in choosing players for their sports team. Since this was to gain feedback from our classmates, can any of you think of a spin I could use similar to this topic or maybe even a subtopic that would allow me to research social class in athletics? Having been an athlete all of my life and in the athletic training program here at NKU for four years I have experienced many situations of social class in athletics. I know it is prevalent, I just believe it lacks significant publication to write a research paper.

I realize this is going to set me back, so your feedback is going to be very benificial! I would rather choose a similar topic that I will be able to obtain ample evidence on to back up my points. If any of you have any ideas similar or can think of another aspect that might be skipping my mind please let me know!

The Relationship Between Social Class and Political Affiliation

I will argue that in the history of American politics and in today's political system that social class membership or social affiliations directly affect the political decisions that we make and the political affiliations that we choose. There are certain social classes associated with either the Democratic party or the Republican party. Income and education level are only some of the social group differences that affect political choices, affiliations, or habits. My research has yielded so far that groups with low incomes tend to align with the Democrats, while groups with higher incomes tend to align with Republicans. This is just one of the many "social class" differences in political choices. I plan to provide more research to support my argument that social class does affect political preference in my final paper. I also plan on detailing which classes align with which American political parties.

Attributes That Contribute to Literacy

For my final project I have chosen a topic that centers around my interests in education. In 2004 the United States was forty-ninth in the rankings of international literacy with only ninety-nine percent of our population as being literate. In order to help the literacy levels of our country we must understand why the problem exists. We need to start by address the issues that exist in children so they don’t become illiterate adults.
In my paper I will address how gender, ethnicy/race, and social class impact an individuals literacy. I will explain why a significant gap that exists between male and female students, and why boys have lower literacy rates, lower grades, and higher drop-out rates. Why Hispanics and African Americans score the lowest in literacy while whites score the highest and why so many many indivividual who make up the lower class score twenty-seven points below the average reading level.

Economic Nationalism in American Media

Recently, the Japanese-based Toyota Motor Corporation has faced harsh and searing criticism for the defects in its more recently constructed vehicles. We've all heard of the very frightening problem with uncontrolled acceleration, but other defects have resulted in call-backs and a hefty $16.4 million fine.
Toyota is not the first corporation to have serious problems with their product, and in fact is not unique in its acceleration issues. Ford, for instance, experienced the same issues, which resulted in 20 deaths -- all attributed to human error. They faced no fine, and were not dragged over the coals the way Toyota was.
The question my paper seeks to answer is, quite simply, do American media outlets perpetrate a sort of protectionist racket that magnifies the defects in foreign products (automobiles, especially) while downplaying (or even ignoring) similar problems with American brands?
My initial answer to this question, with basic research conducted, supports the conclusion that yes, there is a measure of economic nationalism in American media, although there is no evidence to suggest conspiracy. As I complete the paper, I hope to discover whether this assumption is true in all cases, and if not, whether there is a correlation with the national economic situation -- i.e., is this behavior more likely to occur during a recession?

A Guide Through the Status System of Social Networking Sites

For the abstract of my final paper I am going to take a look at the status systems of social networking sites. Who would have thought that people classify what social networking site you’re on based on what status system you are considered in society? Believe it or not there are people out there who consider you as blue-coaler if you have a Facebook account. Each social networking sites have a caliber a people who are classified in a status system. Is this really legit? How can one classify you via the internet and what site you choose to have an account with?
I am going to explore a few of the most popular social networking sites. I am going to research each site and research each status system into which it is classified. I want to find out how these people go about classifying those on social networking sites, considering most people have no idea what your income is.

Social Class: The Past, The Present, and The Future

Social class has changed over time and there is a huge difference compared to social status in the past. Social class and social status first came about back during the times of the Civil Rights Movement, and compared to today's society has come a long way. In the social class system certain occupations are considered to be pleasing and influential while others are considered to be unpleasant and higher class jobs require more skill and education. Over the years social class has improved, but still remains an issue in today's society.
In the past, there has been a struggle with class which has dominated classes at various stages of social development. Both African Americans and White lower class people care more about achieving material success, fane, wealth, and power versus those who have already attained it. They are placing more emphasis on the materialistic things to be successful. African Americans are certainly not better off than they were in the past, and when it comes to comparing income from the past to the present it shows.
Does race show a persistent inequality in the United States? I believe that when it comes to inequality in race that it has changed over time and will improve in the future. In 1952, one-tenth of the southern African Americans could vote for the president, but in 1984 fifty five percent could vote. This certaintly has shown improvement with social status, and today blacks and whites have the same rights, when they use to not.

Women Breadwinners

Times have defiantly changed when it comes to women in the workforce. In earlier times women did the house work; the cleaning, cooking, taking care of the kids, and making sure they took care of their husbands by having dinner on the table when he got home from work. Now that times are changing and women are establishing themselves in the workforce a lot of men are not the main provider anymore. More and more women are the breadwinners of the families and we are hearing more about "stay at home dad." These husbands take the role that women use to have. They do the cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the kids. One thing I don't know is how this effects them? Does it bother them? Do they feel "less of a man" or are they happy to be the stay at home dad? Does it effect their marriage or does it not change anything. I know many men at first didn't respect women in the workforce as they should. They thought maybe they didn't deserve certain jobs or they couldn't handle it. (None of that is true obviously women can hold their own, as they have proved) How many women compared to earlier times are the breadwinners and what are their husbands feelings toward this. Also, I wonder if women like being the breadwinner or if they feel like their husbands should step it up. I know growing up in my house my father was the breadwinner, but has always told me since day one to support myself. He always says don't depend on a man to take care of you. So I have always planned to be very successful and make my own. I don't think I would mind being the breadwinner, so hopefully I find a husband that doesn't mind being the stay at home dad and take on the household responsibilities. I don't see myself giving up a career. But this might bother many women and men. I want to know if it causes psychological problem in the male? If they become depressed. I feel that a lot of men would. Then you throw kids into the mix and which child steps it up? The son or daughter. I feel the daughter would just from watching her mother. I think to a certain degree each daughter takes traits their mother has and son follows the father. (not in all cases of course) Which child is more goal driven? More motivated? Maybe the women being the breadwinner does change things, but I feel that it does and could cause problems in a marriage.