Brookdale Job Application: Fill & Download for Free

The Myth of Unprotected SpeechThere is the mistaken notion that certain speech is not protected in the United States. Many other answers to this question also assert that false conclusion. That viewpoint is a misrepresentation of the guarantees of the Constitution. Aside from a few narrow categories such as “fighting-words” all speech is protected, including political speech and hate speech. Speech suppression is often carried out by groups and individuals as an effort to further their own causes. They believe that doing so conveys a social benefit by protecting others from what they consider dangerous ideas. It’s a pessimistic paternal attitude that fundamentally considers others incapable of making informed decisions unless they are insulated from exposure to the peril of other ways of thinking.Governments such as China, Russia and those in much of the Middle East often use speech suppression as a means to limit dissent. In the Middle East, insulting the Prophet or apostacy can carry the death penalty. Punishment for these crimes is severe and can be carried out either officially or by the mob. The 2015 attack on Charlie Hedbo, presumably in retaliation for a series of controversial cartoons depicting Muhammed, killed twelve people. In Russia, online activity and cellular communication is monitored by security services and criticizing the government can land one in prison on terrorism charges or result in commitment to a mental institution. China has begun to implement a “social credit” system that rates its citizens based on behavior including what is done online. A low social credit score can result in being banned from travel, children being barred from quality schools, or limiting access to certain jobs (among other penalties). China, of course, actively censors online content and its policies that restrict criticism of the government even impacts the liberty of people in the United States (Opinion | Beijing Hinders Free Speech in America).All Speech is Protected in the United StatesAccording to University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds the idea that some speech is not protected in the United States is a sign of constitutional illiteracy. Reynolds wrote an opinion piece in USA Today calling out former Vermont Governor and Democrat candidate Howard Dean for making the false assertion that hate speech is not protected (Hate speech is free speech, Gov. Dean: Glenn Reynolds).Nevertheless, I do not believe that the generalization implied by the question is correct. Most individuals on the left neither care nor are invested in shutting down the views and perspectives of those they disagree with — even crazy offensive views.What is clear is that there is a certain class who are definitely committed to silencing conservative thought (and Christian religious expression). The most obvious are overzealous government agencies, employers and colleges, and social media such as Quora, Facebook and Twitter. Social media is probably the most nefarious since the processes they use when enforcing “policy” is entirely opaque. There is also sometimes violent political groups and party leaders who attempt to suppress and censor speech using more direct methods.The Dangerous Protest VetoDNC chair candidate Sally Boynton Brown famously said that it was her job to tell other white people to “shut up when they want to interrupt.” Back in April 2018 one Brookdale College professor was recorded telling a conservative student to “shut up” and said “f*ck your life.” The college is investigating. In 2014 a New Jersey community college professor was caught on camera shouting expletives at a conservative student.In May 2017, during Vice President Pence’s commencement address, graduating students at Notre Dame walked out during the speech. There were also the 2017 Berkeley protests over Ann Coulter or Milo Yiannopoulos that effectively banned either conservative speaker from addressing the campus. Professor Reynolds called this behavior a “protest veto.” The practice is dangerous because in its essence it restricts liberty. The threat of violent student protests have made it difficult or impossible for conservative speakers to address an audience on many campuses. Liberal speakers, on the other hand, are seldom excluded from these same venues.Even the liberal news and opinion outlet Huffington Post pointed out some of the serious free speech restrictions often directed at conservatives an a 2016 article “The 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2016. The issues at Berkeley have been going on for some time where conservatives have filed a lawsuit against the campus for their restrictive practices: Conservatives Face Tough Slog in UC Berkeley Free-Speech Fight.One particularly radical professor, Mark Bray of Dartmouth College, has gone so far as to claim that violent resistance by Antifa [against the perceived alt-right] is a justifiable act of self-defense (Dartmouth Professor Defends Antifa Violence [VIDEO]). According to Mike Issacson, a principal founder of Smash Racism D.C., violence is a legitimate tool to combat the “creeping threat” of authoritarianism (Antifa activists say violence is necessary). The problem with all of these philosophies that espouse pre-emptive violence against a perceived threat is that they can be used to violently suppress any idea a particular interest group opposes.Religious Liberty vs. DiscriminationIf one is a Christian in this country he or she can be in for a rough ride. Until the Supreme Court recently decided in favor of a baker who was nearly put out of business by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission over the baker’s refusal to create a wedding cake for a gay couple there was doubt that religious liberty could still be practiced by anyone providing a public service. Christian values are not appreciated in a secular society, even though many on the left claim to be champions for oppressed muslims who in their own country’s put gays and lesbians to death. Sweet Cakes in Seattle was fined and put out of business by an overzealous Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry who fined the Christian business $135,000.00 for refusing to make a cake for a gay couple. This case is still pending appeal.Vice President Pence is routinely attacked on this and other social media sites and by some on the left who label him as “worse than Trump.” Those who attack him claim that his Christian values are bigoted. Julie Behar mocked his faith on the view and was widely criticized and finally apologized. But in a similar showdown between censors on the left who ignore the crass vocalizations by other liberals, Rosanne Barr was fired for making what was perceived to be a racist tweet while Samantha Bee is still working after calling Ivanka Trump a “feckless c*nt.” Racism, sexism and bigotry are decried by the left when committed by the right, often resulting in the firing of a conservative. But when liberals like Bee and Behar engage in it, they are often rewarded by a chorus of support.Speech Supression by Social MediaThe institutionalized and well publicized attempts by Facebook and other social media to actively suppress conservative speech using vague and opaque policies and community standards has recently garnered the attention of congress (New Report: How Social Media Giants Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Suppress Conservative Speech). Even some former Facebook employees admitted that the practice regularly occurs (Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News).In a decision that is sure to have implications for forums like Quora and other social media sites, the Supreme Court recently handed down one of the first decisions of its kind that “address the relationship between the First Amendment and the Modern Internet (The Supreme Court Just Protected Your Right to Facebook). The key part of the decision is that the government cannot restrict individual access to forums like Facebook. What the court case does not do is restrict these platforms from censoring views on their own, which they all appear to do. Policing these platforms is for the most part left up to users, and that needs to needs to occur far more actively, since bias there affects all of us. I suspect that sooner or later the courts will become involved in more direct action against platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Quora and others, including employers who act with bias. If these entities continue to refuse to level level the playing field for all points of view then the First Amendment itself will eventually become meaningless.It does not take much of a search to find numerous examples of conservative writers who have had posts collapsed by Quora moderators who cite vague references to policy without transparency. When this occurs, one can never obtain a specific answer from Quora itself as to why an answer is collapsed. Even the user community when asked can provide no definitive or consistent answer. One of my own popular answers was recently collapsed, and I have yet to uncover an explanation. There is a lot of speculation about what likely happened but based on the strict reading of the policy supposedly violated, it is hard to make a case for it (Robert Riedel's answer to What price will America pay for the Trump presidency?). When pressed for an answer, Quora simply copies the same vague policy text over and over in reply and claims there is a violation.Although this kind of behavior by Quora is not illegal it is at the very least inconsistent with its own mission statement: https://www.quora.com/about. One cannot bring the people with differing perspectives together by actively censoring one perspective in favor of another. But it appears that Quora does, and if not, there is certainly a powerful perception by many, including myself, that it does. Whether these platforms actually censor one political perspective over another is difficult to answer. The lack of transparency by Quora and other platforms [like Facebook] nearly guarantees that their decisions appear arbitrary and politically motivated.Facebook and Twitter have the same problem. None of these platforms are remotely transparent about their decision making processes. They disclose almost nothing and if one is caught in the trap of a collapsed answer or blocked post or deleted tweet there is little that can be done about it. This lack of transparency has garnered criticism from users and also government attention. The German Government is pursuing anti-trust action against Facebook over their practices. There were also recent Senate hearing where Mark Zuckerberg was grilled for hours over perceived anti-conservative bias.Supression of Conservative Speech Hurts EveryoneThe problem with speech suppression, whether it occurs on the right or on the left (and there is evidence that some people who lean right of the aisle are just as guilty) is that it flies in the face of hard won American rights embodied by both the Bill of Rights and by the Constitution. One cannot claim to be committed to liberty for yourself and then turn around and tell others you don’t agree with that they have no right to speak. Nor in defense of your claim is it acceptable to engage in personal attacks or pejoratives to make a case like so many have done against Trump and his supporters. The tactics used by one group to suppress the free speech of others they disagree with will end up destroying all personal liberty just like what happened in Russia, China and in the Middle East.Does the left try to silence conservatives? Some do, but there is nothing to indicate that a majority do or even care. What seems to be more apparent, is that the real enemies of free speech are the institutional players. Governments have the power to destroy livelihoods and imprison, and when they act, few have the resources to fight back. Social media sites have the power to shape perception and when they engage in these tactics they can effectively marginalize entire groups and make it seem as if a particular political perspective is more pervasive than it actually is.It is clear from the 2016 election that social media can be a powerful influencers of government. Although the effect is unclear, there is ample evidence that Russian actors attempted to sow chaos into the election using sock puppets to enrage and divide the electorate. These attempts appeared to favor neither candidate. Nevertheless, some bitterly theorize, without any real evidence, that Trump was the beneficiary.Biased Social Media Shapes PoliticsEven a casual read of sites like Quora shows a powerful bias toward liberal and anti-Trump posts. Although it is likely that conservatives and liberals are more or less evenly split in the country, when reading through Quora it would be hard to garner that impression. The news articles added to the feed are almost entirely anti-Trump and in favor of progressive and liberal ideas. The observations by these posts of Trump, his supporters and other conservatives is rarely complementary and often press the stereotype of the racist uneducated conservative. Based on even a casual read it would be easy to conclude that almost all Americans hate their own President, except for a tiny fringe group of ignorant die-hard supporters. How they manage to escape the BNBR policy when other posts are collapsed for far less onerous violations is difficult to understand.When social media actively censors certain points of view they threaten democracy itself. One cannot make an informed decision and vote in the best interests of the country when certain ideas and values are suppressed. To counter perceived bias there has been some movement toward imposing new regulations on social media that like most government intervention may lead to unintended consequences. The more pertinent question is the extent to which sites like Quora should be permitted to interefere with First Ammendment rights through censorship.Is Regulation the Answer?Governments have already begun to regulate social media in reaction to offensive speech, misinformation and propaganda. During the 2016 election so called “fake news” sites the promoted false news stories garnered more online activity than traditional outlets (Governments are stepping in to regulate social media, but there may be a better way). The German government now requires the removal of “hate speech” within 24 hours. The bigger issue is that more government involvement could easily result in even more censorship as social media companies over react in order to avoid legal penalties.In the United States, greater regulation of social media sites is certainly possible but it is a long shot. In this country it has long been anathema for government to interfere with the press, and sites like Quora and other social media sites in many respects are another form of the press. That is not to say politicians will not complain long and loud about what these outlets say about them, true or otherwise. Complaining about the media has become an American pastime. On the other hand, with a conservative government in power, if Quora and other social media continue to reenforce the perception of bias and censorship of conservative ideas and values it is likely that legislative action will eventually follow. Any why shouldn’t it? Commercial businesses are already forced to make accommodations for the rights and values of disabled people and other protected classes. Fundamental to the freedom in the United States is the guarantees of the First Amendment. If these social media sites continue to tread the line between political neutrality and bias, then sooner or later those who are disenfranchised by those actions will force a legislative correction.A better solution would be for sites like Quora to become far more transparent in their application of policy. Moderators hiding in the shadows censoring content based on vague policies, like priests quoting scriptures on behalf of a capricious God will not fly forever.

My name is Pablo, I am from Spain, and I plan to apply this fall to some U.S. universities. My situation is not exceptional, but I believe that it isn’t the usual either, as I will graduate from high school in June, with the admission process for the class of 2024 long gone. You may be wondering why haven’t I applied this year. Studying in the U.S. has been something that I’ve wanted to do for several years, but last summer, when the application process began, I was too afraid to leave Spain, my family, and my friends; hence I decided not to even try applying. Now, after several months have gone by, I have realized that I might have made a huge mistake. I really want to leave Spain, explore the world, and study at a U.S. university! I hope it isn’t too late for me!Due to the current situation ongoing in the whole world regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, I assume that admission processes for the class of 2025 will be slightly different both for national and international applicants. Several institutions have declared that the submission of SAT and ACT scores are optional, and applications will be analyzed taking into account the impact of the coronavirus in everyone’s lives.Now I’d like to tell you about myself and my profile. My GPA (not official; calculated by using the WES calculator) is of 3.8/4.0 from 9th to 11th grade, though I expect that my senior grades will boost it. In Spain, freshman and sophomore grades are not taken into account for college admission, therefore they are lower than my junior and senior grades. Sadly, I don’t attend an international high school, so I can’t get extra credit for specific courses, and A.P. classes don’t exist in Spanish high schools; but I have read that admission officers have in mind the opportunities offered at your school, so I’m not really worried about this. I was planning on taking the SAT at the end of summer and during fall, but I’ll have to see how the situation develops and if universities will require them or not. A few days ago I did my first whole SAT test in Khan Academy and I got 1200/1600, without knowing a thing about SAT, though I believe that if I work hard during summer, I’ll be able to get a great score (probably around 1500) and improve my chances of admission. Also, in Spain, we have an exam done right after we finish senior year called EvAU (Evaluación de Acceso a la Universidad = university access assessment) which is highly competitive, but I believe that I could make it to the top 10% on a national scale (though probably it won’t be very useful). In addition, my school is ranked in Spain’s top 15 schools, so maybe that could be of interest to some universities.That was all academic information, now I’ll write about myself. High school in Spain has nothing to do with high school in the U.S. In America, students have an infinite amount of clubs and sports teams to choose from, participating in regional and national competitions; whereas, in Spain, we do have clubs and extracurricular activities, but not as many and not as serious. Regardless, I have tried to involve myself as much as possible in my school (it is very common in Spain that the same school has primary, middle school, and high school programs, as it is the case of mine). I’ve been a member of the school magazine for two years, having published and printed several sports articles and interviews with teachers. Thanks to my participation in the magazine, I was offered a two-week internship at BuzzFeed Spain. I’ve been an active member of a volunteering program that consists of preparing activities for kids who have socializing problems during recess. I’ve been elected three times in a row as the class representative, having attended meetings with the school authorities several times and solving problems between the student body and the school staff. I run a group of about 25 kids from 6th grade from my school where we have weekly meetings for two hours doing social awareness activities and games previously organized by me. Outside of school, I’ve been for the past two years a volunteer in a day-care center for elderly people once a week; and I’ve played six hours of tennis a week for four years (though I do not compete seriously, it’s just for my enjoyment, I have won some in club championships). I have also created a socks company called “OhMySocks” (I couldn’t find any other name hahaha) with a pair of friends. It has hundreds of followers on Instagram and we’ve had profits of thousands of euros, which have helped my parents pay for my school trips. Last, but not least, I’m fluent in both English and French, both certified with a C1 in English and a B2 in French, (and obviously Spanish), and I am greatly interested in learning Chinese in the next years. I also studied 8th grade in a British school.I have already thought about my recommendation letters, and I know that my English and French teachers would write superb ones. About my personal essay, I have a main idea which could easily be related to my intended major. It would be about how my political and social beliefs were completely manipulated by a group of individuals due to my young age and innocence, and how has that influenced my way of thinking today.Regarding what I would do in the U.S., my intended major is PPE, but I’d have no problem doing Economics. It isn’t a really common major, but it is offered in a great variety of universities. I have considered applying to Richmond, Wesleyan, Yale, UPenn, Notre Dame, Akron, Tulane, or Drexel, among others. I know that some of these are extremely selective and my chances of getting in are probably negative, but I’d rather have a rejection letter than not even trying. I plan to pursue an international career, for example, in the UN, therefore I believe that PPE would be a great degree regarding the jobs I’m interested in. I also plan to get a graduate degree after my undergraduate degree to have the best academic education.I have also considered attending a community college for the first two years. They are way cheaper than 4-year colleges, and some offer “honors programs” which could lead me to a great university after those two years. I’ve done some research and I am really attracted to Rockland Community College, Quinsigamond Community College, or Brookdale.Regarding what I would do next year, as I cannot enroll in a Spanish university, I believe that I will take a gap year. My intention is to get an online certificate while I work in France; this way, I would earn some money (very important), at the same time as I improve my French and do some academic work.My top college would be Yale (Please, don’t mistake me as a snob). I obviously know that my chances of admittance are very low, but I’ve always liked to dream big (I’ve thought about applying early, as maybe that could increase my chances). But, needless to say, I would be delighted with any acceptance from any institution.I know that the whole admission process can be very expensive (paying for the SAT, TOEFL, application fees, official translations of documents…), therefore I don’t expect my parents to pay for it as I have no guarantee of getting in anywhere, but I have saved about $700 that I would not have a problem with investing in this. Obviously, I’m counting on my parents’ financial support if I were to study in the U.S.I don’t know if anyone is going to read this, but I will be really grateful for any answers and suggestions that I get.Thank you for your time and have a great day!