Warsaw Uprising 1944 – was it worth the costs?

Considering the damage to Poland, Warsaw uprising, in my opinion, was not worth its cost. Although, it was a good move and fight back by the poles to gain independence from the red army of Germany, the killings and destructions encountered in the process was not worth the sacrifice.

About 200, 000 people, one-quarter of the poles at the time, were killed. Students, doctors, educators, future leaders, families and lives were lost due to this incident. Poland would have been more developed, populated, and technologically advanced if the people were not killed during that period. In order words, the injury inflicted on the Poles cost more than their sacrifice. Almost all the buildings in ancient Poland were also destroyed with time during this uprising.

Expecting help from the Soviet Union, the insurgents’ battle was intended to last for only a few days until the Soviet Army would reach the city. At first, the poles succeeded in gaining control over some streets in Warsaw after some days. It seemed like a success. However, the German had developed weapons and armies to fight, but the insurgents had no anti-aircraft weapons to defend Warsaw from the attack. In rescue of the Poles, Soviet forces had reached a point a few hundred meters from the city, across the Vistula River, but decided not to further the journey because Joseph Stalin wanted the insurrection to fail. This dramatically contributed to the failure of the uprising.

October 2^nd when the poles surrendered to the German soldiers, all hope had been lost. This showed that the uprising has failed, binging forth negative effects on Warsaw because most lives had been lost including the insurgents’, and buildings in Warsaw had been reduced to the ground leaving the city to rebuild itself.

In addition, the Uprising of 1944 was not worth its cost. This is because the main objective of the uprising was not accomplished by the end of the battle; instead they lost almost all they depended on (their families, shelters, schools, churches and so on).

Diversity

Diversity presents a big picture in various aspects of the community. There are so many definitions and characteristics attributed to the word “Diversity.” Explaining this concept from the perspective of being a resident advisor (RA), diversity refers to the different characteristics and cultures shared among the residents living in a given place.
In a university like UB, Diversity is a big factor because a lot of the students are of different races, cultures, backgrounds and so on. Even among the cultures, there is still diversity. For example, amongst the Africans, some speak English while others speak French; amongst the Americans, some are light skinned while others are dark skinned, and so on.
A diverse community is so entertaining when every one is able to interact freely with one another, understands one another’s culture and backgrounds, respect others irrespective of background or difference. This sort of community is what is expected of the RAs in the resident hall- being capable of establishing a good community with diverse characters and people.
Some important element of diversity is communication, respect, and love. These factors, in my opinion, paints a better picture of what it means to be different and diverse, but still seem like one family living in the resident halls.
In order to encourage diversity in the hall, the RAs should plan diversity program, where everyone feels welcome and loved; emphasize communications among the residents, and show an imitate examples for the residents. By doing that, the residents understands one another and lively joyfully and happily with one another even though they might be different one way the other.
In conclusion, diversity is a very broad topic that should be considered in building a strong community of people. Emphasizing communication among the residents, planning diversity programs also attracts the residents to know more about other people and cultures shared in the resident hall.

RA/AA Class 4-8-08

Ethical decision and Diversity awareness...
The discussion began with defining values and ethics. Before I walked into the class, I barely knew much about the definitions of these vocabularies, but having the opportunity to discuss with my fellow group members and get more ideas, totally enlightened my knowledge about the whole topic.
I realized that ethics is more personal than values. Some people believe that the certain things should be done in some situation while others don’t. This explains that although the value of something may be the same for most people, the ethical thinking changes from person to person.
For example, the sample question brought to this lecture explains this subject. The story about a man who escaped from prison, changed his name and lived far off from the prison, where he did good deeds. The question was “I would I report him back to the prison?” The answered defended from one person to another depending on their ethical believes about the situation.
Another concept discussed was diversity. Diversity is a broad aspect of a community. It explains the difference shared among different people living in an environment. Focusing on the diversity from the aspect of being an RA in the resident hall at University at Buffalo, a very diverse community of people, there are very vast cultural difference between so many groups of residents living together.
As a resident advisor (RA), the most concern I have about diversity is how to ensure that people understands each other’s culture through interaction. Getting to know every resident, I guess, is a good means of better understanding their cultures. Other factors like planning diversity programs, having empathy, being respectful of others, and so on may also impact on the community the RA is trying to build.


Question:
1. How do I get the residents to interact and bound with each other, understanding one another’s values and ethics other than planning diversity programs?
Depending on the concept or issue it can be done in different ways; through programming, through discussions, through events, etc. Work with your Hall Director if you see an issue of educational opportunity in way of diversity on your floor and he or she will help you figure out the best way to educate.

RA/AA Class 4-1-08

“Community maintenance” was an interesting topic to discuss during this training. Thinking of counseling, listening, and discipline as the common elements of floor maintenance adds up to the concept of building a good community.
In the past, I've been opportune to discuss issues like this with an RA friend of mine. He emphasized the importance of trying to fit in everyone into the community, and how to maintain your floor as well. Every so often, the residents are involved in quarrels with one another, one way or the other, and the common question is "how would an RA settle disputes among his/her residents?" Not understanding this concept, Community maintenance, leaves the RA with less clues on how to resolve issues and maintain a good community as expected.
Briefly, the most beneficial aspect of this lecture on community maintenance was the listening aspect. In my understanding, the listening aspect has to do with being able to hear the both sides’ comment and description of the incident i.e. understanding the cause of the quarrel from both sides before proceeding to conclusion.
I realize that it doesn’t seem right when the RA favors one side of the argument without hearing what the other side has to say about the incident. Also, it doesn’t seem right for the RA to ignore the reports from his/her resident about issues on their floor. Therefore, listening, in this sense, works best towards community maintenance as well as building a good and strong community of people.
As an RA, the most concern about today’s topic was how to effectively practice the concept of listening before making decisions in most situations that may arise within my floor. Reports may change at times, ranging from complains about roommate to maybe, other people playing loud music and disturbing fellow residents. Also, the procedures to approach these circumstances may change depending on the reports from the residents, and so my concern is being able to know when to listen and how to make suggestions and conclusions if the disputes arise.

Question:
1.

1. How do we know which problems of the residents to report to the hall council director? (Residence Hall Director)

There is never a point where the Hall Director will not listen to what you have to say about a situation. There are going to be instances where you are unsure whether or not you should tell your supervisor, but better safe than sorry; tell him or her. You should always err on the side of caution. If your supervisor says that a situation does not warrant his or her involvement then you can take that information to the next incident that happens of the same type.