My name is Jacob Schiff and I was born in Los Angeles, CA where I lived my entire life. I am currently a junior at the University of Maryland majoring in Communication. I was certain that I wanted to major in Communication when I was just 15. I went with one of my best friend’s older brother to a Communication course at UCLA and enjoyed it so much that I decided when I attend college, I want to major in Communication myself. After graduating college, I plan on returning to Los Angeles where I would like to become an entertainment agent. My father is a stand-up comedian and has been on tour with Jerry Seinfeld for the past ten years. I have always known that I want to follow his path and join the entertainment industry after I graduate college.
One of the most difficult decisions in my life was deciding where I should attend college. All I knew was that I wanted to be on the east coast and experience a different lifestyle for a couple years. I ended up narrowing my choices down but it was a hard decision whether I wanted to be in New York, Maryland or Boston. However, after putting in countless numbers of hours, I decided that New York and Boston are too similar to Los Angeles and that Maryland would be the best option. I joined Alpha Epsilon Pi my first semester and have never regretted my decision of attending the University of Maryland.
If Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) were to be enacted, my life would drastically be changed. The Internet is my number one resource as a college student. It is also a place where I along with the rest of this world are allowed to express ourselves according to the right of freedom of speech. It provides the entire world with a free exchange of information. However, if SOPA were to be passed, websites such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter could all be permanently removed from the Internet. Almost all websites I use in any given day would be removed if SOPA were to be passed. I understand that I could refer back to more conventional ways of accessing information; however, the benefits of search engines and the ability to find hundreds of websites on any topic in a matter of seconds is something that I am not willing to give up. I am a strong believer that websites should continue to be monitored for copyright infringement and dealt with if they are found to be breaking any laws. However, the radical decision to remove all of these important websites and search engines would not only hurt me but every other human being wanting to learn something at a faster rate. In addition, there are many people who believe that the right to freedom of speech would also be taken away from us. A huge part of me, which I have developed through my many Communication courses at the University of Maryland, is the importance of expressing my opinions and beliefs to the rest of the world. Personal blogs, where their main purpose is to present personal beliefs and ideas, could also be removed from the Internet. This restriction alone would greatly affect me because of my love to freely express myself to anyone who agrees or even disagrees on my topic.
Students Against Censorship 