Reflection

I learned several things during the magazine project process. I learned that I could use several little tricks to make my writing better and to make my writing more substantial. While the critiquing process was going on I realized that I needed to make my article more urgent instead of full of boring facts. I learned a lot about editing too, I learned that I should pace myself and make sure I spend enough time on everyone’s paper so that I could give them well thought out critiques that they could use. I also learned to explain to them what they needed to fix instead of just giving them a paper that’s marked up. I made a lot of different drafts during the whole process.

At first I was going to use my photo essay but then I decided to write a whole new article based on what I learned at internship and how that opened my eyes to a very important topic. I used pictures from my photo essay because I thought that they effectively represented what I was trying to get across. I simply needed to know how to incorporate the pictures into my writing creatively. I believe that my layout put the two components together well. I learned that the publishing process was not an easy one. I’m glad that we had to weigh in different things and we ultimately selected the right choice. We decided to go with the local printer because we would be able to produce a better product and even though it wasn’t in color it gave us a chance to be creative.

After 11th grade I hope to stay with WiLDCOAST and continue my project with them. Our project at WiLDCOAST was bigger than making a chart, it was about changing something in the government and hopefully changing part of the culture in Mexico.

All of these things are important because it made me once again realize how important this topic is and what kind of affect it’s going to have on Mexico. It also helped with my writing. We made the right choice by choosing to make a magazine, I believe that everyone’s article is their best example of work so far.

Blog Reflection Numero Dos

1. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what improved? How did it get better? Why?

I believe that my writing did get a lot better as the drafts went on. At first I only had a five paragraph essay that had an intro with a thesis and a conclusion. As it went on, I had several concise paragraphs that had a clear meaning. I believe that the big picture of my article was obvious and it was interesting. The big picture of my article is the start of an incentive program in Baja California that would end the pollution found in the Tijuana River Valley. My writing got better because of the tips that were given in Humanities class. The tips helped me with structure of the article, the concerts not pancakes and the loop structure are the tips that helped me the most.

2. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what still needs work? What do you think will help you improve? Why?

I think that my writing still needs to be more interesting. I had a lot of facts about my writing but I didn't exactly know how to make the facts interesting. I still need help with adding facts and quotes into the writing. I believe that if I could incorporate the facts and the quotes into the writing my article would be a lot more interesting and make more of an impact.

3. Specifically, show us something that improved and describe the path it took to get better. You can quote your article, your drafts, link to evidence, etc.

In my first draft I had a five paragraph essay that tried to do the loop style structure, but it failed. As I started writing more drafts the loop structure started making more sense and there were a lot more paragraphs to work with. It took a lot of drafts and a lot of critiques for my writing to get better. I had to change a lot of sentences so that they would make sense. I also had to make the introduction more interesting.

4. Describe something specific (or a few things!) that you learned about writing.
All of the tips that were talked about in humanities helped me a lot. We learned about sentence structure and how to use words. I learned not to use Sledgehammer words (completely, extremely, really, etc.) and to have concerts instead of pancakes. I also learned the loop structure.

Magazine Reflection

1. What went well for you during the process of creating this magazine?

The process overall was good for me, it made me understand what is done in the professional world as well as understand how to work with others and take their advice. I knew how to work with indesign a little when I started but as time went on, I learned a lot more about indesign. I took a lot of advice from other people and because of it I believe my project looks a lot better and it looks a lot more professional.

2. What challenges did you face as you moved from an early draft or idea to a final product?
I wrote a whole new article, so I went through about 12 drafts before I believed it was ready to be in the magazine, there were a lot of tweaks made everywhere and during the whole experience. I also had to change things like my pictures and I had to make them different because they had to be black and white as well as change in size.

3. What other examples of work—student and professional—stood out as exemplary and served as a good model for your own work?
I really enjoyed Evan's layout and I really liked Sydney's layout, I tried doing something similar to Evan's layout but it didn't quite work out. I used the Atlantic as a professional example. I tried to do similar headline pages and sub-headlines.

Literature Group Reflection

What worked?
I don't think that much worked in our literature group, some of us could keep up with the writing while others could not. Only Evan, Will and I managed to keep up with the due dates and we were the only ones able to finish the book. When it came to the lit meetings a lot of people didn't have their projects or they just didn't exude any kind of emotion towards their project, most of the time we only did half of the projects or we didn't have enough time for everyone's project. I don't think a lot worked in our lit group.


What would you like to see changed?
I would like to see everyone's project done and I would like to see everyone be able to finish their book so that we could all talk about it and so that we are all able to play everyone's games. Because not a lot of people had finished the part they were supposed to read we were not able to play the games correctly. I would like to see everyone be excited about their projects and not do their projects that morning.

What was your book about?
My book was about the adventures of Huck Finn. Huck lived with a widow that tried to civilize him but he didn't like that so he decided to go with his father who wasn't very nice. He then decided to leave his father and made it look like he had been murdered. He ended up on a little island and soon found Jim, the widow's slave, he had run away because he overheard the widow talking about selling Jim. Jim and Huck soon became friends and decided to head towards New Orleans. They went through a lot of people and Jim ended up getting captured for a reward. Huck ended up going to Aunt Sally's house which was Tom Sawyers Aunt. Tom Sawyer ended up showing up and saying that he was his brother and saying that Huck was Tom. They tried getting Jim out of the back but they all did was plan. They were chased by a crowd of people and they got Jim out because they were running to the raft. Tom ended up getting shot and they let Jim go because Tom told them that he was already a free slave because the widow had died a couple of weeks before and her will said that when she died Jim was free. Jim also told Huck that they saw his dead dad.

Obama Socialist?

When I googled Obama socialism I started looking for a story about what people thought about Obama and socialism. I read on stjoenews.com that an Alabama congressman said that he knew at least 17 socialist house members, but he refused to give the list of the names. Long however says that there is not even one socialist house members and that if there were, everyone would own a piece of AIG or the auto industry, but they don't. The government is helping out the economy now because of the "hard economic times". I don't think that these allegations are correct because Obama made a stimulus plan to help the people and businesses that need help. Any other president would have done the same thing. Bush had a stimulus plan just a year ago and he was not called a socialist. Obama's slogan was Change and it was Hope but that does not mean the hope or the change to socialism.
"Tea Baggers" are insane! I read a blog about the Tea Bagging march in San Diego and there were a lot of interesting quotes on the page, they say "That's not the fist time the liberals in the media have chosen to ignore and demean you." They claim that all media is controlled by "liberal extremist" and a lot believe that Obama is a socialist. They all agree that Obama's taxes are too high and that they think it needs to stop.
Obama is not the first president to be called a socialist however, plenty of other presidents have been called a socialist. When I googled Socialist presidents in America, I saw a lot about the GOP calling Obama a socialist. They say that his economic plan is going to lead to a large deficit that will last until 2013 and will not start to go up until after that. Everyone seems to be calling Obama a socialist because of his stimulus plan but it seems that they do not take into account Bush's stimulus plan which was proposed just a year and a half ago, remember, point a finger, you have three going back to you.

Citations:
Thomas, Clinton. "stjoenews.net | Obama the socialist, some say." stjoenews.net | St. Joseph News-Press | St. Joseph news, sports, entertainment, business, jobs, cars, yellow pages & classifieds. Serving St. Joseph, MO . http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/apr/19/obama-socialist-some-say/ (accessed April 21, 2009).

"Tea Party Success! - San Diego, California Talk Radio Station - 760 KFMB AM - 760kfmb." San Diego, California Talk Radio Station - 760 KFMB AM - 760kfmb - HOME. http://www.760kfmb.com/Global/story.asp?S=10195736 (accessed April 21, 2009).

Honors Blog

1. Huck Finn is about 13 years old, t he doesn't have an excellent posture. Jim is a big man that was almost traded for being so big ahe is quite thin because he doesn't eat a lot and he's always running around. He's about the average size of an 13 year old, he's not too tall but he's not short. I'm not quite sure about Huck's posture but I'm sure that he's strong. He's really big and he usually sits around on the raft because he can't go out during the day time, they only travel at night because they don't want to get caught. The duke and the king are different, the king is an old skinny man while the duke is a younger man, they're isn't a lot said about what they look like except the king is an older man.
2. Huck has dark short hair, I believe he has brown eyes and he has no prominent scars. Jim is a big black man that doesn't have too many prominent features, he has black hair, he's big, black and strong. The duke and the king are small and manipulative. They appear a more respectable type, but the truth is that they are manipulative men that don't care about what other people have to go through as long as they get money out of it. They are the quintessential
3. Huck Finn has an old timer way of dressing, he wears the long white shirts and he wears the pants with the suspenders, he only wears that when he's in town, when Huck is on the raft with Jim he doesn't wear any clothes, both Jim and Huck believe there is no reason to wear clothes. I don't remember them ever talking about Huck's shoes, but I'm sure that they weren't the nicest. Huck wears a hat and he always carries around a pipe because he's always smoked. Jim also wears old clothes that isn't always the cleanest, he wears the long shirts and every time I see a picture of him drawn he has overalls on. He doesn't necessarily care about what he looks like and he is usually naked when Huck and him are on the raft, while they're on the raft they are both naked because they both feel as if though they are more comfortable like that, if they fall into the river, they don't take as long to dry because they are naked. Like Huck, Jim usually has a pipe on him and I believe that he as well has a hat. The Duke and the King are usually dressed because they don't feel as comfortable around each other as Jim and Huck do. The king and the duke usually try to dress better when they are in town to make a good impression, they try to con people so they have to dress a certain way, they have to look respectable. When the duke and the king are on the raft they dress more casually because they don't have to impress anyone.
4. What distinguishing behavior does the character have? Include habits, preferences (music, food, literature, etc.), speech (sayings, stalling words, etc), and demeanor.
In the beginning of the book the widow tries to turn Huck into a responsible citizen, however Huck runs away with his father and soon runs away from his father as well. Huck is responsible for himself and for that reason he never tried to learn anything new. Huck did not have the best vocabulary and he wasn't the most articulate but he was more articulate than Jim. Huck also didn't have the best manners, he always spent his time going out and didn't really have time to go to school. Jim never went to school, he had no education and it wasn't necessarily needed for him. Jim was the widows slave so he didn't really need to know anything except how to work and what to do around the house, he was more street smart, he knew what to do and he usually had really good ideas. He was a very compassionate man, he always took care of Huck as if he were his child and he missed his own children very much, both his wife and his children were seperated and that made Jim quite depressed some of the time, sometimes Huck would find Jim crying in the middle of the night. The duke and the king said that they were really into important things such as saying that they were into plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, they said that they were into Shakespeare's plays because they wanted to put a more sophisticated front up. They wanted to seem more educated and impressive because they were supposed to be a duke and a king.
5. Huck Finn was "the lowest levels of white society", since he didn't have a set home and he didn't have an education, he wasn’t thought of highly at all. He had an abusive drunk father who was never around and he didn’t care about being civil or people respecting him. Huck liked smoking out of his pipe and he liked going around in his raft, it seemed as if though he also liked dressing like a woman, maybe not liked it, but he seemed to do it quite often. He knew how to steer a raft pretty well and he didn’t seem to mind being on his own, he was also really good at lying. Jim was a respectable man and he had a lot of good ideas, he had ideas of looking sick and not letting anyone get close to him because he was a runaway slave. Jim didn’t really know anything but being a slave until he left and he joined Huck on his trip. Jim was very superstitious, he believed in snakes being bad luck and he had a lucky hairball. Overall, Jim was sometimes gullible but he always had Huck’s best intentions at heart. The duke and the king however, did not have good intentions for anyone but themselves. They did not think of anyone as a person, they thought of them as a part of their scheme. The duke and the king spent the remainder of their lives trying to trick people into giving them money. They tried getting money from unsuspecting town people, from the Wilks sisters and from more town people, until they were discovered. They were mere con-artists.

6. Huck didn’t really have a religion or philosophy; he was a unique boy because although he was white and had a social life with the white people around him, he did not believe in turning in his good friend Jim. At that time it was not acceptable for him to not turn in Jim because he was a runaway slave, because of that, it’s easy to believe that Huck thought for himself and sometimes disagreed with the morals that were around during that time. Jim was very superstitious, he believed that if you touched a snake skin it was extremely bad luck and something really bad would happen, when he was a slave he believed that he had a hairball that would bring good luck or could tell the future if you would roll it, people from all around would come to see the “good luck hair ball”. Because Jim was so gullible and wasn’t as capable in believing in his ideas, when Tom Sawyer came around, he went along with all his crazy ideas that took him a long time to get out of the hut he was stuck in. The duke and the king had no moral standards at all, and for that reason they were always tricking people and making a fool out of themselves. At the Wilks house they almost got hung because they were lying about being Peter’s brothers and taking all of the money. The duke and the king had no moral standards and because of that they didn’t get far with their trickery.
7.The book says that Huck is a boy that doesn’t want to be “sivilized”, he’s comfortable with the way he is and how he’s lived his life. Huck doesn’t want to go to school and he’s gullible. He enjoys the company of his best friend Tom Sawyer, which isn’t always a good thing. The book says that Jim is quite gullible and that he doesn’t do the best job at thinking for himself. Jim really tries to be the best person he can be, whenever he sees Huck he always treats him compassionately and he calls him “honey” and gushy things like that. Jim always wants the best for people. The book says that Jim is a man that only wants to find his kids and wife and be happy. The book says that the duke and the king are poo-heads that don’t know anything but to scam people into thinking that they’re respectable people that will help them in some way, but in the end they get discovered and they end up getting hung.
8. What connections does this character have to history, established religion or the world beyond the book?
9. What does the character's name suggest? Authors rarely (if ever) name characters at random. What could the name symbolize? What evidence do you have for this?
10. How does the character develop during the plot? How does he/she change?

Immersion Photo Essay

When you see the Tijuana River Valley for the first time, it’s something that you have no words for; there are thousands of plastic bottles and hundreds of pieces of trash. You would never think that so much trash could be located in one riverbed. Most of the trash comes from Tijuana, all of the bottles say “ECOCE” and have labels in Spanish. While I was at WiLDCOAST I realized that there wasn’t a direct remedy to this problem; during my immersion I learned that the only way that this problem could ever be taken care of is if both the United States and Tijuana work together. This problem of pollution is not only affecting the health of people in Tijuana, it’s also affecting San Diegans. The trash will not stay on one side of the border-we both need to do something about the problem in the Tijuana River Valley.



There are more than 2 million tires sent to Mexico every year by California; because tires have more life in them they are used in Mexico for a short time, so they can also use them for their cars or as a building tool for their homes. When the tires are no longer useful to them they throw them away or they are swept to the nearby river (the Tijuana River) which comes back to San Diego. This is an ongoing cycle, California uses tires, they send them to Mexico when they’re done with them, Mexico uses them for their houses or their cars and when they’re done with them, the wheels go back into the Tijuana River. Tijuana doesn’t have the resources to help stop the on-going cycle by themselves - seeing as how their budget is the same as the city of Del Mar. The tires are a big part of this problem, but after the tires, there are the thousands of plastic bottles and trash located in the River Valley.


Imperial Beach is instantly affected by all the pollution found in the Tijuana River Valley; it is a community that has its beach closed 200 days out of the year. If we could find a way to work together with our neighboring country, we could have a solution to this problem. Imperial Beach is close to the border so all of the pollution found across the border could be found in Imperial Beach because it goes through the river and because of the currents, most of the contaminants can be found in Imperial Beach. Since my internship is located in Imperial Beach, I noticed that there aren’t as many people in the water; there were a lot of fisherman however. Since all of the pollutants come across the border, the fisherman could be eating contaminated fish that could be harmful. We need to work with Mexico so that the fish that Imperial Beach community members are eating can be safe and so that Tijuana could have a clean healthy community as well.



The more media the Tijuana River Valley can get, the better. It’s important for people to realize how important it is to get the River Valley cleaned up and usually that means that they need some impressive visuals. During immersion, Telemundo did a segment on the Tijuana River Valley and how the only way to fix this problem was to work together. The cameraman and reporter seemed quite taken aback by the fact that there was so much trash, and that it smelled so bad. Since Telemundo is a Spanish network that plays in both the United States and Mexico: we found it to be the perfect opportunity to tell the story about the Tijuana River Valley and working binationally.




During immersion we had the chance to go to a meeting that had officials from both sides of the border. There was a man that spoke about the recycling program that the officials intend to start in Tijuana soon, there were several people from other organizations that wanted to talk about what they planned to do for the both communities. I learned a lot about the situation in Tijuana and how we had to do a lot of research in order to even think about starting a recycling program in Tijuana. Seeing as how Tijuana has such a low budget, I learned that recycling programs need collecting stations for trash and recycling. Pick-up trucks in Tijuana spend 70% transporting their trash and only 30% actually collecting trash. We need to be able to help Tijuana with their trash problem because at this point, it’s also affecting the U.S.

Internship Immersion 2

The most important thing during my immersion is social welfare and politics. WiLDCOAST is involved with social welfare because they give people free vaccinations to people that are ocean users, they are making doctors experienced in ocean related illnesses, they are working with Imperial Beach Medical Center to recognize ocean symptoms. They do a lot to try and help the health of people by making better programs for them and trying to find a solution from the root of the problem. Since they know that a lot of pollution comes from, such as working in the Tijuana River Valley, they do a lot to try and get it cleaned up, they have clean-ups, they try and find out what kinds of chemicals are sent out from polluted water and they look at where all the trash is coming from. WiLDCOAST is all about social welfare because they do a lot to better the health of the people in the community.

WiLDCOAST is into politics because they try and change legislature so that Mexico and the U.S. can work together to help fix the problem of pollution in both countries. They want to do something so that both countries benefit from the solution to the pollution problem that is in both countries. One of the solutions would be that the United States could work along side Mexico and give them the resources that they need. Tijuana has the same budget that the small city of Del Mar has, Del Mar is about 1/5 the size of Tijuana and has about 1/5 of the people. Tijuana has a constant amount of people coming in ever year and for that reason, Tijuana needs more resources. If we could help Tijuana with their resources, they could have more money to take care of things such as waste control and possibly start a recycling program.

Overall, WiLDCOAST is really dedicated to social welfare and politics. This non-profit organization tries to make the ocean better for everyone that gets into it, they also try to make everything healthier for everyone, if Tijuana has to live with polluted waters, then we will try to get them better living conditions.

Immersion Internship

1. What are you most excited about in regards to your immersion experience? Why do you feel this way?
I'm really excited about finishing my video during immersion and learning more about the place I'm interning at. I'm excited about presenting to the officials during the Tijuana River Valley presentation. I'm also really excited about experiencing what a real job feels like, going everyday and knowing what it feels like to go to work and go home, and be tired. I want to see what people at my internship are like everyday and see how they get used to us being around all the time. I'm also really excited to see what kinds of places we're going to travel to, such as going to the Tijuana River Valley to get footage and going to Tijuana to get footage of some people answering questions.

2. What are you most concerned about (what causes the most stress) regarding immersion? Why do you feel this way?
I'm concerned about getting to internship on time and how long it's going to get there everyday. I also am concerned about what we're going to be doing everyday because we can't make phone calls to important people and we can't do very important things because it relates to the government, other than that I'm not really concerned.

Progressive Era

How progressive was the Progressive Era in American history?

Things to consider (choose some, not all!):

* Constitutional Amendments?

* Workers & Working Conditions?

* Imperialism?

* Civil Liberties?

* Conservation?

* Democracy?

* Freedom?

Make sure that you take a stand and establish a judgement, comparison in relation to a specific standard.

Bloggie Woggies

What blogs are out there with outstanding examples of:

1. Economic advice to Barack Obama?

2. Literary Analysis?

3. Historical Writing?

4. Anything else that makes blogs great?

Quote examples for each and explain why you picked them! Show us and tell us what makes them great!

I found a couple of really good entries while reading Evan's blog. He gave a lot of advice to Obama, and he really made an honest effort to try to think of something new to offer Obama. He did a good job of trying to use what we have now to better the suffering economy. His evidence was clearly thought out and he made a lot of good background research. He put out the current unemployment rate and how that's affecting everyone. He gave several options that the president could use, he asked president Obama to stop the war in Iraq because that is costing us trillions of dollars. I think that Evan's blog is really good at giving advice to President Obama and giving him reasonable ideas that he could feasibly use.

"I have quite a few suggestions for you Mr. Obama. The first piece of advice would be to pull out of the Iraq war as soon as possible. The cost the war as of March 2008 was in the trillions! That is money that we could have been using to strengthen our economy and keep it stable. This war as earned itself a spot on the list of most costly wars, just behind Vietnam, WWII, and Korea. With all of that money, we could have prevented our current economic crisis."

For the Literary Analysis I chose is Amanda's blog. She read the Jungle and she really knew what she was writing about, she gave a clear understanding of how literary devices were used.

"The author uses character, conflict, and foreshadowing to develop the theme that a capitalist society is an extremely difficult place to live in if you are part of the lower class."

For Historical Writing, I used Esther's blog, she talked about the 1896 election. Esther used good quotes and made it flow into her writing.

"The election of 1896 between McKinley and Bryan was impacted by the economic depression that started in the year 1893, which lasted until 1897. The depression of 1893 according to the book Nation of Nations was "the deepest the nation had yet experienced." A lot of companies and banks were failing at this time, this was a hard time for people all over for the companies, and the people who worked in those companies. When people saw that the economy was crashing they all panicked and they started taking out all of their money from the banks, which was one of the things that caused the bank failures."

Obama and I

If I had a chance to talk to Obama, I would ask him a couple of questions, like an interview.
My Questions would be the following:

What's different about the this stimulus and the Bush administration's stimulus plan?
What kind of regulations are in this stimulus plan?
What do companies have to do to get a bailout?
After getting the answers to the questions, I would like to ask Obama what kind of businesses he would like to bail out?
What are the companies that are priority?
After the stimulus what does he think will happen to the economy, how much will the stimulus plan help the economy?
After all of the questions, I would like to talk to him about the economy will worsen and what can the average person do?
What's going to happen to the average American? how are they going to get help?
How is the real estate business going to better and what kind of limitations are going to be put as to where the money goes, so that another John Thain doesn't happen?
What kind of regulations will businesses have so that bonuses, vacations, and refurbishing will no longer happen?

Overall I think that the questions would go really well and I'd get a lot of answers to my questions. I think that I would then talk to him about the future of the countries economy and how he thinks that's going to improve or worsen. I would like to talk to him about the difficulty of trying to pass the stimulus plan and why he thinks it took so long for it to pass. I would ask him why he believes a lot of senators were a bit skeptical about passing the bill. I would talk to President Obama about any future stimulus plans, any past stimulus and anything about the current stimulus plan.

My hour would probably be over way before all my questions and topics could get covered, but it would be a lot of fun being able to talk to President Obama about all of this and I think that it would be really informational.

After my questions, I would talk to Obama how he has to make sure that he makes good decisions on what's coming, like Frank Rich said, "it’s not clear that he fully understands the huge forces that hit his young administration last week." He needs to make sure that he understands the full force of the financial crisis that is coming. He needs to make sure that he stops cutting money where it's needed. He needs to make sure that he puts the money where he wants to put it and where it's needed. They took away money from the education and from health care. Things that were in the original stimulus plan are now going to be taken out because some people want the money to be taken out, so that the stimulus plan will decrease and will no longer be $800 billion. When George W. Bush asked for a stimulus plan, he asked for $145 billion from tax payers for, “a shot in the arm to keep a fundamentally strong economy healthy”. According to the New York Times, "The president said the package “must be big enough to make a difference” in an economy as large as that of the United States, meaning it should be worth about 1 percent of the gross domestic product, putting it at $140 billion to $150 billion," George Bush took 1% of the gross domestic product thinking that the economy would become a better one, seeing as how that didn't work, I want to know how Obama's going to make that change and make it work this time without wasting the tax-payers money. Obama needs to make the appropriate cuts and make sure that he spends the money wisely because the economy depends on him.
Sources:
For the CNN article, CLICK HERE!
For the NYTimes article, CLICK HERE!

My Mentor Interview Is:
On Tuesday in the conference room and it will be recorded on a camera.


Sources:
HULSE, CARL. "Senators Reach Deal on Stimulus Plan as Jobs Vanish - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/us/politics/07stimulus.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Stimulus%20plan%202009&st=cse (accessed February 13, 2009).

"Debate on stimulus package to resume Monday - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/07/stimulus/index.html?iref=newssearch (accessed February 13, 2009).

RICH, FRANK. "Op-Ed Columnist - Slumdogs Unite! - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08rich.html (accessed February 13, 2009).

KRUGMAN, PAUL. "Op-Ed Columnist - The Destructive Center - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/opinion/09krugman.html?_r=1 (accessed February 13, 2009).

Specter, Arlen. "Arlen Specter - Why I Support the Economic Stimulus - washingtonpost.com." washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/08/AR2009020801710.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 (accessed February 13, 2009).

The Color Purple

When reading the Color Purple by Alice Walker, I realized that there was a lot of abuse, both mentally and physically to the main character, named Celie. The abuse becomes worse as she gets older and believes that she is not capable of defending herself. Celie tells her story and tries to become her own person by doing several things for herself. In the Color Purple many literary devices are used, some include; situational irony, symbolism and many metaphors.
Situational irony is a big part of the Color Purple, while reading I noticed a lot of it used. When Mr. and Celie go visit Shug, they both seemingly fall in love with her, even though she's initally Mr.'s lover. She teaches Celie to love herself and she teaches her how to become a proud seductive woman. Celie learns these rules of confidence from a woman that is lovers with her husband. Another part of situational irony I found was the fact that Nettie, Celie's sister, was kicked out of her house and ended up going to live in Africa and finding Celie's kids, who she's been looking for since they were born. Another part of situational irony I found was the fact that Shug's father was a pastor while Shug made her life being a seductive singer, singing in clubs and had no sense of right and wrong. She later makes a good relationship with her father and he forgives her.

The book also uses symbolism in the fact that Shug represents Celie becoming an independent woman. Shug really teaches Celie to love herself. In the whole book, Shug teaches Celie how to become a woman because all her life she is a treated like a dog who has a certain owner and she does whatever she is told. When Shug comes into Celie's life, she realizes what it means to be a strong independent woman. When Celie was young, she was sexually abused by the man she thought was her father, he bared two of her children and she grew up with a certain hatred for him because he took away both children. When he dies, he leaves Celie his house where she lives and waits for her family to be together for once. Mr.'s oldest son, Harpo marries a woman named Sofia and she is the exact opposite of Celie, Sofia always stands up for herself and won't take things from anyone. Celie and Mr's relationship is the exact opposite of the relationship of Harpo and Sofia. Celie is treated like an obedient dog, while Mr is the boss, and Harpo is the obedient one in the relationship and Sofa is more of the boss.

The book involves metaphors, such as the metaphor of Shug making Celie a woman because she is not the woman who is seen in the end of the book. Another metaphor used in the book is the letters that are sent back in forth in the book. There are constant letters sent to Celie from Nettie, her sister who was kicked out of her house by Mr, and moved to Africa where she found Celie's two kids. Things that are sewn are also big metaphors in the books, because it shows how thngs are being put together and in the end, it's a big thing that can be put together and goes well together, in the end everyone gets what they deserved. Celie ends up with both of her kids and her sister.

The overall theme of the book is that Celie overcame both physical and mental abuse. Whether Celie having to go through sexual abuse with her father or physical abuse with Mr. She overcomes everything when she realize's what she can accomplish on her own.

What makes a great interview?

Design Principles:

1.)Making a description/add a little biography about the person that's being interviewed.
Example from CBS: Couric Palin Interview
(CBS) When CBS News anchor Katie Couric sat down for an exclusive interview with vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, she focused on the economy - but also addressed reports that the lobbying firm of Sen. John McCain's campaign manager received payments from the controversial mortgage giant Freddie Mac until last month. Couric asked for the Alaska governor's reaction to that.

Esther and I's part of the answer:
I think that one interview design principle that all interviewers always have to have is flexibility. They need to be able to make up more questions on the spot. If people do that they cannot get a lot of information that they were not planning on getting. Also sometimes people feel like they only have a certain amount of questions but once they get started and the interviewee starts answering them they get more ideas on follow up questions. I think it a very good skill that an interview could have and that would make the interview good.If they ask the right questions.her is an example
At this early stage, would you say that you were happily married?
a: Very much so. But, the pressure on us both as a couple with the media was phenomenal, and misunderstood by a great many people.
We'd be going round Australia, for instance, and all you could hear was, oh, she's on the other side. Now, if you're a man, like my husband a proud man, you mind about that if you hear it every day for four weeks. And you feel low about it, instead of feeling happy and sharing it.

q: When you say ´she's on the other side', what do you mean?

a: Well, they weren't on the right side to wave at me or to touch me.

q: So they were expressing a preference even then for you rather than your husband?

a: Yes - which I felt very uncomfortable with, and I felt it was unfair, because I wanted to share.

q: But were you flattered by the media attention particularly?

a: No, not particularly, because with the media attention came a lot of jealousy, a great deal of complicated situations arose because of that.
Princess and the Press
Another design principle that makes an interview great would have to be when an interviewer asks some hard questions, because these are things that the audience would want to know. Also sometime when interviewers ask several questions at one time this is kind of a good way of interviewing, sometime it can seem like the interviewee is being interrogated instead if interviewed, but they may sometimes get good responses from the person. This i think means that the interviewer really wants to know the roots of the situation, and how the interviewee feels about it.
example:
HARWOOD: How did it feel to be there with the former presidents today and what can you learn from them, especially the current President Bush whom you criticized so strongly in the campaign?
another one is
HARWOOD: ...why stop at $775 billion? Why not go to the $1.2 trillion that some economists have recommended? Is that because you think that the political figure of a trillion dollars is too politically charged to get over? Is it because you think more spending would be pork rather than stimulus? Or do you think you've figured out exactly the right amount of stimulus that's needed?

20 Possible Questions

1.) When did you get involved with WiLDCOAST?
2.) How did you know that you wanted to get involved with the ocean water/beach?
3.) Where did you go to school?
4.) Are you a native San Diegan?
5.) How did you get involved with Tijuana River Valley?
6.) How has WiLDCOAST affected you as a person?
7.) What other kinds of events do WiLDCOAST have?
8.) How does wildcoast help to get connected to the community?
9.) How long has Wildcoast been around?
10.) Where did this organization get started?
11.) What makes wildcoast different than other organizations?
12.) How long do you think it will take until people start making a serious effort to help stop ocean pollution?
13.) What steps do you think are needed to take for the Tijuana River Valley to be clean for long periods of time?

Couric Palin Interview
(CBS) When CBS News anchor Katie Couric sat down for an exclusive interview with vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, she focused on the economy - but also addressed reports that the lobbying firm of Sen. John McCain's campaign manager received payments from the controversial mortgage giant Freddie Mac until last month. Couric asked for the Alaska governor's reaction to that. Watch Day II of the interview, on foreign policy, here.

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Sarah Palin: My understanding is that Rick Davis recused himself from the dealings of the firm. I don't know how long ago, a year or two ago that he's not benefiting from that. And you know, I was - I would hope that's not the case.

Katie Couric: But he still has a stake in the company so isn't that a conflict of interest?

Palin: Again, my understanding is that he recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie, any lobbying efforts on his part there. And I would hope that's the case because, as John McCain has been saying, and as I've on a much more local level been also rallying against is the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made.

Next, Couric asked about the $700 billion government bailout of bad debt - and whether she supports it.

Palin: I'm all about the position that America is in and that we have to look at a $700 billion bailout. And as Sen. McCain has said unless this nearly trillion dollar bailout is what it may end up to be, unless there are amendments in Paulson's proposal, really I don't believe that Americans are going to support this and we will not support this. The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They're not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do. Is he going to do this and see what way the political wind's blowing? They're waiting to see if John McCain will be able to see these amendments implemented in Paulson's proposal.

Couric: Why do you say that? Why are they waiting for John McCain and not Barack Obama?

Palin: He's got the track record of the leadership qualities and the pragmatism that's needed at a crisis time like this.

Couric: But polls have shown that Sen. Obama has actually gotten a boost as a result of this latest crisis, with more people feeling that he can handle the situation better than John McCain.

Palin: I'm not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who's more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who's actually done it?

Couric: If this doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?

Palin: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this, as it's been proposed, has to pass or we're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression. But, there has got to be action - bipartisan effort - Congress not pointing fingers at one another but finding the solution to this, taking action, and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.

Couric: Would you support a moratorium on foreclosures to help average Americans keep their homes?

Palin: That's something that John McCain and I have both been discussing - whether that ... is part of the solution or not. You know, it's going to be a multi-faceted solution that has to be found here.

Couric: So you haven't decided whether you'll support it or not?

Palin: I have not.

Couric: What are the pros and cons of it do you think?

Palin: Oh, well, some decisions that have been made poorly should not be rewarded, of course.

Couric: By consumers, you're saying?

Palin: Consumers - and those who were predator lenders also. That's, you know, that has to be considered also. But again, it's got to be a comprehensive, long-term solution found ... for this problem that America is facing today. As I say, we are getting into crisis mode here.

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.


For More Click HERE

Couric Obama Interview
(CBS) In just six days, Barack Obama will be sworn-in as President of the United States. Today, Osama bin Laden marked the occasion with a new threat. But in an exclusive interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, the president-elect sent a message of his own for bin Laden and his terror network. What follows is a partial transcript of the interview.

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President-elect Barack Obama: We took our eye off the ball when we invaded Iraq. And now it's done. My job is to withdraw in a responsible way from Iraq and stabilize the situation there. But our real focus has to be on Afghanistan, the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. And we have to put as much pressure on them as possible. I've already, you know, spoken to my national security team about how we're going to do that. And I'm confident that we can keep them on the run, and ensure that they cannot train terrorists to attack our homeland. That's my number one priority as President of the United States.

Couric: How important do you think it is, Mr. President-elect, to apprehend Osama bin Laden?

Mr. Obama: I think that we have to so weaken his infrastructure that, whether he is technically alive or not, he is so pinned down that he cannot function. My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him. But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives, then we will meet our goal of protecting America.

Couric: A renewed ceasefire seems pretty elusive at this juncture between Hamas and Israel. What would you say to leaders on both sides to break through the stalemate?

Mr. Obama: Well, you know, I've been very clear on this, Katie, that until January 20th we have one president at a time and that's George Bush. But, we are gonna start on day one. Hillary Clinton, in her testimony during her confirmation hearing, expressed my views and the views of the administration that we can't delay. We can't kick the can down the road. We're gonna have to take a regional approach. We're gonna have to involve Syria in discussions. We're gonna have to engage Iran in ways that we have not before. We've gotta have a clear bottom line that Israel's security is paramount. But that also we have to create a two-state solution where people can live side by side in peace.

Couric: It was revealed yesterday that your nominee for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geitner, failed to pay some taxes, and did so only after he learned he would be tapped as Treasury secretary. How embarrassing do you think this is for a future Treasury Secretary who will be overseeing the IRS?

Mr. Obama: Well, I think he's embarrassed about it. But we knew about this before we nominated him. It was an innocent mistake, a common mistake that's made. But here's the bottom line: Nobody denies that he is uniquely qualified for this job, that he has more experience in dealing with international crises. He's been uniformly praised by Republicans and Democrats and by the marketplace. And so … I'm confident he will be confirmed and I'm confident he will do an outstanding job.

Couric: And let me just end by asking you about the stimulus package. Forty percent of your stimulus package relies on tax cuts with the hopes that people will invest that money or put it back into the economy.

Mr. Obama: Right.

Couric: But some critics have said, "hey, that didn't really happen the last time." Why will it this time?

Mr. Obama: Well, there are a couple of things. First of all, I think it's important to understand that the majority of our spending is direct government spending on critical infrastructure that will set the table for long-term economic growth.

We're gonna double alternative energy. We're gonna rebuild our schools and community colleges and public universities. We're gonna invest billions of dollars in health information technology so that we can drive down costs for average families. So that's where the majority of the money's going.

Now, are some people gonna just pay down their credit cards or save some of that money? Absolutely. And if Congress has better suggestions where they can show me that one approach is gonna be better than another approach, I'm happy to take it. I don't have pride of authorship here. But the general framework, the general outlines of the plan are ones that we have run by economists from the left and the right, conservative, liberal. This is a package that I think is gonna make sense. I have every confidence that it's gonna work. But it's gonna take some time. And we've gotta do it with some speed. So my main message to Congress right now is "get it done."

Couric: And if it doesn't work?

Mr. Obama: Failure is never an option. Not in America.

Internship First Day!

What happened today?????
Today we all got excited for our first day at our internship, we got all round up and shipped out to different sites. When I got to my internship site, WiLDCOAST, Esther and I had to go find our mentor named Ben. He was across the street eating lunch, I guess we were a bit early and he still thought he had enough time to eat. When we went inside a woman named Celia gave us an orientation and told us what we were basically going to do. When we finally finished our orientation we talked to Ben about what WiLDCOAST was about and he showed us a couple videos. We asked a couple of questions, he answered them. After that Celia asked us to set up the conference table because they were going to have a meeting. We had to clean the front part of the suite, I swept, while Esther mopped/dusted. After we finished we brainstormed for ideas for our future projects and then we went home.

How did you get to internship????
My sister gave us a ride all the way to IB and she brought us back home.

What did you do for lunch???
We didn't eat lunch all day, after internship Esther and I were starving so we stopped by in-n-out and ate at my house.
:]

How did you get home??
My sister gave us a ride to my house and then we dropped Esther off at her house.

How did everything go?
Everything went pretty smooth, our mentor was cool and we met a lot of people in the WiLDCOAST team.

Bill Clinton Inauguration Speech

Bill Clinton gave his first inaugural speech in 1989, he spoke about making a better America and how we had to make it the number one country in the world. Although there were going to be obstacles, we could make it. Bill Clinton had a clear vision for what America could be. Part of his speech declared, " This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great or small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead - we have not made change our friend." Bill Clinton knew that we could make America the greatest nation this world has ever seen, but we had to make changes in our health care, our children's education, and our economy.
Clinton warned about health care and how if we didn't make it affordable people were going to suffer. When Clinton left office, none of us were prepared for what was going to happen. We were ahead of all the other countries when it came to technology, the college admittance level went up and our economy was booming. Today, China is beating us in getting Universal Health care. According to NaturalNews.com, "A communist country steeped in internet censorship, the oppression of organized religion and running a black market medical economy where you can buy "donated" organs for illicit transplants has actually beat the United States to the global line of universal health care." While the United States trails behind in universal health care, every other country seems to be giving it to their citizens. Clinton advised to help the health care problem because it is devastating families, but so far there are no signs of universal health care in the United States. The United States in not only trailing in health care however, US Education is taking a big step back as well.
The college entrance level in the United States is getting lower and lower every year. With the economy getting worse and people looking for an easier way out, people are not giving college much of a second look. According to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, "Only 70% of all students in public high schools graduate, and only 32% of all students leave high school qualified to attend four-year colleges." Meaning that most kids that are going to school are not ready enough to go to college. If kids are not ready enough to go to college, they will most likely fail and because of that less and less people are getting through college. If less people go to college, less people are prepared to take on this changing world and they are less likely to have high end jobs that will develop their skills. The United States needs their children to do well in school and go to college because we need to keep up with the times and the speed of the globe. We need to keep up with other countries because the other countries are making bold moves to become the next world power. The lack of education is mostly due to the collapsing economy.
"Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. reported." The unemployment rate in the U.S. is going down drastically everyday. People all around the United States are victims of the unemployment crisis. Mothers and Fathers all around are not able to provide for their family, they are having to resort to things like welfare and food stamps. Not only are people not able to provide for their family, they are losing their homes. The foreclosure rate in America is the highest it's ever been. Banks that are both big and small are going bankrupt. Most companies in America are in danger of going bankrupt or having to layoff people because of their bad economic state. Clinton warned us against all of these things, but it seems that nobody listened.
In Clinton's inauguration speech he warned against our health care, our countries education, and our economic state. It seemed that we refused to listen, now we're behind in getting universal health care, we have really bad education system where children are not prepared enough to go to college, and we're having the worst financial crisis since the 1930's. We need to listen to the signs that are given to us because if we don't, we will be in trouble.

Citations:
Aversa, Jeannine. "The Associated Press: Layoffs spike, housing tumbles; outlook worsens." Google. 23 Jan. 2009 .

" Employment Situation Summary ." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 23 Jan. 2009 .

Greene, Jay. "Education Working Paper 3 | Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States." Manhattan Institute. 23 Jan. 2009 .

Inauguration

"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet." -Barak Obama.

I chose this part of the speech because I think that it pretty much sums up the most important things that Obama's going to face. He's going to have to face our financial crisis, because it is a problem that is bigger than any of us. He's going to have to face the war and it's pros and cons. He's going to have to deal with the fact that many americans have lost their home and they are hurt by what's going on right now. Obama's going to have to deal with our health care and our public education. He's also going to face the fact that global warming is happening and we have to do something now, before it's too late.
This relates to my everyday life because I see people hurt by the financial crisis everyday, people can't go out and do something because they have no money or they just lost their jobs. Living in a Navy town I know a lot of kids that have parents in the military and I know how they are affected and how scared they are. I know plenty of people that have lost their homes and how they are left with nothing. I left San Diego City Schools because they weren't offering me the kind of education I wanted, but I knew that they were trying to make the best with what they had. I've seen people not go to the doctors for years, simply because they do not have health insurance. I know that the planet is getting warmer, every year it gets hotter and hotter.

Mi Declaracion de Artista (Numero Dos)

1. Thesis Statement:
The Caution sign shown in the painting is accompanied by a quote from Bob Dylan's Chimes of Freedom. Immigration has always been an issue in the United States, in Chimes of Freedom Dylan describes how immigrants are coming for a flash of freedom. Immigrants go through a social, political and economic rollercoaster, often times going down instead of up.

2. Immigrants are often socially discriminated against because of what they wear, what they listen to, what color skin they have, what kind of accent they have and most importantly, where they come from. Bob Dylan was part of the Civil Rights movement, he sang the opening song at Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream speach. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960's was a big social issue, much like immigration is today. Both the civil rights movement and the immigration issue have been a big social problem. Some people believe that immigrants have little to no future. Because immigrant children cannot apply for Financial Aid or for any other kind of grant from the government, it's nearly impossible for them to go to college even if they've been living in the United States their whole lives.

Politically, immigrants have no rights, they have no say in what happens in the country they are residing in, and they are used as a scare tactics to many other Americans. When people come to the United States, they come to find freedom and a chance for a better life, they do not expect to be treated the way they are. Dylan always spoke of how the government uses people in unfair ways and how the people have to rise and overcome some problems they may face. While Dylan protects minorities, politicians try to make them a scare tactic. Many politicians try to make minorities a threat so that the people who are not, will vote for them, and believe that they are safe.

Most times, immigrants come with little to no money in their pockets, they come with only one thing on their mind, the chance to make their lives better. When they are given jobs they are given jobs with little pay and no kind of benefits. When my mother came to this country, she was fourteen, had no money on her, she was with a stranger and she had nowhere to go when she got here. Bob Dylan was never a person who went for the underdog, with his voice and his lyrics he gives the opportunity to show what underdogs go through for a chance for justice and freedom. I believe that the immigration movement is part of the civil rights movement because they are fighting for civil rights.

3. Immigrants have been suffering for years, whether they be social, political or economic problems. When Bob Dylan writes his lyrics, he thinks about other people, he takes the side of the underdog and he truly writes about how people are being affected by the injustices in the world.

Mi Declaración de Artista

1. Thesis Statement:
The Caution sign shown in the painting is accompanied by a quote from Bob Dylan's Chimes of Freedom. Immigration has always been an issue in the United States, in Chimes of Freedom Dylan describes how immigrants are coming for a flash of freedom. Immigrants go through a social, political and economic rollercoaster, often times going down instead of up.

2. Immigrants are often socially discriminated against because of what they wear, what they listen to, what color skin they have, what kind of accent they have and most importantly, where they come from.

Politically, immigrants have no rights, they have no say in what happens in the country they are residing in, and they are used as a scare tactic to many other americans.

Most times, immigrants come with little to no money in their pockets, they come with only one thing on their mind, the chance to make their lives better. When they are given jobs they are given jobs with little pay and no kind of benefits.

3. Immigrants have been suffering for years, whether they be social, political or economic problems. How much longer do they have to suffer?




totally off topic, but i found this great website i had to share.
let me give you a preview of the ignorance in america.









for more bigotry visit
http://www.immivasion.us/index.html

G W

Internship Questions

1. What do you hope to learn or discover about the "adult" world of work while you are at your internship?
I hope to learn to cancel things out, I hope to learn what I want to do when I'm older so if I happen to not enjoy my internship, I will know that that's something that I will not want to pursue when I'm older. I want to know what life is like going to work and having to live in the work atmosphere. I want to learn what different kinds of people I'm going to interact with and have to work with.

2. What do you hope to learn or discover about yourself and your identity while you are at your internship this semester?
I hope to learn more about what I want to do when I get older and go to college. I want to get a better idea about what I want to do. I want to fully understand what kind of field I'm working in and see if I would possibly want to work in that field later on in the future. I would like to see what kind of fields can be opened to me and what I might be good at.

3. What goals do you have for yourself for your internship experience?
I hope to gain a good experience and understand what kind work field I want to get myself into. I hope that I get to do something that I really enjoy and that I will gain experience as well as gaining new contacts for the future. I really hope to help at the place that I'm interning at by giving them a new way to do things.