This weekend was one of the best weekends of the school year. On Friday especially, I realized how much I am going to miss my friends. We went out on Eddy's birthday and we went to his dads restaurant which was awesome but it wasn't just a restaurant. It had a bar upstairs with a ton of karaoke rooms. With drinks filled up and us singing our favorite songs, it was one hell of a time and his dad paid for everything. It made me realized that I have been barley able to see these guys this year and I'm going to miss them when they go out to college.

Now its Sunday and I am kind of stressed cause of the capstone and the benchmarks I still have to complete within a matter of 19 days. Also I've just been feeling very anxious and I really don't know why. Its like I feel as though I have things under control but somehow and for some reason I'm just scared things will blow up in my face. But I guess I should calm down and take one step at a time and before I know it graduation will be there.

​Down to the Facts:

• 28% of gay/lesbian youth are forced to drop out of school because of their sexuality. (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1998)
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
• For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
• LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al - Peds 2009;123(1):346-352)
• High school students hear 25 anti-gay remarks every day. Of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) high schoolers, 42 percent have been physically harassed on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation/gender identity.
• 25 anti-gay remarks everyday, that is 175 every week, that is about 750 a month, and 9,125 a year 

Type in ‘teen suicides related to gay bullying’. There are a million links to stories about teens that died by suicide because of bullying. Those stories have links to a billion other stories. Here are some: Tyler Clementi, 18 - student at Ridgewood High School killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd 2010, Justin Aaberg, 15, hanged himself in his room in July 2010, Kameron Jacobsen, 14 – freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School 2011, Lance Lundsten, 18 – senior at Jefferson High School 2011, and Brandon Bitner, 14 – freshman at Pennsylvania High School threw himself in highway traffic, thirteen miles from his home.  Some stories are as young as 9 years old and the deaths are brutal. One stories about a boy that was 10 and shot himself in the head, in his closet.

GSANI, ILGA, IGLHRC, IGLYO, ILGLaw, GRIN are gay rights organizations. People that know about the hardships gay teens face, they know the taunts and the looks the teens get nowadays, run these organizations. These organizations are trying to change the anti-gay programs in school because they know that they are not working. If these programs were working, then there would be less teen suicides. These organizations have been around since homosexuals have been openly gay, this website It Gets Better. It gives videos from actors, strangers, and friends that talk about their experiences, and how it get better, promoting the Trevor Project. This project helps homeless teens that were disowned by their family, people to talk to about gay bullying, and tries to stop teen suicides.

In my next blog, I will talk about different polices or laws that have to do with gay rights. For example, Prop 8, Don't Ask and Don't Tell policy. I will even talk about different laws in different countries all over the world, like Uganda. 

 

Sites:

http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/education_policy

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/yet-another-teen-suicide-this-week-anti-gay-bullying-blamed/news/2011/01/21/16889

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/gay-teen-bullied-for-years-commits-suicide/news/2011/01/18/16856

http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-signs

 

​Down to the Facts:

• 28% of gay/lesbian youth are forced to drop out of school because of their sexuality. (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1998)
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
• For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
• LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al - Peds 2009;123(1):346-352)
• High school students hear 25 anti-gay remarks every day. Of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) high schoolers, 42 percent have been physically harassed on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation/gender identity.
• 25 anti-gay remarks everyday, that is 175 every week, that is about 750 a month, and 9,125 a year 

Type in ‘teen suicides related to gay bullying’. There are a million links to stories about teens that died by suicide because of bullying. Those stories have links to a billion other stories. Here are some: Tyler Clementi, 18 - student at Ridgewood High School killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd 2010, Justin Aaberg, 15, hanged himself in his room in July 2010, Kameron Jacobsen, 14 – freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School 2011, Lance Lundsten, 18 – senior at Jefferson High School 2011, and Brandon Bitner, 14 – freshman at Pennsylvania High School threw himself in highway traffic, thirteen miles from his home.  Some stories are as young as 9 years old and the deaths are brutal. One stories about a boy that was 10 and shot himself in the head, in his closet.

 

GSANI, ILGA, IGLHRC, IGLYO, ILGLaw, GRIN are gay rights organizations. People that know about the hardships gay teens face, they know the taunts and the looks the teens get nowadays, run these organizations. These organizations are trying to change the anti-gay programs in school because they know that they are not working. If these programs were working, then there would be less teen suicides. These organizations have been around since homosexuals have been openly gay, this website It Gets Better. It gives videos from actors, strangers, and friends that talk about their experiences, and how it get better, promoting the Trevor Project. This project helps homeless teens that were disowned by their family, people to talk to about gay bullying, and tries to stop teen suicides.

In my next blog, I will talk about different polices or laws that have to do with gay rights. For example, Prop 8, Don't Ask and Don't Tell policy. I will even talk about different laws in different countries all over the world, like Uganda. 

​Down to the Facts:

• 28% of gay/lesbian youth are forced to drop out of school because of their sexuality. (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1998)
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
• For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
• LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al - Peds 2009;123(1):346-352)
• High school students hear 25 anti-gay remarks every day. Of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) high schoolers, 42 percent have been physically harassed on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation/gender identity.
• 25 anti-gay remarks everyday, that is 175 every week, that is about 750 a month, and 9,125 a year 

Type in ‘teen suicides related to gay bullying’. There are a million links to stories about teens that died by suicide because of bullying. Those stories have links to a billion other stories. Here are some: Tyler Clementi, 18 - student at Ridgewood High School killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd 2010, Justin Aaberg, 15, hanged himself in his room in July 2010, Kameron Jacobsen, 14 – freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School 2011, Lance Lundsten, 18 – senior at Jefferson High School 2011, and Brandon Bitner, 14 – freshman at Pennsylvania High School threw himself in highway traffic, thirteen miles from his home.  Some stories are as young as 9 years old and the deaths are brutal. One stories about a boy that was 10 and shot himself in the head, in his closet.

 

GSANI, ILGA, IGLHRC, IGLYO, ILGLaw, GRIN are gay rights organizations. People that know about the hardships gay teens face, they know the taunts and the looks the teens get nowadays, run these organizations. These organizations are trying to change the anti-gay programs in school because they know that they are not working. If these programs were working, then there would be less teen suicides. These organizations have been around since homosexuals have been openly gay, this website It Gets Better. It gives videos from actors, strangers, and friends that talk about their experiences, and how it get better, promoting the Trevor Project. This project helps homeless teens that were disowned by their family, people to talk to about gay bullying, and tries to stop teen suicides.

In my next blog, I will talk about different polices or laws that have to do with gay rights. For example, Prop 8, Don't Ask and Don't Tell policy. I will even talk about different laws in different countries all over the world, like Uganda. 

May 14, 2011

Welcome back ! In the previous blog, I talked about why I was so passionate about the topic and some of the stats about teens and STD's. Today, Im going to talk about the two main STD's that are effecting male and female teens in today's society. The two main diseases are gonorrhea and chlamydia. These two effect teens more than they would effect adults. Below is some more information on these STD's:

Gonorrhea is passed on through the person by either having anal, oral, or vaginal sex. By having oral sex, it can be transmitted from the genitals to the throat of the person giving the stimulation. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year and in 2009, 301,174 cases of gonorrhea were reported to CDC.

Gonorrhea can be very dangerous if it's left untreated. In girls, gonorrhea can move into the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries causing Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) and can decrease the chance of having a baby. Gonorrhea infection during pregnancy can cause major problems for the newborn baby, including meningtis - an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord - and possibly an eye infection that can result in blindness if it is not treated.

Gonorrhea in boys can spread to the epididymis, causing pain and swelling in the testicular area.

This can also effect other organs and parts of the body including the throat, eyes, heart, brain, skin, and joints, although it is less common.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/stds/std_gonorrhea.html

http://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/stdfact-gonorrhea.htm

Chlamydia is also known as the "silent" disease because the majority of infected people have no symptoms. However, if the symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after exposure. Chlamydia is a common STD that infects the women's reproductive system. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected man as well. In 2009, 1,244,180 chlamydial infections were reported to CDC from 50 states and D.C. Women who might have the symptoms might have an abnormal vaginal discharge or a burning sensation when urinating. For men, they might have burning and itching around the opening of the penis.

Both of these STD's are serious infections and it can effect both males and females.

Untreated, STDs can have serious side effects, including:

• unable to have a child

• brain damage

• heart disease

• birth defects

• low birth rate

• premature Birth

• increased risk for some types of cancer

• death

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/std/std4.shtml

http://www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia/stdfact-chlamydia.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia/

Today was the first time I woke up alone on a weekend in a very very long time. Still didn't stop me from making homefries, eggs and toast by my self.

First prom then capstone.
Followed by last day of classes and graduation.
Counting down the days.....

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1Jt4k14Ah33R_UJQx20yzk-UdJ88qrOrVJxul_NzGz_E/edit?hl=en&authkey=CJeR4P8D#

Today I watched From Hell​ and boy, did it freak me out. I hate horror movies based on actual events.

Last night, my dad and I were supposed to watch a movie together. However, as we sat down and purchased it, we realized that the movie had to download before we could watch it. I told my dad that we would do it another time; I had a project I needed to work on and had to be at work in the morning. He was visible upset, but I couldn't figure out why. Couldn't it wait? 

He came up to my room about an hour later and explained it to me. 
"Taylor, the last few months, I've felt like I haven't seen you at all.  You're leaving for real in a few months and I don't want that last bit of time I have with you to fly by."

He left, not giving me a chance to respond.  Last night, I cried as I fell asleep. 

​            Do you know what is truly one of the most terrible things ever?  Teen suicide.  Depression, substance abuse, and many other things cause teen suicide.  This ties directly into childhood obesity, because childhood obesity leads to depression and bullying.
            When a child is overweight, it causes them to become the center of a bullies attention.  It makes them a very easy target, and since they already have low self-esteem, it will go straight to the bullied child's head.  The overweight child will begin to think they're no good and that they should just die.  Then they contemplate suicide.
            Childhood obesity is no laughing matter.  It can be deadly both physically and mentally.  If you are reading this and are a bully, stop before you have caused a terrible thing.  If you are a parent reading this, take steps towards helping your child stay fit.  Feed them good food, limit candy, and making them exercise for at least an hour a day are all good measures that can be taken in order to overcome this illness.           
            Helping a child overcome childhood obesity is not only good for the child's state of mind, but good for their future physical health.  Obese men have a 51% increase in having the risk for heart diseases, and obese men also have a 27% increase in their death risks.  Helping a child overcome obesity could save their life.

Bibliography: http://njms2.umdnj.edu/hwmedweb/archives/big_archive.htm 

 

Para un comparisón, escogí Las Mariposas. Las Mariposas son tres hermanas de La Republica Dominicana. Ellas luchaba por la derecha de humanos en contra de Trujillo. Trujillo fue en contra de los Haitanos y los mataba. Las hermanas fue mata para sus creencias.

Hay muchas similtudes entre Rigoberta y Las Mariposas. Los dos son mujeres, en contra de un dictador. Porque ellas ayuda la gente indígena, ellas fue torturadas. También,  las mujeres perdieron su papá. 

Pero, hay muchas diferencias entre las mujeres también. Rigoberta Menchú viva en Guatemala y Las Mariposas vivían en la República Dominicana. Rigoberta Menchú esta viviendo y habla sobre paz alrededor del mundo. Las Mariposas fue asesinadas y ayuda con la revolución. También, las mariposas tuvieron un educación cuando Menchú era inalfabeto.
 

Yo pienso que escuelas no se incluye Menchú en los textos porque no esta importante para los estudiantes de E.E.U.U. porque ellos no saben mucho sobre Guatemala.

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1B4EuXgkskANWFmMWQwMzYtYzhlZS00YzM4LTkxNjMtYzkwNDU1ZTE1ZTk0&authkey=CKKZ-7oE&hl=en

1. Qué opinas: ¿Sabe la mayoría de la gente que tenemos 30 derechos humanosuniversales nombrados por Las Naciones Unidas?
Yo no sabía que la gente tenemos 30 derechos humanos universales nombrados por Las Naciones Unidas. 


2. ¿Crees que es importante saber que tenemos los 30 derechos humanos universales?
Sí porque está es una forma de tratar de mantener la gente en el mundo igualdad, sin embargo esto no siempre functiona. 

3. Si todos supiéramos nuestros 30 derechos humanos universales, ¿crees que lo sociedad sería diferente?
Sí, muchas personas en otras paises no saben los derechos humanos y cuando ellos aprenden sobre ellos, que sea demasiado tarde. 

Haha :P 

Working 5-12 tonight.

Again.

OMG I am tired.

Poetry Album is in the making... :) 

First of all, I think its hilarious that I'm posting my story of the day right now. Even though its technically Sunday, it's still Saturday in my mind. Therefore, I BETTER GET CREDIT.

Why am I home doing work? This is incredible.

​

​Have you ever looked at the label on the back of your food at the grocery store? Most of it is “MADE IN CHINA” and then what’s the next leading brand you’ll see if you pick up the next item across from your product? “MADE IN JAPAN”, especially in supermarkets. But ever since the radiation leak, tsunami, and earthquake that happened in Japan, consumers are reluctant on buying products from Japan.

Let's start off on the history of Japan's exports and imports with different countries. In the 1980s, Japan had one of the largest economies in the world. In fact, the second largest with the Unites States being the number one in the world. The reason they were the second largest is because they had tremendous stock and property to sell in the 1980s. Though when the 1990s came along, Japan's stock and properties sold began to decrease and this became the slow but heavy decline in the once great Japan's population. Ever since the 1990s, Japan has not been able to get themselves out of their decline and in the 2010; China surpassed Japan in its economy. At the start of 2011, Japan's credit ratings company, Standard & Poor, gave the country a huge reminder of what has been bothering them for the last decade by decreasing the debt Japan owes.

Meanwhile, many people are seeing the dramatic shortage of exports and imports of Japan. This is because of the power outages, radiation levels in certain areas, drowning, and damage of property all caused by the quake and tsunami resulting in a trade discrepancy in April, May, and months to come. The March 11^th quake and tsunami devastated the economic activity in the world’s third-largest economy. This caused Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor, and Sony to have a factory shut down. Many farmers, businesses, and factories had to pack up and leave their job because of the damage done to Japan’s Nation.

  In my next blog, I will bring my focus on the food in Japan and what farmers are saying about their crops and what they had to do. I'll even include a story each from a grocery consumer and a farmer.

Until then, Ellen TO 

Sites:

• MADE IN JAPAN.

Did a 4 mile trail run today. It was brutal. There were two up hills. I couldn't make it. I feel so ashamed, but I made up for my lack of effort in the up hill part and ran really fast for the last 3 miles. Tommorow I'm running 3 mile, on Thursday I ran 6 miles, and on Monday I did 4 miles. So in total I ran 17 miles this week. Booooooyah!

Matthew Hamilton

5/14/11

 

As of today May 14, 2011 the death toll from the Japan earthquake is approximately 15,035. Authorities have stated that only 18 new bodies were found in the last 24 hours. It is a good sign that the body count is slowing down. People are working to identify the revered bodies. DNA analysis is helping with this matter. Even though many dead bodies are still being identified, the sad thing is many more people are lost at sea and will never be found or identified.

            On the other hand, Fudai, a fishing village on the coast of Tohoku lost almost every ship but no homes and only one person. How did this happen? I will tell you. Their mayor of 10 terms had a passion of a project which was to build a wall 15 feet high in case of a tsunami. He died before a tsunami ever came, however, when the March 11 tsunami did come it topped the wall by five meters but the wall held tight. Just a little water came over the top. The only person who died was someone who went outside of the wall to check on his boat. He really should of stayed home and written a blog.

 

Bibliography:

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979326497

For a portion of my capstone I need to create a gang, names and personalities included. I had been making no progress on this front for the three days I had been regularly thinking about it until I sat down to do my Anatomy and Physiology homework. (For those who may have occasion to read this today, have no fear there is no new assignment. You may rest easy.) I was reading when I encountered the term osteoclasts. Osteoclasts, as defined by The Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology- Ninth Edition by Elaine N. Marieb, are large cells that resorb and break down bone matrix.
They bone breakers. (Granted this is an incredibly simplistic description of their role, but I am going to ignore that on the grounds of artistry.) I had found the nickname for my enforcers! Hoorah hoorah! What luck. While I completed my science I happened across this gem of a title, a win for everyone I think. 

I think I may have broke my life... My personality goes well beyond what my parents passed down.