For our project, we decided to recreate scenes from the movie “Moonlight” using the film and style techniques of director, Wes Anderson. Anderson is an indie movie director who’s most well known movies include “Isle of Dogs”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Moonrise Kingdom”. Throughout all of his movies, Anderson’s directing style stands out very vibrantly in tone and acting. Some recurring cinematographic elements of Anderson’s style include tracking shots, zoom, profile shots, symmetrical framing, overhead shots and whip pans. Some of Anderson’s theatrical elements include warm and cool color palettes, non-diegetic plinking harpsichord music, one or more childish adult characters, smoking, characters explaining elaborate plans, action, violence, stylish attire, foreigners, a vintage/ old timey aesthetic, shots of writing, and an assortment of recurring actors and actresses. We chose to incorporate Anderson’s style to “Moonlight” because we loved the concept of revamping a dark toned movie into something more vibrant and lighthearted. To accomplish this goal, we chose some scenes from “Moonlight” that we thought had potential to be reiterated through Anderson’s directing style. We then looked at Then we drew these scenes and placed them in a storyboard panel. We also were deliberate in our camera angles and essentially eliminate dimensions to give our scenes a very “flat look”.

These cinematography decisions echo Wes Anderson’s emphasis on aesthetic rather than the actual plot. Since Moonlight deals with a lot of important and heavy topics, changing the scenes to make it seem as if they are right out of a coloring book definitely in some ways dilutes the message. The overall design of his shots, including bright color palettes and fixed camera angles helps readers to disassociate from the societal context and instead pay close attention to the story unfolding between the main characters and everything that surrounds their situation. For instance, during the Grand Budapest, the audience was oftentimes too distracted by the bright colors and whimsical characters to remember a war being the backdrop. Even though the storyline was nothing spectacular or ground breaking, the attention to detail truly compensated for a somewhat lackluster plot. At the time of the creation of the  Grand Budapest, Wes Anderson utilized the advent of the anamorphic lenses to capture wide scenes within a single camera frame.

With Moonlight, we decided to use Wes Anderson’s style of directing to take the audience’s attention away from the harsh backdrop that is Chyron’s neighborhood, school, and home life, and instead focus the attention on the better parts of Chyron’s coming of age story. Through color and framing, we used our storyboard to communicate just that. In each panel, we drew pictures that involved vibrant colors and our desired camera angles. We drew a lot of wide/ medium shots, zoom, and made the backdrops pop with warm and cool colors. In terms of positioning characters, such as Kevin, Juan, or Chyron, we drew them face to face to highlight whatever intimacy they may have. Through these changes, we hope to help audiences remember the better and pure parts of “Moonlight” rather than just the harsh backdrop of Chyron’s life.

For my Q4 benchmark I decided to recreate a movie trailer for the big studios who have agreed to give me a shot. I decided to recreate the movie 2012 into a horror movie. The main reason why I chose this movie is because I thought it would be interesting seeing what the end of the world movie could be with a horror twist. I feel like this different perspective around it will give the movie trailer a new element around it as well. I thought that this would be an interning concept for this benchmark. I found different scenes from the movie and I used the software iMovie on my computer. I needed to find five scenes from the movie 2012 that I thought would fit best in a horror movie trailer. I also needed to find sound effects, I could use to add more suspense. I used the music and the cut ins and cut outs to my advantage. From this experience I was able to turn the movie 2012 into a great movie trailer.     

My main intention for this project was to design a suspenseful trailer that made people have more questions than answers. I know Giknis is going to be upset with me because she doesn't want follow-up questions but that was the point of my movie trailer. I wanted the audience to be left with more questions than answers. I made sure I included suspenseful music while working with iMovie. I also wanted the title sequence to start with a phone call because I feel like that's how most horror movies start. For examples I was watching the movie Scream before working on my benchmark to brainstorm some good ideas and I feel like the phone call aspect of the opening scene added more suspense because you don't know who the girl is talking to on the phone. I also decided to add the actually scene from the movie trailer 2012 to my trailer remake because I feel like it gives the trailer more character.

We started with one of our favorite romantic comedies, Bridesmaids, and decided to change the genre to the style of Wes Anderson’s directing. The scene we chose was during one of the main character’s bridal shower where they begin by sitting and watching Lillian open her presents. From here, the scene escalates because her best friend, Annie, can no longer hold in her anger about Helen, another bridesmaid, trying to steal Lillian from her. This scene is done well by the setting, props, facial expressions, tone, and pace. Wes Anderson has a very different style of comedy, so there were many areas we were able to change.

Firstly, we researched Anderson’s style which involves scenes that are filmed using a wide shot and they are also always symmetrical which plays to his aesthetics. Our redone scenes were from a distance to make it more of a wide shot, and we kept the people centered and mostly symmetrical while filming at eye level, another tool he uses. Anderson is also known for higher saturated scenes, so we used backgrounds that were bright and high in color. In one section, we have a bright blue background to demonstrate how Anderson uses such bright, pastel coloring. We also filmed in front of windows to get a natural and bright lighting, again similar to his directing style.

For this project we plan to make a trailer for a movie that we had in mind, we planned to use the movie 2012 as the movie choice and we are planning to make 2012 into horror movie. The reason why we chose this movie is because we would like to see what a end of the world movie could be with a horror movie perspective around it and it will have a creative element around it as well. We thought I would be an interesting concept for this project. We are going to find scenes from the movie 2012 that look like something from a horror movie. we going to use 5 scenes from the movie and some software we are using are imovie or wevideo. What we need is scenes from movie, sound affects, change in scenery, contrast. We used the music and the cut ins and outs to our advantage. From this experience we were able to turn the movie 2012 as a horror movie

Video Link: https://www.wevideo.com/view/1155338169

For this project, Sydnye and I decided to transform the movie Bridge to Terabithia into an Alfred Hitchcock film. To do so, we added his iconic elements of suspense that he frequently uses in his films. In this class, we watched Psycho and Rear Window and so in both of those films we can see evidence of his use of long shots to show a full frame of information for the audience to take in. Specifically in Psycho, we see he uses a dolly zoom as Arbogast falls down the stairs, it makes the audience feel like he’ll never hit the bottom. Another tactic to add suspense Hitchcock uses is low lighting. In the super suspenseful scenes the lighting is often minimal and it usually shines from below to cast a shadow on someone’s face to make them look more devious. The final aspect that Hitchcock uses is close ups. When a character realizes something or they have a different facial expression, in order to create suspense the camera gets super close to them. This creates suspense by eliminating background factors other elements in the scene that distract from the character’s face but also it may be placed where information would be received by the audience leaving them somewhat in the dark.

When choosing our camera angles and lighting, we wanted to make sure that we accurately reflected the horror genre and style of Alfred Hitchcock. The most iconic scene that immediately came to mind was from “Psycho”, when Sam Loomis is stabbed and falls down the stairs. We knew this was accomplished through a dolly zoom and was a critical identifier. This dolly zoom is present in our first box of our storyboard, but with our twist of being at eye level. Our third box is a long shot with low key lighting, much like establishing shots in Psycho. We wanted to make sure the forest appeared ominous, and the best way was to introduce shadows and a feeling of unease. We chose to make the fourth box a close up to establish the feeling of Jesse, much like in Psycho when they zoom in on the unwavering face of Janet Leigh and it becomes apparent to the audience that something terrible has happened. Similar to our scene, Jesse and Leslie have stumbled upon a giant footprint are alone in the forest. We chose to do a split background in our seventh box because we wanted to make the audience aware of the current setting. Hitchcock does this in Psycho, when the ever ominous house is present on top of the hill. We wanted the river to be present, so you have that imagine in the back of your mind for future scenes and know it is somehow important. Our very last box depicts the camera being semi submerged within the stream. We depict air bubbles floating up from the bottom of the river, leaving the audience in suspense. It is similar to waiting for a bomb to go off, because they know something terrible has happened but they do not know what has caused these air bubbles.

For this project, Sydnye and I decided to transform the movie Bridge to Terabithia into an Alfred Hitchcock film. To do so, we added his iconic elements of suspense that he frequently uses in his films. In this class, we watched Psycho and Rear Window and so in both of those films we can see evidence of his use of long shots to show a full frame of information for the audience to take in. Specifically in Psycho, we see he uses a dolly zoom as Arbogast falls down the stairs, it makes the audience feel like he’ll never hit the bottom. Another tactic to add suspense Hitchcock uses is low lighting. In the super suspenseful scenes the lighting is often minimal and it usually shines from below to cast a shadow on someone’s face to make them look more devious. The final aspect that Hitchcock uses is close ups. When a character realizes something or they have a different facial expression, in order to create suspense the camera gets super close to them. This creates suspense by eliminating background factors other elements in the scene that distract from the character’s face but also it may be placed where information would be received by the audience leaving them somewhat in the dark.

When choosing our camera angles and lighting, we wanted to make sure that we accurately reflected the horror genre and style of Alfred Hitchcock. The most iconic scene that immediately came to mind was from “Psycho”, when Sam Loomis is stabbed and falls down the stairs. We knew this was accomplished through a dolly zoom and was a critical identifier. This dolly zoom is present in our first box of our storyboard, but with our twist of being at eye level. Our third box is a long shot with low key lighting, much like establishing shots in Psycho. We wanted to make sure the forest appeared ominous, and the best way was to introduce shadows and a feeling of unease. We chose to make the fourth box a close up to establish the feeling of Jesse, much like in Psycho when they zoom in on the unwavering face of Janet Leigh and it becomes apparent to the audience that something terrible has happened. Similar to our scene, Jesse and Leslie have stumbled upon a giant footprint are alone in the forest. We chose to do a split background in our seventh box because we wanted to make the audience aware of the current setting. Hitchcock does this in Psycho, when the ever ominous house is present on top of the hill. We wanted the river to be present, so you have that imagine in the back of your mind for future scenes and know it is somehow important. Our very last box depicts the camera being semi submerged within the stream. We depict air bubbles floating up from the bottom of the river, leaving the audience in suspense. It is similar to waiting for a bomb to go off, because they know something terrible has happened but they do not know what has caused these air bubbles.

English 9

You & The World

Homelessness – A Deeper Look

Homelessness can happen to ANYONE.

Ending a perplexing problem such as homelessness requires commitment, patience, and faith. As a community, and a whole, we can, and we will do this.

In the homelessness community, people of poverty are stereotyped. For instance, people believe that Homeless people refuse help which is in the middle of true and false but being homeless for so long can build up a strong amount of fear, even towards the people that want to help you and some people of poverty suffer from paranoid disorders. Another stereotype of homelessness is that helping the people of poverty is a waste of me and in my opinion, this stereotype is very cruel. It’s not a waste of time, it’s more of a big responsibility and a moral duty.

In my first post regarding my you and the world project, I introduce homelessness and people's views on homelessness. I also include the rate of homelessness and how anyone can experience this horrific terror. I chose to base my project on homelessness because people without homes are no different from us, they are still human beings.

For the final part of my you and the world project, I decided to, along with my partner and I tried to get in touch with organizations but I received no responses. I donated bags of clothes that I no longer could fit to a shelter called Dignity & Fairness-Homelessness but, unfortunately, I was too in the moment and forgot to remind my siblings to take a few pictures. My main goal is to try and change the negative point of view that people have on people of poverty.

With my agent of change, I attempted to have a different mindset on people of poverty. I somehow understood where they came from as if I was in the same situation. A homeless life is not a comfortable life, and i’m sure a person with common sense can understand this. No one would choose a lifestyle that is unhealthy, dangerous to their health, stressful, and humiliating so we cannot act as if they chose to live like this, 96% of homeless people are uncomfortable with this lifestyle.

I decided to do this by putting myself in their shoes, how would I feel? The thing that people fail to understand is that we could be in their shoes today, tomorrow, or in a couple of years so we should remain humble. Being homeless is a condition, it is not a character effect or a character flaw so people that think just because intelligence and ambition, nothing that serious can happen to them and they’re wrong. Lawyers, nurses, doctors, teachers, many people have found themselves homeless. Anyone can find themselves in this predicament if they don’t have the finance that they need to have a normal life.

I learned so much while pursuing my goals for this agent of change.

I felt very much positive about this project and I had this strong mindset that I would make an actual change, but I didn’t.

For this agent of change, I could’ve been more interested. That was the main problem that I had during this project, I lost interest and fell off. I had negative energy after my first post.

I feel like me, and others, could still make a possible change for the people of poverty.

There were a few things I wanted to do in order to teach people about consumer knowledge.

I wanted to hold some kind of informational workshop in which I could inform people of the issues, but I also wanted to encourage students, such as myself, to eat more responsibly and consciously and to care and understand what they were consuming. I wanted to do this by doing a week’s worth of free, pre-assembled salads as a lunch option for students while also asking them to sign a petition for fresh produce to send to the School District of Philadelphia. My goal was to push for a partnership between local farmers and gardens and the School District in order to encourage healthier diets for all students, especially as some families cannot afford wholesome produce and this would be an easy way to deplete food deserts across the city. For those who do not know, a food desert is “an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.” They are an extremely prevalent issue in America that is often overlooked and just by providing the students of these areas with access to fresh produce can be beneficial to the entire community.

However, there were a few issues with this plan:

1. I only had a few weeks to pull everything together.

2. Getting in contact with interested farmers and procuring the produce.

3. Making the salads and working with the cafeteria workers to pull it off.

4. Writing the petition.

5. Spreading the word and actually getting students engaged in the idea.

With what was turning out to be a year-long plan, I decided to hold off on this plan for now and instead stick to the idea of an informational workshop.

For the workshop, I had a few goals in mind.

I needed to:

1. Spread the word to students and the public alike.

2. Secure a space.

3. Plan and practice the workshop.

The original checklist seemed simple and, dare I say, easy at first, however the project continued to evolve and after a work or so of planning, this is what I ended up with as my overall checklist:

1. Design flyer

2. Make flyer

3. Print flyer

4. Post flyers

5. Secure a space, a projector, and a teacher chaperone for the presentation.

6. Actually write the script

7. Make slides for the presentation.

8. Practice the presentation.

9. Do the presentation.

In my essay, I am writing about the comparisons that can be made between the book The Taming of the Shrew and the  movie Hitched for the holidays. In the movie there are two different families who don't know about each other but each family is pressuring someone from their family to find love.A guy from the one family and a girl from the other find each other, plot to fool their families and then during the plan end up fall in love with each other. In the book The Taming of the Shrew, there was a strong love drive in many of the characters but they used many complex plans and plots to get their desired outcomes even going as far as trading personalities. The main focus of the comparisons that I would like to make are about honesty and deception in relationships because this is a topic that happened through a majority of the play and movie with a true love shines bring at the end which is something again seen in both the movie and the book.

One reason why the play and the movie can  relate to each other is because in both the play and the majority of the dialogue showed  most of the characters plotting and planning in order to gain their family, friend, and or acquaintances to trick their families into thinking that they're both actually in love with one another. In the movie, a man by the name of Rob is being pressured by his family to get a girlfriend.  They want him to find love especially since it’s holiday season and this time of year is known for the romance and loving atmosphere. . There is a female character named Julie that is also experiencing the same situation in her family. It is key to remember that these character’s haven’t met or know each other yet. They meet online through an add,  that stated, tand thus they answer each others adds and thus they find each other. In this movie, they are each lying to their families and in Julie’s case her family and some of her friends about each other even having to fake religious beliefs just to get a believable story. In the play, although the motives were different the actions of lying were still the same. Lucentio and Tranio acted like people they were not to get the girl Lucentio  wanted. Lucentio switched places to get closer to Bianca without anyone knowing. Not even Bianca knew about the plots and planning.

In the movie Hitched for the Holidays there was a lot of pressure for a from Robs family for him to get married and find a relationship. Julie was going through the same thing from her family. Like in Taming of the Shrew there was a lot of pressure for Katherine to get married. There were a lot of men that wanted katherines little sister Bianca but no one wanted katherine herself because she was known for her bad and sour attitude. Their father even made it a rule that in order for Bianca to get married her older sister would have to get married first. Even thought that put more pressure on the men trying to get with Bianca that still put a lot of pressure on Katherine wich you could tell through her acts of aggression towards her younger sister Bianca when tying her up and hitting her.  

At the end of the book Rob and Julie after having a rough patch in their fake relationship ended up falling in love on New Year's night at the end of the movie. That is just like how in the end of the book Kathrine admitted to finding true love with Petruchio even after his rough “taming” process. Over the time of their relationship which wasn't exactly the definition of true love Katherine grew to love Petruchio

For the first two parts of this project, I did research on the huge issue that is child sex trafficking. This of course has proven to be difficult because people don't really like to talk about an issue this graphic. Specifically, in my first post, I analyzed a documentary I saw. The documentary itself was the focus for most of this post. I learned the nature of the harrassrs and how things usually happen statistically. Furthermore, in my second post, I focused on specific stories of women who were trafficked as children and compared that to the original information i had from my first post. I found some of the most outrageous and upsetting things to be true. I really felt like a change needed to be made. I believe people should know more about the issue since it is something that is rarely talked about. So I decided to make a website about the horrors of child sex trafficking.

*Disclaimer* My website isn't published yet because of some technical difficulties, but it will be published by the end of the week and it will be public for all the world to see

It took me a total of about 2 weeks to make the website. I had three plans for my agent of change, but they all fell through and I decided to stick to making the website. There are three main pages, home, about, and contact.

My home page is just a general overview of the website with the title and a little insight into the topic. I didn't want to get too into detail because i wanted to save that for my about page. I just touch on what child sex trafficking is and why the topic is important to me to see a change.

The about page goes into real detail about my two post and the extensive research I did. I linked all the other websites I linked in my first two posts and and my annotated bibliography. I also go into detail about the entire project and how I became so involved with this issue and why I chose to make a website.

I chose to put myself out there and make a contact page because while i was researching, I found myself wanting to contact people and learn more. Many of the websites I looked at didnt have contact pages. I want people to be able to email me and ask questions or give suggestions. I think it is important for me to be able to answer questions about the work I did. To really reach out and educate people about the issue like i said I would, I would need people to contact me.

Ultimately, the purpose of this website is to let people know about an issue that isn't talked about enough. Child sex trafficking is dangerous and anyone can become a victim. Not enough is being done to prevent it, but the first step in really changing a problem is to educate one about the issue at hand.

Annotated Bibliography

In my first SLATE post, I addressed the importance of student loans and overwhelming debt and how this can be solved and how it affected students in the past, present and how it will affect their future. I also mentioned the importance of scholarships for students who come from families who struggle financially. In my second SLATE post, I went into more profundity about the information I got from MIT after my series of interviews that I conducted with Rachel. E Kay of MIT’s admission office. I mentioned in my post how MIT and many other schools were participating in this program called questbridge where they recruit students who want to pursue higher education. Then I talked about what role the U.S can play to help fix the issue of college tuition. Over the course of this third checkpoint, I recently found out about many organizations and groups that work with students in providing them a scholarship for their higher education and one of the most famous and most known organizations that I found out about is called the Gates Millinuim Scholars and it provides the amount of money needed for your education it pays for your fees and everything down to your dorm but it is highly selective and only 1000 students are chosen every year, this organization is funded by Bill and Milenda Gates with a 1.6 billion dollar donation. Another program I came across as I was doing research was an organization called the MDRC they work with young adults and help them pay for their higher education. On their website, they state: “The federal government provided over $33 billion in Pell Grants to nearly 9.5 million low- and middle-income students. Yet too many of these students do not succeed academically. More than a third of students who enroll in college do not earn a degree and are not enrolled in any postsecondary institution six years later; at community colleges, the fraction is close to half. Many factors hinder students from completing college, and financial concerns are a major component. Even if they receive federal and state financial aid, often it is not sufficient to meet their needs. Financial burdens often drive students to work too many hours while in school, forcing them to cut back on study time or drop classes; some students drop out altogether.” Overall I believe the efforts of these organizations/groups to help students with their college fees is great, however, there could be many more groups/organizations that can help young adults with the college/university process. I truly believe that these organizations should be and are examples of what we can do to help future generations succeed.

Talking about the Gates Millennium Scholars

Talking about the Gates Scholarships.

After all this research I had the idea that for my agent of change I would inform students on how to be eligible for scholarships and what programs they can apply for and take part in to increase their chances at getting a scholarship if their family is struggling fianically, I also mentioned in my Agent of change proposal that I would be interested in a letter campaign that will bet targeted at state and federal leaders and I also suggested that I was planning on writing a heart-felt letter to both Betsy DeVos and President Trump, but after some time I came along to accept the idea that this Agent of change would be kind of far-fetched so I will do this as a secondary Agent of change. I first came upon the idea of doing a presentation when I was trying to figure out how I could somehow directly affect the lives of students who might struggle financially and then I decided that there is a diverse group of students in this school so I could just inform them on this topic. During the course of this project I admit I struggled a little in the beginning because I didn’t really know what to choose as my Agent of Change until I decided to persue both of the ideas I had for my agent of change and after this I had an even harder time trying schedule a time to present and I didn’t get one until the last week and my presentation would be on the very day before the project was due, I also worked really hard on the presentation during my waiting time for a confermation as to when I could present my Agent of Change, but when I started presenting I could hear some members of the audience start talking and laughing not really paying attention, however, I feel as if I was effective in making a change because since I did inform students on the programs and ways that can/make them eligible for scholarships, I have basically reached the purpose of my project to inform students so they too, can have the same education as someone is able to pay full price for their’s. As I look back at my progress through this project I find it fascinating how not only did I learn about how organizations/groups are helping students who are struggling financially succeed, but I am also fascinated by how much I can help the world, over the course of my Agent of Change and the You and The World Project, in general, I learned that I can contribute to solving many of society’s issues even if all I do is inform a group of students. Despite struggling on the Agent of Change

Presenting to peers

Presenting to peers.

an aspect of this project I am content with knowing that I tried my best and I am more knowledgeable from the lessons I learned over the course of this course of this project. Even as this project comes to a disheartening conclusion. I want to inform anyone that may be reading this, that presenting to a group of 20 kids isn’t going to solve the problem with college tuition, but rather it will be all of working together and consistently with one goal and that is to make higher education affordable for everyone, that is when we truly have and will succeed in terminating an issue in our society.

Final 2fer

Throughout history, people have been infatuated with information and knowledge. Thousands of years ago when information was sought, it would be spread through oral tradition. Past ancestors shared knowledge in the form of stories to younger generations. However, that did not last, one day it was decided that information should be recorded in books rather than simply just spoken. Now, society has reached another turning point, with the invention of the internet books are becoming obsolete. Students and scholars alike are using a simple Google search, rather than their neighborhood library. This has lead to numerous arguments as to whether the internet can be trusted as a reliable source of information or if society should just revert back to books. The simple answer to this question is; No. Technology is leading people into a new age where, they have a myriad of information at their fingertips. Yes, with such a vast array of information it makes it harder to discern what can and cannot be trusted, but once a person can see the difference, the internet becomes a valuable source outweighing that of any library.

When a person searches a question on Google they are greeted in seconds by thousands upon thousands of results. Such a large array of information makes it hard to choose which website is credible. There’s the old rule of straying away from sites ending in “.com” or “.org”, but the reality is the majority of the search results will have those endings. This leaves a big spot for error. The choice of the wrong site can lead a student into taking fiction as fact. Possibly then this person will go on preaching such fiction and having other believe it. Looking at the world today there are numerous uncredible websites spreading fake news and providing articles that attract many people yet it cannot be trusted. This is where the problems of technology lay. With it the user has access to a variety of sources that a library could never provide, but in a library, there is a sense of comfortability and reassurance that is not available on the internet.

Another problem with technology is how easy it is to edit. Teachers for years have been telling their students to stray from Wikipedia, the reason being; none other than how easy is it to edit. Wikipedia is among the list of numerous websites where having an account bestows an unlimited amount of power upon the user. They can now go to any article and change it to say what they want. With this ability, it’s virtually impossible to know what can and cannot be trusted. Those writing the articles may not be professionals that are educated on the topic. Instead, it may be a young boy bored and decides to change information on a website for his own amusement and joy. Furthermore, just because an information exist on the internet does not mean it can be trusted. Groups and people can create websites to push their own agenda. If a student is not able to see that the article they are reading is biased, or at the very least inaccurate, then once again they will be treating fiction as fact. With technology students have to search more. Students need to understand what it is they are looking for and how to choose between biased and unbiased. This is a task that may seem simple but with a large number of websites in existence, may not be at all.

  Yet the addition of new skills brought by technology is not always a negative. According to a study done by the University of Southern Main; “49 percent of eighth-graders tested as proficient at writing in 2005, compared with 29 percent in 2000, before the state began its laptop program” This shows the benefits of technology. In a library, a student would spend hours upon hours searching and looking through a books where with technology in ten minutes they have searched through numerous websites and have found what they need. Like an article titled Computers are Steadily Revolutionizing Schools stated “Computers are used when they make it easier to do certain tasks”. Not only is technology improving the typing skills of people, but it is also simultaneously making it easier for everyone around the world to learn new tasks. A teacher can assign a student a research paper or essay assignment when the student comes back not only will the assignment be finished but they would’ve also become a better typer, but at the same time worked in an efficient manner.

  Technology itself provides the information already at the library, because of the fact every laptop, tablet, and a phone is in a manner a miniature library. When someone is on technology they have access to every book found at a library. The person can simply search the PDF version of the book, go to Amazon and buy it, or go to websites that will provide chapter by chapter summaries. This is a clear cut advantage brought by technology. If a book is needed for an assignment they can find it, and even if they can’t, there are search results that can be connected with the book to provide more information. When technology is being looked at in this manner it should also be noted how it takes out the hassle of carrying and travel. If a person stumbles upon curiosity, they have the ability to search up what is on their mind, without this ability they would have to wait until they are able to go to their neighborhood library. Even at the library, they may be forced to take out numerous books which would take up a large amount of space and time. Simply having one computer would provide them with all the information found in those books.

  Another one of the many points that have to be noted is technology is simply the smarter investment. In the short run, a $20 book is not as expensive as a $500 tablet, but the reality is the tablet will take a person much farther than the book. While the book limits its user to information of a certain topic with the tablet there is no limit. Even a book such as a dictionary or Britannica which provides extremely large amounts of information has its limits. A book cannot go on forever. Then there’s also the fact that books can become outdated when new information is found. This is where the tablet exceeds. When new information is provided it is already at a person's use and disposal. Unlike a book where they would have to go scouring for the newest version of the tablet, a quick search would provide them with the newest version. The only negative that could occur to the tablet is that it too would become outdated. However, the strongest processors are not needed to do simple web searches. Possibly this is why some governments are providing technology programs for students. According to the Maine Center for Meaningful Engaged Learning; “Seventh-grade students use laptop computers in a language arts class in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Maine's $37.2 million programs have provided laptops to 34,000 seventh and eighth graders and 3,000 teachers. In addition, supporters argue that laptop programs give students valuable familiarity with computers.” The efficiency, reliability, and overall engagement brought by technology is being seen everywhere. This is why it's being pushed into modern schools because simply put a laptop can do much more than a book.

  Humans are evolving and with that so is the manner in which they collect and store information. First, it was orally, then in books, and now it has become by technology. With this transition, there will be people that are against it. They will claim any mistake caused by technology as a reason why it should not be used in replacement of books. However, the reality is technology provides a better more efficient future. The world is changing and technology is assisting in the change. People no longer have to wait to hear what is occurring around the world. Students no longer have to wait to message their teacher a question. Technology is much more simple than books and because of how simple it is, everyone’s lives is easier. Research is easier, and people are learning new skills. When books were first coming out, the same was most likely thought of them. They were seen as innovative, radical, and a way to change everyone’s lives. It is now technologies turn for the modern age.

“Laptops in Schools.” About Issues and Controversies, www.2facts.com/printpage.aspx?pin=i1300020#i1300020_3.

I will not acquiesce animal abuse:The end to animal abuse is alluring

                           My Dog

Before                                           After

How many animals get abused in the U.S

https://www.petsafe.net/learn/help-prevent-animal-cruelty

Part 1:

The Numbers are high considering the chart, 60% of all abused animal victims and 60% of them are dogs, 83% are cats and dogs, and if you think how many people abuse animal across the united state.The SPCA is is a good choice , because most time they have to euthanize animals if they don’t have enough room, but They said the don’t ethinzia adoptable animals, and they try to save as many animal as much they can which is also why it is also a good choice, and  they are getting less animals in so they don’t have ethinize as much, and maybe more room. And animal abuse is a very serious problem, and SPCA is still good because they try to help as much as they can, it is like me trying to help every homeless person of the street and taking them in to my home I can’t do that to all of them, I don’t have enough room to do that, not to mention I have small house, so I would have to let go of some people like what SPCA does, but now they probably don’t do it as much ( they do not accept birds , dogs, cats, small animals). An the ACCT is a good choice too because like my interviewer said the ACCT  is an open it take shelter,so they will take any animal bird, cats, dogs, etc. So if you know you can’t take care of an animal please take it to ACCT, or any shelter, because if you know you can’t take care of it it is a form of abuse and it is better off in any shelter. She also said that abuse is what they regularly see so don’t be afraid to take the animal in , but if it would be related to the police like your neighbor is the abuser then call the PSPCA.And if you help lessen the number of animal coming in , and to help people take care of animals, and if you don’t know how to take care of an animal but you enough money to take care of one then you can look on web sites and ask for help, don’t be embarrassed, there is more people like that than you think.and my other interviewer said that all my question where more for PSPCA for an interview, but I was already running out of time for that when I got her response.                                                                My interviewer telling me that I could hep ACCT with my agent of change

.

the other interview that said PSPCA was a better choice to interview for my questions

But Anyway, I have a dog(the first picture above) that is probably been through that, Although we don’t,know her back story besides her being shot 16 times and her being still here, not to mentions she had a couple of disease before the adoption center got her, and usually dog adapt and if she was wild she probably would not have a disease, but who knows she may have escaped, but I mean she is in my family's care for about 2 years in march 12th and she is very happy and she is always wagging her tail, beside when she goes for a car ride, tha vacuum goes on , and if we put on a tv show that has a gun shooting a one point like a mystery show,or if there is a fake gun like a nerf gun near, which would be the trauma, but that is kind f why i am doing this.

Rabies: why most people terrorize dogs.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/ZfjkR0gtFqB-jQ/animal-rights

Dog are Abused 20% More Than any Other Animals in the U.S

But  Abuse can’t get unnoticed, and that means we have to start speaking up, I mean the abuser doesn't have to know a thing, most calls are autonomous, and you don’t have to tell the person that you going to tell, like almost every one of my site say to do, because it is important.And what is even more important is that 100% of people who commit  sexual homicide has a history of animal abuse which is kind of bothering that a lot of them do that, and it doesn't mean the other way around so if there is a neighbor who is abusing an animal doesn't mean they will commit sexual homicide so don’t be afraid to do your own actions and report them.Not to mention abusers, abusers don’t give the animals enough room for  them sometime to breathe and grow, or give them too much room, like the whole yard but can’t use all of the yard because they are chained up from the picture in many sites. Which is again terrible, considering the effect, which is physical and mental health issues.Or animal hoarder, I mean they collect animals and are like I can take care of them even though they obviously cannot, but they completely think they can handle everything but they have a lot cats, dog, etc.

And to kind of wrap this up a bit, I read the laws(which I suggest for you if you care for animal, because one of my site suggests it too in one of the steps for reporting animal abuse). first, animal abuse penalty includes the officer to file a felony charge(a felony is a severe crime and is viewed severely by the society, and can include murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc)dog t fighting is already a felony, and breaks down into different grade pentaly’s base on how hard the abuse is. And veterinarians have civil immunity( where you don’t get served the punishment) now I don’t get too much of this but if they actually harm animals I think they will get charged because rules are rules, I think it is only for checking things from the dog and stuff. And a little bit obvious but if they commit animal abuse they will have to give animals. And did you know there is a new law that if someone abuse horse’s they will be charge the same charge as abusing dog and cats.

Part #2

For my Agent of change I was thinking of having a bake sale and and giving the money to ACCT, and I will be especially easy because my interviewer is working in fundraising and money department. I had limited choices to do think, because I can’t just walk up to a person like hay your and animal abuser I will call the cops and make sure this animal is safe, and there is volunteer options but that means I might have to do it way more than I thought. I have students run philly style, during saturdays an hour after school on mondays tuesdays and thursdays, and also have robotics, not to mention I also have green season in running which means I have to practice in the summer, and all of that make My time very limited, and I don’t know what hours they would like me to go in, plus I don’t know how to get there, I haven’t even travel in there over there a thousand time on the train but I haven't been in there, not to mention it is nowhere near the train station and the close septa there is 53 an I don’t even know where I could even catch that,  and I can definitely not get another dog, my dog is j same way about elouse with other dogs and she is a nut case, we can take care of her but with my grandma, my grandma would be going nut, my grandma already freaks out over pretty much anything we do (my dad, mom, brother, and me ,feel the her, way protective, always want to cleans, too much, but we love her anyway). I could sent care packages, but I can’t take car of that, mostly likely my dog will rip up ANYTHING, money is better, she hates money and metal, when I show her money she is not tempted to eat it.

Part 3 , final part:

So I did do a bake sale, just to let you know. And I was surprised at how many bought stuff, and how much I made too, so I raised $40, and I at least had 100 items.And just to let everyone know because the majority of the people who bought my cupcakes and brownies where freshman, so I gave the physical money to my dad, then he gave $40 to ACCT. And I what it means to me that you helped me get this money, to  help them means a lot, because I mean the place , doesn't have much room, money for people to hire to take care of the animal, an in my mind giving them the money is like help the animal not die, I mean like if they die, because of the shelter, then the person who did it would feel the pain and guilt they made, and they will keep doing, so it kind of helps fight animal abuse in a way. And in my opinion if I had started earlier in the year I probably could have done more, what I think I would have done if I did have more time, is send care packages, more bake sales, maybe an grade advisory presentation, sold pins with animal awareness color, and an stuff.

And one thursday 17th  I did an presentation to my advisory.  It explained what to do in the vent if someone were to abuse an animal, and what it looks like that, Now That is called teaching the public which is where, people show how it happens, or what to do , which is what ACCT does sometimes with posters and stuff.And teaching the public is very important because , it is how we introduce a topic if some people doesn't know what it is like in african american history with the memorials, how an we make and memorial to show the public what happen here. well what teaching an thing that is already happening is showing what is happening like police shooting a dog, for all most no reason (which did happen an saw it on social media) it is showing even dog, police are crossing species, they were shooting black people for no reason and now there shooting dogs, not to mention, there was better way to solve the problem in all of the situation of the police shooting people for no reason. If you want you can see my presentation here.

I mostly decided to do a bake sale was that first morgan polly was the one I interviewed and she helped with money, second they sounded they need money, for stuff like more room or hire more people. Why I also choose a presentation was that I also needed to actually support the awareness and that is one way to do that, and I can’t really make anything with in the time I had for awareness. My experience with bake sale was much, much easier than I thought, I mean I just emailed, mrs.sessa, and she reserved me the date, then I pretty much just sat there and people gave me money and I gave them the cupcakes and brownies, but what was horrible, is that, it was the day where it rain HARD, and I was completely wet, cardboard wet, only some cupcakes and brownies wet, and presentation, was a usual presentation, I went up to the board talks about animal abuse and how horrible it is and what are the signs of animal abuse, and sat back down, now if was in front of other people, maybe whole grade advisory, or 10,11, or 12 grade group advisory, then I would feel more nervous but all I could do is my advisory. Now my whole project was a range of excitement and emotions, ike when I saw this project I was like animal abuse, because it is a big part of my life, and I hate abuse. Now the research, wasn’t too bad, maybe could of done more, but was ok, and I did learn some things, like dog racing was even in ancient rome and stuff, and  saw new picture, that gave me more visual representation of dog abuse, when I did the bake sale I was so nervous, like what do I do, where do I go, but then I sat down for a couple of minute in the business I was ok, And then when I sent the money, i was even better, because it was in my bag (don’t trust my dog, she LOVES paper, including money) and I didn’t want it to get stolen or lost, but I kept it safe for the whole week and sent the money, and then the couple of days I didn’t really have to do much until the presentation were chill and calm, and I was still calm on the day of the presentation, because I did practically thousands of presentations. Now I know this is a lot of words, but I want to make sure you knew what I was doing with your money,I mean if I were you, and someone did a post about their charity, I would want to make sure what asctly happen with my money, right?

I felt great about doing this project I mean when ever I saw any animal abuse photos or videos I always wished that I could do something, but I couldn’t mostly because I didn’t know how to give to charitys, and I didn’t have money, and I could of asked my parents for money, but again didn’t know how to get money to the place, or which one I should donnate, so I felt happy at the moment when I saw this project because then I could actully help witht his problem. And the way I felt i could have done better if I had more time, like if I had more time then I could of done much more, like care packages. Well what is still done for us to do is donate,help/volenteer , notice the sings explained in my presentation (and again DO NOT HANDLE IT YOUR SELF they can be very dangerouse, consiring they hurt dogs, they can do it to you).  Some other ways is also to know whether you can actully keep the dog, if the dog gets adopted twice then they will die, if it you can’t keep it and no one wants it with in the time they will ethinzie, and not to metion the poor dog is just going to the same thing twice. And if you do want to be a part of the action the most safest thing is probably to volenteer ofr get a job at an shelter (almost every shelter has volenteer spots, and for kids).

A picture of the receipt of my donation

                                          Annotated bibliography

1. “Animal Cruelty”Learning to give,https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/animal-cruelty

The definition of animal abuse is the acts of violence or negling the animal on purpose or at least mostly on purpose.and it is important to know which ones are which because, police or animal control will know and asses the problem, like if it is dog fighting, and you say i don’t know abusing an animal in a backyard, they might think oh only one and not bring enough equipment, to ring them to a shelter. This abuse can cause physical and emotional pain, considering my dog whenever she hears gunshots(even on TV, plus we live near an country club that has an gun range) she gets scared and when we first got her she was jumpy and whenever and man/boy try to take her collar off she would growl, but when me or my mom took it off she did nothing(she is fine now and is very happy and understands that we will not hurt her and stuff because now my dad and brother can take her collar off) so that memory will live on.

• Animal abuse is very cruel and hurtful to other animals (I do not trust SPCA because if they run out of room for animals, they ethiniza some animals)

• It is very horrible because animal are just like us, they have feeling just like us, so it is very unfair for someone to do that to an animal.

              2.“Animal abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in crime” PETA,https://www.peta.org/issues/companion-animal-issues/companion-animals-factsheets/animal-abuse-human-abuse-partners-crime/

Studies have shown that aggressive animal are likely to be abused because people are afraid and a coward. 100% of sexual homicide  has a history of animal abuse.Albert Desalvo killed 13 women and abused puppies so it can back up my reasoning.

• It is very usual for a sexual homicide person to abuse animals

• And I am not surprised that aggressive animal get abused more,because again people are cowards

3.“Animal Abuse”Amarican Human https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-abuse/

4.I didn't know that there was steps, I kind of knew some signs but I am not sure whether I will recognize the signs.owners often neglect their pets because they don’t know there pets need, but most of neglect is on purpose.but outrageous because human system can take calls right at that minute, but they get a lot calls so they will not take the call right at the moment.

• We can testify or sign a complaint about the abuse like how you sign a complaint about noise

• Neglect in both children and dogs are horrible  and can result in death

“Reasons for abuse” wildlife rescue and rehabilitation http://wildlife-rescue.org/services/advocacy/animal-abuse/

5.Actions can be active and passive, like hurting the animal and not doing anything for the animal. Like some kid decapitated dog and stuff and setting fire on their tails and butts.Passive actions can cause severe pain to a dog or cat

“ U.S Animal Abuse records deleted-What we stand to lose”National geographics.https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-usda-animal-welfare-trump-records/

The roadside Zoo neglected the animals including premature death. And making the monkey Dehydrated while performing experiment on them that is just rude.and whipping elephants and changing them.

• I love elephants so I hate that they would do the elephants

• And I hate that the family zoo would do that and I wonder if they ethinza

Extra websites:

http://placerspca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/faqs.pdf

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/what-distinguishes-a-misdemeanor-from-a-felony.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/animal-cruelty-pennsylvania-libres-law-20170628.html

https://www.today.com/pets/aspca-adoption-euthanasia-s-down-animal-shelters-t109029

Hi, my name is Hayden Myers, and this is my third blog post about my ideas on what’s going on with fraternities today. After two blog posts, extensive research, and having a story of my own, I have finally posted a new blog about what my final opinions are about what needs to  be done with fraternities. I started off by explaining why I though that fraternities should be shut down for good, because the only experience that I had with fraternities was my parents telling me that they’re a terrible place filled with alcoholics and idiots who party too much, and to put the cherry on top my neighbor was hospitalized because the first day at a fraternity he was hazed. I my second blog post I explained why fraternities should be given more strict policies to make sure that things like hazing can’t happen again. Now, I have made my third and final blog post, finalizing my ideas on fraternities, and after a lot of thinking, I have realized that people will find a way to torture and kill these people no matter what, even if they don’t want to, it will happen, and there is nothing that anyone else can do to help stop this. The only way is to get rid of the source of the problem.

If that wasn’t obvious enough, that means that the only solution for saving lives in any college fraternity in America is to ban the fraternity, period. Now, it took me a while to come up with my opinion on whether fraternities should be shut down or just restricted. What pushed me to the edge is that all of the hazing deaths that I have researched about proved that alcohol was the biggest factor in hazing deaths than anything else by far, but it would be illegal to ban someone over twenty one from drinking, and even if alcohol was limited or banned in the fraternity, the party would probably just be held somewhere else. I felt like I was getting closer and closer to a conclusion until I remembered something, I had read an article that I linked in my second blog post, which explained that fraternities were created so the kids with a lot of money(upper-middle class- rich) could get away from the kids who had less than them. An argument for this would be; “well that was a while ago, they don’t do that anymore”. While that argument is understandable because fraternities hide most from the truth, real studies that are mentioned in that article explain how if two people wanted to join a fraternity and they both were the exact same person, the fraternity will most likely choose the one who has more money, or seems to have more money. I simply cannot support these discriminatory acts. Because of these points, I believe that fraternities should be shut down for good.

I decided to make a change, but how would I do that? I made a change by making an instagram account posting my own drawings of all of the people killed by fraternity hazing in 2017. I did this for three reasons; honor those who lost their lives, show how evil hazing is, and to show that even though it was a terrible year for many people, it shed light on the biggest issue with fraternities, and has now pushed people to make the first steps into a safer environment in the learning place, and has led to websites like these! Proving everything that has been said throughout this post. This may seem like a conclusion to my “rant” but it is not, there are still many steps to be taken to reach our goal, sign petitions, make websites, social media, march, rally, email, just do whatever is possible to save lives and give a better name to colleges. I wish that I could have made the extra step to try to share my social media platform with more people, through email, social media itself, just anything, because what’s the point of making a protest hub, with nobody to know that it’s there.

This is my Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/