Unconventional Teacher Fundraising

For this project we worked to tell the untold story of unconventional teacher fund rasing in Philadelphia. From microgrant dinners to parent initiated car washes, people invested in education in Philly and doing a lot to continue financing the school district. We found this to be an extremely important story due to the recent deficit throughout the city's school district which has students, parents, politicians, and beauracrats throughout the entire area worried about the future of Philadelphia public education. Initiatives like the ones outlined in this article are prime examples of the level of effort needed by the members of our community in order to counter-act this crisis. Reporting on this issue has been an educational exploration for me, who is soon to go off to college and will have my own personal credit and debt that I will have to deal with in the years to come. In addition, I hope that reporting on this will allow students younger than me to better understand the specifics of what is going on around them and why, while still seeing an example of people that can help.  



To read to the full story click here!

Election Project - Shelby Harcher and Jason Davis

For this project, Jason and I had to contact a person or class in Palestine and get them to give us firsthand information on how their voting system works. When first given this project, it was difficult to find a way to not only contact someone in Palestine but to get them to do a project for you. Jason and I took a long time researching schools in Palestine and researching the region itself. Once we found a few high schools in Palestine, we emailed them explaining the project that was assigned to us and told them to contact us if they were interested in being apart of it. We never heard back from the schools we tried to contact, and we didn't know what else to do. We thought about finding a way to get in touch with someone from Palestine on Twitter, but it ended up being harder than we thought. We asked around school to see if anyone had any connections to someone in Palestine who would be able to help us, but that didn't work either. 

If we were to do this project again, we would post information about the project on more social networking sites besides Twitter and contacting schools directly through email. This way the information is out there and not only can people from Palestine see it, but also other people who might be able to help us get in contact with someone from Palestine. Another hard thing was the election didn't have a set date, even when it was close to May, the month when the election was to take place. Jason and I could have took more initiative with our emails as well and dug deeper into research to find more than 3 schools to email about the project. 
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Screen Shot 2012-05-30 at 9.16.28 AM

Journal Entry #44

I do and I don't love you, isn't that happiness? I carved our names into a tree, isn't that love and art? Or maybe I should write a card and say I love you. And then say I don't. Then will you be happy? I cry and say I love you, then I smile and say I don't. What will that be? What if I get a card and say I love you a 100 ways, then get a dozen roses, then ring the bell of your door, go on one knee, open a box and say I love you. Will you say yes? 

Serbia ~ Election Country

Serbian Election Country
We went to multiple websites and couldn’t find much. Originally a peer of ours claimed that there was someone at her international school from Serbia and that we could interview her but unfortunately we waited about a month before we asked her if she could get in contact with her Serbian friend. Our friend made a mistake and sadly there was no one from her school that’s Serbian. We then started to look online for international schools in America for kids and there were several schools that had programs specifically for Serbian students. We tried to get in contact with the school through email but we never received a response. We started looking for other schools but during the moment in, which we were searching a friend of ours told us to look for penpals because that’s how they got in contact with people in their country. We then looked up penpals in Serbia and a list of emails popped up. We emailed several students from over there but only one replied and we took our chance. She is a 19 or 20 year old we believe and she is actually majoring in Economy. We had a small conversation with her at first before we asked her. Afterwards we asked her if she could help us and she did she got a interview with someone who was about to vote. It was interesting because she didn’t have a problem with doing it, she easily got the interview for us. There was only one problem with the interview her English isn’t that well so she tried to translate into English.

Interview:

1. What made you come out and vote ? What motivated you?
2. What would you like to see change in the political system?
3. How regularly do you vote? Do you always vote?
4. Are you always positive about who you’re going to vote for?
5. What impact do you think your vote will have on the election?
6. What campaigns have you come across? Which campaigning ad have you come across the most? radio,TV, Magazine, Other

1. A desire for progress and changes that are necessary for Serbia so it can be strong and powerful country.
2. Firstly I would like that every citizen is equally respected and honored no matter what is its sex and material status. Equality between women and men is necessary in every jobs. Structure of national parliament should be changed too, and young people should be there, ones who will fight for benefits for everyone, not just for those who are in parliament.
3. I'm trying to stand by my citizen duty and always vote if I can.
4. No. Because our parties doesn't have clearly defined goal, from campaign to campaign they change their stands which casts doubt on their determination for changes.
5. Probably not so big influence, but if everyone would think that one vote doesn't mean nothing then elections would be unnecessary.
6.Last few months politicians are everywhere, so I'm informed from every possible side about every party and their goals.



The email interview
By: Amaris Romero & Johnathan Neris


International Elections - Burma/Myanmar

Our process started with research into organizations that could give us incite into the upcoming elections. With general relations with Burma not being too great, we were limited to educational and aid institutions. These were not too hard to find due to the abundance of these as a result of poor conditions. We chose a couple of organizations and looked into who we could contact within them. We looked into directors, teacher, aid workers and anyone else who had an e-mail attached to their title. We sent out e-mail to these people accounting for the chance that people wouldn't cooperate we sent out quite a lot.

​E-mail conversations can be found here.

Once we began to receive replies we started to recognize a lack of initiative. We did get some sources that people would send us and a couple people directed us to other people. This may have been a result several problems: the insecurity of elections could have been intimidated, the elections weren't guaranteed and voters could have been discouraged, and people could have also questioned the affect our reporting and interest could have had from high school students across the world.

Journal Entry #21

"Honey! Why are you so scared!? Eat all that food, I don't want any leftovers" Said Aunt Cheryl  
The macaroni and cheese was so cheesy, lifting the pasta off my plate was like bring heaven into my mouth. Hearing the blade of the knife. The ding of the oven timer. Tv blasting black friday sales. Nieces and nephews begging for the toys on tv. "Aunt Danni can we have some ice cream?" they screamed. The sound of the cars pulling up in the drive way and doorbells ringing. The sound of thanksgiving to my ears. 

A Class Period with Las Cazuelas

I cannot describe Friday afternoon in enough adjectives that will actually explain the experience I had...but I shall attempt. Las Cazuelas is a delicious Mexican restaurant located in the heart of Northern Liberties. Instead of my Spanish 1 class going to the restaurant...they came to us...with food. Can life get any better? The food was beyond what my tastebuds could imagine. There were flavors mixed together that I had never tried. I also learned a lot about the culture of Mexico and the food as well. Below you can find some of the DELECTABLE I had tried. Enjoy! 
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DSC_0583
Nombre de plato: Tacos dorados
Opinión: Me encanta porque el pollo era sabroso. ¡Es mi favorito!
Unos ingredientes: pollo y tortillas (Con queso también es muy bien)
Comentarios: Lo recomiendo porque es simple perfecto.
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DSC_0584
Nombre de plato: Arroz con frijoles.
Opinión: ¡Me gusta! El arroz es excelente.
Ingredientes: Arroz, maíz, frijoles 
Comentarios: ¡Lo recomiendo a todos personas!
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DSC_0585
Nombre de plato: Sopes de Maíz
Opinión: ¡Me gusta! La tortilla era muy suave y calído. ¡Muy delicioso! 
Unos ingredientes: Maíz, frijoles (y queso es optional)
Comentarios: Son muy típico en Mexíco. ¡Lo recomiendo a todos!
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DSC_0586
Nombre de plato: Pollo Cazuelas
Opinión: ¡Me gusta!  ¡ El mejor pollo!

Unos ingredientes: pollo y salsa

Comentarios: Son muy típico en Mexíco. ¡Lo recomiendo a todos!
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1000x1000
Nombre de plato: Tres leches (el postre)
Opinión: ¡Me gustaaaaaaaaaaa! Total es mi favorito. 
Ingredientes: Leche y harina
Comentarios: Lo recomiendo. ¡Es muy dulce! ¡Mejor postre!
So overall, I had a fantastic time! Thank you Las Cazuelas for taking the time out of your busy schedule and come to Science Leadership Academy and enlightening me and my class about your food and culture. I had a blast!

Q4 Artist Statement

​This quarter was my favorite quarter. I got to do anything I wanted to do. I felt really free this quarter. This quarter we had to do a lot of abstract, like emotion, motion and regular abstract. We also had to do close ups of the Mutter Museum garden, the Rodin Museum landscape and a Rodin Museum close up. I chose to do a grass landscape of the Rodin Museum, a close up of a leaf, and a part of the Mutter Museum. I also did a lot of abstract, I did abstract like every week.


When I first did abstract I did it wrong. I didn't realize that abstract had to be shapes, colors and lines. When I did the abstract emotion I took different pictures and cropped parts of them out. Then I but them together. That wasn't abstract! From that day on I started doing abstract right. My abstract motion is the swirls, the blocks are supposed to be looking like they are moving, and I did another drawing with swirls. My abstract drawings are underneath those pictures. After those pictures I have my close up pictures. I don't really like my close up picture of the Mutter Museum, that's the picture with the bush of plants. It didn't come out the way I wanted it to. 

I really liked this quarter because I finally got to express myself the way I wanted to. I didn't try to make my art look like everybody else. My art can't look like everybody else because I'm not as good of a artist as them. I needed to become my own person and that's exactly what I did. I think my art shows how artistic I can be. It shows the true me unlike the other quarters where I tried to be like others. 
emotion
emotion
motion
motion
motion 1
motion 1
motion 2
motion 2
abstract
abstract
abstract 1
abstract 1
abstract 2
abstract 2
abstract 3
abstract 3
abstract 4
abstract 4
abstract 5
abstract 5
abstract 7
abstract 7
close up
close up
close up 1
close up 1
close up 2
close up 2

Las Cazuelas: Español Clase

[En inglés] Hello everyone. Today we had a Spanish buffet that had to do with our last benchmark. I tried some foods and beverages that I never had before and they were delicious. Below are images and descriptions of some of the things I had.
IMG_0650
IMG_0650
​Nombre del plato: Taco de pollo
Opinión: Es terrible porque necesita más flavor.
Unos Ingredientes: Pollo y pan
Comentarios: No me gusta el taco de pollo.

IMG_0651
IMG_0651
​Nombre del plato: Chuleta de cerdo
Opinión: Yo que tenía antes de.
Unos Ingredientes: Chuleta y un poco salsa.
Comentarios: Es muy bueno.

IMG_0652
IMG_0652
Nombre del plato: Puré de frijoles.
Opinión: Me gusta el plato de comdia.
Unos Ingredientes: Mas frijoles 
Comentarios: Frijoles es muy bueno con el arroz.
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IMG_0653
​Nombre del plato: Arroz Amarillo
Opinión: La comida es muy bueno. 
Unos Ingredientes: Arroz y maíz
Comentarios: Yo como arroz a veces en la casa.

Blog # 5 Rugeiatu Bah

      • What did you learn from them? The different you would congruent the way of saying things. 

      • What did you learn about yourself?

  • What were you surprised about? I was surprised how nice he was, and how he took his time telling me all the little things, step by step.

  • What are you proud of? I'm proud that I was able to find someone who is willing to help and understood what they wee teaching me.

  • What will you improve on for next time?  Timing, I wish I knew like everything to say the way I wanted to say them In Spanish also he helped me understand it and I helped him understood English. 

#1
#1
#2
#2
4
4

Globalization Qtr 4 Benchmark

Animal Cruelty

Have you ever wondered what life is like for a celebrity's pet? Yes I'm talking about the pampered pooches you see on television and in all the magazines with the designer leashes and matching outfits. Well now take a step down from the glamour and the cameras and think about the animals in your very neighborhoods. Take an even deeper look and think about the animals who have ended up in shelters because of animal cruelty. Many places in Philadelphia have been known for having many untended animals.



  Many of them have become strays. Animal cruelty can start anywhere from not giving your pet the proper amount of food to beating your animal. Overall it still has the same effect on the animal, heartbreak. Yes animals feel it to. Imagine if the person you loved and trusted decided to just hurt you and beat until you could barely move, just because they wanted to. Now for the main question, what exactly is animal cruelty?  Animal cruelty is the infliction of suffering or harm upon animals, other than humans, for purposes other than self defense. Long story short, it means cause some type of pain to an animal other than when you are trying to protect yourself. 



One example of animal cruelty I have was even with my own dog Kujo. When Kujo was two months old he was tied to a fence as the owners moved out of the home and left him there to basically die. When we stumbled upon him, he was very skeletal and very dirty. If you looked into his eyes it was as if his whole body told a story of his pain. As a result of this horrific experience, Kujo now suffers from a dream anxiety disorder. Dream anxiety disorder is a sleep disorder that is characterized by very frequent nightmares. Even though this disorder is usually diagnosed for humans, Kujo has been diagnosed with this because of what the doctor called post traumatic stress. Now Kujo has to be taken care of a little bit more than a regular dog would need to be, but none complains because he is a joy to have. Animal cruelty is something that should be taken very seriously because poor pets like Kujo are the ones who have to deal with the physically torture but the people who are causing the pain will feel the emotional torture. 



Links for more information:
ASPCA
Dream Anxiety Disorder
Animal Legal Defense Fund
PETA

SLA's Amazing Seniors!

​I created a news letter for SLAs seniors who are doing amazing things within the school and the community. Many times all of the news we see is broadcasting something negative and I believe it's time we shed some light on young teens doing good!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1084751/Q4%20BM%20Lauf.pages

  • What did you find most challenging about this project?
    I honestly found that the most challenging aspect of this project was 
    actually figuring out what kind of story to bring to the light. 

  • How did you go about finding this story?

    I volunteered to help with many capstones and projects and I realized that there is good happening right in my face.

  • Why do you think this story does not receive more attention?
    I think that the story doesn't receive more attention because the media likes to make young black children look like they only know how to cause trouble, which is not true. My report clearly shoes that young, inner city, black youth can do something beyond amazing and positive. 

  • Do you think this story will get more attention over the next few months?  Why?  Why not?

    No, because it's not a story most people care to hear about. If it doesn't involve violence it won't get as much attention.

  • What did you learn?

    I learned that the news doesn't have to be the only outlet for information. I, myself can broadcast the good I see around me to others.

Las Cazuelas Comida

On Friday, we had the restaurant Las Cazuelas cater to us traditional Poblana food. The following are my opinions of the items that I tried.
DSC_0585
DSC_0585
Nombre del plato: Sopes de Maíz
Opinión: Me encanta, el plato es muy bien.
Unos ingredientes: Los frijoles, maíz, y queso.
Comentarios: !Me gusta! Lo recomiendo.
DSC_0608
DSC_0608
​Nombre del plato: Tres leches (el postre)
Opinión: !Me fascina, el plato es muy delicioso!
Unos ingredientes: Leche, y harina.
Comentarios: ¿Cómo cocinar tres leches? ¿Es muy difícil?  Es muy ligero. !Lo recomiendo!
DSC_0579
DSC_0579
​Nombre del plato: Arroz con frijoles.
Opinión: Me gusta, porque es muy bien.
Unos ingredientes: Frijoles, y arroz.
Comentarios: Lo recomiendo porque es muy bueno!
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 7.35.08 PM
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 7.35.08 PM
​Nombre del plato: Horchata
Opinión: Más o menos. El plato es muy dulce.
Unos ingredientes: Leche, azúcar, y canela.
Comentarios: Depende en la persona, lo recomiendo.
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 7.36.43 PM
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 7.36.43 PM
​Nombre del plato: Chiles rellenos
Opinión: Muy bien, me gusta.
Unos ingredientes: Chiles, y queso.
Comentarios: Es muy grande. Depende en la persona, lo recomiendo. 


Semaj Smith Photo Essay Benchmark.

I think the most challenging portion of this project was actually taking the pictures because I couldn't just take any picture. I needed to take a picture with explanations in mind, knowing why I thought they related to my topic. I really just let the images come to me, there wasn't any specific time when I just went out looking for pictures, I went through my day as usual and then when I felt it most important or calling, I took my camera out and took pictures of whatever moved me. 

I think my favorite picture is the picture of the subway doors. I say that because I honestly feel like that picture says more than 1000 words. I think that anyone who steps behind those doors everyday has a lot going for them, it's very hard to put into words but so much goes on behind those doors and they travel all over the place, picking up many different people that its hard to draw one main point from those doors. That picture makes you think and reflect. 

I think the evidence of globalization is very prevalent in Philadelphia, I sort of feel like Philadelphia is and has been on a downward spiral that is just towering to the ground. I do think that there are larger cities that you can see the evidence in because I think that the larger the city is the easier it is for it to fall apart. So I do believe that there are other cities that are just as large if not larger than Philadelphia that show just as much if not more evidence of globalization. 




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Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 5.15.14 PM

France, By Mike Jesse, and Andre

The two candidates running for the Presidential Election of France are Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande.
Nicolas Sarkozy is [now former] the President of France, Sarkozy is the former leader of Union for a Popular Movement  (UMP) and served as Minister of Interior for Dominique de Villepin's government (2005–2007).

François Hollande- Elected President of France as of May 6 2012, succeeding Nicolas Sarkozy.


1. What does it take to make you feel that a candidate is fit for the job?

2. What prompted you to come out and take part in this election?

3. What would you like to be changed in the way your government is run?

4. Do you feel that your vote will have an influence on who is elected?

Person 1:

#1. President needs to have a specific plan of action in solving
problems such as poverty, education, corruption,etc. He has to work
hard and well to achieve goals of the government. And he also
obviously needs to be intelligent.
 #2. I took part in the election because I wanted to help the right
candidate get elected.
 #3. I think the people should have more of a say in our government
and how it's run.
 #4. Yes, why not? I think everyone's vote counts, an even if the
candidate I want doesn't win, atleast I know I tried.
 #5. Yes I knew who I was going to vote for when I went in. I voted
for Sarkozy, because I really don't agree with Hollande's ideas, but I
don't really like Sarkozy either.
 #6. I try to vote at every election. I think it's important for young
people to vote.



Person 2:

#1. I think a good candidate can inspire unity, trust, and optimism
among the people by being a good and moral leader. I also think that
they are able to make right decisions for the common good, even if the
decision is unpopular.
 #2. I took part in the election because I wanted to show that I care
about my country and it's future and I wanted the right person to get
elected.
#3. I would like more equality, especially between men and women in
the working world. I also would like something to be done about taxes,
but they are only going to go up with Hollande as President. I also
think people should be more involved in governemnt decisions.
 #4. I hope my vote has makes an influence!
 #5. Yes, about a week before voting I didn't though. I kept going
back and fourth between Hollande and Sarkozy. Eventually I ended up
going with Hollande.
 #6. Yes, I vote at every election. I like to be extremely involved in
big decisions that are going to effect my life and my family's life.


Person 3:
#1. I think a president should be able to steer the country towards a
just and humane society, and knows how to get the country there. Also,
honesty is very important. Do what you say you're going to do.
 #2. This is actually the first election I was allowed to take part in
because I am German and so I was a french citizen until now so I'm
very excited for this election.
 #3. Well for me , personally, a big thing is equality. I've been
living in France for 10 years and paying taxes but I couldn't vote, I
don't think that's very fair.
 #4. 100%. I think everyone's vote counts.
 #5. Yes, I'm voting for Sarkozy. I think he's done a fairly good job
these past 5 years and I'd like to see what he will do the next 5.
 #6. No, I couldn't vote befoe but I do intend to vote at every
election now that I'm able to.


Similarities and differences in France and US Government


Both has presidents but serve in different ways

  • Elected every 4 years by the electoral college (which is in turn elected by the popular vote based on state population)
  • Can sign bills into law
  • Can veto bills
  • Is commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces
  • Nominates judges for the Supreme Court
  • Responsible for many Executive Branch Appointments
  • Can grant pardons

  • Elected every 5 years by popular voted (used to have an electoral college, but that has since been dissolved)
  • Announces new laws, but does not create or sign them into law
  • Can dissolve French National Assembly
  • Is commander-in-chief of the Armies
  • Appoints the Prime Minister (but cannot dismiss him)
  • Appoints most officials
  • Can grant pardons
  • The differences between the governments do not stop simply with the heads of state. Both have extremely different basic structures.


What Could have been done differently is that our communication could have been stronger with each other. The collaboration could have gone more smoother. What really worked out was that we stayed in contact with each other for the most part sending emails back and fourth, However that could have gone more smoother then it did.  

One major tip I would give always work with your partners. Don’t let them do the majority of the work. If they end of leaving you for a long period of time do your best to contribute in making sure things go smoothly.



France election 2012: how the presidential poll worksHappens every 5 years
contains two rounds however who ever has the most votes in the 1st round wins
each of the candidates start out with 153, 000 votes from the state


Resources:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9209449/France-election-2012-how-the-presidential-poll-works.html

http://www.cosmopolitanservices.com/en/relocating-to-france-governmental-differences-between-france-and-america/menu-id-100044.html


Benchmark - Education

Lauren (The Word)
I have created a newspaper, and it addresses the education issue and talks about charter schools.

  • What did you find most challenging about this project?
    - I found that making a newspaper is harder than it looks, I tried to organize my thoughts on paper. It was hard. 
  • How did you go about finding this story?
    - I frequently visit a website called The Daily Censored, it's a blog that is full of under reported stories.
  • Why do you think this story does not receive more attention?
    - Because no one really cares about corrupt government and it doesn't impact them so they do not care. But it directly impacts them people seem to care.
  • Do you think this story will get more attention over the next few months?  Why?  Why not?
    - Probably not, because the american people are lazy and couold care less about what is going on
  • What did you learn?
    - I learned how to make a newspaper and more about the corrupt systems in the United States

E1U8: Alexis

podcast (2 minutes... Each One Minute)

Situation:
there is hair in my drink and my food is cold.

Characters:

Alexis : customer
Briana: waiter

Dialogue:

Briana: ¡Hola! bienvendidos Amada! Mi nombre es Briana y seré su servidor.

Alexis: : ¡Hola Briana! ¿Que Tal?

Briana: Muy bien gracias, y tu?

Alexis: Muy bien tambien, gracias.

Briana: deja comenzar con bebidas

Briana: Tenemos café, te, jugo y soda

Alexis: Simplemente Agua. Por favor, con extra limón. ¡Gracias!

Briana: ¡Suena muy bien!

Briana: Es usted alista a oder

Alexis: Yo no tengo mucha hambre. ¿Tiene algo pequeña?

Briana: ¡Sí tenemos gran variedad tapas!

Alexis: Tienes muchas tapas! recomendaciones?

Briana: probar el tortilla española es muy bueno

Alexis: Que suena bien.. ¿Viene con pan?
Briana: Si, Tortilla Española viene con pan. ¿ algo más?

Alexis: ¿Tiene tomates?

Briana: Si, Señorita, todas las tortillas vienen con tomate.

Alexis:  No me gustan los tomates, ¿Me lo sin tomate por favor?

Briana: ¡Absolutamente! ¿Algo más?

Alexis: ¡Es todo, Gracias!

*servidor trae bebidas y camina lejos*

Alexis: ¡Disculpe Señorita!  Hay un pelo en mi agua!

Briana: ¡Perdoneme!  ¿Te gustaría una nueva bebida?

Alexis:  ¡Por Favor! esta vez sin pelo

*Servido trae nueva bebida y comida*

Briana: Aqui Tiene. Buen Provecho!

Alexis: Gracias!

*Dos Minutos más tarde*

Alexis: ¡Disculpe Briana! Mi comida esta frio!!

Briana: Lo siento mucho!

Alexis: ¿Puedo hablar con su gerente?

Briana: Mi gerente esta ausente, quieres probar algo diferente?

Alexis: ¡No, La cuenta por favor!

Briana: Lo siento mucho señorita! *la cuenta es entregó para Alexis
Alexis: Adios!

Briana: Come Again!
Alexis' Spanish podcast

Benchmark: convention center.

The convention center in center city philadelphia shockingly helps the city in many ways. Its a commonly forgotten place by many people within the city, and a hated place by many people in the city due to the fact it is trying to expand into their area. But expanding the convention center wasn’t a bad idea. This past weekend I happened to be down town and saw thousands of people flocking into the convention center I thought i’d check out what was going on.


Once I arrived inside I saw that there were thousands of people there playing yu-gi-oh. I myself play yu-gi-oh and would have never expected this many people in the city to play the game its a child card game and the convention center was filled with countless older men playing. 


So I went around and interviewed the the surrounding stores and interviewed the people that worked there. I went to two McCdonalds, and the gallery and I interviewed them and asked the managers at the McCdonalds about how there weekend has been going at that time they all said amazing because of the fact how many people where there opposed to the regular weekend. One of them said they have a list of events that the convention center has and what event it is, he said “I didn’t think a kids game would bring us so much business.” this was actually at the McCdonalds on 10th street which was 5 blocks away from the event.


The manager then went into that the events at the convention center actually bring all of the public businesses even the businesses in chinatown get more business so the convention center brings a lot of business to the city.         


While at the convention I actually met people from other countries. I made trades with these really nice guys from germany. They traded english cards for german cards which have more values and I actually made a lot of money in that day.


Overall the city benefits at least center city benefits from it, people fly in brining the air port money, places get more business because there are more people. The convention center is a great thing for the city.


What did you find most challenging about this project?

I found that the most challenging part about this project was finding a story.

How did you go about finding this story?

I actually just did what I usually do on my normal weekend and found something interesting that I enjoy.

Why do you think this story does not receive more attention?

People never actually talk about the good of it when people think of the convention center they usually think about how its trying to grow into chinatown.

Do you think this story will get more attention over the next few months?  Why?  Why not?

No. Because it’s not something people think about.

What did you learn?

That the convention center plays a big role in the city.

Rough Cut Film Fest 2012

​JUST ONE WEEK UNTIL OUR FIRST ANNUAL 
Rough Cut Film Festival 2012
at The Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, PA)
Tues, June 5, 2012 (6-8:30 PM)

Rough Cut Productions proudly presents its first annual film festival showcasing student work from the past academic season. Varying in length and content, all of the films in the showcase make it abundantly clear that age is not pre-requisite for professional filmmaking.

The films included in this inaugural show run the gamut of storytelling via content, style and format, but all come back to skills honed through our video production courses.

Come to The Franklin for an evening of films that will entertain, provoke thought, inspire and most importantly celebrate the amazing work of these young artists.

A Q&A session with the filmmakers along with a reception will follow the film screenings. This event is free, and open to the SLA community and their guests. The Musser Theater has a 250 person capacity, so reserve your ticket early.

Go to our event page on EVENTBRITE to reserve your free ticket
RCutFilmFest2012
RCutFilmFest2012

Take Three - The World As I See It: Technology

​In my first and second posts I wrote about robots and cyborgs. What's next, a Terminator-esque apocalypse? 

Fear not, I will not indulge in such tomfoolery. Instead I think some survey results are in order (
I wouldn't be a proper Martian dictator if I didn't follow up). 


A total of 39 people participated. 
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 9.10.30 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 9.10.30 AM
I find these results very interesting. The majority of the survey takers feel that they are very familiar with technology; another landslide majority are not comfortable with humanoid robots as an integral part of life.  
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 9.10.45 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 9.10.45 AM
At the same time, nearly half of the group have thought about or want robotic parts as a component of their own bodies. 
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 9.10.55 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-29 at 9.10.55 AM
And everyone, save for two, have used some sort of modern appliance.  
​This makes me think that the general populace (of 30-ish people, no doubt), though comfortable and practiced with technology, isn't ready for full on robot-human interaction. That would include teaching, discussing theories, and engaging in relationships... so it's great that my survey group mostly isn't ready for that. However, their aversion isn't going to stop the production of such machinery and it is highly possible that people could just unconsciously get used to it. 
Though that may not seem like a glaring problem, it is never a good thing when people fall into a rhythm without knowing what it is they are getting in to. To help remedy this I made a short video that will hopefully pique the publics interest and inspire them to find out more about technology that is still in development. 
The first picture is the intro text to the games made by an artificial intelligence named Angelina. 'She' factors in playability and creates the sprites, background, and gameplay without outside input. The following montage of pictures shows robots in the media and the real world. The last, and perhaps the most profound, is the 50's ad spoof for about a violent house bot. 

This video will be spread through Youtube, this blog post, and several social networking sites in an effort to have people become interested.
The evolution of robotics and programming is not a bad thing. Despite this, there are plenty of regulations that humans as a whole should hammer out. The definition of a person, for one, and how that applies to artificial intelligence. It would be a terrible thing if we created these amazing thinking beings but end up oppressing them. 

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For further reading my sources can be found HERE.
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As a bonus for scrolling down this far, this is a conversation between me and Cleverbot. Can you identify the Bot? 
Screen Shot 2012-05-21 at 9.26.04 PM
Screen Shot 2012-05-21 at 9.26.04 PM