Immigrant Rights Part 1: Dream Act

In Ms. Dunn’s 9th grade English class we had to choose a topic that was important to us. We would be making blog posts that keep our audience up to date with the headlines of today or bring awareness to the topic. When I heard that we had to choose a topic I immediately knew I wanted to blog about the topic of immigrant rights, but more specifically, the DREAM Act.

 

The American Dream, it is the title of the wish that many foreigners wish to obtain in the land of America, the land of opportunity.

 

Most families from all over the world come to the U.S to escape tension, war, or poverty in their own countries. Most immigrants come to the U.S seeking a better life. The ones, who come here illegally or even stay when their visa has expired, are often deported to back to their own countries. To a bigger dismay, excellent students who have come to the country when they were young, are denied education past that of high school, even when they are willing to pay tuition and have had numerous chances for scholarships.

 

            Immigration is a very important topic to me personally, for I myself am an immigrant. I was born in Mexico and was brought over to the U.S when I was nine months old. Like many other immigrant teenagers I was brought here before we could make our own decisions. We were brought here because our parents wanted us to become greater than what we could become in our native homes. It is also not just Latinos, but people from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean islands, who come to the U.S for better opportunities. Most of the kids who come to America for the American dream either have the dream turned into a nightmare because of not being able to speak English. When they do begin to succeed they are sometime faced with the problem of having no education after high school. For this reason, an act is in the process of being approved. The DREAM Act bill needs to be supported by legislators and signed into law, but this can only be done with support from people of this country. This bill will allow foreign illegal immigrant students be able to apply for residency and get an education after high school, if they meet several requirements.

             The requirements for being eligible for the DREAM Act is fair enough for both the person applying and the country. The country will benefit from the talented young minds that will become our future. The next generation is what the country will soon depend on and enabling the leaders of tomorrow, rather than deporting them, will benefit the U.S greatly. Is it really fair to deny immigrant teens the right to study here? By giving them a right to education we are accepting people for what they want to become; true Americans.  

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1Rpu4YRVam0eURA5ln_bOtpk6KAABiMxn2dchvS3EiKs/edit


DreamAct-9861
DreamAct-9861

Colony Collapse Disorder Blog #1

Hello, my name is Alexa Eddy and I’m from Science Leadership Academy. This project is called “You in the world” here we pick a topic that we think is important nd blog about it. We are also going to have a debate that includes our topic there will be 6 groups and we choose which topic to debate about.

I’m a girl that has a big interest for agriculture and always looking to fix problems in my own garden. One issue that I have a problem with is CCD. Colony Collapse Disorder. This is when colonies of bees just die out of nowhere. I like using ways to help the planet out and I’m interested in this because not only do I like bees but they are responsible for 30% of the crops in the U.S.A. With out them food prices will go up, crops wouldn’t do as good as before and we will be losing a beautiful creature.

Colony collapse disorder has been happening more frequently. More and more colonies are dying yet scientists can’t exactly pinpoint the problem. Some say it’s the chemicals in pesticides, varroa (a bee pest), and insecticides may be lowering the bee’s immune system. It was also said that honey bees kept in captivity are having problems with malnutrition. Only being limited to certain crops can cause this. What doesn’t help either is the genetically modified crops. Some of those crops make Bt pollen which isn’t good for the bees.

Everybody needs food to survive right? Well, everyone one in 3 mouthfuls of your diet whether directly or indirectly comes from honeybees. If this gets worse prices of food will go up and they might keep on rising. If we don’t take care of this now we can go down in catastrophic levels. Which includes a whole different diet do to the loss of a lot of fruits and vegetables. When bees are moved around due to consumer demand to pollinate crops it puts stress on the bees. Also some crops aren’t really healthy or nutritious for them, like cranberries. (In the picture is corn that has not been pollinated)

I always wonder if the government Is really taking this into consideration or are they just telling us to not keep us that worried. I want to know if I can do something to help. Or if I can do something to benefit the wild bees and help them repopulate. I want to learn how we as the people can help because if all of us care we can make a huge difference in this topic.

Here is a video for more information:

Video

Bibliography






Unpollinated corn
Unpollinated corn

Government and State Spending on Prisoners vs. Students

My name is Raekwon Smith and I’m doing a post on a world topic that interests me for school. It’s called You and The World and you pick a problem going on in the world that you want to talk about and then do a series of blog posts on it. My topic is about how the government and individual states spend more money on prisoners than kids and education. This topic is important to me because this could affect our education in the future because all the money we have is going towards funding prisons and prisoners that don’t deserve the care they receive. Prisons cost taxpayers more than $32 billion a year. Every year that an inmate spends in prison costs $22,000. An individual sentenced to five years for a $300 theft costs the public more than $100,000. The cost of a life term averages $1.5 million.One year at New Jersey State Prison cost more than one year at Princeton university.

 

According to heartsandminds.org, States are spending more money on prisons than education. Over the course of the last 20 years, the amount of money spent on prisons was increased by 570% while that spent on elementary and secondary education was increased by only 21%. They provide prisoners with free health care, internet access, weight room, cable television, access to libraries, free sports programs, computer lab, laundry services, funding to earn a degree, free housing, three square meals a day, clothing, and free dental care. Not all kids are provided with that type of care and attention that they give to prisoners. Our state of Pennsylvania is second on the list of most prisons.

Pennsylvania cut the budget for education to spend it on the growing rate of criminals in 2007. There are 46,000 inmates in Pennsylvania and $90 is spent on each inmate per day—which covers food, health care recreation, etc. The national average is only $63. $3.3 billion was spent last year on prison health care services.  Every inmate is guaranteed access to health care when they require it. It is stated in articlebase.com that if 30% of the prison population went to private facilities then it would save $100 million dollars annually but only 28 states allow that.

 

Private places could provide better care for prisoners while saving money (which would cost tax payers less) and preparing them for when they are released into the real world again to get along with everyone else. Every day 200 new cells are built. There could be private places instead to have a better outcome in the future. Her is picture of a prison cell in a Pennsylvania prison http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/prison-5.jpg. Here is my bibliography.

images
images

The killer " Cancer"

For our “ You and the World” project my topic is cancer. In the past years cancer has become a well known sickness. Could it be the environment that is causing this? In the past years the pollution levels have gone up, people smoke more and drink a lot of heavy alcohol. They never really think what kind of effects this can have on your body. Statistics show that over the past 10 years more people are diagnosed with different types of cancer such as, lung cancer, breast cancer, etc.


Cancer is developed when there are changes in your genetic code (DNA) of a cell (initiation). Normally the body can repair the damaged cells but if they reproduce that may cause cancer, because there are to many bad cells in your body. Usually initiation isn’t the one cause of cancer the cells go through more changes and require a substance called promoter. There can be a couple of years between this process and when you actually start to show cancer symptoms.

imgres-8
imgres-8
There isn’t really one specific cause of cancer. Cancer can come from genetics, health, nutrition, personal habitats and environment. The things you do in your daily life can affect you and cause you to have serious problems later on in your life, such as cancer. It has been proven that smoking of any kind can cause cancer. Cigarette smoking contains 3,800 chemicals that are cancer causing. Your portions and your diet (fatty foods and alcohol) are also linked to cancer. Being in the sun for to long without sunscreen or tanning on the regular also is one of the main causes of melanoma (skin cancer). Also sexual behavior can spread disease, which can also cause cervical cancer. Environmental pollution by chemicals in our drinking water, air, food and work place has also been shown to be a factor of causing cancer. Chemicals that are in the air we breathe have been linked to causing cancer. Some chemicals that may cause cancer are benzene (which can cause leukemia), asbestos (this can cause lung cancer) and vinyl chloride (which can cause liver cancer). Workers that work with metal or heavy labor work such as factories are affected by some of these chemicals

         

imgres-9
imgres-9
 Cancer is something people really need to be aware of. 1 and 3 americans with get cancer and 1 and 6 americans will die from cancer. Those are really scary statistics. Is there something we can do about it? Yes there may be and it is my mission to find out. We can’t let it kill people for much longer. In my blogs I will be talking about what we can do to make ourselves healthier and what we can do to give back to the cancer community. 


Here is the link to my resources. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xudY75BgLg1jWMxGISU4dtFSyZfTiu2QMbMkhTFk8RE/edit 

Below are pictures of damaged cells. ( cancer cells) 

imgres-10
imgres-10

STDs or STIs: The New Crisis Of Today's Teens Blog Post#1

In my English class we are focusing on a topic we are intrigued by, want to shout to the world to, and make a difference/change about it. We thought with our potential its about time that we put our voice out there and speak! Let the world hear the voice and see what really goes on in the mind of the educated youth in Philadelphia. This project is called “You and The World” where you develop a passion among a issues that you want to teach others about leading them to what your ideas ad thoughts about what we can do to change such a problem. I am here today to talk about the issues of STDs or if you prefer STIs.

I’m pretty sure almost everyone knows what an STD (STI) is if not an STD is a sexually transmitted disease or infections. Which you can easily catch if you are sexually active in any way with a partner that has the disease. I believe that in high school or near the end of middle school they have a health class that teach about these things but I also believe that there are some teens that don’t quite pay attention or take this issues seriously. That really bothers me. Next thing you know because they didn’t pay attention or cared they end up gaining such a disease. Of course they will have to deal with the consequences, suffer the pain that comes there way and live with regret.

The big issue that I have with this is that 1 in 4 teens between the ages of 14-19 have STD. It’s just not right! Hearing about this all I can think is why? Why is such a thing even exposed to us teens who should be focusing on more important things like what to do next with our lives not just to throw it away like some wasted piece of trash. It is said that if you are infected with such a disease the symptoms might show up right away or they just might show up in a week, month or even years depending on what kind you have. That’s why all mostly when people talk about STDs they always included getting tested as an option because you may think that your partner isn’t infected but you really never know until you see the real truth in reliable papers. Symptoms for both women and men are pain when you pee, around the butt hole, mouth, or private parts the inhabitations of bumps, blisters and such. If not treated or taking care of this STI can cause death I can’t imagine someone who could be my little sister/brother or older sister/brother having to go through this painful experience. I believe that this must come to an end and be solved for the sake of the generations that will soon be coming into this world. What do you think about this?


Click here to view my bibliography



sexcanbinfectious
sexcanbinfectious
Screen Shot 2012-05-11 at 11.24.21 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-11 at 11.24.21 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-11 at 11.28.56 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-11 at 11.28.56 AM

Philadelphia School Bullying

In the last Quarter of school, our English teacher Ms.Dunn gave us a project called “You and the World”. In this project the issue I am going to bring up is school bullying. I think bullying is the big issue going on all over U.S. I am interested in this issue because I have been bullied in middle school, because I spoke different languages when other kids in my class did not. I moved here from Bangladesh when I was twelve years old. When I started school, I didn’t know much English and was shy to talk. Kids would push me, try to fight me and make fun of me because I was different.

 

I think bullying is the perfect reason why kids in middle school don’t like to be in school. Watch this video. It shows how unsafe some of our schools are in Philadelphia. After years of harassment and bullying, this video was taken by a 12 year old girl who wanted her mother to see what going on in her classroom everyday.

 

According to the New York Times, in Philadelphia seven teenagers were arrested for a bullying incident in which a 13-year-old student was kicked and beaten before being hung by his coat from a spiked fence post. This is what is happening in our School District schools and I don’t think those kids are safe in school. We as community members have to do something about this bullying and stop it as soon as possible.

To see my bibliography, click here

Screen Shot 2012-05-11 at 11.40.25 AM
Screen Shot 2012-05-11 at 11.40.25 AM

E1 U8 Marcus Allen y Imani

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44981162/E1%20U8%20Project.m4v

‘Imani:  novia

Allen:  novio

Marcus: el mesero



(Allen walks in  and imani is sitting down.)

Allen: Hola Imani

Imani: Hola Allen Que tal?

Allen: umm... muy bien y tu?

Imani: Mas o menos

Allen: por que 

(el mesero comida )

Marcus: Hola Como esta

Both: Muy bien


(allen y imani tomas la cuenta)

(Both of them look through)

Marcus: Que le traigo? 

Imani: Me gustaria arroz con pollo y brocoli.


Allen:  Apperitivos churros y chuletas de cochino

Marcus: Algo de tomar?

Imani: el te sin limon

Allen: el refresco de naranja

(Imani y Allen gives back the La cuenta)


Marcus: Gracias

Both: De nada


Marcus: Aqui es su el almuerzo

(Brings wrong food out)

Imani: yo (no) pedi esto

Allen: es todo 

Marcus: Lo siento un momento

(Brings out correct order)

Marcus: bueno, Buen provecho

(Nosotros comer)

Imani: La cuenta, por favor

Marcus: aqui esta la carta

Allen: AY AY AY!! ay madre mia

Imani: Los siento no denaro

Marcus: Lo siento pero necesito denaro para comida

(Allen Looks at Imani and the both take off running)



The Pro-Choice Movement's Involvement In Politics: Part 1


My english class at SLA has just started a project that requires us to choose a topic of importance to us and blog about it. Everyone is allowed to chose their own topic  but some people are doing the same ones. Our teacher will pick one of the topics from a student in my class and we will have to debate either for or against it. We weren’t necessarily asked to choose something controversial but a controversial topic allows for a better debate. 


I have chosen the involvement of the Pro-Choice Movement in politics, mainly this upcoming election. The Pro-Choice Movement is the movement that’s goal is to give women their rights and legalize things like contraception and abortion. This topic is very controversial and is one of the main platforms some politicians run their campaigns on. For the most part Republicans are against it and for the most part, Democrats are for it. If you want to put political differences aside, the two groups can be split up by people that are against abortion and birth control, “pro-life supporters,” and people that support the issue, “pro-choice supporters.” 


In ancient times abortion was just considered a form of family planning and population control. In today’s world, the main deterrent from abortion and contraception is religion. Part of President Obama’s healthcare overhaul in 2009 was that employers provide free birth control coverage. "Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health," said the president. Recently he announced that religious groups were exempt from that law. Under the new plan, religious institutions are not required to provide birth control to their employees but the institution’s insurance company still has to offer coverage without raising the premium. 


For those who argue against abortion and contraception, it is usually a question of ethics and morals. The main Pro-Life argument is that an unborn fetus is a living being and therefor should not be terminated under any circumstances. For the most part  the politicians arguing for the Pro-Life movement are men and there are very little women advocating against contraception and abortion.


Sources
barack_obama_thumb
barack_obama_thumb

Philadelphia Increasing Murder Rate

            Our wonderful teacher, Mrs. Dunn, has given this project to us. This project is all about worrying less about yourself, and more about different issues that are going on in the world, or in this country, or even in your own neighborhoods. So with that I am going to jump right into the issue at hand. Now my issue is on somewhat of a bigger scale than just my own neighborhood, this issue includes all of Philadelphia, and that issue is, the continuously growing homicide rate in Philadelphia, and that among teens towards each other.

 

            This is an increasingly troubling topic, and very interesting and alarming to me. Not only do I know people who have died due to useless teen violence, but also I have seen how these deaths can impact the family members of those diseased. For these reasons, teenage homicides, as well as all homicides in Philadelphia have a great personal, and interesting touch on me, and it should you as well.

 

            The Philadelphia homicide rate was the highest in 2010 throughout the entire country, with a 19.6% homicide rate. This is nothing compared to the fact that so far there has been 122 homicides in Philadelphia alone. Considering it is only May, this is a staggering total. You also see that since it is only about half way through the year, if this rate stays the same, we will have over 250 homicides by the end of the year. That is 250 people who died due to the selfishness of others, and who obviously died before their times. If that weren’t enough, here are more staggering statistics about the homicides in Philly over the past few years:

 

·      In 2011 there was a total of 324 homicides in Philadelphia with a 20.7% homicide rate, which was more than any other large city.

 

·      Philadelphia has had 1,654 homicides over the past 5 years, with 2007, being the worst year, with 391 homicides that year alone.

 

·      During 2006 and 2007, Philadelphia was the only city with a population of over 1,000,000 to be on the 10 most murderous cities list.

 

            So from this you can see that the homicide rate in Philadelphia is a serious issue. Although I am not yet an expert on this topic, I would like to try and become one by learning more about Philadelphia and its unbelievable murder rate. Some things that I still question and would like to learn are; where in Philadelphia is there the most murders? What nationality of people is doing the most murdering? What age group does the most murdering and how can we change this so that it doesn’t happen more often?


Here are all of my sources at this link.

 

 

Homicide
Homicide
homicideYearEndTotals_2011
homicideYearEndTotals_2011
Philadelphia-Yet-Again-Beats-the-Highest-Per-Capita-Murder-Rate-In-US
Philadelphia-Yet-Again-Beats-the-Highest-Per-Capita-Murder-Rate-In-US
philly-murder-chart-through-march-2008
philly-murder-chart-through-march-2008

Pierce Meier (podcast)

Screen Shot 2012-05-10 at 11.30.17 PM
Screen Shot 2012-05-10 at 11.30.17 PM
Pierce Meier
mesero: ¿Hola, como esta?

Cliente: Bien.

mesero:
¿Qué le traigo?

Cliente: La pimienta
Bistec chuleta con el ajo. mesero: ¿Algo de tomar?

Cliente: El refresco mesero: Bueno
(goes and gets food) 

(sever returns)

mesero: Aquí tiene 

Cliente: Yo no pedí esto 
mesero: Oh

(goes back to the kistion)

mesero: Aquí tiene

Cliente: Griases

(Cliente eats food) 

mesero:¿Algo más? 

Cliente: Es todo.

Cliente: La cuenta, por favor 

(goes and gets La cuenta)

 mesero: Aquí tiene

(Pays and leaves) 

E1U8 Temperance and Tytianna

Script:
Waiter: ¡Hola! Me llamo Temperance ¿Que tal?
Tytianna: ¡Hola! Muy Bien.
Waiter: Bueno. ¿Que le traigo para una APPERITIVOS?
Tytianna: Papas fitas con ketchúp y el queso por favor
Waiter: ¿Y para su la entrada?
Tytianna: Pabellon Vegetariano por favor sin portabella setas y tomates
Waiter: ¿Algo de tomar?
Tytianna: El jugo de naranja Por favor.
Waiter: Bueno. Un momento.

Conversation with Tytianna while waiting for food on the phone
Tytianna: ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Oh Muy Bien. Estoy en Sazon restaurante. Pedí Pabellon Vegetariano con morrón arroz y negro frijoles. Me comida está aquí. ¡Adios!

Waiter: Aqui tiene. (gives tytianna the appetizer)
(Tytianna eats the food)

Waiter: Aqui tiene (gives tytianna the main dish and takes appetizer away)
Tytianna: ¡Disculpe!
Waiter: ¿Si? ¿Cual es la problema?
Tytianna: Yo no pedi esto. Dije no portabella setas y tomates
Waiter: Ay, ay ay! Lo siento! Uno momento.
(Takes plate)
Tytianna: Bueno
Waiter: ¿Está todo bien? ¡Buen provecho!
(Tytianna eats food, when she is done she calls for the waiter)
Waiter: ¿Si?
Tytianna: ¿Puedo tener el postre?
Waiter: Por supuesto. ¿Que le traigo?
Tytianna: Quiero chocolate helado y pastel.
Waiter: Bueno. Un momento por favor.
(Waiter brings desert)
Waiter: Aqui tiene. ¡Buen provecho!
Tytianna: ¡Gracias!
Waiter: De nada.
(Tytianna eats and calls for waiter)
Waiter: ¿terminado?
Tytianna: ¡Si Gracias! La cuenta por favor.
Waiter: No hay problema.
(Goes and gets the check)
Aqui tiene.
(Hands her the check)
Tytianna: ¡Gracias!
Waiter: ¡De nada! ¡Qué tenga un buen día!

El Script de Resturante y Podcast: Alexis y Emmanuel

Nuestro Script

Restaurante- Sazon Restaurant & Cafe



Mesero- ¿Hola y bienvenidos a Sazon ¿cuántos son?
Cliente- Uno.
Mesero- Sígame.
Cliente- De acuerdo.
Mesero- ¿Algo más?
Cliente- ¡Si! Puedes tener una chicha.
Mesero- Muy bueno.
Cliente- ¡Gracias!
Mesero- Aquí tienes, señor.
Cliente- Gracias.
Mesero- ¿Qué le traigo?
Cliente- Pues...me gustariá pollo a la parrilla.
Mesero- Bueno.
Cliente-¿Tiene cebollas? Mi no comer las cebollas.
Mesero- Bueno.
Cliente- Gracias.

(Momentos más tarde)

Mesero- Aquí tienes, señor.
Cliente- ¡Ay dios mios! ¿Que es eso?
Mesero- Lo siento, cuál es el problema
Cliente- La comida es muy terrible. ¿Puedes tener un nuevo plato de comida por favor?
Mesero- ¡Si! un momento. Aqui tienes.
Cliente- Muchas gracias señorita.
Mesero- ¿Algo mas?
Cliente- ¿Puede tener la cuenta por favor?
Mesero- Aquí tienes, adios amigos
Cliente- Mucho gusto
Mesero- Igualmente

E1.U8- My y Alyssa

Alyssa: (walk in waiting for someone to bring to the table.) Hola, Tienes una mesa para dos personas?
My: Hola. Si, siga me
Alyssa: (walks in and trips over the edge of another table)Ouch!
My: Estas bien?
Alyssa: Si estoy bien. Gracias (sits down with boyfriend)
My: Mi nombre es My, voy a ser tu camarera hoy (hand the menus) te  a doy un momento para que usted puede escojer su comida?
Alyssa: Gustaria un chicha y tendra un cafe con leche.
My: Bien, ahorita vengo con ello
Alyssa: Gracias.

Alyssa:Que quere usted comer?
Enthony: Quiero algo que sea picante.
Alyssa: Tenemos sopa de pollo.
Enthony: Que tiene?
Alyssa: Es sopa de pollo con pollo, zarahiana ,cebollas, papa, scallions and cilantro
Enthony: Suena rico. Quero eso.
Alyssa: PABELLON CRIOLLO parece rico quiero probar eso y  PARGO GUISADO
Enthony: Pero no me gustan las cebollas.
Alyssa: Podemos ordenar lo sin las cebollas
Enthony: Si, bien.

My: ¿Que quieres comer?
Alyssa: Queremos sopa de pollo, Pabellon Criollo y Pargo Guisado
My: Algo mas?
Alyssa: No, muchas gracias.
Alyssa: Espera. No quiero las cebollas en mi Pargo Guisad. Por favor
My: Seguro, no hay problema.


My: Aqui tienes, Espero que disfrutas su comida.
Alyssa: Que rapido! Gracias

Enthony: Tiene cebollas
Alyssa: Senorita, te ordene algo sin cebollas pero tiene cebollas
My: Perdon. tiene que ser un error. ahorita vengo con el nuevo platillo para ti.
Alyssa: Gracias
My: erdon sobre eso. Aque esta su PARGO GUISADO sin cebollas
. buen provetio

Alyssa: Gracias

My: Puede traerle algo para postre?
Enthony: me gustaria el flan  
Alyssa: How about flan for both of us
Enthony: suena rico
Alyssa: La cuenta por favor
My: (hands check)
Enthony: Cuanto es?
Alyssa: Es 50 dollares
Enthony: Eso no es malo, pero no te voy a dar propina porque me diste servicio malo.
Alyssa: Si, la comida fue rica
My y Enthony  : (pay) Gracias
My Song 4

Communism Controlling Freedom in Vietnam

      In English class, we are doing a project called “You and the World”. In this project we have to choose a subject that we want to research about. For example a subject like “Pollution in our drinking water”. After choosing a topic we have to research about this topic and on a blog day. You have to blog on what you research on this topic. In total we have to make 3 blogs. After our three blog we are making a debate. We are going to be separated into 6 groups and each group chooses a topic to debate to the other about.

      Well for this project I choose the topic of “Communism ruling Vietnam”. The issue is that in Vietnam has been ruled by communist for 36 years now. Over the last year the communist in Vietnam has taken their power for granted. They started controlling his people and what they do. The reason why I am interested in this situation is because my family and I are Vietnamese and we felt like we have to do something to fix what the communist has done to our country. Also I like researching and learn more about my country.

    Well in my research so far about this subject. I have found out that the Catholic Church in Vietnam has been controlled by communists that rule Vietnam and they are claiming the land that the Catholic Church theirs so they can destruct the building to build a mall or a shopping center. This church is the most famous church in Vietnam and many people go to that church. Started to protest against knocking the church down. Soon after that situation a priest from that church has been beaten and arrested by communist cops. This problem soon raised its climax when the citizens are protesting even more and they are sick and tired of seeing communism control everything they do everyday.

     At this point, I wonder if Vietnam could just stand up together hand in hand try to stop communism from ruling our country. I wonder if the citizens can’t do it would the country get worse or better? Well I have several questions I hope someone could answer it for me. Can Vietnam be better without communism? Can it be better with democracy like America?

Bibliography:






2009073549
2009073549
vnMap
vnMap
This is the communist flag in Vietnam:
vietnam
vietnam
This is the flag of the democracy side of Vietnam:
648px-Flag_of_South_Vietnam.svg
648px-Flag_of_South_Vietnam.svg

A Woman's Right

For our English class we are doing a “you and the world” project, for my topic I chose abortion.  Now a day’s in the United States abortion is legal but it is still a topic that raises a lot of controversy. Over the years there have been many debates on whether or not a women should or should not be able to make the choice on whether they want an abortion. As a fourteen-year-old girl this issue becomes one that is close to home. Not because I have ever been pregnant nor have I ever had a need for an abortion, but it brings up an issue on a larger scale of civil rights for women. A mere century ago women gained their civil rights in America, what does it mean when the government starts deciding what we can do with our bodies? Have women taken three steps forward just to take four steps back? My blog will focus on what it means to have an abortion in America, and whether or not it should be legal for women to make the decision on their own. 

090515-abortionPoll-bcol
090515-abortionPoll-bcol

In every state in America it is legal to have an abortion. Whether or not it is accepted, or even accessible is a different story. However this wasn’t true 30 years ago, but it all changed with Roe V. Wade which was a Supreme Court case in 1973 that legalized early term abortions. Abortion was legalized but because of the cost it is still difficult for many to get it, it can cost any where between 350 to 1000 dollars. Only 17 states in America provide funding for poor women who want abortions. For many this still makes it difficult to go through with abortion because they are living in low-income households.

 

 

AGIAbortionReasonsBarChart
AGIAbortionReasonsBarChart

            Most women who have abortions get them because it isn’t the right time for them and because of situations that they don’t want to put a young child in. For this reason 52% of women who get abortions are under 25. Being 25 it is difficult to afford it and that’s why organizations like Planned Parenthood are important because most health insurance companies don’t cover abortion or contraception. Over the past years in a study done by the Washington Post an increase in the percent of people who think abortion should be legal has risen. However there still is an issue on the underlying issue of how the government feels about it.

 “I do not believe in abortion at will. I do not believe that if a woman just wants to have an abortion she should... I do believe if you have an abortion you are committing murder.” –  Nancy Reagen


The issue on whether or not abortion should be legal is a continuos battle. In my next blog I wil look into the facts of what stages can you have an abortion? How would it help the government to have abortion as a choice?

bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xOaTbhEdwe0xETr3g4jNQrdZCpm0hxUXk_bOxbpnhgk/edit

abortion_photo
abortion_photo

Donesha & Alex (Podcast)

Restaurante: Sazón
Waiter: Donesha
Cliente: Alex

Intro
*Waiter walks in and greets customer*
W- Hola. Gracias por venir a sazón.
C-  Hola, gracias.
W- Aquí está su menu.
C – Bueno. Gracias. ¿Cuál es la especial?
W- Sopa de tortilla con un refresco. Esto costó $6. ¿Te gustaría probar?
C- Sí y yo quiero sopa de tortilla, huevos rancheros, y tamales.
W- ¿Algo mas?
C- Sí.
W- ¿Algo tomar?
C- Un refresco.
W- ¿Es todo?
C- Sí, es todo.
W- Bueno. Un momento.

Customer has conversation with other customer while waiting for food.

C-Hola. ¿Qué pasa?
OC- Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?
C- Tambien. ¿Es buena la comida aquí?
OC- Sí, es muy buena.

*Waiter brings food in and customer complains of wrong order.

W- Aquí tiene su comida.
C- Ah gracias señorita.
W- De nada.
C- ¡Espera!
W- ¿Qué? ¿Qué incorrecto?
C-¡Si! Muy malo, señorita. El sabor muy terrible. ¡Puaj!  
W- Ah, lo siento. Un momento, por favor. ¿Sí?
C- Necesito una cuchara y un tenedor.
W- No hay problema.

*Waiter brings back out correct order and problem is resolved

W- Aquí tiene. Es correcto.
C- Ah, bueno. Gracias.
W- No, de nada. ¡Buen provecho!
C- ¡Comida es muy delicioso! Yo era muy bastante hambre.
W- Me alegro de que tiene su pedido correcto.
C- Gracias señorita. No te preocupes por este último problema.
W-Bueno. Lo siento.

Support the LGBT

This project was assigned in my 9th grade English Class. Mrs. Dunn, who is my english teacher had made it clear to us that this project called “You and the World” could be about anything we desired. In total we had to create three blog post and this is my first one. Therefore, I decided on something that is very common in this world. Others can be very judgmental towards them. Yet, others interpret them differently. These people that may seem different to society are  called the LGBT. Wether, or not you support them, all they want is their EQUAL RIGHTS!
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Screen Shot 2012-05-12 at 2.25.57 AM
The LGBT are people just like us,  so why can’t they be given this too!!!
 LGBT is an acronym which stands for Lesbian, Gay Straight and also Transgender. The issue is very highly known in many places and when people are trying to bring up awareness about this topic no one seems to care, after all, this is my opinion and view on this issue. The issue is that people that are different like mentioned above don't seem to be getting the equal rights others would normally get. But, there’s an organization called ACLU that helps protect people that reside in the U.S from any civil rights violations. This is what the LGBT project is willing to do for people who are different, they deserve a say in this world as well!  They shouldn’t be discriminated, because they are HUMANS, and need to be treated like one.
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“Gender preference does not define you. Your spirit defines you.”― P.C. Cast, Awakened
   Also, I’m interested in this because I simply find it to be a world - wide issue that happens everywhere, but why is it that these people get treated unfairly? Why can’t they be treated equally? Is it just because they’re  gay or lesbian, because they prefer to be with someone of their same gender? These are the questions that wonder within me. The ones that simply aren’t answered quite yet. But, throughout this project these are the questions that deserve answers. Futhermore, this is something I can relate too. I know people that are related to me and don’t get treated the same way others do. I just respect them either way and support who they are as  a person. Just because they date someone of their same gender doesn’t mean I’ll treat them bad, I will treat them with my equality, fairness, and support they want and need. Being different makes you, who you really are. That’s why being different and being LGBT means earning equal rights. Their voices need to be heard.
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Your voice matters, your sayings matters, so let your voice be heard.


To find out more information, check out this bibliography

Genetic Testing: A New Improvement Or A New Age of Social Injustice

    The “You and the World” project targets students to focus on world issues that they are interested in and seek to find a possible solution for that problem. It is also a debate-related project that the students argue though different aspects and their view of the issue. 

     My topic for the "You and the World” project is Genetic Testing: A New Improvement In Our Lives Or A New Era of Social Injustice. I specially chose this topic because I am fascinated by my own identity based on my DNA. To first know myself is an essential step to interact and associate with other people based on the knowledge of my personality, behavior, and etc. 

      Imagine you could one day look at your genome straight from your tablet. This scenario was thought to be an inconceivable task decades ago. But, as the Human Genome project took an remarkable achievement in humanity, sequencing genomes is possible. But, it would took $350,000 and an extensive time to sequence one genome. But, everything was starting to change as new technology made sequencing genomes faster and less costly (less than $500). It may gave rise to an era about self-acknowledgement or, is it? 

F1.large
F1.large
​Figure 1: It shows the amount of people who took genetic tests based on the four categories, predictive test, affected mutation search, and research mutation search. In the recent years, the amount of people taking genetic tests increased. 

     As the society’s population began to grow and countries get crowder, more diseases and bacteria thrived. The need for new medicine are at constant need. A simple genetic test could detect an individual’s mutated genes and design a type of personalized medicine based on his or her DNA. It is could be a new treatment for cancer. It means that the government will not have to spend as much as millions of dollars for patients with a severe and rare disease that are not familiar in hospitals. 

     Despite its advantage, these medicine are expensive (up to $294,000 per year). Not everyone will be eligible for personalized medicine because it could be only used in patients who have a mutated actionable gene. Even if it is proven that these medicines and chemical compounds have some affect on cancer, the cancer will sometimes come back to the patients body. So, how high is the cure rate? Is it worth spending hundreds and thousands of dollars? 

      Biotech companies, like DeCode me, and 23andMe placed a feature called the odds calculator to predict the possibility for that individual to contact certain diseases. To avoid these risks, people will adjust their lifestyle, prevent, and ask for treatment before the illness strikes. It means that people’s health rates and life-expectancy of the world will increase. However, sometimes people could not distinguish from possibilities that have countless variations from facts. Therefore, resulting the individual to be overwhelmed by results that are tested by only a fraction of their total genome.   

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Screen Shot 2012-05-09 at 9.07.31 PM
​Figure 2: This is a flash drive that holds an individual's genome. It comes from a biotech company that uses a famous Greek quote, "Know thyself" as their message. 

    As the world seeks for new scientific achievements to make our lives easier it could result a new age of social injustice. The advancement toward personalized medicine means that hospitals and labs like, illumina could have a chance to accidentally leaking people’s DNA to public. Say if you want to be employ to a job, but the interviewer will not consider you because of a high chance you will get Parkinson’s disease based on your DNA. 

    There is a Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) that guarantee security and privacy for all people’s genome results, but who will stop the economy from choosing the best people into their companies, colleges, athletes, and etc? Even with the protection of the GINA, will it prevent any and all future possible invasions of privacy toward genetic information as this technology become more and more popular and efficient? Will we proceed into the society featured in “Gattaca”?

To view my bibliography, click here

 

EU18:Bryanna y Ashley (Película)

Ashley Spells & Bryanna Jones .

Spanish Proyecto

5-2-12



Ashley- Mesera(Waiter)

Bryanna- Cliente(Customer)

bryanna & thomas walk in to savon for a date

penolpe sits them down
penelope : welcome to savon (
bienvenida to savon)

*seats bryanna and thomas*


Ashley(mesera) : ¡hola! mi nombre es Maria srta. que tal ?


Bryanna:Muy bien, pero tengo MUCHA hambre


Thomas:muy bien


ashley : ¿que le traigo?


Bryanna: Pueesss... aver, yo quiero una hamburguesa,papas fritas, un coca cola, y mostaza. Es todo


ashley :  bueno.


Ashley:y tú?


Thomas:agua. Es todo


* 30 mins luego*


*ashley : aquí tiene !


Bryanna:¿Qué es esto? ¿un el pelo? ewwwwww


ashley : lo siento srta


*2 mins later*


ashley :¡ buen provecho!


Bryanna: *comida* Mesera


ashley : aquí tiene

thomas : no , let me pay.
byanna :  :)) , bueno

thomas : lo siento , bryanna … no tengo nada de dinero !

byanna:¿Qué es esto?

Bryanna: *takes out money to pay* Aqui.

ashley *opens check book*


thomas: gracias


Bryanna ¡No,denada!

You and the World Blog Post #1

My name is Dylan Long and I am part of the freshman English class at Science Leadership Academy.

For our final quarter project, we were designated to choose a world issue, develop a passion for researching and gathering information about said issue, convey that knowledge to others, and seek to educate ourselves and others about said issue.

For my project, I chose the world issue of gay marriage. Gay marriage is a very biased and argued topic. It is rejected by the majority of society.

It is such a heated and discussed topic because religion and politics play an enormous role in the issue. Many religions find homosexuality to be a sin, and do not accept it by any means.

Others who do not see being gay as something bad (whether they are religious or not) believe that every human being deserves to be happy, and that love is love, no matter the gender.

I fully support gay marriage because I believe every human deserves to be able to pursue happiness and experience love, regardless of gender.

A more close and dear reason for my support of homosexuality is that one of my closest family friends, George (who was my little sister’s Godfather) who was openly gay and in a relationship with another man. George passed away from cancer.

When George passed, his partner, Chris, was devastated, as were my entire family and I. When George died, I took it upon myself as my duty to fully and openly support all forms of relationships between same sex couples.

The main issue I am researching is gay marriage in the United States. The majority of the states in the U.S. do not approve of gay marriage. Only 8 of 50 states have legalized gay marriage, while 30 states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.

There have been amendments that have been presented in recent years that were aimed directly towards eradicating gay marriage once and for all in the United States.

The Marriage Protection Amendment was an amendment that if it had passed, would have confined unions of any type (including marriage), only if said unions were comprised of one man and one woman.

Very recently, North Carolina passed an amendment to their state constitution that will enforce that "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."

Since marriage is already banned in North Carolina, this amendment bans literally all forms of relationships between same-sex couples. It is evident that the majority of America opposes gay marriage.

The support for gay marriage among major political figures has been strongly among democrats.

The two presidents who have openly supported gay marriage (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton) were both democrats, as are 13 of 14 current governors that support gay
marriage.

However very recently the current president, Barack Obama, made a very bold move and came out in favor of same-sex marriage.

Obama’s bold statements have sparked an international discussion over same-sex marriage.

His excuses for not initially coming out in favor of gay marriage are: he believed that a civil union would suffice, also if he came out in favor of it he would get too much criticism, considering homosexuality is disapproved of so harshly in the U.S.

Those who view gay marriage as something wrong or a sin are retaliating with reiterating their belief that marriage should only be between one man and one woman.

Those who have the more humane approach to the situation are favoring his decision to come out in favor, saying it is a great move forward in the fight for same-sex marriage.

In addition to the newly passed amendment in North Carolina, Obama’s statements have pushed the debate over gay marriage into a full forced discussion, as it has exploded all over the news media.

On May 10, 2012, gay marriage was the topic of the front page article on CNN’s website, in addition to a side section titled “Same-Sex Marriage”, offering many other links to the international discussion that has now unfolded, as seen here:



(Front page of CNN showing the links of stories being reported over gay marriage)

Thus far, I am questioning the legitimacy of the cons of gay marriage. The majority of the research is either debatable, biased, or false.

As my research progresses throughout the project, I wish to learn more about the theories of how gay marriage would negatively impact the United States. I wish to learn more about this because I am very skeptical towards gay marriage having a harsh impact on the U.S.


To see my bibliography, click here



You and The World Project: Unemployment

   You in The World Project

 

Our English class project is called You and the World. This project is for us to get interested in events that are current and research information about an issue and tell others about it so we can educate ourselves and other people. We have to post our information on our blog and debate about our topics with the class.

 

My issue is how hard it is to found a job. There are alot less job openings in the U.S. today. The number of job openings in U.S. declined again in December. There was a decline in the economy, it was usually 4.5 to 5 million open jobs in America, now there are only 3 million. The U.S. economy is supplying an extremely low number of jobs. The government said that there were only 36,000 jobs added in January. Although an upgrade 150,000 jobs per month is enough just to keep up with our population growth. We begin to fall farther and farther behind.

 

All across the nation, state and local governments are swiftly cutting jobs. Government jobs use to be considered some of the safest jobs accessible, but now all government jobs local and state are facing terrible budget crunches. Actually it has gotten so serious that some cities are cutting their police forces by up to 50 percent.

 

Recent college grads are having a hard time finding a job.  Today’s graduates understand how bad the economy is now and how hard it will be to land their first meaningful job. Those who graduated between 2006-2008, their salary was $30,000 but for recent grads it has dropped to $27,000. According to Kate Helfrich a graduate from Case Western Reserve University, says “ I’m definetley feeling a little anxiety regarding the loan payment. You hear about programs that offer loan repayment and sign on bonuses, I don’t feel like we’ve seen that as much since the recession hit.” Bridget Coyle, who is also a graduate, wants to be a social worker, but this desolating unemployment rate is making it extremely tough. Besides this she is still very confident.

 

One idea of reducing unemployment is to break the cycle. There are many ways to break it.  One way is to provide government funding to companies who are becoming bankrupt. Another is get involved in technology because that is now in demand of our industry.

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

 

Video, Slim Job Growth In April



Click here for more information.



 Click here for my bibliography.



 

 

 

 

 

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Human Trafficking- "Modern Day Slavery"

For this project in English class, we were told to choose a world issue that we felt passionately about. We were told to think of something that would help us develop our knowledge and passion in this area. Immediately, my mind jumped to human trafficking. Human Trafficking is often called ‘modern day slavery’, because it is, by definition, “an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.” Victims of human trafficking are forced by one way or another into labor without their permission. This can be seen in manual labor, domestic labor, and sexual labor. About 87% of trafficking victims are sexually exploited.
doctor-ani-kalayjian-human-trafficking-chart
doctor-ani-kalayjian-human-trafficking-chart

Women and girls take up most of the trafficking victims, but that’s not to say that trafficking is not a real threat for everyone. In fact, there are more slaves today, an estimate of about 3 billion, than in any other time in history. While some people would immediately say that they couldn’t see any reason that this would ever happen, the trafficking industry takes in about $32 billion dollars of yearly profit. In fact, money is primarily the reason for trafficking. Poor families often sell of their young girls to rich family members or brothels in order to make some money. 


Human Trafficking is a real issue for everyone in the world- nearly every country is involved as either a country of origin or destination. Not only that, but also only one person gets convicted for every 800 people trafficked.

So why did I immediately think of human trafficking? Well, many reasons. I’ve already been involved in campaigns to end this horrific occurrence. One of the organizations that I’ve researched, and donated to, is the Not For Sale campaign, which essentially raises awareness and money to save victims of trafficking around the world. However, more recently, my good friends uncle created a movie called “Horse & Rider.” The film was created in partnership with Freedom Firm, which is another organization dedicated to rescuing victims of human trafficking, specifically those of sex trafficked victims in India. The film follows the stories of two girls who were rescued from the trade, and are now in a rehabilitation center. I was asked to sing on the soundtrack for the movie, along with a few other girls, and it was a great experience to get connected and proactive in the fight for the end of human trafficking. I realized that human trafficking is a huge issue across the globe, and no one is safe from it.  

notforsalegirl
notforsalegirl
This girl advocates for the Not For Sale campaign.

So now we know what human trafficking is, and how big of an issue it is. But how can we help? What can we, as citizens, do? I think it’s also important to think about what has been done already, how far has that gotten us? How much improvement has this cause seen, and how much can it expect to see within the next few years?



You can see the bibliography of my work here.