School District Budget Cuts: Cutting the Future: Followup #2

This is my last blog about the School District budget cuts, so I intend to end with more knowledge, and information on whats being done to stop this, how you can help, and to go out with a bang. So far, there have been many protests and rallies to save the education of Philadelphia students, some of them lead by students for the most part, other lead by adults in the community. For example, around May 16th, 2011, almost 200 students, parents and teachers rallied against the budget cuts, with signs saying such things as "I need my teachers!" and "I am the face of public schools!" (pictured below.) Over 600 students went to Harrisburg to protest the budget cuts, and many students from SLA talked to senators themselves, trying to show that as students, we do care, and we are willing to advocate for ourselves, for our education and for our future. Even now, there are still rallies being planned, although none so close to Harrisburg.

Besides attending or collaborating on rallies and protests, there is still more that you, as a person, can do. For one thing, you can donate money. SLA, for example, is taking huge hits from this budget cut, losing 430,000 dollars for the next school year. As a way of raising money so that we can afford to do these incredible things we do, (one to one laptops, family membership to the Franklin Institute, and maintaining the amazing teachers we have now,) we are attempting to amass 50,000 dollars through a donation website that you can go to right now, at slarocketfuel.blogspot.com, and donate to. 1 dollar, 10 dollars, 100 dollars. Every donation we receive is helping us to raise money for the next year, and if we can continue to operate well, maybe we'll be able to show Governor Corbett that we deserve the money to operate even better.

Spreading the word about these budget cuts and the many ways to help may even be the best thing you can do. The more people that understand the problem, and the more people that know how to help, the better. When people see what's wrong, they'll try to fix it, and there is power in numbers. That same power helps even more when everybody is doing their best to help counteract these cuts. If you hear about a rally, go to it, be an advocate for our education. Tell your friends, write a blog, post a status update, tweet a message. Do whatever you can do to inform the community of this problem. The more informed we all are, the better off we'll all be. Thank you for reading these blogs, and I hope you take what you've read here to heart, and do whatever is in your power to help todays students become tomorrow's educated leaders.




  Students, parents, and teachers showed up for the rally to oppose budget cuts that would end full-day kindergarten and cut transportation and other programs. A citywide rally is scheduled for Wednesday,
http://articles.philly.com/2011-05-16/news/29548867_1_budget-cuts-state-aid-flow-of-red-ink
http://www.bctv.org/citizen_journalists/article_d033edd2-65f3-11e0-b74c-001cc4c002e0.html
http://slarocketfuel.blogspot.com/

School District Research: Final Post

First off, this is the final blog post I will be making during my research of the school districts budget cuts.
Next, a bit of bad news. The School District of Philadelphia has confirmed that transpasses will not be provided as a service next year. Meaning that families should plan ahead to carpool or invest in a monthly transpass for their children. On top of that, the District has said that they will be letting go of security in some schools, even with all the violence that is still present, or would be present without them. This is just another example of the School District cutting a priority service that will change the face of education in our city.
     The Philadelphia School District has decided to cut full meals, arts, music, gifted programs. But don't worry, there are some things that will get bigger next year, class sizes and number of students assigned to councilors to name two.
     Most of this isn't final, so there is still hope. In order to convince the District to spare security, nurses, transportation, and the art; write to Arlene Ackerman and others associated with the school district telling them that what they are suggesting would damage the district badly, ask them to try to find a solution that won't hurt the students to the extent that this plan would.
     Remember though, the 627 million dollar budget gap won't disappear with easy cuts. We will be hurt, but there must be an easier solution.

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Really people...

Alright, well this time i did reasearh on why exactly are young adults dropping out of school. There are many reasons why such as teen pregnancy, students not putting in enough effort or students just giving up. But according to many different graphs, the order based by race is always in the same order no matter what. For an example, in the graph below, 93.3% of white students graduated school and continued their studies in college and then got their bachelor's degree. As for black students, their is a 87% percentile that they graduate high school and continue their studies in college. Lastly with a percentile of 63.2% are the hispanics. 


Now, as i mention before, the reason why whites are always in first is because well they take their future very very seriously or because they are forced by their parents to do good in school. So, for that they always study hard and really don't play around with their life. Now, as for blacks and hispanics, the majority of us just go to school to hang out with friends and start truble. But no all of us are like that. There could be reasons why we do so poorly like family problems or because we just don't understand the work that is given to us. But, i think that if teachers and parents help their children pay more attention in school and actually pay mind to them then maybe just maybe Blacks and Hispanics can be on the number one spot instead of the whites. 



So, basically what im trying to say is that if teens just take their life more seriously then just play around all the time then maybe they can make their race look good instead of making every other person of the same race look bad and that their not smart because there are some teens that are very very smart but they can show off because when people look at graphs like the one below they think that there is no point in wasting their time to check every other black or latino child. So, people, please don't make your race look like a joke... 



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hs_college_grad_rate

Disaster From Mother nature

  
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​Hey guys, welcome back to my blog. This is going to be my last blog forever. So, enjoy my blog abut the Haiti earthquake. The Haiti earth quake had  a magnitude of 7.0 not as much as japan but the death toll was just off the roof. On January 12, 2010 at 4:53 p.m a total of 3 million people in need of emergency aid after the earthquake. The earth quake sent about 33 after shocks form 4.2 to 5.9.The Inter-American Development Bank said it was immediately approving a $200,000 grant for emergency aid. But Haiti needed more than this. Unlike japan Haiti didn't have all the awesome electronics and buildings like japan. The Haitian government reported that an estimated 316,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. Its a tragedy of how many people died. But if i was in the earthquake know that i have a 95% chance of dieing i would of just dug a whole and stayed there until i die or get survived. It seems fun, or maybe i won't have time to think and just start running around. Even though japan had a bigger earthquake they didn't lost alot. Now i understand that, that is the reason why Haiti got all this attention, but not japan. Well this is my last blog, hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks for ready about what i have to say about the recent natural disaster that happen. I know as of today more had happen but ill just leave it off with Haiti for now.






Yay.

I got a B- on my math benchmark! Yes! it made my grade up to a D this next project i'll be done my capstone is really making me stress along with my History Benchmamrk. URAHHAHA NO MORE WORK PLEASE! 

Are You Infected? #3

In the last two blogs, I talked about the statistics of teens having unprotected sex and STD's and how it can effect them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Teens having unprotected sex can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, it effects them for a long period of time. However, some of them haven't been prepared on what sex actually is. So here it goes:

Some people ask what the real and true definition of virginity is. To some people, it's a very confusing word to understand and are giving the false answer. For most females, the word could mean the "breaking of the hymen" - located about a half and inch away from the vagina- or some people think that it's when a girls vagina has not been penetrated sexually. The main problem with that, is that there are different ways of penetration.

Maybe, it's good for you to determine what the definition of sex is before "virginity" is. The word can be very misleading and cause a lot of emotional and physical factors. Some of the issues and questions that people disagree about are: "Is having oral conisdered "sex"?" or "Does penetration of the penis mean that I'm still a virgin?". These concepts can be argued a lot by people, which therefore, doesn't bring them to a conclusion.

Another word that people should know about is the word abstinent. It's based on the word abstain - which means to stay away from or not to take part in. - In this case, it's referring to not having sex at all.

These things tie into religion and belief. Christians believe that women and men should stay abstinent until marriage. Similarly, Islams believe the same thing. Sex is a major step in life and to take that chance is a really big decision. Some people don't think about the outcomes and the consequences after having sex.

I think that there should be more programs and more people talking about abstinence and abstaining from sex. I think in doing this, this will decrease the chance in people having more and more babies.

The Jasmine Revolution Pt. 3, the Civil War in Libya

This is last of 3 blog posts in my school project called "You and the World." I chose to research the Jasmine Revolution for this project, and I divided up my blog posts in the three main countries to revolt in this event. I started with Tunisia, where the entire revolution began. My second post was about Egypt, a more famous revolution, where the majority of people began to take interest in the revolution. In this last blog post I will write about the ongoing Civil War in Libya, between the rebels and the supporters of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Muammar Gaddafi took power in 1969 after the overthrow of King Idris I, and has maintained power by placing people from his tribe in positions of power in the government. The Civil War began with peaceful protests which started in February 15, and the protests quickly spread throughout the country. Gaddafi's response was censorship and military force, which caused the peaceful protests to escalate into an all out civil war. The rebels want take Gaddafi out of power, and hold democratic elections; while the supporters of Muammar Gaddafi are mainly from his tribe, and receiving special benefits from this.

The first place taken by the rebels was Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya. The conflict began 3 days after the protests, when security forces began firing live ammunition into the protests. A funeral procession went by the main government compound, and were shot at by security forces. They responded by attacking back, and eventually retreated. This happened two more times, and the third time a suicide car bomber destroyed the gates of the compound under cover of the funeral procession. Libyan rebels eventually took the compound, but to take the city hundreds of people died, including 130 soldiers who were executed when the refused to shoot at the protesters. This civil war is still happening, and the UN has declared a "no fly zone" over Libya, to prevent Gaddafi from using planes to kill rebels. The US has fired a missile into Libya, and there are UN troops there to prevent war crime.

There were protests in other countries, but Tunisia, Egypt, are the only places to have succeeded so far, and Libya is the only place where there has been an all out civil war. Only time will tell whether any other countries will join this movement, or whether Libyan rebels will succeed in overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi. This has been the final of my three blog posts on the Jasmine Revolution.

Another Mass Murder: Part 3

​Heeey ! So sadly, this is the last blog post that I will be putting up. I enjoyed writing these, and I hope you enjoyed reading them. 
Last week, I said I would continue research on the "cure" there is. Unfortunately, there isn't a cure, but the way you can get treated for cancer is by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and or surgery. There are vaccines also, but they are only to decrease the chance of getting a certain type of cancer. The vaccine is to prevent HPV, and preventing that decrease the chances of getting cervical cancer. I also found that there are natural cures, they include mind-body interventions, herbs, massages, acupuncture, reiki, and electrical stimulation devices. There are many of doctors that support and tell their patients about this, but most stick to the surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. I think it is dumb for most doctors to not even give this option to their patients if this can save their life. If doctors told my grandpa about these natural cures, I would probably still be with him today. Now I can tell my other grandpa on how to stop his tumor from growing back and see if these actually work. 
Well, this is the end of my blog for cancer. Will there ever be a cure to stop this mass murderer? The world may never know...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer

Another Mass Murder: Part 3

​Heeey ! So sadly, this is the last blog post that I will be putting up. I enjoyed writing these, and I hope you enjoyed reading them. 
Last week, I said I would continue research on the "cure" there is. Unfortunately, there isn't a cure, but the way you can get treated for cancer is by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and or surgery. There are vaccines also, but they are only to decrease the chance of getting a certain type of cancer. The vaccine is to prevent HPV, and preventing that decrease the chances of getting cervical cancer. I also found that there are natural cures, they include mind-body interventions, herbs, massages, acupuncture, reiki, and electrical stimulation devices. There are many of doctors that support and tell their patients about this, but most stick to the surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. I think it is dumb for most doctors to not even give this option to their patients if this can save their life. If doctors told my grandpa about these natural cures, I would probably still be with him today. Now I can tell my other grandpa on how to stop his tumor from growing back and see if these actually work. 
Well, this is the end of my blog for cancer. Will there ever be a cure to stop this mass murderer? The world may never know...

People and their possessions

As a person, feeling like a you own something of your own is really important. To know that you don't have to share is a really great feeling as well. As people go on in the world, many people have a sense of selfishness. That is where Sex Slave Trade ties in, because many people thought/think that they could own people just like them. Having power over others is a great feeling to others also.That is most likely why people did part-take in the Sex Slave Trade. Many feel in control, and don't care to even consider what was wrong from right.


Like many people as myself we don't take time to think things through. Not thinking things through can actually effect someone in a great manner that you don't even intend to and this is exactly what is happening in the Sex Slave Trade. Women were raped, beaten, and killed. The sense of pleasure that the men felt most likely made them invincible. Although it is, is really worth risking someones life? Most of the people didn't even take the time to stumble of this question. The men made the women suffer and they were hurt in indescribable manners. Being raped can really ruin a girls self esteem, emotional state , and make them incapable of trusting others.


Sex Slave Trade is still going on and obviously people haven't learned that it is wrong,but power doesn't dominant why this is still occurring. Since human trafficking and the Sex Slave Trade are ultimately similar, the human trafficking industry is bursting at the seams. People who don't have money and are poor initially have to find money to survive in a form whether it is vulgar or not. This happens to produce money, but it is vulgar. Finally,in my opinion its not about only having money but how you receive it and when your hurting someone for money it obviously isn't well earned which is occurring all of the world causing chaos. Anti-Sex Slave Trade organizations may be helpful, but people's attitudes is the key to high rate of survival. 

Are You Infected? #3

In the last two blogs, I talked about the statistics of teens having unprotected sex and STD's and how it can effect them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Teens having unprotected sex can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, it effects them for a long period of time. However, some of them haven't been prepared on what sex actually is. So here it goes:

Some people ask what the real and true definition of virginity is. To some people, it's a very confusing word to understand and are giving the false answer. For most females, the word could mean the "breaking of the hymen" - located about a half and inch away from the vagina- or some people think that it's when a girls vagina has not been penetrated sexually. The main problem with that, is that there are different ways of penetration.

Maybe, it's good for you to determine what the definition of sex is before "virginity" is. The word can be very misleading and cause a lot of emotional and physical factors. Some of the issues and questions that people disagree about are: "Is having oral conisdered "sex"?" or "Does penetration of the penis mean that I'm still a virgin?". These concepts can be argued a lot by people, which therefore, doesn't bring them to a conclusion.

Another word that people should know about is the word abstinent. It's based on the word abstain - which means to stay away from or not to take part in. - In this case, it's referring to not having sex at all.

These things tie into religion and belief. Christians believe that women and men should stay abstinent until marriage. Similarly, Islams believe the same thing. Sex is a major step in life and to take that chance is a really big decision. Some people don't think about the outcomes and the consequences after having sex.

I think that there should be more programs and more people talking about abstinence and abstaining from sex. I think in doing this, this will decrease the chance in people having more and more babies.

Are You Infected? #3

In the last two blogs, I talked about the statistics of teens having unprotected sex and STD's and how it can effect them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Teens having unprotected sex can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, it effects them for a long period of time. However, some of them haven't been prepared on what sex actually is. So here it goes:

Some people ask what the real and true definition of virginity is. To some people, it's a very confusing word to understand and are giving the false answer. For most females, the word could mean the "breaking of the hymen" - located about a half and inch away from the vagina- or some people think that it's when a girls vagina has not been penetrated sexually. The main problem with that, is that there are different ways of penetration.

Maybe, it's good for you to determine what the definition of sex is before "virginity" is. The word can be very misleading and cause a lot of emotional and physical factors. Some of the issues and questions that people disagree about are: "Is having oral conisdered "sex"?" or "Does penetration of the penis mean that I'm still a virgin?". These concepts can be argued a lot by people, which therefore, doesn't bring them to a conclusion.

Another word that people should know about is the word abstinent. It's based on the word abstain - which means to stay away from or not to take part in. - In this case, it's referring to not having sex at all.

These things tie into religion and belief. Christians believe that women and men should stay abstinent until marriage. Similarly, Islams believe the same thing. Sex is a major step in life and to take that chance is a really big decision. Some people don't think about the outcomes and the consequences after having sex.

I think that there should be more programs and more people talking about abstinence and abstaining from sex. I think in doing this, this will decrease the chance in people having more and more babies.

Are You Infected? #3

In the last two blogs, I talked about the statistics of teens having unprotected sex and STD's and how it can effect them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Teens having unprotected sex can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, it effects them for a long period of time. However, some of them haven't been prepared on what sex actually is. So here it goes:

Some people ask what the real and true definition of virginity is. To some people, it's a very confusing word to understand and are giving the false answer. For most females, the word could mean the "breaking of the hymen" - located about a half and inch away from the vagina- or some people think that it's when a girls vagina has not been penetrated sexually. The main problem with that, is that there are different ways of penetration.

Maybe, it's good for you to determine what the definition of sex is before "virginity" is. The word can be very misleading and cause a lot of emotional and physical factors. Some of the issues and questions that people disagree about are: "Is having oral conisdered "sex"?" or "Does penetration of the penis mean that I'm still a virgin?". These concepts can be argued a lot by people, which therefore, doesn't bring them to a conclusion.

Another word that people should know about is the word abstinent. It's based on the word abstain - which means to stay away from or not to take part in. - In this case, it's referring to not having sex at all.

These things tie into religion and belief. Christians believe that women and men should stay abstinent until marriage. Similarly, Islams believe the same thing. Sex is a major step in life and to take that chance is a really big decision. Some people don't think about the outcomes and the consequences after having sex.

I think that there should be more programs and more people talking about abstinence and abstaining from sex. I think in doing this, this will decrease the chance in people having more and more babies.

Are You Infected? #3

In the last two blogs, I talked about the statistics of teens having unprotected sex and STD's and how it can effect them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Teens having unprotected sex can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, it effects them for a long period of time. However, some of them haven't been prepared on what sex actually is. So here it goes:

Some people ask what the real and true definition of virginity is. To some people, it's a very confusing word to understand and are giving the false answer. For most females, the word could mean the "breaking of the hymen" - located about a half and inch away from the vagina- or some people think that it's when a girls vagina has not been penetrated sexually. The main problem with that, is that there are different ways of penetration.

Maybe, it's good for you to determine what the definition of sex is before "virginity" is. The word can be very misleading and cause a lot of emotional and physical factors. Some of the issues and questions that people disagree about are: "Is having oral conisdered "sex"?" or "Does penetration of the penis mean that I'm still a virgin?". These concepts can be argued a lot by people, which therefore, doesn't bring them to a conclusion.

Another word that people should know about is the word abstinent. It's based on the word abstain - which means to stay away from or not to take part in. - In this case, it's referring to not having sex at all.

These things tie into religion and belief. Christians believe that women and men should stay abstinent until marriage. Similarly, Islams believe the same thing. Sex is a major step in life and to take that chance is a really big decision. Some people don't think about the outcomes and the consequences after having sex.

I think that there should be more programs and more people talking about abstinence and abstaining from sex. I think in doing this, this will decrease the chance in people having more and more babies.

Are You Infected? #3

In the last two blogs, I talked about the statistics of teens having unprotected sex and STD's and how it can effect them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Teens having unprotected sex can be in serious trouble. Unfortunately, it effects them for a long period of time. However, some of them haven't been prepared on what sex actually is. So here it goes:

Some people ask what the real and true definition of virginity is. To some people, it's a very confusing word to understand and are giving the false answer. For most females, the word could mean the "breaking of the hymen" - located about a half and inch away from the vagina- or some people think that it's when a girls vagina has not been penetrated sexually. The main problem with that, is that there are different ways of penetration.

Maybe, it's good for you to determine what the definition of sex is before "virginity" is. The word can be very misleading and cause a lot of emotional and physical factors. Some of the issues and questions that people disagree about are: "Is having oral conisdered "sex"?" or "Does penetration of the penis mean that I'm still a virgin?". These concepts can be argued a lot by people, which therefore, doesn't bring them to a conclusion.

Another word that people should know about is the word abstinent. It's based on the word abstain - which means to stay away from or not to take part in. - In this case, it's referring to not having sex at all.

These things tie into religion and belief. Christians believe that women and men should stay abstinent until marriage. Similarly, Islams believe the same thing. Sex is a major step in life and to take that chance is a really big decision. Some people don't think about the outcomes and the consequences after having sex.

I think that there should be more programs and more people talking about abstinence and abstaining from sex. I think in doing this, this will decrease the chance in people having more and more babies.

Love, Blood, Sweat, and Tears! Domestic Violence #3

Me & The World

Domestic violence scares me and gives me the shakes. But I heard and got a story that scared me most. It scared me most because an older man abused this girl as a teen because she thought it would be better for her. This heart to heart story really harmed me, because that’s like me getting abused.

            A young girl named Linda at the age of 18 her life became hell. She met what she thought was a wonderful man. He was one of the bosses from her job. He was so kind to her at first. They started out passionate and loving, having a great time together, and it was wonderful. Until 2.5 months later she became pregnant, and she didn't want any more kids she already had one before she met him. She told him she was getting an abortion, that same day he told her to stay home from work. He got her fired from their job and for the first time he wacked her right across the face for saying “I’m leaving you”. Then after he told her “to stop crying, and suck it up we going to go shopping”. She listened since he was 31 and she was 18, ever since that day the hitting became brutal beatings. Even though she was pregnant he didn’t care, he told her “if she was a good girl, he would have to discipline her so much, she hated hearing that. She had her daughter, she thought the child would make everything right but she was wrong.  It got worst kind of, he kept her from her friends, and you can see the bruises and scars. 2 years later she was pregnant again, she couldn’t get rid of it because she didn’t want to upset him. She wanted to die, she felt her life didn’t matter but the kids were her everything, and she couldn’t leave them. He was kind of nice with this pregnancy she had twins. So now she got 4 kids, and 3, which is his, she doesn’t want any more kids so she got a tubal ligation
. She was ready to leave and then she was pregnant again, she was that 1% that could get pregnant. So she stayed for 1-½ years and then left, she left her 4 kids behind and took the oldest one with her. She took him because he was hers not his child. She started a new life became a stripper to support her and her child. Then she met a new man, he promised not to hit her. He didn’t for 1½ years, she stayed with him because she thought it was a one-time thing. It happened again because she went out partying on a Friday with her friends, she told her son o go get the neighbors and he saved her life. Then after that her friend got her with a handsome man and she promised he wasn’t the hitting type. She lied, he hit her all the time, but she stayed with him for 6 ½ years. She left him, and met up with him again he tried to kill her she finally tried to fight back. From there her life became better, she got trust issues but now he life is better.

 

This girl was a great example, young and her life became hell at the age of 18. It may seem like domestic violence is the way relationships suppose to be once you are in one but it is not. Domestic violence makes the rest of your life hurt, and all you can do it cry. As you can see sometimes kids, or something can keep you in the relationship. But you have to have a plan to get out or the rest of your life will be Love, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Domestic Violence!





Bibliography- http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/domestic/stories.htm
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Are You Worth Enough Part 3

In order to get some inside information about how people feel about these budget cuts and what are they exactly to some schools, I interviewed a student and teacher from my school (SLA).

The teacher that I choose to interview was English teacher  Alexa Dunn. I ask her questions about how the budget cuts effect her lesson plans for upcoming year and she feels she will handle the situations. She stated “My lessons won’t be affected, but I might have to cut down on my use of paper next year since our supplies budget was cut from $80,000 to $30,000 ( a $50K loss) and this means we will all have to learn to do without the same quantity of supplies.” Also while  saying that she would put other supplies such as books or  films on DonorsChoose.org to see if these things can be funded. I believe a teacher should not have to go through the trouble to search for supplies  he or she to use to teach the adults of the future that the world will someday have to depend on. Another question I asked her was, “What are the procedures or plans for cuts that you know  that will be taking place at SLA.” She responded to this by talking about the lay offs of Staff members such as Jon Amsterdam and Josh Newman. Also the lays off Jeremy and Luke even though their were grants secured to fund their salary of next year. Which will not be paid by the school district. This is devastating to me because these are real people who need their jobs to survive in life.

The student I choose to conduct a interview with was Sarena Shuman 9th  grader at Science Leadership Academy. I ask her two questions which were about how aware was she about the budget cuts and also how do they make her feel toward the government. She says that she very aware of the budget cuts especially since she is a athlete and has to keep informed about cuts to sports. She also say that by these cuts they are giving Philadelphia  less of a  chance to succeed.

The student I choose to conduct a interview with was Sarena Shuman 9th  grader at Science Leadership Academy. I ask her two questions which were about how aware was she about the budget cuts and also how do they make her feel toward the government. She says that she very aware of the budget cuts especially since she is a athlete and has to keep informed about cuts to sports. She also say that by these cuts they are giving Philadelphia  less of a  chance to succeed.
 
    To me i have the same overall feelings as Sarena about this conflict and i believe they can find less important things with in the city to make cuts on other than education.



 Direct Dialogue of Interviews

1.How will the budget effect your personal lesson plans for next year. Dunn: My lessons won’t be affected, but I might have to cut down on my use of paper next year since our supplies budget was cut from $80,000 to $30,000 ( a $50K loss) and this means we will all have to learn to do without the same quantity of supplies. Maybe I’ll become more into technology and grade just on the electronically submitted work.  Any other supplies I need (additional books, texts, films, etc) I will put up as fundraising proposals on Donors Choose.org to see if I can get these things funded and won’t need to lean on school funds.

 

2.What are the procedures or plans for cuts that you know  that will be taking place at SLA.

 

Dunn: We have to let go of 2 faculty/staff members (Jon Amsterdam and Josh Newman).  We had to lay off Jeremy and Luke but we just secured grant funding for next year to bring them back and be able to pay them (but their salary doesn’t come from the district). The supplies budget will be cut the most, along with money for student activities, trips, and extracurricular activities.. 

 

Student questions

1.How aware are you of budget cuts and what they hold.

Sarena: I’m pretty aware, I do sports so it effects me in a big way i read up on it as much as possible

2.Do you feel about the decision of the government to make budget cuts.

Sarena: I feel like they not giving Philadelphia children a chance, as we need as many as possible. Government not think about the future these are the future citizens and mayors lawyers, but they not giving us kids a chance


Democracy, Who wants it? Who has it?

Democracy is hard thing to stand up for when the consequences are so dire. Let's take North Korea for instance, Kim Jong il tries to keep the governmental conduct  of North Korea secretive, but reports have shown that people have been publicly executed, sent to a labor camp, or put in prison. All of this for standing up for a better way of life. Statistically , the US estimates that approx. 150,000 Koreans are in work camps, most for crimes of treachery. (Standing up against dictatorship.) Il is the Supreme leader of the  Korean People’s Army, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission and the General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (the nation’s ruling party since 1949). No one can make decisions unless he's involved, therefore, everyone is walking on eggshells. People in /North Korea have been so Brain washed and fear stricken, that they believe that Kim Jong-Il and his father Kim II-Sung created the earth and can control its weather.

 

            Let's move southward. In Zimbabwe, Africa, Robert Mugabe is the dictator. there is a 70% unemployment rate, people are persecuted with death for being homosexual. Out of a population of 12 million, 6 million rely on food aid, which doesn't always arrive. The Government will kill anyone who does not pay taxes, when they don't use the money for the right thing. They pocket it all leaving these people to suffer.

 

            Are you seeing my point now? If not I have another region to cover. Let's go to Libya. Muammar al-Gaddafi is the dictator. He publicly broadcasts the execution of people. He leads a harsh grip over daily Libyan life. He censors Every newspaper and puts propaganda around. Just recently, people protested, they wanted Democracy. Gaddafi sent his troops to kill the protesters and even bombed a few areas. bombed. These are inhumane crimes how do we sit by and do nothing when people are suffering because they want to be free? I don't plan to do nothing I will blog about these injustices and keep people aware about the governmental position of people around the world.

           

 

http://brainz.org/10-most-evil-dictators-on-earth/

 

Thus Far...

​The end of the school year is approaching so fast these last couple of days are summing up my high school career. Its a very surreal experience

Wednesday my sister & I had a lunch date it was nice. It seems lately we don't hang out that much but its nice when finally our schedules match up to one another.

Storytelling class has become so painfully awkward
that its a car crash slowly happening and you can't turn away from the disaster but stare gawking at the catastrophe.

What Happened In Japan Blog 3

            
Many people have been wondering how they can help Japan. There are many ways you can help. You can find online donation websites, you can ship unwanted items to shelters, or you can go there yourself and help rebuild. So as you can see there is a variety of ways to help.

The first way I said you could help was to find a donations website. There are tons of donation websites available. Some will be listed below. It doesn’t matter how much money you donate because every dollar counts.

Another way you can help is to send your unwanted furniture, toys, and beds, anything really. There are some websites that will give you addresses to homes to send your unwanted items to or they will give you addresses to big organizations that will divide the items into groups to send to different places.

The last suggestion I have is to go there yourself. People everyday go to Japan just to help rebuild houses. It is estimated that 215,000 people have lost their homes and are in shelters right now.  Just like how people went to New Orleans to help with Hurricane Katrina. Every person can make a difference.

Hopefully by now you realize all of the tings you can do in order to make Japan the way it was before the earthquake. Even president Barack Obama has said that he will do everything he can in order to help Japan. Below I have made a list of websites you can go to in order to help.

 

Donation website:

http://www.jfny.org/links/donation.html

 

Care package website:

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/?vgnextoid=46f51a53f1c37110VgnVCM1000003481a10aRCRD

 

Bibliography:

http://www.worldnewsco.com/4254/earthquake-tsunami-1000-people-killed-215-thousand-japanese-citizens-refugee-camps/

The Two Kinds of Cruelty & How Can You Stop Animal Abuse?

So now people know that animals of all kinds are being abused all around the world. In the last two blogs I've said that many animals are being abused at home, in hotels, and in circuses. People should now know from my two blogs that animal abuse is a serious crime and need to be stop right away

There are two areas where animals abuse falls under and they are passive and active cruelty. Passive cruelty is typically when you neglect your animals. But even though it doesn't sound serious, it is. Some cases are, starvation, dehydration, leaving the animal infected, and letting the collar grow into the animals' skin, or even a lack of getting the animal medical attention. Some investigators feels as though neglecting animals is due to ignorance so they would tell the pet owner about it and then check on them to see that they are doing their jobs as pet owners. And when an animal is severely hurt, they would suggest that the animal would be removed from the area and be immediately taken to urgent medical care. Active cruelty is when a person physically abuse animals themselves. This is a type of abuse that should be taken very seriously because this type of behavior is associated with sociopathic behavior. People would usually kill or threaten to kill a home pet to get a family member into sexual abuse, to be quiet about a previous abuse, or to just torture the people to show that they have power.

Animal abuse in some states are illegal and there are ways in which you could stop animal abuse from happening. You could make a call. Some neighborhoods have a animal control or shelter in them, so you could save the number into your phone to be prepared and if you don't have one call the police apartment to report. When you call give the people a description of the location, the date and time, the kind of people and animal. You could take some pictures and videos and also give some names to who might have seen the incident. And finally get ready to testify. It would be a stronger case if you give your name instead of being anonymous so you could win the case since animals can't speak for themselves. 

Finally I say make a change, help these animals so they could leave their lives freely.

Here are the cites for more information: Animal Abuse and How to help

Main Cause.3

Hello again and welcome to blog three. After a ton of research I found that the leading cause of animal abuse is neglect.  32.4% of animals are actually neglected as opposed to the 5.6% that are actually beaten. Not all abuse is intentional most people forget that they have a pet or can’t afford to take it with them when they move.  The animal is forgotten and left to die. Some people think they have left good conditions for their pets and go on vacation, and then they come home to find out that they didn’t leave enough food or water and the pet was neglected.  So really not all animal abuse is intentional. Most just don’t realize what they are doing.  

 

 

 

This will be my last post so good-bye! Thanks for reading!

Be A Friend, Not A Judge.

Illegal, Illegal - punishable, up to 2 years in prison, Illegal - punishable, up to 2 years in prison to death penalty, Illegal - punishable by death, Illegal – punishable by expulsions from country, Men illegal/Female legal, and Legal. These are the words you will see when you look at the homosexual policies for different countries. These names are just from the 'Same Sex Sexual Activity' column. Some people can't even openly say they are homosexual because they will either die or go to jail. Homosexuals can't travel to some places because they are going to be put in jail. No wonder why homosexuals have to hide who they are.

         What does this mean for other homosexuals in other countries? If teens are being bullying to death just because the religious groups are saying this wrong, but in other countries it is illegal, what happens to them? What are their stories? Do they even get bullied or do they just get killed? What are the emotions they feel when they realize they are homosexual but where they live it is illegal? The teens must receive hell in these places like Afghanistan, Barbados, Somaliland, or Sudan.

         We need change, I may just be on teenager at Science Leadership academy, but I know we need to change. Teens are the future; these teens that are attempting suicides could’ve been something special. How would we know though? We wouldn’t, but we can find out. Maybe if people realized that homosexuals are regular people then we can change the world. It may take time, but it would be better for everybody. I WANT to change this. WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS. Next time, you see a teenage being bullied for their sexual orientation, help them, defend them, or tell a teacher. Be a friend.