Science Leadership Academy @ Center City

Media Manipulation: A Growing Threat to National Safety

Posted by Mitchell Berven-Stotz in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 9:59 am

My name is Mitchell, and I am here to introduce my "You in the World" project. The “You in the World” project is an effort to gain an interest in a world issue, and educate others about said issue. While research is an important part of the project, the main goal is to educate others about your issue, in order to make a change for the better. You will attempt to broadcast your research and ideas to a wider audience than just the classroom.
The media is thought of as a way of getting news, current events, and facts to everyone, so that everyone can know what is going on in the world. Now, however, media is being used as a tool. No longer is the news essential fact. We have come to a time when the news is used to control people into supporting political views, or persuade them into buying unnecessary goods.
Almost all of our major news sources fall under one of six companies: The Wall Street Journal and all of the Fox news channels fall under Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. ABC is owned by Disney. All CBS groups fall under the CBS corporation. NBC, all of its subdivisions, and the Weather Channel are all under NBC Universal. Even Time Inc, the publisher of Time magazine and several other magazines, such as People, is owned by Time Warner.
These corporations own publishers, newspapers, news channels, entertainment channels, and even news websites. Now, you may be thinking: What could be so bad about this. Why should we care about who owns these stations? It doesn’t affect what gets to us, does it? The problem is, it does. We live in a world of what Ryan Holiday, head of marketing for American Apparel, calls “media manipulation” a skill in which he is a master. Media manipulation is a way for companies and government agencies to exaggerate stories and make things better or worse than they really are.

Veracode Infographic "The Story That Destroyed a 168 Year Old Newspaper"

Think about the applications of this so called “media manipulation”. The government can use it to spread support for candidates, or to spread negative propaganda about their opponents. Companies can use it to spread advertisement for a product, so that it is almost constantly on peoples minds. Media manipulation can be spread like wildfire because of the synergy between the corrupt news agencies and the internet blogosphere. Ryan states that “Today, with our blog and web driven media cycle, nothing can escape exaggeration, distortion, fabrication and simplification.” If you want uncontrolled information, you have to look on the internet. However, once you get there, you are met with a constantly growing group of blogs. With all of this open content, you are liable to come across false information. There is no practical way to fact check these blogs.
With these controlled sources of information, and these untrustworthy sources of information, you really have no way to escape the propaganda. If you do just a little bit of research, you could see that, for instance, according to The American Dream website: “Our politicians know exactly what they are doing and they have a plan for getting getting US debt under control.” whereas the truth is that “When Ronald Reagan took office, the U.S. national debt was less than one trillion dollars. Today, the U.S. national debt is over fifteen trillion dollars.” We need to find a way to stop being fooled by such outrageous media inaccuracy.

Annotated Bibliography Here

blog #1

Posted by August Polite in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 9:56 am

blog post #1

I think that music is an important thing and should be appreciated by all but sadly is not. I can do literally nothing to change that, people have different tastes and move along on different paths. I like to think that I will make music in the future, however all of my failed attempts linger in my head and almost prevent me from progressing because I never think what I have is good. I am constantly belittled by friends who can see with a fresh slate and just do whatever they want to do. I would like to help kids out with music at my old school where there is a very strong after school program.

I walk through Rittenhouse square quite often and have met some pretty interesting people that deserve some recognition. Not to be pessimistic but there is really nothing I can do to enact the individual success or happiness of each of these people. If I were trying to make money playing music, I would not rely on the assistance of a high school student for my revenue.

The main focus of my idea was to help homeless people make some money. I will expand on that before getting into my current idea; I see homeless musicians much better than myself on the street all the time and most people don’t even turn to look. I know some good samaritans would stop and donate a dollar or so, but most people walk blindly by. I think that some of these musicians deserve better. I researched the laws and regulations on what I could do in a public space and many of them are restricting to my plan which was to busk with the musicians in a more organized way. After toying with this idea I found two main flaws: The first being, I could insult some performers by offering my “help” when they believe that it is not needed, secondly I could get in trouble for creating a commotion or the like.

I think that I will do more behind the scenes work such as raising awareness in the form of videos that I will find/compile and using the after school club with the little kids, because maybe they will be able to offer more to society when they are my age are older. I will be teaching the kids about music and it’s affect and hopefully get a few of them excited to help these musicians on the streets.

here is my bibliography: https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1PG3YRX7pf-LDZ2HLbvLdg7pQuYr5SO13nnaA2amtkVg/edit
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/Meet-Phillys-Street-Musicians.html

Every Animals Deserves a Home

Posted by Ava Olsen in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 9:55 am

I am a girl named Ava from Science Leadership Academy, working on a project for English class called “You and the World.” I’m here to prove that just because I’m a kid, that doesn’t stop me from trying to make a change on the planet we live in. Children can make a difference in this world or ours, and I plan to do that through this service project.

The definition of “world” is The earth, together with all of its countries, peoples, and natural features. Animals are part of this world, fitting into the category “natural features” and yet some shelters are not exactly fair when it comes to a subject that happens to everyone eventually. The sad part is, some animal’s fate comes too soon. Animals are euthanized every single day as a result of overpopulation or careless mistakes.

Can you possibly believe that 56% of all dogs accepted into shelters are killed? It was estimated that approximately 3.7 million animals in total are euthanized every year. Look at it this way: There are roughly 315,000,000 people in the United States alone. If 56% of humans were euthanized every year, we would be killing 16,800,000 people. That’s a lot of people with individual lives and personalities and experiences. Dogs are alike in that way. Each dog has a special life worth saving. Each dog has a personality that you can come to love. Each dog has a different experience in their life that shapes who they are as an animal.

I’m not trying to convince you that dogs and humans are identical. I’m trying to convince you that dogs are animals, just like humans, and there are too many similarities to be euthanizing them at alarming rates. The following is a photo of the conditions at a shelter with a high kill-rate.

This is a photo of a high kill-rate shelter. The conditions are cramped, and there are many animals in one place. It's not very sanitary, either. Credit goes to the website for this photograph. Click here for the website.

Many animals in shelters are fortunate enough to be adopted into a loving home and receive affection and care. Unfortunately, accidents happen. Pets are lost, and families become devastated. There was a reported story that a man needed to leave home for business and asked his friend to watch his litter of puppies for him. To his surprise, when he came back, the friend had accidentally let the puppies escape and they had been brought to their local shelter. They called the shelter many times without getting an appropriate response. The puppies were euthanized, and the shelter’s spokesperson gave misleading information to the press regaurding the situation. The owner was so devastated that he was admitted to the hospital for symptoms of a heart attack.

Events that are easily preventable should be avoided, because the lives of so many innocent animals are lost every year. It’s up to the people at this point. Should we be helping? Of course! Animals need help from humans. After all, using the words of the ASPCA, “We are their voice.” Only humans can speak for the animals that deserve homes and shelter non-permanently until they are able to find an adoring and devoted family that the animals deserve. The PSPCA helps with animals from Pennsylvania.

Below are animals at a shelter that are waiting to be taken home by a person like you. Credit goes to the website for this photograph. Click here for the website.

There are three types of shelters for animals: Municipal animal control agencies, which are run by more local sources. Private non-profit, which have a board of directors and do not keep any of the profit. Private non-profit agencies, which have a permit from the government to supply animal control services. Through the help and association from these three types, animals can at least get a temporary home to shield them from the cold and provide them with food and water.

You can easily be involved. Adopt an animal at your local shelter today.

For a copy of my bibliography, please click here.

You and the World- Teen athletes and Eating Disorders.

Posted by Naomi Fecher-Davis in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 9:54 am

My name is Naomi Fecher-Davis, I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. This year in English class we have all chosen topics we think are important issues in the world we would like to be agents of change for. The topic I choose is Teen Athlete Health. Mostly to do with the body image problems that come along with it and how the ideal body image for athletes usually isn’t what you get. This is a problem in both male and female athletes but it is 10x more likely in females.

(A picture in an article about the weight loss this athlete has to make to be able to compete in a wrestling match.)
It has to do with the pressure of being judged. In many sports where girls are judged it is always a pressure many have to deal with to look like the ideal person for that sport. But the truth is that everyone can’t be the ideal person. It doesn’t then make you less of a good athlete or anything it just means you don’t have the picturesque body type. The normal athlete is meant to eat 2,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
Even people who are world class athletes are worried about body image and it isn’t just how people are going to look at them. If you go to the Olympic website, you will see that Olympic athletes have gone through the same thing. But how you look at your self, but how you think it affects your performance. I’m not saying that it isn’t peer pressure or judge pressure because it definitely is aswell but it you are happy in your own body there isn’t much anyone else can say because you will be able to brush it off.
(This picture was featured in an article about teens with eating disorders.)
There are obviously positive effects from being an athlete, for example it leads to better coordination in the body. As shown in the Health Guidance website. There is also always the effect of the pressure of being picturesque that turns some to eating disorders. It is common it society for both female and male athletes to have eating disorders, but is more likely for women to have them oppose to men. It isn’t that sports lead to eating disorders but the ideas behind sports/athletes go along the same lines as people with eating disorders. For example, excessive exercise, focus on body shape and size, and diet restrictions.
In many cases the trainer should be the one to help with the positive body image re-enforcement, but that isn’t always to say they are. It shouldn’t be the trainer, who is always supposed to be on your side to put you down. I understand there are some body restrictions for certain sports and those should be met,but they should never get in the way of your health. That is not saying that if someone is obese they shouldn’t became more healthy, but if it is someone who has a heavier body type their coaches/trainers should not be the ones giving them a hard time about it.
As I go on with this project I wish to learn more about what drives people to do this, what are the reasons they do it, and what they wish to accomplish. I think as an athlete myself this is a problem we should try and direct but not the way that it has already been done, by the famous person who had an eating disorder went to some million dollar rehabilitation center and has got back on the right track. No I think we should address it from a peer standpoint. I have seen trainers/coaches tell their athletes that they should loose weight I have seen the affect and I think it needs to change.

( This picture is the front cover of a movie that has to do with people with eating disorders.)

To see my annotated bibliography, please click here.

Homelessness and Poverty in Philadelphia

Posted by Aaron Block in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 9:48 am

Hello, my name is Aaron. I am a student at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. In English class, we have a project called “You and the World”. For the project, we have to choose an issue that matters to us. Then, we have to blog about it and do something active for our issue. The issue I chose for this project is poverty and homelessness in Philadelphia.

People waiting to be fed at a shelter in Philadelphia.

I chose this topic because in recent years I had observed poverty around where I lived going up and the homeless population rising. Turns out, I was not just seeing things. Poverty and homelessness in Philadelphia are on the rise and have been since around 2009 or 2010. How about some statistics? When taking the twenty-five biggest cities in the U.S and averaging out their incomes, Philadelphia has the second lowest income. ⅓ of the children and ¼ of the entire population in Philadelphia live below the poverty line. The poverty line means that a family of four has an income of $22,050 or less. To see more statistics click here. This poverty is very centralized in certain areas of Philadelphia. This makes the situation even worse because it means that people who do not live in those areas or people who do not ever travel through there may not even know there is such a big poverty problem in Philadelphia.

To look at my bibliography click here.