Devon Thomas Public Feed
Globalization Q4 Benchmark: Photo Essay
A Day in the Life...
Haiti and Madagascar Collapse-ability
5 Photo Essay - The Caribbean
Scorn
We chose to incorporate the emotion of acceptance and love as well as scorn in order to create a visual representation of the underlying scorn that people have.
History Benchmark
When choosing the items to include in my history benchmark this quarter, I thought about what has impacted me throughout the year, I began with the executive branch because my father is a fireman and that has impacted my life greatly. I then moved on to the Legislative branch because there are a lot of laws that affect minors, after that I did the judicial branch because a lot of the court cases have to do with student's
This process was very simple, research and write a paragraph about your research, however it was also very tedious. I did not have trouble with completing the project itself I just had trouble finding time to complete the project, therefore it was not an easy or difficult process, it was in the middle.
As I get older I believe that my life will become more affected by the government because I will have college loans to pay back, and I will have taxes to file when I receive a job, and that is only within the next few years!
Final Blog Post - Lowering The Drinking Age
This is the final assignment for our Lobbying topics, as you may have seen below my Lobbying topic was to lower the drinking age to 18. My partner Evan and I have been trying to get in touch with the National Youth Rights Association and have been getting people aware of the situation. Our main concern has been the fact that you can fight for your freedom in this country at 18 but you cannot celebrate with a drink when you get home. I have been trying to get in touch with the National Youth Rights Association over the past few weeks, and have heard nothing back yet. I have asked them about creating a chapter here in Philadelphia, or just contributing to a different chapter somewhere close by. Evan and I have created a Facebook Page about this topic where we will post news as we find it.
Bureaucracy Reflection: Getting Your Driver's License in PA
This project was to choose a bureaucratic system and create a flowchart about it. My partner was Kim Bush and we had two different topics, I predominately worked on the flow chart for Getting your Driver's License in PA while Kim worked on Registering a car in PA.
Through personal experience, the bureaucratic system for getting your driver's license and dealing with the paperwork is very straight forward, however, getting to the Driver's License Center and dealing with the workers there is the difficult side of it.
Getting your driver's license begins with the process of getting your learner's permit, and making sure you are fit to drive. There are two forms needed to get your learner's permit, they are the DL-180 (Non-Commercial Learner's Permit Application) and if you are under the age of 18 you need the DL-180TD (Parent/Guardian Consent Form).
After you receive your learner's permit, you have to test for your driver's license. If you are over the age of 18 you can take your driving test whenever you want after you pass the permit test. If you are under the age of 18 you must complete 50 hours and wait 6 months before you can test for your license, you must also bring the DL-180C (Parent/Guardian Certification Form).
After you take your driver's test, you will have either passed or failed. If you failed your driver's test you will have to re-take that test, however, if you are under 18 you will not have to bring the form DL-180C with you again.
The paperwork for this bureaucratic system is very straightforward, and if you go to the Driver License Center website and it explains the entire process for you.
The process is quite easy, however, if I were to change something about the process, I would make it more difficult to begin the process of getting your learner's permit. In order to make it more difficult, I would suggest that the test is only available after you complete a driver's education course.
Although this process is not as complicated as some of the others, I feel as though they have become more complicated over the years because things have gone wrong within the systems.
It's time to lower the drinking age!
Rallies and demonstration, and getting in touch with the National Youth Rights Association.
Current Promotions
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_167273339975033
National Youth Rights Association Branch: In Progress.
3 step process to victoryStep 1: Attempt contact with the National Youth Rights Association
Raise awareness with posters detailing what we plan to accomplish as well as a set date for the rally
Step 2: Try to either start or join a chapter of the NYRA to support this cause.
Once the day is set (for the rally)gather a small film crew and shoot the entire rally from start to finish.
Step 3: Release the video showing the support we receive and send it to the proper government officials.
Contents of rally
State our message clearly that we want the drinking age lowered.
Show statistics
Guest speakers with stories that pertain to the topic
Send a petition around the crowd to be signed in support
21 versus 18.
What is the status of your issue at the legislature? Is this a "good" year?
This issue is not currently being pursued by any legislation
Who is essential to the outcome?
The most essential person to this case will be whomever replaces Robert C Donatucci and their views on this issue.
Who else is working on this? Can you coordinate?There are over 100 college professors seeking to lower the drinking age. We will try to coordinate with some of the college professors. We will also try to get in touch with the National Youth Rights Association, because they are also trying to lobby for this.
Who can you influence?
The local population of teenagers.
What is the time frame?
Anytime between now and the next legislation meeting.
When are key dates - meetings, committee hearings, deadlines, etc.
The liquor control board has no current scheduled meetings because of the death of Robert seeing as he was the head chairmen. As soon as they find a replacement, meetings will continue. That will be the best time to try and bring up our own points.
Are Humans Still Evolving?
ScienceDaily completed a long-term experiment that explains all of these traits. They did a study of the same people and their children over the course of 60 years. Their conclusions showed that humans are still evolving, and children are becoming shorter and heavier.
Humans are still evolving, but how fast are things changing? “The changes may be slow and gradual, but the predicted rates of change are no different from those observed elsewhere in nature, the researchers say.” Humans aren’t going to be extinct anytime soon, but we will be eventually. The more technology we have, the less we rely on natural selection.
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act
Election Day!
Q: What Motivated you to come out and vote?
A: I believe that it is a civic duty and a responsibility to vote.
Q: Do you vote in every election?
A:Yes, because it is a civic duty and responsibility.
Q: Do you know why we vote on Tuesday?
A: It says in the constitution that we need a set day to vote.
Q: Are you always sure of who you are going to vote for when you walk into the booth or are you still deliberating?
A: I deliberate prior to going into the booth, I always know who I am voting for.
Q: What Changes do you hope to see in Philadelphia as a result of this election?
A: I don't think any changes will happen as a result of this election.
*The images won't upload so here are the links.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deviexnikkole/5141503358/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deviexnikkole/5140899495/