“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. One man's pain is another mans pleasure.”

April 8, 2011

            This quarter of senior art has been very challenging. The drawings that we had to create we’re very challenging to me because I’m do not trust my abilities as an artist. I think that when drawing things, you trust your skills and have confidence that what you are drawing is good and has meaning. There were times during this quarter when I was discouraged by what I was drawing because I would look across from me to see someone else’s drawing that I thought was way better than mines. Even though I think that my drawings aren’t as good as they could be, I did try my best on each one. I completed every assignment except for the full figure drawing. I didn’t finish that drawing because it took me longer than a week to draw it and after the first week, Kim was posing for the class anymore.

             The drawings that I liked doing the most were the hand drawing, and the self-portrait drawing, specifically the large one. I liked these drawings the most because I think that those were my best work. My hand drawing was very simple and easy to draw and I like the detail that I was able to put in it. I think that my large self-portrait is my best drawing that I create in the third quarter. It looks exactly like me in my eyes. I actually enjoyed drawing both the hand and the self-portraits. My enthusiasm to draw them made the drawings become my best works.

          Having a drawing once a week became stressful because I was used to have ample time to create one piece as we did in the first two quarters. Having a drawing once a week kept me on my toes. The fact that Ms. Hull gave us an extra two weeks to complete any drawings that we missed did benefit me. I don’t think that Ms. Hull getting sick affected me negatively. I think that since we are seniors, we should have been able to hold our own and still complete the drawings and ask Ms. Hull to tell us what she thought about them whenever she came back to school.

            Ms. Hull did a good job this quarter giving the condition that she’s in. As a student, I could have done some things differently. I think that I could have used my class time more effectively. Even though I got most of my assignments done, I found myself procrastinating a lot because we had so much time to finish these projects. I think that I could have used most of the time I took not doing work to make my projects better. Overall I think that I was mostly successful this quarter. I hope that I can continue being successful in the 4th quarter and for the rest of the school year. 

Basketball has played a big part in my life as well. Besides going to school and having fun all I did when I was play sports as a kid. I played organized basketball and football. Basketball is more of my sport, and I learned that after one season of playing football. Since I was three, I have always had a passion for basketball and to this day until forever, I always will. The first time I picked up a basketball I couldn’t put it down. When I was four or five year old I would always go to Marshall States Park. My uncle would teach me the basics of how to play the game. As I got older and better I would always play him and my friends one on one. I would never forget the times when I would go to the park with my uncle because he taught me everything I know. He pushed me to become better and he would always rough me up. I think that basketball has taught me how to interact with people. I would always go to the court and make friends. I have built a lot of social skills on the basketball court that will for sure follow me through life.

The best experience of my life so far has been my time at my high school, Science Leadership Academy. The first day of school was a day I will just always remember. Nothing really exciting happened, it was a good day and it was just an opportunity to get acquainted with my teachers and my peers that I would be spending the next four years of my life with. I had never looked forward to a new experience as much as I did this one. I remember the first day of my ninth grade year like it was yesterday. I woke up that morning filled with so much energy and anticipation. I showered and dressed quickly, grooming myself as if it was my wedding day. My bus and train ride to school went relatively smoothly. As I got off the trolley and walked to school, I had found myself already making a new friend. He was a 10^th grader named Jefferson Cauvin. We talked about the school and what I should expect.

When I stepped into the doors of SLA for the first time, my body took on a rush of excitement. Jeff introduced me to some of his friends and I had already felt as though I was apart of the SLA community. I got acquainted with my teachers and I became friends with many people. Little did I know that this day was the start of my legacy as a person and student. My experience at SLA has been like no other. Even though I am about graduate, I am still learning myself. My school has prepared me to succeed under any circumstances. My life story is just at it's beginning and I believe that I have no ceiling in terms of being successful as long as I stay focused and work hard.

            When I need to release some stress or some energy I go to the park. I could stay there all day and not even realize that I have a home to go to. Marshall States has provided me with some of the most fun and relaxing days of my life. Fun times have happened because I’ve developed new friendships while sharing memories with old friendships. I’ve had relaxing times because I can go there to get away and think about my life while getting some shots up on a beautiful day.

            I never had a place where I could go just to feel secure and feel like nothing bad was going to happen to me. Marshall States is the only place that made me feel that way. Whether it’s just playing basketball or having life changing experience there, it has always been a place that has been good to me. Fortunately I will always have special connection to Marshall States.

            Going to that park is my place to get in my zone whether it’s mentally or physically. I go there to get lost and tune everybody else out when I need a break from life or when I need a good laugh with my friends. No matter how much I get older I will never forget my place of happiness and stability was. There will never be a better environment that I can say has made like I’m above and away from everyone else. Even when I’m older and I’m back in my neighborhood, I will always back to enjoy to the place where getting lost is a regular thing.

January 14, 2011

Second Quarter Art Blog Post

            My second quarter art project was all about basketball, the NBA specifically. In the beginning of the quarter I did not really know what I wanted to design.  Starting was the hardest thing to do because I didn’t have a clue on what I should do. Finally, I decided that I wanted to make a poster about my favorite NBA team, the Miami Heat. The poster is a reflection of the team and it’s three best players, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh.

The top of the poster reads HEAT across it. The right side of each letter is outlined with a black marker but the colors of the letters are painted orange.  Right beneath the letters that spell out Heat is the team’s logo. The logo is a red basketball that is painted in the shape of a flame that goes through a white ring, which is, suppose to be the basketball hoop. The end of the basketball flame is painted yellow. I outlined the lines of the basketball with a black marker as well.

            To the left of the logo is a picture that I printed out of Chris Bosh shooting a basketball. The picture is in color. On the far left side of the poster are 3 concentric circles. The first concentric circle has Dwayne Wade written on top of it and it has a big 3 inside of the circle that is colored red. Dwayne Wade’s name is outlined black and red, while the outlines of the circles and the 3 are with a black marker. The middle concentric circle is the same thing but it has Lebron James name on the top of it. His name is outlined with a black and yellow marker. Instead of there being a 3 inside of the circle, there’s a 6 that is colored in and outlined with a black marker. The circle is colored in yellow and is outlined with a black marker as well. The last concentric circles is the same thing as the other two but it has Chris Bosh’s name on top of it that is outlined with a black and orange marker and there is a 1 inside of the circle that is colored orange and outlined with a black marker. The circle is also colored orange and outlined with a black marker.

To the right of the team logo there is a picture of Lebron James. That picture is in color.  To the bottom right of the logo there is a picture of Dwyane Wade, which also is in color. The last symbol on the poster for is located at the bottom right hand corner of the poster. It is the alternate Miami Heat logo. The logo is upper case “M” and “H” that is connected.  Both the “M” and “H” are painted red.   The “H” is outlined by a black marker. The top right of the “H” is a flame. Half of the flame is painted orange and the other half is red.

For the second part of the project I decided to draw a couple of NBA logos and post them on a paper. The logos that I drew were the Boston Celtics,  Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards. For extra, I drew the NBA logo. This was a fun project, I just wish I knew how to be more creative. I could have done something else.

For this blog post, I have decided that I will write a letter to the former House of Rep. Nick Lampson. Nick Lampson introduced The Securing Adolescents from Exploitation-Online Act of 2007 (SAFE Act). The states that anyone that offers open Wi-Fi Internet Connection to the public, that obtains actual knowledge of any facts or circumstances in relati9on to illegal visual media such as child pornography transferred over that connection must register a report of their knowledge  to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Child pornography on the internet has been somewhat ignored by the public. Unless one’s child or relative in involved in child pornography then it’s not really a big topic to people. The whole purpose of me doing a series of blog post about this topic was to raise awareness about the situation and plan an action to take against it. Even though the Nick Lampson is a former House of Rep. I’m sure that he still can have a major influence on this situations being as though he introduced the SAFE Act.

My previous blog posts have given information about important officials, authors and everyday people who support this issue that I could contact. Me being a lobbyist, I have to put my best foot forward in emailing and phoning this people so we can spread the words about the negative impact child pornography has on our children and our society. The United States needs stricter laws for this type of things. Laws that would make people think twice about anything that deals with child pornography.

The SAFE Act is definitely something that as a Nation we can build off of. I take pride in making it that child pornography is no longer a lingering problem that is under the radar. As I come in contact with officials and others, I will make it my business that I can help create if not join organizations that are opposed to child pornography and that has the same mindset as me.

I am willing to do whatever to see that child pornography on the internet is no longer an issue that no one pays attention too. If I am not able to come in contact with Nick Lampson, then I will try and reach The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and the authors of the “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protections. Both of these resources have given me information that would come a long way in me becoming a more persuasive lobbyist to stop child pornography on the internet. Letters will be written, phones calls will be made. Lets bring forth change.

• Send letter to Nick Lampson or other resources
• Create groups and organizations
• Join groups and organizations
• Call The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
• Send letter to the authors of “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protection”

1.) Briefly summarize the bureaucratic 'task' that you selected.

The bureaucratic task that my partner and I selected was "Adoption." Adoption is a complicated process to got through and it is rather lengthy. Before even starting the steps, you have to make it a priority to learn about adoption an decided if this is what you really want. Decided if parenting is something that you my want to add to your life. At times this process can be overwhelming, but if you really passionate about taking in a child and if your ready to have a child or teenager in your life to provide for, then this is the best way to go.

2.) Give an overview of your process

The first thing you should do is learn everything about adoption. Whether it's tendencies or statistics, you should want to lean them and keep them in mind. Finding an agency should be easy. Then you have to complete a home-study, so the agency can determine your qualification before you can search for a child that best fist you. Once you find your child, you have to exchange information between you and the agency. Once your information is reviewed the agency will contact you to tell you if your are selected. If you are selected you will meet and visit the child to get acquainted, then receive a placement.  When the placement is finished you will finalize the adoption which include paper work. Finally you will be able to live your new life with your adoptive child.

3.) Reflect upon the paperwork that you needed to fill out. Was it straightforward, easy, difficult, perplexing, etc.

My partner and I were not able to get the actual paper work for adoption. In order to get the paper work we would have had to make online accounts with different agencies websites. Since we aren't really adopting, we did not want to create actual accounts and give the agencies our personal information.

4.) If you could change one thing about the bureaucratic process that you flow charted, what would it be and why?

I would not change anything about the bureaucratic process. I happen to believe that each step within the process is necessary.

5.) Why do you think the systems have become so complicated?

I think systems have become so complicated because the systems have grown and changed. Systems have to make sure that people are qualified for what they want to do. Therefore people might have to endure obstacles and complications, but if they are the right people, then it should be a straightforward process.

Other thoughts, reflections, feedback.

Tajh Jenkins

December 9, 2010

Blog Post #4

 Communication

The process for banning virtual child pornography has become somewhat stagnant over the last couple of years. When I contact an organization, I want to be able to have an impact on making virtual child pornography, or child pornography in general, a topic that the government takes more notice of. In making my first approach, I want to start off making direct contact with local organizations in Philadelphia or in the state of Pennsylvania. In order for me to meet people and start speaking with them, I have to find them. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is a good place to start. I can come in contact in the DPW in a variety of ways. They already openly welcome feedback, questions, comments and concerns, through their “contact us” hyper link on their website. So, being able to express myself to them should be easy.

            I am willing to communicate with them, my concerns, plans and actions that I would like to take against virtual child pornography. If I can get their attention, then I would like to openly discuss solutions to make it illegal, and too make stricter laws against it. Since 2005, the DWP has released a “Child Abuse Annual Report” each year. The 2010 edition hasn’t been released, but the 2009 edition has plenty of information for me to begin with in terms of contacting the many organizations across the state that have a say on virtual child pornography and child porn in general.

             After I start becoming more familiar with organizations locally about the topic, I might be able to start reaching people on a more national scale. In blog post before, I talked about wanting to contact the authors who wrote the “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protection”. The authors of these guidelines are people from across the country who have attempted to ban virtual child porn, and who are well instilled with everything that is related to online child safety. Rather than contacting the authors, I might want to take it a step further and write a letter to Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure. He is the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

 I’m not really much of an outspoken person. To come in contact with these resources I could send emails, create a Facebook page, make phone calls, write letters and start a petition. If I’m am lucky enough maybe my efforts could get me to take it a step further and make personal visits with these resources and other decision makers. If I could find other people who are passionate about putting an end to this situation than I would be in a better position to succeed, Hopefully I can effectively use my tactics to a great advantage and put virtual child pornography on the governments radar.  

Tajh Jenkins

Science Leadership Academy
Lobbying Assignment 3

Like past years, 2010 has provided it’s share of child pornography happenings. While there have been attempts by United States officials to ban all aspects of child pornography, their efforts in 2010 could have been better.

The U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

“Government cannot solve the child pornography crisis in America unless it takes a broader approach than currently pursued and looks to the root causes of such deviancy.”

2010 has not been a productive year in terms of the governments efforts in banning child pornography. America is currently in a stand still in handling the situation. According to Patrick A. Trueman, former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Reagan and Bush I Administrations, Eric Holder’s indication that the United States is losing in the war on child pornography is troubling but not surprising.

Patrick A. Trueman

”Our efforts today are not partisan because the protection of children, violence against women, addiction and sexual trafficking are not partisan issues. Nor are we here today to quarrel with Attorney General Holder … The Attorney General previously indicated support for the enforcement of obscenity laws. We are asking that the prosecution of obscenity, which seems to be on hold in the Obama Administration, be given a high priority because of the widespread harm we now know that obscene material is causing.

Patrick Trueman heads the War on Illegal Pornography, a coalition effort of many national, state and local groups working to encourage enforcement of federal laws against obscene adult pornography. He is also the founder of the website PornHarms.com, http://pornharms.com. The website categorizes and posts peer-reviewed studies on the harmful aspects of pornography. Studies and articles on PornHarms.com explain and discuss the brain science of pornography, which indicates that regular consumers of porn are at risk of brain manipulation and addiction leading to increasingly deviant behaviors, including, for some, an interest in child pornography

Nearly every current government official elected has indicated their support for banning child pornography. The problem is that not enough of the officials are stepping up their efforts to really making a difference on this specific issue. From what I researched, other than the two government officials that I spoke about in my second lobbying assignment as well as Eric Holder, there aren’t really any officials that I researched who has mad significant strides in banning it. This issues does get great media coverage because of all the court cases and news that pertain to child pornography. Citizens have expressed support on banning child pornography as the issue has become bigger throughout the years because of the media attention. There are multiple facebook groups that illustrate citizens tryings to prevent child porn.

There have been past policies on this issue:

• Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000 (CIPA)
• Child Online Protection Act of 1998 (COPA)
• Child Protection and Sexual Predator Punishment Act of 1998
• Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 (CPPA)
• Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA

* In 2002, the Supreme Court made a decision to reject Congress' attempt to combat child
  pornography in the computer age.

Stakeholders on this issue include

• Children and young people
• Parents Guardians and Educators
• Industry
• The Research Community and NGO’s
• Law Enforcement
• Social Service Organizations
• Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other Electronic Service Providers (ESPs)
• Teacher Organizations, Academic and Research Communities
• Government Agencies

• Owners of Internet cafés and other public access providers e.g. libraries, telecentres, PC Bangs6 and online gaming centres etc

There are many people who are working on this issue:

• Cristina Bueti and Sandra Pandi (ITU)
• John Carr (Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety)
• Raoul Chiesa and Francesca Bosco (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute)
• Catherine Cummings and Jessica Sarra (International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children)
• Johan Martens (Child Helpline International)
• Michael Moran (Interpol)

I think that if I am really serious about this issue, I can influence anyone in the public to want to ban virtual child pornography. With the help of the public, we would be able to influence the government to take a more serious approach towards banning all aspects of child pornography. I think that the government does not see much of the public wanting to ban child pornography. When it comes to this specific issue, if the public doesn’t show its seriousness about the situation, then the government won’t act on it as quickly and effectively.

If I could contact the authors who wrote the “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protection” I think that we could really make a difference together. The authors who wrote the guidelines are the the same people who I listed as the people who are working on this issue. These are people who are really serious interested in making it aware that child pornography is a relevant issue that should be taken care of. If I could get some personal insight on this issue from these people, it would really help me become more prepared to influence people who are not up on the issue as they should be. I think that I should come in contact with the authors as soon as possible.

After doing some research I have not found any recent meetings or any recent news about government officials attempt to crack down on child pornography in the future. Therefore, there aren’t any future meetings or committee headlines that I can talk about. All of the hearings that I have come across have already taken place.

My first quarter benchmark is a prezi that explains how the copyright law became a law. Hope you enjoy. Prezi

Science & Society

First Quarter Benchmark

Research Question: How much information do fossils indicate about a species evolution? Do they tell the whole story?

Based on this information one would think that fossils are probably the most reliable source of evolution. That is not true. Over time, fossil records have been misinterpreted and have not been able to tell the whole story of evolution. Scientist have been able to point out gaps in fossil record history, proving that some fossil theories are invalid. They say that fossil records fail to illustrate what are called “Transitional Forms” which are the in-between stages of a creature that evolved into another.

Fossil records surely do have gaps because of the conditions required to create fossils have been rare ever since life began on earth. A small percentage of animals that have lived and died have become fossils. Many puzzles of the pieces are missing and some may not be found. With that being said, scientists have been able to discover the evolutionary transitions between fish and amphibians, reptiles and mammals, dinosaurs and birds, and lineages such as whales and horses. Fossils have always proved to show existence, but it’s not consistent in showing evolution.

When we look at a fossil it doesn’t tell use where it came from or how it was formed. That why fossils still allow us to ask questions about its origin, we can suggest answer these questions by discovering circumstantial evidences.

November 5, 2010

Artist Statement

There are situations in this world that people are not aware of. The affect of plastic bottle caps in our environments is one of them. For this art project art was just a way to raise awareness in this situation.

I do this art because it is one of the most compelling ways to communicate you expressions or situations to people. Even if you feel as though you aren’t the best artist, there shouldn’t be a reason that you are afraid to show people how you feel. Art is a creative way out of stress or anger. There might be times when people judge your creativity but it isn’t your job to focus on the negativity. Let them observe your work. I don’t think there is something called constructive criticism towards artwork because it’s how you feel.  Even people who don’t have an admiration for art can be affected positively by it. I wouldn’t doubt that it happens everyday.

This bottle cap project that we have done in art class has exposed to me how badly the world is negatively affected because bottle caps aren’t being recycled. After realizing the how bad are environments are being affected by this, I have made a more conscious effort to play my art in recycling bottle caps. It’s very evident by how we all could make a difference if we pay attention to what’s happening around us. There are so many ways that students in school illustrated the plastic bottle cap effect. There were many creative projects made out of bottles caps and other types of plastic.

Instead of recycling, people do things like throw there not only plastic by all of their trash anywhere such as oceans or even on our own street. In art class I was able to see how badly plastic has ruined animal species in the ocean. Sea animals such as fish eat the plastic that we throw in the ocean. Without even caring about what these fish have consumed, we catch these fish and eat them ourselves. Now we have plastic in our bodies and no one even notices. Other animals also eat the plastic and they end up dying from the lasting effect from having plastic in them or they suffocate from plastic such as bags.

            My project was a poster trying to communicate with the school community to recycle their plastic. I really wasn’t looking for people to be wowed by what they saw in my project. I believe that there are very creative projects that people have made but their projects do not speak to people in terms of motivating them to make an actual change. I started off pretty ruff doing this project because I was so focused on how I could wow people and make them want to look at my poster first. Being as though I am not always that fond of my artwork, it was hard for me to except a project that I didn’t think was 100% perfect when it came to design. The poster that I have now was not the on that intended of showing but because of some difficult I had to make an entire new poster. I hope that my poster is worth a look and it makes people want make a difference.