The Seriousness Of Bullying

        

       Hi, my name is Ali Driggers. I am a freshman, and my class is doing a project called You And The World. My post is going to be about bullying. Bullying is a very serious problem in the U.S.A. It affects people in very negative ways. Bullying affects peoples’ confidence and many have committed suicide because of this issue. People give up hobbies due to the fact that they have been picked on because of them. Bullying is something that should not even exist.

          There are many forms of bullying. One popular form is called cyberbullying. Cyberbulling is when people use technology to bully others without having to come face to face with them in person. Social media is one way people do this. People also bully through texting. According to stopcyberbullying.org, this form of bullying can cause deadly violence, some of  it self inflicted. That is one example of the seriousness of the issue. If something is this harmful, and deadly, we need to put an end to it. Regular bullying is just as bad.

           Bullying is the third most leading cause of suicide. Certain kids have a huge risk of being bullied. The kids at risk are the ones who are “overweight or underweight, wear glasses or dress differently, are new to a school, or unable to afford popular clothes,” says stopbullying.gov. People going through depression, anxiousness, and self esteem issues are at risk. If a kid is viewed as powerless, annoying, isn’t very popular, or is in the LGBT community, he/she is at risk.  People are also bullied about what they wear, how they live, or their religious beliefs. According to bullyingstatistics.org, there are 4,400 bullying suicides a year. But what if that is not true? What if it increases and goes up to 4,400 per group (including each letter in LGBT, with depression, anxiousness, and self esteem being separate groups), each day?! That would be 70,000 suicides a day! If that happened, that means there would be 25,696,000 suicides from bullying a year!! That could actually happen.

       (That is an actual boy. His 12 year old best friend killed himself due to being bullied. Does he really deserve this?)


          People have hopes for things. People want their favorite sports teams to win a world series or super bowl. I bet some of those suicide victims could have been hired by the MLB or the NFL, and could have made that team a super bowl or world series winner. Too late for that. One of those victims could have created a clothing brand for women, featuring the coolest and prettiest items. But that person is DEAD!! Citizens all across the U.S should be concerned about bullying. One of those suicide victims could have gotten poverty extinct from the U.S, or could have made sure every kid in our country could be educated. That person is dead, deceased, and will never be met, seen, or heard again!! Bullies are murdering people that would have changed the world for the better. If you care about anything at all, than you should should know about one our nation's worst diseases, and that is bullying!! Right now, we have billions of kids and teens in the U.S. Every time a kid dies, that population goes down! And bullies are contributing to this awful fact.


     

            Bullying is not a good thing at all. People that don’t commit suicide still go through problems. People have their confidence gone down, and people consider suicide. Bullying victims may also turn into bullies as well. That means the number of bullies is being multiplied. And some bullies have multiple victims, which could mean multiple suicides. Even if they don’t commit suicide, they could be sad or depressed. That is not good at all. Bullying victims could live in fear their entire lives. Bullying victims could also become criminals if they feel that the world is against them. This is huge example of how bullying is destructive to our society

          The conclusion of this article is that bullying is a disease. People are not only getting hurt because of it, but some are dying because of it. Ending bullying would be very helpful to our society in so many different ways. One question I have is this: How is a bully created? Another I wonder is how you can make even the most cruel bullies stop what they are doing. I hope to learn about ways to help kids cope with bullying, and ways to have bullies stopping what they are doing. This way, the nation will be able to figure out how destroy bullying for all eternity.




YATW Blog Post #1: Animal Abuse

When people are angry do they take anger out on animals?


     People with problems tend to abuse animals and neglect them of basic necessities like food, shelter, and water. I believe when people are angry they take their anger out on animals. They do this because the animal is either the closer target or they find joy in abusing animals. So some things that I have found in the website (you can click here), is that facts show that 13% of animal abuse come from a domestic home.  As I researched I have found something on how abuse can affect a child, so when a child is young they learn about abuse by being a victim of it or have witnessed it. So as the child gets older and as he/she gets a certain development with anger issues they would tend to build up anger, and then the child would take their anger out on animals. If the child has not began to seek help by the time as an adult they would go after other things such as peers, children, adults, even the elderly. To them these people would be considered a vulnerable opportunity. Also, family members being held against for child abuse also had abused animals. In in more than half of these cases, an abusive parent had killed or injured a pet a child victim continued the cycle of violence by abusing a pet.


          In one study that i have found on this website is that, 70% of animal abusers also had records for other crimes. Domestic violence victims whose animals were abused saw the animal cruelty as one more violent episode in a long history of indiscriminate violence aimed at them and their vulnerability.Another study that I have found is that, a lot of pet owning women entering women’s help treatment centers reported that they have  injured, harmed, killed or even threatened family pets for revenge or to  control victims and that 32% reported their children had brutally injured a pet or killed a pet. As I have found in my studies about my topic and things that I have heard from the world is that pets may suffer unexplained injuries, health problems, permanent disabilities at the hands of abusers, or disappear from home.





This is a picture of a pit-bull named Remy. This dog was found in June 2013 she was a victim of animal cruelty and abuse. When the ASPCA found her she had two broken legs, skin disease,  and severe muscle atrophy, she also was so weak and frail that that she could not stand or walk. This was caused because she was a victim of animal abuse. To me this is what happens when people are selfish and does not care about the needs of an animal. Although animals are not humans does not mean that we can look at them as a piece of trash, they are still living beings, and we can still treat them with respect as we would want someone to give us.



      This is a picture of a cat named Kylie she was a victim of chemical burns. She was found late last year when a dog owner found her. Kylie was in a lot of pain and it took several surgeries so that Kylie could be healed. Everyone at the hospital fell in love with her as she began to recover. So like I said I do not understand how can people do this to defenseless creatures, Kylie was affected by chemical burns that caused her to lose lots of skin, Kylie is a survivor.  


    


    This is a dog rescued from a puppy mill, I am not sure what this puppy’s name is but it was found on a facility with a lot of other animals. These animals were rescued in 2011 and people were complaining about these animals. These were animals with problems like mold and matted fur, suffering from infection, dental disease and various other ailments. This is a link to this page if you would like to get more information on that topic.


      One reason that I became interested in this topic is because growing up I hated to see the commercials with animals on them that makes them look really said, and it gets a little emotional. So, doing this is a way to help relieve my sympathy and to get the word out to others. I am hoping that this will encourage people to help abandoned animals in need and if this comes across someone with one of these problems to get treatment or counseling.  

 


      This concludes my blog on animal abuse if you have any comments, please leave them below and if you would like me to answer leave them below as well thank you for reading my blog. For further information visit my bibliography.

     



Hurón Rabioso Producciones

Antonio Ibrahim, Francisco Biggs, Cristobal Fey

Spanish 2 D

Antonio: Hola Señor Biggs. ¿Qué tal?

Fransisco: Bien, gracias.

Cristóbal: Se sentar por favor

(Francisco sits down)

Cristóbal: La primera pregunta yo quiero pedir. ¿Qué experiencia tiene usted?

Francisco: Sí, yo trabajo con photoshop y hacer videojuegos en mi computadora

Cristobal: Perfecto, usted va a necesitar este.

Antonio: ¿Qué programa utiliza hacer videojuegos?

Francisco: Yo utilizo Java.

Antonio: Bueno. ¿Podemos ver tus juegos?

Francisco: Sí, estos mis programas.

Cristóbal: ¿Comó tiempo hacer estos programas?

Francisco: Todos de ellos tomó cinco días.

Cristobal: Hmm, Impresionante

Antonio: ¿Porque trabaja sus compania?

Francisco: Me gusta hacer juegos.

Antonio: ¿Qué todo?

Francisco: Tengo experiencia, y me gusta hacer juegos.

Cristobal: ¿Dónde trabajó antes?

Francisco: Yo interné a EA para ocho meses.

Antonio: ¿Qué hizo usted a EA?

Francisco: Yo trabajé su otra programadores en ellos proyectos nuevos.

Antonio: ¿Comó que?

Francisco:  Yo trabajé Mirror’s Edge 2.

Cristobal: ¡Yo no puedo esperar para esta!

Antonio: Yo no puedo esperar también.

Francisco: Gracias.

Antonio: Una pregunta más. ¿Que horas y días puede usted trabajar?

Francisco: Voy a poder trabajar para lunes a jueves y para ocho y cuatro.

Antonio: Esta es bien.

Cristobal: Si, usted espesa más horas de trabajo. Usted puede manejar lo, confiar me.

Cristobal: Gracias por su tiempo Señor Biggs.

Antonio: Si, Nosotros somos contentos a tener usted trabaja para nosotros.

Francisco: Gracias, Hasta la semana que viene

Cristobal y Antonio: ¡Adios!

Revisor

Fecha

Comment

Daniela Nearn

12/12/13

Me gusta tu guión.

Natalia Monroe

12/12/13

It is very good, I don’t think you guys need to make any corrections.

Aaron Block

12/12/13


Bella Mezzaroba

12/12/13


Cameron Hinton

12/12/13



Media Fluency

In my slide is a Mclaren P1, my favorite car, and it is facing a road which is shown to have no end. For me that means that we can’t see what is in the future, but shouldn’t spend our time guessing either. I like the quote, and even though it might not represent me, it is how I try to be. I balanced out the picture and the writing, by having it on opposite sides of the slide. The bright orangish color of the car makes it stand out from the background.

In the second picture there is a Pagani Zonda with the words "No Stopping." Many people didn't have any criticism, but it was suggested that the words were moved from in front of the sun. I learned more about how to balance out the slide, pictures to words, and how to make the picture bleed off the page.

(Click on picture to see both.)
Media Fluency (3)

YATW #1: The Fur Industry

The Fur Industry


“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”   

— Mahatma Gandhi





Hello, my name is Antonio Flores, I am in 9th grade at Science Leadership Academy. I chose to research the Fur Industry for a project called You and the World for English. The Fur Industry is a well known issue in today’s society. The Fur Industry uses the fur and skin of different animals to create clothing items for people. Many people including me are against this because it results in the deaths of many animals that could then become endangered. I chose this issue because I love animals. I think that it is strange how people can wear the skin of animals and not think about all that it went through. I oppose people who wear fur coats. This is some of the information that I put together and it is also something that you should know.


The most spent on fur in the United States was 1.82 million dollars in 2005. However in 2002 the world total of money spent on fur was around 11 billion dollars. Hong Kong is the biggest producer of fur in the world, it annually imports $320 million worth of fur. Around 1 billion animals are killed annually for their fur, with about 80% of them being rabbits.


When people feel that anti-fur trade groups aren’t working, they may become animal rights extremists. The animal rights activists/extremists have gotten 92% of Americans to not agree with them, but disapprove their methods and to get them to look at what they are doing instead of why they are doing it, creating a greater divide between our current situation and a solution. Crimes of animal rights activists have been added to the same category as “from hate-filled white supremacists…to highly destructive eco-terrorists…to violence-prone anti-government extremists…to radical separatist groups” as stated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. People have been taking actions through revenge of the animals, possibly without knowing how it could damage what they stand for.


While researching I came up with some questions. I want to know how many people are against fur-trade and how it correlates to the amount of people who own a fur accessory. I also want to know other reasons why people buy fur accessories besides how “it’s warm.” I also want to know the best sites to go to, to find more helpful information. I hope to learn the answer to them.


I hope to learn more about the fur trade. I think that it is sad how 1 billion animals are killed because of their fur. I am surprised that animal rights activists are so violent to get their point across, or to take avenge animals. I want to know who to go to and what to mention in my next blogs.



Here is my Bibliography.


YATW #1 Exposing the Bias-Women in Engineering

Hello!  My name is Indee Phillpotts and I am a freshmen at Science Leadership Academy.  For a project in my English class we had to choose a topic that interest us and that we care about.  I chose women bias in the Science and Engineering workfield.  I am a young women, and although unsure of what I want to be when I grow up I deserve to have as many options as possible.  


For years and years women have been considered worthless and less important than men.  It was an unwritten rule that the men had the jobs and the women took care of the cooking and cleaning.  That is not the case now.  In these days women have more rights than they’ve had in the past centuries; but there’s still a long way to go.  For instance, men are paid more than women.  On average a women working full time makes $.70 for every dollar a man makes.  But pertaining more to my topic only 11% of engineers in the world are women.  Leaving the other 89% to be men.   


It’s unfortunate that such a small amount of women are in that workfield when women are as capable as men at these jobs.  Like Ada Lovelace for instance.  The majority of people have no idea who she is and what she has done.  That is insane because Ada Lovelace was the worlds first computer programmer.  Without her we wouldn’t be where we are with computers.  If a man was the first computer programmer he would probably be considered the “father of computers.” Which coincidentally when googled is Charles Babbage, Ada's lifelong friend. Charles Babbage actually enlisted Ada to translate a french memoir by mathematician Louis Menebrea, to which Ada added incredibly important notes that would be used by Charles. I'm curious to know if Ada was living in more recent times if her talents and accomplishments would have more recognition then they did back then.

 

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) First Computer Programmer.


During World War II when all of the men went to fight in the war, women got to show that they are capable of working too.  Since women were never really introduced to the jobs that they could temporarily have, the government  created a fictional character named “Rosie the Riveter” to inspire women to get jobs.  Women were inspired all right!  Before the war only 1% of people in the aircraft industry were women.  That number jumped to 65% during the war.  Women who had never worked with large machines or engines were doing equally as good a job as the men.  Sadly when the war ended women were replaced with men in their jobs and everything went back to the way it was.   This probably contributed to why the women rights movement came into action.  Once women got a taste of those jobs they wanted more.


Rosie the Riveter, A fictional character created during WWII to motivate women to

get into the workfield.


There’s proof that women are as able as men to do “man's” work.  But then why in present day do less women study for these professions and aspire to be engineers?  It is said that by the age of 4 children are conditioned to think that boys have trucks and build things and girls have dolls and play dress up.  Before children are even taught to multiply and divide they already have it put in their minds that girls can’t do certain jobs.  Because of that conditioning it’s a given that boys will dominate in those fields. This puts girls who want to work in those areas in hard positions.  It’s hard to feel comfortable in an environment when you’re the only one of your gender.  Girls in single sex schools even have a higher participation in physics than in co-ed schools.  Probably due to the lack of competition.  The bias in these work fields is impossible to ignore; especially from a woman's standpoint.  If women and girls are informed about this topic, then maybe we can move toward a more accepting and less biased future.



Bibliography











YATW Blog #1: Concussions in Young Athletes

Hello, my name is Cacy Thomas and I am a 9th grader enrolled in Science Leadership Academy. In my English class we were told to write 3 blogs about an issue that we are passionate about and would like to spread to the world. This is my first blog post and my issue is concussion awareness and research in young athletes. I have cared about this subject since October 2nd, 2011 when I received my third concussion following my first and second concussions on June 6th, 2011 and July 17th, 2011. All within a five month period my life was completely turned upside down.


Before I received my head injuries I had many instances where I had no idea what was going on or even what a concussion was. So just to clear the air and make sure you know what I am talking about, a concussion as described by Centers for Disease Control is,

"A type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump,

blow or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works.”

Click here to see a short video explaining more in depth of the definition of a concussion.


The anatomy of a concussion from The Seattle Times.

My story started in 6th grade. I was outside at recess when I turned around and a football hit my left eye. I didn’t think anything of it until my head kept hurting a few days after the incident. My mom took me to my pediatrician and they were more concerned about the 10% chance that my eye socket was fractured rather than my consistent headache. They sent me to CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) and the doctors were wondering why I was even there. Only one person told me that I had a “mild” concussion and that it was no big deal. So I shrugged it off, kept playing sports, and doing all of my normal activities. Then on July 17th, 2011, just one month later, I was at a soccer camp and took a bad header (when someone hits the ball with their forehead so it goes in the opposite direction) where I could not remember what I ate for lunch or dinner. Again I was told I received a “mild” concussion and returned to play the next day. Three months after the second incident I was knocked over and kicked in the head in a soccer game and was immediately dizzy and disoriented. We finally went to a concussion specialist and realized that this was serious. Finally after 2 years of physical and emotional rehabilitation, taking 8 different medications and vitamins, being home schooled for about a month, and only using technology for about 15 minutes a day I have been cleared by 2 out of 4 of my doctors. These injuries have affected my vision, emotional state, school work, and my athletic ability. I can never play contact sports again and will never be able to fulfill my dream of becoming a professional soccer player.


One example of a header from Sheknows.com where a young girl is preparing to head the ball.


Hundreds of thousands of young athletes are experiencing what I went through; I can’t stand to see that happen to anyone. My concussion symptoms will stay with me forever because of the lack of research of concussions and other head injuries. The fact that my pediatrician was more worried about my eye socket than potential brain damage is very frightening! We can prevent or lessen the dangers of concussions through research and awareness. Things such as baseline and neuropsychological testing are some examples to help know where your cognitive skills were before and after the injury. Neuropsychological testing is explained by The Sports Concussion Institute as,


“...designed to measure cognitive skills and abilities such as intelligence, problem solving, memory, concentration, impulse control, and reaction time, to name a few. At the Sports Concussion Institute, both computerized and standard paper-and-pencil tests are utilized to gather evidence-based, comprehensive data on cognitive functioning before (i.e., Baseline Test) and after (i.e., Post-Injury Test) a concussive injury occurs.”


Here are just some statistics from clearedtoplay.org I think you will find to be very eye-opening. I believe that these numbers can be brought down with proper care, recovery time, and awareness.

50% of "second impact syndrome" incidents - brain injury caused from a premature return to activity after suffering initial injury (concussion) - result in death.

Female high school soccer athletes suffer almost 40% more concussions than males (29,000 annually)

Female high school basketball players suffer 240% more concussions than males (13,000).

400,000 brain injuries (concussions) occurred in high school athletics during the 2008-09 school year.

15.8% of football players who sustain a concussion severe enough to cause loss of consciousness return to play the same day.


Children in our society are not only feeling the physical symptoms of head injuries, but also psychological. Many have been diagnosed with depression, like myself, because they can’t play the sport that they love. I am wondering how I can reach out to those kids in need. And will they be willing to be open and share their stories with me? I hope to learn more about how each individual person is affected differently because no two concussions are exactly the same. I also want to further my research in the psychological symptoms of a concussion to help make a difference in the lives of those who have suffered from concussions.


Thank you for taking the time to read my post and feel free to check out my bibliography to see all of my various sources. Also look out for my second blog post!


Click here to read about the very real concussion stories of Ben Zipp, David Bosse, Zack Lystedt, Brandon Schultz, and Matt Peterson.

YATW Blog Post 1: Do you Care?

What Are We Doing To Help The Forgotten of Philadelphia?


Hi my name is Kai Burton and I attend Science Leadership Academy. As a ninth grader in SLA and a student in Ms. Dunn’s english class I was asked to write three blog posts about a topic that I care about. I’m choosing to write about the overlooked citizens in Philadelphia who needed help and turned to the leaders of our state.


abc_tom_corbett_the_week_cc_111113_wg
abc_tom_corbett_the_week_cc_111113_wg
(A photo of Gov. Tom Corbett)
Michael%2520Nutter51308
Michael%2520Nutter51308

   (Mayor Nutter “caring” for his citizens)


But instead of feeling secure, relieved, and helped they feel helpless and unimportant and overlooked. I want to  hear the stories if these citizens and help them feel like somebody still cares. I’m choosing to help out through the Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry, a ministry devoted to helping people who need it most.

The Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry is a private non-profit organization committed to helping families and individuals in the north west who find themselves in                crisis. The Crisis Ministry helps people by supplying them with food, clothing, food, and other emergency assistance based on that individual’s emergency.


FirstPresbyterianChurchOfGermantown
FirstPresbyterianChurchOfGermantown

(The Crisis Ministry is run out of this church)


The clients of the Crisis Ministry have turned to people like Eileen Jones, the director of The Ministry, to seek assistance. Although programs such as the Crisis Ministry are great and can really be asset to the community it’s not the job of the kind hearted citizens to protect and assist these people. Our city has failed by overlooking the people who they feel aren’t immediately important to the city. What others fail to realize is that some of these people aren’t always educated and don’t know how to be important to the rest of us. So instead sectioning them off into places like the projects we should be helping them and encouraging them so they can be a real asset to the community.

Education is key if we want this part of the community to join the community. I’m not saying that we should drag everybody to school  because that’s just unrealistic. I’m saying that we should educate them on how to help themselves. Although the Crisis Ministry helps people settle down there is so much more to it after that. We should be teaching people how to: paint walls, tighten pipes, how to deal with your toilet overflowing. Skills that people can actually put to use. The greater germantown area is falling behind. Germantown is place with so much potential, but we just have to care a little.

Our leaders don’t care enough about us. Men like Tom Corbett haven’t walked in their shoes, and neither have we. But we see it everyday as citizens of Philadelphia. We need to care or our city will suffer. I want everybody to listen and hear the voice of overlooked and forgotten and remember that they need to be heard, and they need our help. Obviously listening to them isn’t the government’s priority, so it needs to be ours. Together we can help to take back our city.


Please visit My Annotated Bibliography to view more photos and learn more about the ministry as well as Philadelphia.

YATW Blog Post: African American student test scores

Blog Post #1


My name is Brandon Jones and I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. In my English class we were given an assignment to tackle an issue we found and blog about it. The issue I picked was the  test scores of children from different ethnicities and how the scores of African American children were alarmingly low.


For my blog post I researched and found many interesting and informative articles. This particular article reported that African American children scored lower than European Americans in Vocabulary, Reading and Mathematics test. This true, but aggravating statement made me realize how serious this issue is. It is disheartening to read that the gap between the two ethnicities starts before children enter kindergarten and sadly leads into adulthood. The article states that even though this problem cut down since 1970, the average African American child still scores 75% below the average Caucasian child and on some tests, African American children score 85% below Caucasian children.


*above are the percentages of white, black and hispanic students who scored at or above proficient on standardized test*

The article here and the graph above, concerns me and makes me wonder what could be done about this issue. To solve an issue, you must first address the problem, however for his particular issue, there are many possible problems. One being improper funding for students. In Lower Merion, the School District spends $21,399 per student and the School District of Philadelphia only provides $11,078 per student. Another problem is racism and making children feel lesser than what they can be.



As for the solutions, I could go on for days about the possible theories and solutions on solve the issue at hand. Sadly, most of the solutions might not work. For my YATW(You and the World) project me and my partner are going out in the world and going to try to find a solution to this impending issue.

The link to my bibliography is here

YATW Blog #1: Arbitrary Future


“Man begets, but land does not beget. ”

Cecil Rhodes

Hello, my name is Quinn Grzywinski, and I’m a ninth grade student at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA. This is the first blog of three  for my English class; for a project that involves us choosing a subject of interest and writing about it, as well as getting our writing into the world, which is in some ways the whole purpose of this project. I choose overpopulation for my subject, and this blog post provides some key statistics and a possible solution. Hope you enjoy.


I want you to picture something. Imagine a pond, somewhere deep in the forest, full of the richest resources for aquatic life you could imagine. So obviously, the fish that live in this pond flourish, living long healthy lives, and reproduce frequently. But after a few years, the amount of fish has become disproportionate to the pond. and the resources that the pond once had has been used up, and without all the resources the fish die.


This is a grim metaphor for what awaits us if overpopulation is not considered a serious issue to the world. Every minute approximately  269 people are born  and about 108 die; the population is rising every minute, and by the year 2020, yes only 7 years from

A chart of the world’s current population density (wikipedia.org)


now, the population will reach 8 billion, from its current 6.5 billion. This troubling statistic raises the question. How much people Earth hold while still running high on resources? According livescience.com “Many scientists think Earth has a maximum carrying capacity of 9 billion to 10 billion people”, so  by that time will there be enough food to eat? Well from the 2 billion tons of grain that the Earth produces every year, we could actually feed a population of 10 billion. Vegetarians. For a population of 10 billion omnivores, only about 2.5 billion or so could be fed. How long do we have? According to the same article, we will reach a population of 9 billion in 2050, and the fabled 10 billion in 2100. You can view the complete article here.


So what does this mean for all major institutions like medicine and energy? Well thanks to resources like clean water running dangerously low, tensions between nations could well result in wars and conflicts. Another is that unemployment and poverty will become a lot more common, because while the population of any given nation may rise significantly, the total jobs may not. A rise in unemployment levels could result in an increased crime rate, and homelessness. I’ve already mentioned that since food may become a lot more rare than it once was around 2100, things like food shelters may become much more scarce, since they may not even be enough food to go around even more the more privileged ranks of society. Global warming may play a part as well, because since coal and natural gases are already being overused, the polar ice caps will melt, and CO2 will be released in dangerously high levels.  

A future coming all too soon… (conserve-energy-future.com)

However, there is ways to combat the problem. According to a pension I found online, the proper way of dealing with this problem is fairly simple: proper sex education and family birth planning. This way, the number of humans joining the planet can decrease to more fairly balance the deaths per minute. But we seem to be on our way there already. United Nation estimates show that the average sizes of families have been getting steadily smaller over time. The article on live.science.com explains, “globally, the fertility rate is falling to the "replacement level" — 2.1 children per woman, the rate at which children replace their parents (and make up for those who die young). If the global fertility rate does indeed reach replacement level by the end of the century, then the human population will stabilize between 9 billion and 10 billion.” This means with the proper education and control, we may be able to control the population at a relatively safe level. It won’t be by any means ideal, but at least, it will be survivable. At this “replacement level” the human races population will come to a halt.


So all in all, overpopulation is a serious problem. It will increase global warning, flare tensions between nations, and even may lead to a global energy crisis. But it is by no means a fixed event. All it takes is to properly educate our children and families, and make them understand the consequences of having a big family. If we can teach the new generation, then by the time we reach 10 billion, we will be in control. However, if the proper steps aren't taken, if families do teach and be taught what to do, by 2100, the world, will be at a point where it may be already too late to reverse the damage. Let me remind you, 2100 isn't some distant future, some made-up number, but a future my generations descendants may well have to face, or even maybe well before that. With it being very hard to predict when our species will reach 10 billion, this scenario may happen even sooner, which only increases the need to start worrying about this issue now. Because once we reach 10 billion, it won’t be a gradual decline, where there’s plenty of time to repair the problem. It’ll be more in fashion to falling off a cliff. What happens next lies in an arbitrary future.  

Thanks for reading! See you in Blog #2!


My annotated bibliography is here.      


YATW Blog 1: Lack of Art In Philly Schools

Hi! My name is Pedro Castillo and I am currently a student at Science Leadership Academy (SLA). For this project, we were asked to research a local, state, national or world issue and write about it. I think this is a good way for students to put themselves out in the world. It’ll be a way for students to express their way of thinking. Also, a good way to see how they would want to approach their issue.

   I chose to research Philadelphia’s budget cuts and how they caused Philadelphia schools to lose their art education. I believe this is an issue because some students in Philadelphia school love to draw, sing, paint etc. We have to go throughout this entire school year without these things at school and i could not imagine another school year without them. I am interested in this issue because I am a big art fan. I spent much of my leisure time drawing and painting. I use to go to middle school waiting for art class to come and then one year i showed up the first day of school and heard we had no art classes that year. I came to SLA knowing that we had art classes and i got very excited. At the same time I also that the lack of art is still an issue. Other schools are not as lucky as we are and don’t have art classes to participate in. This is a problem because some students like showing their work to world; they want other people to see their spectacular artwork (Like this) or hear their beautiful voices or just hear their amazing thoughts in the form of a poem.

    The loss of art classes has affected some students for example, a young boy at Cook-Wissahickon Elementary School, Ravi Giberson. Ravi states how the losses of music classes are bad for him because they give time time for practice. He also says how music was a way for him express himself and that it would be difficult for him to return to school with no music. Before the school year began, Philadelphia had to borrow $50 million dollars to open schools on time and even with those millions Philly still had to lay off more than 100 staff members! They could have gotten more money with the hidden artwork that was in a Philadelphia school. Here in Philly, a school had millions in artwork in a school and kept debating on if they should sell them or if they should keep them as the “city’s history.” Those paintings could have saved the jobs of many art teachers and some schools could have had the art education they deserve. Will they sell these paintings for next year or will they let the students down...again? Will they get enough money to refund art classes and still be able to keep the paintings? Only time will tell but hoping everything goes good throughout now and next year, the city can begin funding art classes at schools and make the kids happy with their elective classes again.


Picture of million dollar artwork from philly.com



Bibliography


Syria and other Civil Wars, Suffering of Citizens: YATW: Blog Post #1

Hello my name is Gabrielle Kreidie, a student at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For the rest of the year my class and I are doing individual projects on certain subjects with the goal to change the world around us. We will become Agents of Change by the end of the year with the help of research. This is my first blog post, I hope you enjoy it. For further information visit my bibliography.


The world has heard of the civil war in Syria. The attack of chemical weapons of people of Syria from their military a total of nearly 1,500 people killed, 426 of which were children. The media covered the decision President Obama had to make. A military strike or not. Sure the media talked about those who were lost in this tragic event portrayed by Bashar Al Assad, Dictator of Syria, however, right after Obama’s decision was taken off the table, the news ended.  People continue to suffer from this dictator but the public nor the government seem to really care about those that are suffering.


Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey are holding in total over two million refugees, and more adding on everyday. Those two million are known to the world now as refugees. Two million people who are on the streets of countries with small populations and problems of their own. Lebanon alone has over one million refugees from Syria, with a addition of refugees from Palestine and other countries. Lebanon has a population of four million with a stronger economy than some of their neighbors, however, they are struggling with the addition of over one million new people and problems with bordering countries, Syria and Israel. Two million people are a lot! Even though Syria has a population of twenty two million, as of 2012, a decrease of two million is a lot. Two million is just over the size of Philadelphia. Now imagine all Philadelphians having to leave their homes with barely anything because it’s not safe for them. Imagine two million lives broken, without food, money, medicine or professions, leaving everything behind.


A family living in a refugee camp in Jordan during the cold, snowy winters.


Living in the USA, we do not see that much news on the refugees. We do not see information on people who are suffering from Bashar Al Assad. This makes me want to learn more. I want to get down to the truth. I want to see the people we should be caring about, the people that are suffering. Read Abdulmajid’s, a fifteen year old Syrian refugee living with his family in Lebanon, here. The issue of war within a society of citizens is not something the media is covering. This is my chance to bring the real news, the news of those who are in pain, to not only the US but the world.


A Syrian refugee living in Lebanon holding up a poster during a protest.


Syria is not the only country to have a civil war, in the past couple of years. There has been the civil war in Sierra Leone, civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal civil war and so many more. That means that I have to understand the media coverage of these wars. I have to understand if huge news outlets, such as CNN, talked about these civil wars. Throughout this project I will not only be talking about the horrible civil war in Syria, but I will be talking about the Congo, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Colombia, countries that have had their fair share of people suffered as well.


My goal at the end of this project is to fully understand who are really suffering from all of this. I must educate the public in appropriate ways to allow them to fully understand the struggles. I want to make a change in the right way. The people of Syria, and all that have suffered from civil wars, need someone to help them, to show that they care. That’s my job and it starts now.

YATW Blog #1 - Animal Cruelty Must End!

 Hello, my name is Kara Heenan and I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. For a project in English 1, Ms. Dunn told us to find an issue in the world that we really care about. The topic I chose is Animal Cruelty. I am against any type of animal abuse. Animals are living, breathing things just like us and they deserve to be treated the same way we do. The type of animals I am mainly going to be focusing on throughout this blog are the two common household pets, dogs and cats.

 First, I would like to discuss the types of abuse there are to these animals and the statistics. According to the Humane Society Hall County,

  • 32% of it is neglect or abandonment

  • 12%  of it is hoarding

  • 11% of it is shooting

  • 9% of it is fighting

  • 7% of it is beating

 A huge factor in Animal Cruelty in our country are puppy mills. There is no legal definition of a puppy mill, but the ASPCA defines it as "a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs." It has been estimated that there are at least 10,000 puppy mills in the U.S. More than 14 states have no laws to even address puppy mills. In these places, dogs are forced to be in cages most of their lives with no room to play or exercise. These places are crawling with dogs affected by illnesses, wounds, and diseases. No one even seems to care!

What an average puppy mill looks like


 Another factor, especially in this country, is hoarding. Hoarding is keeping a high number of animals as pets without being able to take care of them properly. Approximately 900 to 2000 cases are discovered in America with a quarter of a million animals falling victim. Hoarding is usually a side effect of a mental illness in a person. It is a form of neglect. Most of these poor animals are living in a disgusting home without proper care or love but the owner of these dogs do not realize they are doing harm.

 All a dog or cat really needs is love and care. They don’t ask for much. One thing people forget is that these animals have actual feelings like us. We as humans have no right to treat them as they are less important than we are. I hope after reading this article it really opens your eyes to how important it is to treat animals with respect.

.

A homeless man with his dog. All you need is love.


“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” - Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century philosopher

You can view my sources and bibliography here.

YATW Blog Post # 1 - 'Miseducation' In Science Among Minorities (African Americans Specifically)

Oh, you’re reading this already? I’m sorry, I was hardly prepared. Hello, My name is Damir Hunley and I am a 9th grade student here at Science Leadership Academy. Progressively, we have grown as students in Ms. Dunn’s classroom, as far as grammar, writing structure, and “point-making” is concerned. We were given a project, though it was up to us to write the rubric. Not literally, but as far as information is concerned, we made the project. The project was based on our ideas, beliefs, and feelings about what’s going on in our world; what are the problems. Given the task I immediately knew what I was going to do because it was something I felt strongly about. In Philadelphia, standardized test percentages in the science sections are extremely low among minorities; my target especially, African Americans. For years, African Americans have been under the 20th percentile of proficiency in the biology section of the Keystone exams. What will we do to change this? What are the catalysts to these problems?


The main point, and my issue being the fact that African Americans are belittled as far as scientific education is concerned and it is our fault, as well as the world’s. Specifically, I’m interested in the subject for a few reasons, one being the pursuit of my dream in the science field, the achievement of becoming a profound and renown Marine Biologist. Even though that sounds beyond the point there is reasoning behind it. The pursuit of this career is not for myself but for my race, and people as a whole. As shown in the chart found on The American Physical Society Site below, There is only a small, 14% of African Americans in the United States that are at college level age.In the last 15 years the amount of graduates has decreased by 1-2 percentiles in almost every field. The chart depicts the percentages of those few that graduated with bachelor degrees in science majors from 1995-2010.


(Chart found on The website for The American Physical Society

             Labeled: “Percentage of Bachelor’s degrees earned by African americans by Major”)


This issue is extremely significant and beneficial to the future of Philadelphia. If change comes from it, then the educational value of the city will improve drastically. If there is some sort of way to solve the problems at hand then everything I’m ranting about will be of good meaning. Hopefully with further pursuit, I should be able to make a change, this is how I plan to discover who I am, and what effect I have on the world. To start my research I wanted to find a way to get involved in the educational system of Philadelphia. To do that, I went to the root, The School District of Philadelphia. I found great results when coming across an article on the website which really supported my already ‘assumed’ hypothesis on how the educational system in the science fields was at a halt. The article briefly describes how only 20% of the 11th grade students in Philadelphia (who knows what portion of that percentage was African American) scored proficient or advanced on the biology section of the Keystone exams.


Right after, they give a direct link to a document which portrays in more detail, the information presented to the reader. They have several charts which give a great visual representation of statistics for less confusion. After I read and analyzed the disappointing statistics I pondered on what I’d physically do about it. My first thought was to volunteer somewhere that aided in inner city education, though no schools were accepting. Secondly I decided to try and assist at the Academy of Natural Sciences  as a Live Animal Care Center volunteer or an exhibit guide, anything to help educate,though neither of the positions were available.


(The Academy of Natural Sciences official logo)


Questions had arisen the moment I started this project but how would I get the answers? I wasn’t specifically sure though I was fueled by ambition  to find out. What is the source of this “miseducation”? I was bound to that question first as it is the most important. You find the source and you find the problem, you find the problem and you solve the problem. I like to call this question the “Eye of the Storm”. Who was responsible for the slacking? Are the children at fault, or is it society’s mishaps that curse our children intellectually? Although the questions linger still, some of them may have been partially answered in this editorial. The hard-hitting point of the editorial is deep and beyond explanation at this time though there was one thing that stuck with me. Credit due to the author(s) :


Entrenched stereotypes about who does well in science and math also work against minorities in classrooms. Too many teachers give up easily on them simply because they are not expected to do as well as white students. Despite those challenges, many minorities still enroll in science and math programs in college but fewer of them earn a degree in those programs in five years.


Could this be the direct source of the problem at hand? The issue is currently under further investigation and coverage by myself. I hope to continue pursuing this topic to find better results and to hopefully in time, help fix the problem.


Hey! Find my Annotated Bibliography HERE -

Blog#1 YATW: US Media Bias

Hello, my name is Tomas Arango. For this year’s You and The World project I decided to focus on U.S media bias. To me this is a very important topic because it’s something that always stands out to me when I read and watch the news. I also feel that it’s an issue many people don’t know about, especially younger audiences like me.


U.S media shows bias in many different ways, but some very repetitive ones I have noticed are only showing one side of the story and sometimes completely telling the story incorrectly. But what bothers me most is that these bias opinions are mostly present when news stations talk about the Middle East. They try to make them look bad and deliver a strong stereotype whenever the topic is brought up.


I started researching and expanding more on my idea for YATW and found many articles focusing on Western Media Bias. I also found examples on media bias towards the middle east and Islam. Many studies showed that most of this started after the 9/11 bombings in 2001. Media began to blame killings and random attacks on Islam and Muslims. Many times news can tend to focus on the bad side of the story like only on the extremist when it comes to Islam.


A great example would be the shooting in Norway  in 2011, killing 85 people according to police. When this massacre happened there was little information on the background the perpetuator. Giving the opportunity to the media, especially conservatives an opportunity to make assumptions and blame it on Islam.  




This picture shows the meaning of Islam and how it’s a symbol of support, love, and peace.


My goal is to inform readers about these bias opinions that news stations make and educate them on how to avoid falling into to medias traps. I plan making an activity for my advisory where they have to identify what type of bias a news article contain. I want to make an interactive experience so my peers can learn about this issue. I really enjoyed writing this and be sure to watch out for my next blog post!






Another picture displaying Islam is not an icon of terrorism and violence


These are some type of media bias I want people to be able to identify through my blog posts:


  • Omission

  • Selection of Sources

  • Story Selection

  • Placement

  • Labeling

  • Spin


For definitions of words, click here!


You can view my bibliography here!


























Q2 Sumario 3

Sieanna Williams                                                                                                  Q2

Srta. Manuel


Brian de "Family Guy"

volvió a la vida


Los creadores de la serie animada estadounidense "Family Guy" revivieron a Brian, el perro de la familia Griffin, tras las críticas recibidas por la audiencia del programa por la muerte de uno de los personajes principales.” Yo no puedo estar de acuerda más con la frase primero del artículo. Yo soy una admiradora grande de la serie Family Guy. Yo podría verlo todo el día, todos los días y yo hago cuando yo puedo.

Porque mi familia no tiene el cable o el internet no más, es difícil ver mis series. Es por eso que no ví ninguno de los episodios nuevos de Family Guy. Un día, sin embargo, mis amigos estaban hablando sobre Brian (el perro) de Family Guy murió. ¡Cuando yo oí esto, yo estaba enojada inmediatamente!

“Qué dijiste?” Yo recuerdo diciendo.

Nosotros tuvimos reacciones como, “Eso no tiene sentido.” “Eso es ridículo, que pasa con Seth McFarlane?”

Family Guy empezó en 1999. Eso significa que para catorce años, Brian estaba un carácter principal. Lo no tiene sentido matar de la serie porque Seth McFarlane hace la voz de Brian, por eso, ¿por que mata él? También, el modo que Brian murió no estaba aún honorable. Brian murió de un carro. He podría murió en su sueño. Eso escucha como un modo bien para un carácter morir.   

Soy feliz que Brian es vivo otra vez. Yo entiendo completamente porque personas estaban enojado sobre la muerte de Brian. Yo solo puedo esperar que Seth McFarlane no mata otras caracteres de la serie.


~~~

BBC Mundo. "Brian De "Family Guy" Volvió a La Vida." Http://www.elnuevodia.com/. BBC Mundo, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013

PALABRAS: 253

Edgar Allan Poe't

Edgar Allan Poe’t

I am.

Art defines me.


It defines my being and when I’m gone my art will live through the people who thought the most of me. 



Poet, they say. Favors asked upon misconception. They said I am not who I say I am but in fact I am who made me. Rappers are just rappers but I was put here to create. 



Create, they say. They ask for the old me back. Though I am a futurist. 2023 they ask where will I be. I am Edgar Allan Poe, no “Edgar Allan Poe’t”, I have been longing to present a piece with this title. I am all my grandmother taught me about art. 



Art, they say. They ask for Picasso not realizing Poe was an artist. Words are expression. Expression is me. I express that I am not perfect I long for perfection. I lost my ambition at a point when my mentor was taken. At that point I was awakened, then I began a journey to turn my art into more than visual; but instead turn them into the words and paint the painting in your mind. These painting have a home.



Home, they ponder. (the nonbelievers) of course. This is a sport, the paintings live where you believe. I live where my mentor passed, in the same place where I keep those paintings that these paintings from my mind. I am my mentor in the flesh. 



Deep thought, they know nothing of. 4 years and counting my mentor has been above not where I keep the paintings but paradise. This is the paradise. Cairo Casanova is the new reformed me, I am writing this with tears in my eyes knowing you could not read this to you. 



Application, I tell. I apply my philosophy to life and my life to your teachings to my day to day. This is a genre itself. A reflection into the horizon I am looking at just looking back. I cannot pretend that I have it all figured out. Though I am looking at myself from the outside there’s two of me; the reformed me.



Genre, they only know hip-hop. Not the origin just the modern. Color, is expression, which is deep thought. Application to the art itself makes a home, there you will learn to create they know nothing of it. If you cannot grasp this you simply have not the right mentor as I. My mentor is in the sky, she is awake like I, I think of her everyday and won’t forget the AY. Deeper meaning behind the things I do if you have influence this piece will be more to you than a rant but a different look on life.


Edgar Allan Poe lost his mother, he was influence, genre, application, deep thought, home, art, he did create, and he was a poet. 


Art defines me. 

Sincerely, TJay The Poet or Cairo Casanova

For Edgar Allan Poe’t

The Paradox of the Internet

  Hello my name is Ian Fay and I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am currently working on an assignment known as the You and The World Project. What I will do is I take a very pressing issue and try to be an "agent of change" for the issue. Then I am to create a series of three blog posts for the issue (this one being the first). The issue that I chose to tackle is Internet Privacy, the issue of companies invading the online privacy of many online customers.

    The issue is interesting to me because the Internet is a big part of current technological history. It is a very reliable resource that most of the world has access to for information, entertainment, and many other things. However, It seems to lend itself to have perfect anonymity. If you have seen companies ask for your personal information then it is very wise to keep it a secret. All of these websites that you use are very susceptible to hacking. Over the years many insurance, video game, and entertainment companies have been hacked allowing the hackers to have access to personal information. This would lead to many crimes such as identity theft, hacking bank accounts of customers, and in a few cases stalking and murdering innocent customers. This is the reason why this is such a hard and murky issue to solve. The internet is an open tool usable by many of the world’s population but, these hackers can be camouflaged by the internet allowing for complete ambiguity. The issue itself is mostly seen as a paradox.


    What I and the many others who fight this issue hope to achieve in this issue is an idea known as net neutrality. Net neutrality is the idea of everyone having equal access to the internet. With it, nothing stops anyone from having a lesser connection or having inferior virus software than someone that is richer, smarter, a better job, etc.. That one principle is the keystone to having total equality in the internet. Unfortunately companies are planning to violate this idea of equality. While conducting research I stumbled upon a website that I found to be quite alarming. The site had a video that explained how these companies are doing this. Imagine a street with cars going at the exact same speed, this is how the line that cable providers such as Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable is visualized. Everyone has the exact same connections whether they may be people living in apartments or business tycoons with gigantic salaries. That line isn’t allowed to be interacted with by these companies, so what do they do? They create a separate line that has a better connection than the standard line. The only people who have access to this line are those that are willing to pay more money to use it while the rest are left with the worse connection. This discriminatory act is defying the very principle I and and those who fight this hope to uphold.

     While this may all look grim, many people have not given up this battle. The website that provided that video was a site named savetheinternet.com. These freedom fighters have created a big following that have voiced themselves to the world. Also a affected by this issue, minorly or majorly, then we can finally be rid of this problem for good. website named internetsociety.org helps employees manage their online lives to ensure that they do not face the same fate as other unsuspecting workers. This is where these people and I see hope. If more people join this cause we can once again achieve perfect net neutrality.

    The invasion of Internet Privacy is a very difficult issue to solve. There are many differing points of view, multiple technological snafus, and the notion of something as open as the internet allowing for complete anonymity is very paradoxical. It doesn’t seem to be feasible to achieve. However we cannot give up this fight. If everyone who feels

Annotated Bibliography     

States Laws pertaining to online privacy

Net Neutrality

Q2 Reflection #3:“7 maneras de escapar a la Navidad”

Audrey Pham

Q2

Melanie Manuel

Word Count: 200


7 maneras de escapar a la Navidad”



Algunos personas realmente odian Navidad. Algunos personas piensan Navidad es una pesadilla. Hoy el mejor manera a deja las vacaciones es dejan el país. Ve a nueva Zelanda, visita un país no cristiano, visita un país comunista, ve a un retiro, ve a una ciudad fiestera,  trabaja, piérdete. Billete de avión a nueva Zelanda es barato. Van a un país no cristiano con no tiene Vanidad porque es otro religión. Van a visita un país comunista sin embargo, China y Vietnam tienen árboles de Navidad porque comercializa Navidad. O haces yoga o meditación de silenciosa. Hacer ejercicio o haces yoga o meditación de silenciosa puede ayudar escarpase desde personas especialmente Navidad. También, usted puede trabajar. La hora pasan rápido. Sin embargo, mucha gente quisieren no tenían trabajar. Mi madre debe ir a trabajar en Navidad y mi familia no le gusta. Hay maneras más a escapar a la Navidad sin embargo este artículo no tiene no más. Es agradable a celebrar Navidad porque es mágico hora de año. Me gusta navidad aunque no soy cristiano. Más, los niños les encantan Navidad porque presentes desde relativos y amigos. Nueva palabras de vocabulario aprendí es evasión, helicóptero, ardiente, azotada, salir, y conexiones.

Article Response #3 [Q2]

http://www.pontealdia.com/estados-unidos/secuestrados-en-siria-dos-periodistas-espanoles.html


Lauren Thomas          Q2

Senorita Manuel


Secuestrados en Siria dos periodistas españoles


Secuestrados en Siria dos periodistas españoles. Desde dieciséis de septiembre dos mil doce, dos personas, Javier Espinosa y Ricardo García, que hayan sido secuestrados. El grupo que los secuestra Javier Espinosa y Ricardo García es una organización radical conectada con Al-Qaeda. El grupo es el Estado Islámico de Irak y Siria (ISIS en inglés). Javier Espinosa y Ricardo García son periodistas. Javier y Ricardo fueron en Siria por un semana de trabajo. Ellos fueron capturados en Raqqa, una provincia del norte de Siria. Ellos fueron liberados tras 12 días.


El director de El Mundo, Pedro J. Ramirez, dijo el último contacto con los secuestrados fue hace un mes.


Yo decidí escribir sobre este artículo porque este artículo es triste. Eventos como este necesitan que se hable de más para que todos sepan lo que está sucediendo.


Yo aprendido nueva vocabulario de este artículo. Yo aprendido que abandonar es “to leave” en Inglés. Yo aprendido que secuestrados es “kidnapped” en Inglés. Yo aprendido que retenidos es “retained” en Inglés.


Deseo y espero que los secuestros de personas en todo el mundo se detendría. Es triste cuando se toman las personas. La gente tiene familias y vidas y la gente los ama. Es triste cuando están tomadas de la vida cotidiana.


WORD COUNT: 209