Semester Reflection Part 2

Besides grades, the thing that motivates me to work hard in school is the accomplishment oh just being able to say that I completed high school. Not a lot of people get to say they graduated from high school.

I care about my future, but lately I've been lacking to show that I do care. What I'm going to do about it is Force myself from things that distract me, and listen to music so that I won't get easily distracted.

The greatest challenge my generation is facing is if we can save the world and /or change the world. Meaning that my generation would have to go green to help restore the Earth back to a beautiful place to live. The necessary thing to do would be to continue to make user friendly, Earth friendly, solar powered, and bio-degradable materials that aren't harmful to the Planet Earth

A quality in a classmate that I would like to take on is having the ability to write very well. I know in the future that I will have to write essays and exam papers, so having the ability to write very well is something I would like to have.

Semester Reflections Part 1

I think the most valuable mistake I made was during the process of Media Saves the Beach (MSB). I kept getting hints from the teacher on how I should be helping others with their videos, or have people critique my script, and I wouldn't catch the hints that I should be working on the video because time is running out. I wish I would've caught the hints early so I would've done a better documentary video.

The project most valuable to me was Ampersand. I learned that Ampersand was reflected your experiences in the real world and how you viewed them. I learned that there are people in high places that really like the book Ampersand. I also learned that at in my article, I've grown as a writer.

I've learned that I work best when I'm doing work while listening to music. I've never gotten work done like I do when I'm listening to music. It blocks out all other conversations noises and distractions the could possibly slow me down.

Historical Reflections

If I were to bring someone to college, it would be Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). I would bring him with me because of how much he used the Big Stick Diplomacy towards other people. It was a threat it was just a reminder to let people know that if you don't cooperate, I can't stop these people from responding. Whenever I needed help he would come to my support. For example, if i got a "C" on a quiz, I would use him as the Big Stick Diplomacy and say I don't think giving me such a grade is a good idea.

Literary Reflections...

If there was one character I had to bring with me on to college it would be a Tralfmadorian. I would bring them with me because they have the ability to see into the future. On campus, they would be the counselors. I believe they would be great counselors because of how they could look into the future, and see the outcome of people lives. In Slaughterhouse Five, it seems that they work from the end of your life to the beginning. So since they work backwards, and you go from beginning to end, they already know the consequence of everything you do. I want to bring this character because they could help me make tough decisions. Even though they know the consequence of everything you do, I wouldn't want them to make the decisions for me because they are some decisions I would like to make on my own, so I could learn things in life and be a lot more wise as I get to my elderly days. I like the way they look at our human lives because they see it as us trapped in amber and this refers to the quote wen Billy Pilgrim is actually trpped in amber like a bug...

Post Trial Refection

1. The prosecution's argument was that the bill was going against a federal law which no state can do. they said that this bill will include racial profiling. They are also saying that its more important that innocent people are protected than guilty people are punished. they argued that not all illegal immigrants are committing crimes, that some are just looking for jobs. Just because a bill is popular, doesn't make it morally correct. Arizona has overlooked the federal law. They referred back to the constitution saying that everyone has natural rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Prosecution witnesses were : John Adams, James Madison, Raul Grijalva

2. The Defendants argument was that the bill was going to be a helpful thing for the illegal immigrants. That it could potentially save them from dangerous temperatures and other things that could fatally injure them. That immigration needs to be adressed

Defense witnesses-

- Jan Brewer

- Russel Pierce

- Robert Watchorne

3. The most significance piece of evidence was about how the police could arrest a person because the person looks like "they are thinking about a crime" and how that was racial profiling.

4. That you can't just arrest a person or an illegal immigrant unless they committed a crime, and if the only crime they committed was existing then you can't arrest them or anything because that would be racial profiling which is also against the law.

5. Well, at first I was apart of the jury and I do believe they violated the spirit of the United States' immigrant history through AZ SB1070 and HB2162. I agree with the jury because I was part of the jury and also because they were going against a federal law. Which a law clearly states that a state law cannot override a federal law.

I think I deserve a 47 out of 50 points because during the Mock Trial Court session I was neutral. I was biased to either side, because I honestly knew that I was going to learn a lot more than what I already knew. I took lots of notes, I payed close attention to what witnesses were saying. I was a help rather than a distraction. But, towards the end of the court session, I began to notice that I started to lean to one side because I felt that one side was giving more evidence, making more sense, and got the opponents witnesses to break down and agree with them. As a result I do agree with the jury's verdict.

WW2 Letters

1. I'm a soldier at Iwo Jima. I decided to be a soldier on Iwo Jima because of the t.v. show NCIS. The way they showed the emotions of this certain soldier was inspiring to me. Also, because of how interesting they portrayed a certain part of the war/battle.

2. The Battle of Iwo Jima began February 19, 1945 and ended March 25, 1945.

- The U.S. invasion was charged with the mission of capturing the two airfields on Iwo Jima. The battle produced some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Campaign of World War II.

- Kuribayashi also received a handful of kamikaze pilots used against the American fleet. Three hundred American navy sailors were killed by kamikazes throughout the battle.

- Controversially, the U.S. Navy only provided three days of bombardment, rather than ten requested by the Marines.

SITES:

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

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWjima.htm

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/mont-iwo-jima-soldier-honored-65-years-later-43620

Semester DOS, Blog #15

*Technology:

The technology interested me the most because of how they made the nuclear bomb, and what massive damage it had on the countries it bombed. Also, because I'm into war games. I know about the Mustard Gas and how it was undetectable in the air and it would cause severe deforming to the skin and even when you breathed it in I believe. I want to learn more about the different other bombs than the Mustard Gas, H bomb, nuclear bomb, and the atomic bomb I think?

Semester DOS, Blog #14

1. What are the most interesting aspects of World Wars 1 and 2?

- The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. He was the heir to the Austrian throne and was murdered by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. This was the spark that caused war to be declared.

- First known use of chemical weapons (mustard Gas) was in World War 1.

- More than 9 million died on the battlefield, and nearly that many more on the home fronts because of food shortages, genocide, and ground combat.

- World War 1 or the First World War, 1914 - 1918, was the first war that involved nations spanning more than half the globe.

- The World War 1 was commonly called “The Great War” or sometimes “the war to end wars” until World War II started .

- 12,000 heavy bombers were shot down in World War 2

- There were 433 Medals of Honor awarded during World War 2, 219 of them were given after the recipient's death

- Air attacks caused 1/3 of German Generals' deaths

- Most members of the Waffen SS were not German.

- 84 German Generals were executed by Hitler

Sources: http://www.strange-facts.info/facts-about-world-war-1, http://www.world-war-2.info/facts/

2. What do you hope to learn about these wars?

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3. How/Why are these wars important today? How do they impact and/or inform our world today? hint: think about alliances, democracies around the world, cultures, international institutions, nuclear (and other) technologies, etc.

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Semester TWO, Blog #13 (GOW Final Essay)

In my opinion the balance between the “zoomed out” chapters and the regular chapters was not mind grabbing at all. Zoomed out chapters distracted me so much that it took away from what story was suppose to be about. It was dull, boring, slow, and got me off track of the storyline. Way too descriptive in the zoomed out chapters. Consequently, these unnecessary "zoomed out" chapters are what ultimately ruined the story as a whole.

Zoomed out chapters weren’t helpful in the book. For example, when you’re reading about Tom Joad and the truck driver talking,and then suddenly switch to an entire chapter about a turtle crossing the road, and then back to a chapter about Tom Joad and Jim Casey meeting Muley. Every other chapter has major jumps, and sometimes don’t even relate to each other.

The book was uninteresting because of how slow paced it was. It made me want to put the book down because of how little happened, and the way things were told in the book. For example, even though the turtle chapter was clearly random, in my opinion, it had one action part in it but after that, you don’t get much of it anymore. I believe that the more action it would’ve had given me much more interest.

The “zoomed out” foreshadowed and symbolized different things throughout the book. They could have inserted them as clips in the normal chapters instead of making them full on “zoomed out” chapters that made them seem very irrelevant to the story. These chapters that were very broad meant something later in the book. For example, when the turtle was crossing the road and almost got hit, then Tom picked him up, then put at symbolized the farmers and croppers going West to California.

In conclusion, because of the random chapters in the book, they had a big impact on future situations. Although they symbolized something, me and my fellow classmates wouldn’t read the book again, because it had a huge impact on us.

Semester TWO, Blog #12

Mind is going blank right now......

Semester TWO, Blog #10

So Far I would say so because of how the book focuses on the journey of the Joad Family getting to California. Also because of the way it goes into detail about the trip. It seems like you know every move the characters make in the book. At the beginning, the book, was clearly biased to the Dust Bowl farmers because of the length the author chose to talk about it. It just seemed like the author put more effort into the beginning, then he did when he started getting further into the book. Although the book elaborates more on the journey to California, in the beginning the Grapes Of Wrath does establish sympathy for the plight of the Dust Bowl farmers.

Semester TWO, Blog #9

I think i have let my imagination and thought process go wild in a way that helped me pic my topic. in this more structural way for ampersand helped me stay focused on what certain type of writing i was suppose to be doing

(Adding more)

Semester TWO, Blog #8

(Will ADD MORE!... I'll Try To..)

Barack Hussein Obama
- Stimulus packages

- Trying to bring back the troops from Iraq

- 700 billion dollar bailout

- Hands-on government

- Better health care

-

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- FDR was adamant about helping people and changing the economy, and he compared it to a “war against the emergency”

- FDR was willing to confront congress aggressively

- Created Social Security and the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) to safeguard the people

- Made disability benefits available to the disabled

- Established the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) to bring power to rural communities

- He brought us the New Deal: new agencies, new policies, new bills, passed

- He started broadcasting on the radio (“Fireside chats”), to reassure the public and gained even
more popularity as a result

- He was very approachable, warm, caring, involved, and reassuring

- People seemed to like his ideas better because he was focused on the people

- Big picture

- Endorsing new governing philosophy; government should serve the people by getting involved/taking action

- Higher expectations for govenrment thatn the people

- Almost assassinated

Semester TWO, Blog #7

I believe that my company would have sunk. Being that my company was a non-profit organization, they thrived on for profit organization, which would cause them to fall. It would cause them to fall because if the for profits were running out of business and loosing money, then that would mean that non profits--which is the org. where I had my internship--wouldn't be able to support themselves because they wouldn't have the money. My internship also depended on consumers. If the consumers weren't buying products then the company would loose money which cause them to give smaller org's less money then they usually would donate. Or they wouldn't have any money to donate at all.

Semester TWO, Blog #6

Muley:

"I got her! If ever a man got a does of the spirit, I got her! Got her all of a flash!"

"His movements were jerky and quick."

"I'll be aroun' till hell freezes over. There ain't nobody can run a guy name of graves outa this country. An' they ain't done it neither."

"I tell ya, men, I'm stayin'. They aint gettin' rid a me. If they through me off, ill come back....I ain't a-goin'. My pa come here fifty years ago. An' i ain't a-goin'."

These show that Muely is a crazy red neck. Since he didnt come into contact at all with anyone due to the fact he ran from the cops, so this caused him to be little insane in the brain.

Photo Essay

This is the building where I worked for the course of my internship. This was where I setup up the computers and installed hardware. I would unhook my seat belt with my right hand; walked up to the door to where I proved myself each time I crossed the threshold and I greeted each staff member in the building. I made my way to the kitchen for the coffee, my morning wake up call. Immediately, Mac McGee—Executive Director of All Congregations Together (ACT)—called my name and I hurried to his office. On my way there I wiped the crust out of my eyes my eyes and hoped that there wasn’t any trace of sleep in them. “Hello!” my mentor, Mac, said, “Well today we are going on a trip. I want to show you the transportation part of this organization.” I just nodded and turned to the kitchen yearning for the fresh coffee. I quickly turned back as he look up at me. I smiled back.




This is called the Writers Block located in the back of the Southeastern Teen Center; where kids can go graffiti and express themselves legally. Every time I head to the office, I see this work of art. My mentor introduced me to Lamar Jackson, the Executive Director of The Southeastern Teen Center, who helped create Writers Block. I’ve seen some of the other teens that come here and make their art piece. Some of the things on the other side of that wooden wall are just awe-breathtaking. I was amazed by the things that I saw and when I began think of layout designs and different other graphic designs for the computers. I would just think about the time I saw this and this began to inspire me to setup the display screens along with the tower designated to a certain staff member because of the way they want their complete set to look like. During this time I envisioned cups of coffee up on the wall of writers block. Hallucinating from the lack of caffeine like daydream of me at a restaurant drink coffee with a cup of coffee.




These are the brand new computers that were donated to the organization. I replaced these with the old profiles that were previously there. Having to work on these for most of my time at internship was a wonderful and great experience. Whenever there was a problem I was the one they went to for help, and that felt really good because it was nice for people who usually wouldn’t ask for my help needed my there. I had to transfer all of the information from the old profiles and put them on these brand new ones that were donated to them. I put the latest Microsoft office 2007 on there and various other software products. I truly believed that my mentor was very pleased with the progress I made during the course of my internship, as he thanked me and told me what a great job I did on the computers. “Ok so what I want you to do is take out these old profiles,” my mentor began, “and put in the newer donated ones that are in the warehouse”. And those were my only two tasks to do, in the beginning. So even though that was just a general objective, one thing still bounced around in my mind. How am I going to do this? First thing I did was ask what I was supposed to check for. Then I configured a list and made another checklist for the software and hardware that I put on each of the ten computers. I started tackling my test.




These are the old profiles that I took out and put in the warehouse. These profiles have only 8GB of memory and 128MB of RAM plus another 64MB RAM chip inserted. When I first took a look at these old computers I noticed instantly the lack of up-to-date technology. My mentor had to put one or two more extra sticks of RAM in to the computer and still only had 256MB of RAM total. When I switched out these old computers with the newer ones, I felt good that I was able to help with the process of updating the office. There are things that they couldn’t do quickly enough in a timely manner with these profiles. They were extremely slow and they couldn’t bring up a program like Microsoft Word or the Internet Browser. A snail could get across a 2-inch bridge faster than I could open the program.. Switching out these computers was a breeze, at least until I had to transfer the information over to the new Dell’s that were in the other room. Thinking of transferring things, I want to transfer the coffee into a cup with some creamer. Would my coffee break ever come?




This is Mrs. Blanca Lara, 93, whom I helped so she could see her husband. I thought if ACT weren’t there to provide the services she needed, she would most likely have to take public transportation. Ever since I helped her into the car, she would talk her mouth away. But it wasn’t random awkward things she said. They were stories that flowed together. I remember one thing the most. She said that she wished she had more kids because her only son, I believe, lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and can’t help care for her and her husband. As a result she lives in a senior citizen home by herself. When my mentor asked me what I thought, I said, “I had just thought, what if we, meaning this organization, weren’t here to provide her with the transportation services? How would she get to where she needed to be? That would mean that she would have to take public transportation; and a 93 yr. old woman taking public transportation just doesn’t sound right or safe at all.” Thinking of the transportation I look out the window, and see a Star Bucks. I am quickly reminded of those wondrous images that I once put away.

Semester TWO, Blog #5

1. Front Page of Lynn's DP
- I like her front page because of the simplicity it has yet it's very detailed. she explains a lot about herself in a way that's isn't too hard to follow with different gadgets in the way flying across the screen; its very professional

2. Corey's Internship Photo Essay Page
- The same thing with this one. He has pictures of different things he did. I noticed that he had a photo of him at internship on the computer. I haven't seen this layout before so this is unique in its simplicity while portraying who he is. it's very organized nothing it out of order; its structural and format is really good.

3. D'Vaughn's Blog
- Her blog is really well thought out. To me it looks as if she built it from scratch. It's very descriptive, with very simple content. She has complex words that suffice. Overall her blog, I say, would be a perfect example for a blog to be like.

Semester TWO, Blog #4

My hopes for this project is that I will be able to get the in between due dates during the process of this project completed, and met. I hope that it goes smoothly and I don't get distracted by little things that could be easily avoided. I hope I get as much critiques as I possibly can so my work will show how much effort I put into it. My goal for Ampersand is to show off my best work. I want to be able to look at my work in the book, and not second guess it; not say things like maybe I should've did or said this, maybe I should've change this and said it like that. My greatest goal is to look back at this project as say "that is my work in that book". My ambition is to gain more knowledge in the humanities subject. To gain more knowledge about what ampersand is all about and new, improved and better writing tips.

Semester TWO, Blog #3

Interview of MAC McGee

Willie J. McGee makes extraordinary contributions to our community in his role as the Executive Director at All Congregations Together (ACT.) Mac‘s excellent leadership ability is evidenced through ACT’s award winning community services to underserved families and local businesses. ACT has served in excess of 20 organizations and agencies as well as provided over 1,000,000 trips for seniors, youth and individuals with limited means via the ComLink Vanpool and Transportation Services. MAC is a significant Diamond Community Fund Investor with (Jacobs center Neighborhood Innovation JCNI and greatly involved in the Village Center Design Project. MAC received recognition and commendation from the California State Assembly for his 10 years of hard work and commitment to the California Community Renewal Summit. Prior to forming ACT in 1996, MAC worked for the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a GM-15. He has over thirty years experience in various forms of transportation and related community services. He is a San Diego State University Community Economic Development graduate, undergrad in engineering, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA.)

MAC McGee is a tall, slim man with broad shoulders. He’s somewhat quiet with a smooth walk that makes him look graceful as if he walks in mid-air. Very involved in community activities: like the Census Bureau, and the RTP of 2050. He has an audio/video studio and ham radio station in his home. He takes photos and records video presentations in his spare time. It helps his company to know things about video and audio. He’s someone who likes to see things in black and white. Extremely educated, full of wisdom, and ready to pour out wise things to those who want to be wise. Formed ACT because a number of people in his church needed work-related resources.

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: Grew up in Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. Mom and dad past away. Youngest of the siblings. Lived wherever old siblings lived. My siblings, older sisters and brothers, had kids and grew up with their kids more than them (siblings).

Q: How low have you been interested in engineering?

A: Always interested in engineering. It was easy. I didn’t want to play basketball, I was clumsy! I’m lazy that’s why I chose it. If I didn’t have this organization, there would be a lot of people with ways to go anywhere. It was easy for him. Says he has an analytical mind, likes to analyze things.

Q: How did this organization come about?

A: Working at a church and people kept coming in with needs, but church couldn’t help, them. That’s how he formed it. Esther, my daughter, was their when it was formed. And has been with them since 1996.

Q: What were of up and downs of having this organization?

A: Its always been funding. Just being able to have enough revenue to provide the services. Especially when you’re a non-profit. That’s always been a struggle and problem. You provide the service, but go else where to get the money. ACT has benefitted because they have government contracts to support their needs. Not all non-profits have government contracts. We have it because we do a lot of technical stuff; a lot of other non-profits do that type of stuff.

Semester TWO Blog #2

Willie J. McGee makes extraordinary contributions to our community in his role as the Executive Director at All Congregations Together (ACT.) MAC‘s excellent leadership ability is evidenced through ACT’s award winning community services to underserved families and local businesses. ACT has served in excess of 20 organizations and agencies as well as provided over 1,000,000 trips for seniors, youth and individuals with limited means via the ComLink Vanpool and Transportation Services. MAC is a significant Diamond Community Fund Investor with JCNI and greatly involved in the Village Center Design Project. MAC received recognition and commendation from the California State Assembly for his 10 years of hard work and commitment to the California Community Renewal Summit. Prior to forming ACT in 1996, MAC worked for the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a GM-15. He has over thirty years experience in various forms of transportation and related community services. He is a San Diego State University Community Economic Development graduate and has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA.)

Semester TWO, Blog #1

Ampersand 52-55 Interview
Ampersand 70-75 Interview

A really good interview I would say is a blend of many different things, like information that's related to the topic but it does not make the reader swamped with so much to read. The finished product must also have some pictures to get the reader's attention, so that they become distracted while reading. When composing an interview, I think it's better and easier to begin the interview by providing a little bit about the person, who is the person being interviewed and possibly have some additional questions and answers. What really makes these types of writing's is if the reader is able to grasp and understand the key point and reason of the interview and still be able to take some quotes or anything they find mind grabbing from the writing.