Kellys American Studies

progress?

2009-06-01T11:11:00.001-05:00

I see brown sprouts reaching out, colors on the sprouts, shaped in a circle. I think the brown sprouts are branches; the colors are seasons, in a cycle. Nick Carraway says, “Cluster of leaves revolved…tracing… leg of transit…thin red circle in the water” (162). The seasons always seem new, but they repeat in the same cycle. America’s history repeats itself, in a cycle. Two parallels include the Iraq War to Vietnam, like the red circle of death and the recession to the Great Depression, both seem like the leg of transit of the economy. History is not identical, but similar.

welcome to san fran

2009-05-26T17:17:00.000-05:00

I went to California this weekend for my cousins wedding and it was a very interesting experience. We spent quite a bit of time in San Francisco, and I experienced a totally different world. I have been there before but every time I go I see completely knew things. I will share a few of the many stories in this blog post. We took a public bus to the area we were going to shop in and it was interesting in itself. I witnessed all different types of people, looks, and smells. Most of the people on the bus in my opinion were out of the ordinary of my world. Once we got off of the bus, the streets were a whole new thing. One of the first things we saw was multiple groups of people spread out doing interpretive dances with music and strange movements and positions. There were street performers as well that were quite entertaining but usually crazy. There was this one man that wasn’t performing but he was making fur hats, the weird part of it was he had a dog, cat, and rat that would lie on top of each other like a tower and would lick each other and basically live on each other. He would say something to them and they would change positions. There were also many homeless people around and there was one that stuck out the most to me because he came up to my family and began pestering us. He was carrying a pretty big boom box but it had no batteries so he kept asking for batteries then would repeat this rap saying “all we need is a straight up beat” and dancing in our faces. It was entertaining but kind of scary because he wouldn’t go away and kept repeating the same few lines and questions to us. I could share many more stories but this blog would be pages long. San Francisco is definitely a people place because of the diversity of races and social class. I was thinking about social class and the markers that we see around us as I was in the city and then when I was in my aunt and uncle’s neighborhood where we were staying in Los Altos. Los Altos has less diversity and is much like the North Shore compared to the city of San Francisco or Chicago.
California is a great place! Everyone should try to go sometime!
Do you have any stories from California or any other vacations?

life in the North Shore

2009-05-16T13:24:00.000-05:00

We have been talking about markers of class and class in general this past week. I feel as if the North Shore cares about making their markings of class more visible than other places. The saying “keeping up with the Jones’” is very prominent within this area. People feel as if they need to one up one another and get the newest and better things. I feel like it is pretty pathetic because it really does not matter in the grand scheme of things. It is not only with materialistic things though, it also occurs with colleges and careers. It feels as if everyone is judging you based on what colleges you get into and what college you decide to go to. Sometimes I feel like it is hard to live in this area when you’re not at the top of everything all of the time.

What are your feelings about living in the North Shore? What are the major markers of class in your opinion?

Proud To Be An American

2009-05-10T17:09:00.003-05:00

I drove around my neighborhood to look for American flags and I made some very interesting observations. There were not many flags around and when they were the majority of them were not flying high and proud. The first flag that I saw was at a small bank and it was on the flag pole, it was one of the flags that were powerful. I then saw a flag in the window of an apartment, but it was a sticker and very small, it was in the midst of other stickers and did not make a strong appearance. Most of the flags that I saw were not the visible either. The flag that made the biggest impression on me was the flag that was completely tattered and looked like it had been through a lot and had been hanging outside for a long time.
During our discussion in class we were debating about when and where it is disrespectful to have the flag present. Some people believed that it was disrespectful to have the flag on silverware or on a dumpster, but I completely disagree with this. Shattering a mug that has an image of the American flag on it is not offensive, but tearing an American flag to pieces is offensive because it is the actual, tangible flag and the real symbol of America. When an American flag is completely tattered and dirty like one of the flags that I saw, it needs to be replaced. I think that is kind of insulting to hang an American flag that is destroyed. In my opinion it resembles vulnerability and weakness and that is not how America should be viewed. America is powerful and strong and American’s should have a lot of pride. The flag does represent that and I do believe that American’s should show that and the easiest way is to always have the flag raised or hung high and completely visible.

This is the American flag that was given to me and does hang in my house; it is not the flag that goes outside though. It is the flag that was flown over the capital and was dedicated to me.

This is the certificate that came with it as proof.

J.T. #5

2009-05-04T18:22:00.001-05:00

I have just completed putting my packets together to turn in the final for junior theme. Although it has seemed like a long process to get to this point, it has really flown by. It has taken a lot of work and concentration. When we finally turn everything in tomorrow it will be a huge relief and burden off of our shoulders. There have been some very stressful moments but all in all I thought it was a pretty smooth process and a lot less painful then everyone makes it out to be. I can finally say that I have completed everything for my junior theme and it is a memory, not anticipation.

J.T. #4

2009-04-26T16:56:00.001-05:00

I feel as if I am in a pretty good place with my paper. This week I completed my annotated bibliography, which took a pretty long time. It was helpful while I was writing my paper because I could look there to see what major points I got from my different sources. I also listened to my interview that I conducted last week to write down direct quotes to put into my paper. I have completed my paper. The one part that I have struggled with is successfully addressing the other side. I am going to keep working on it today to make it stronger. With where I am now I am hoping to have a final by Friday.

J.T. #3

2009-04-18T17:42:00.001-05:00

The most stressful part of my junior theme so far was finding an expert on my topic to interview. I emailed at least 15 people and only a few responded. Only 1 of them said that they would be happy to do it. I interview her today and she was very helpful and gave great, thorough responses. I was able to accomplish the one thing that I did not have much control over for the paper. I have been working on a rough draft of my paper for most of the day today and I am close to being done. I have also completed citing all of my sources into noodle bib, so all I have left for that aspect are my annotations. The hardest part of all of this has just been getting started and getting all of the ideas out and flowing. Once that starts, it’s all downhill (in a positive way). Right now I am struggling with choosing my quotes for my body paragraphs and making sure they are the strongest and wisest ones. I feel pretty good about my position with the paper right now.

J.T. #2

2009-04-10T22:34:00.001-05:00

So far for my junior theme I have collected many articles from my research and have annotated them all to see what materials I have to use to create my paper. I have also read the book To Hell With All That by Caitlin Flanagan. I am probably going to end up reading another book as well because I was not able to get as much as I wanted out of this book although it did have some great insights for my paper. The one thing that I have struggled with is figuring out what information will support my paper and what is pointless information. I wrote my intro and thesis statement, but I am not too sure about my map and the paragraph overall yet. I am hoping I will be able to get some feedback this weekend or early in the week about it.

J.T. #1

2009-04-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

It has finally begun, the one, the only junior theme! This is the time in every junior’s life that unbelievable stress is supposed to kick in. Thanks to Mr. Bolos and Mr. O’Connor the stress may not be as bad as it is in other American Studies or regular English classes. Our junior theme is incredibly different than other classes, as our whole course has been this whole year. When I first started brainstorming topics I thought I would do something leaning towards a medical aspect, but I couldn’t think of something that really clicked for me. Mr. Bolos and Mr. O’Connor have shut down some of my ideas, but now as I look back it was rightfully so. My overall question now is why are American women still responsible for the majority of household labor? I was surprised to find so many statistics on this topic of men vs. women within a household, but there are a lot out there. It is interesting because most families with children are two career families (both the husband and wife work) yet the mother is responsible for most all of the duties at home as well and does the most child care. I am anxious to find out the reasoning behind it all, especially since the times of all women only being the housewife and the men working to make all of the money are over.

should we treat them or not?

2009-03-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

As I was looking through the Chicago Tribune a story came up about a woman who came to the U.S. from Mexico illegally. She used someone else’s identification to access health care. She had cervical cancer and did not have medical insurance in Mexico. When she came to Chicago she got three rounds of chemotherapy at the University of Chicago Medical Center, costing $530,000 in care. The argument that she made was that she did not put anyone in danger and was only doing it so she wouldn’t be in pain anymore.
This raises the question, is she a criminal? Although identity theft and fraud are crimes, is there also a moral question of the entitlement to medical care? Should everyone be entitled to health care and insurance, no matter what the cost? This is a major question within U.S. citizens, so should the people who are here illegally be treated?

LOOK FAST!

2009-03-05T17:56:00.000-06:00

After leaving class today I really started to think critically about my surroundings. The first thing I saw was a locker decorated for the varsity basketball team; I realized that there wasn’t an announcement about them having an unfortunate loss last night. It is interesting because the only time anything about sports or achievements of anyone in the school is if they are the best. It is unfortunate that our community is like this. The saying if you aren’t first, you’re last really sums up how the New Trier community is. This does not only apply to activities at school either. There have been many tragedies that have gone on while I have lived in this area and it seems like it is the worst community to be in during hard times. It is as if people become embarrassed of their down times and have to cover it up because their persona of perfection is gone. I think it is a horrible way to live life. There are going to be ups and downs and times in the middle and that is life. I think people need to be more open and glorify the small things in life as well or else no one will appreciate life unless the grandest events happen. Everyone needs to get a reality check on life and really realize what it is all about.
What have you noticed about New Trier? What are your thoughts about how everyone acts?

want to join the Mickey Mouse Club?

2009-02-27T18:14:00.001-06:00

TV tokenism has been a major theme within our American Studies class this year. Going back a few decades, Annette on the Mickey Mouse Club became the most well know and famous mouseketeer because she was the most ethnic looking person on TV during the 50’s. They used her most on the show for that purpose. They wanted to show the best of what America was. This completely goes along with the idea of TV tokenism. It has been going on forever. She was the only person on the show that was ethnic looking. It is interesting that it is not just a current idea for shows to succeed. The Mickey Mouse Club was the most popular show for kids for many years. It is unfortunate that shows like this are not able to stay around anymore. I feel like there aren’t any shows like this on TV currently.

Did your parents watch the Mickey Mouse Club when they were growing up? Don’t you feel like there aren’t any real American icon shows anymore? Doesn’t it seem like most everything on TV is trash?

how appealing is a bear or a chimp mauling you?

2009-02-20T13:36:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of the year we watched part of the movie “Grizzly Man”. It was a pretty memorable film about a man in Alaska who thought he had a major connection with bears and nature. It turned out that after being with them for years, there was one moment in time that the bears did not give him their usual response. He ended up getting mauled to death by one of the bears that he had a connection with. As I was watching parts of the news with my mom last night, a terrifying story came up. A woman in Connecticut had a pet chimpanzee that was considered part of the family. This chimp, named Travis had been a star on T.V. and Travis had been considered to be very tame and would do nothing to harm anyone. This was obviously proven wrong when the owner had a friend over and the chimp went crazy. He had been on anxiety medicine that may have caused him to be a little off. He mauled the woman (friend of the owner) for 12 minutes; he bit off both of her hands and tore up her face. The owner did try to stop him by stabbing him and bribing him and called the police, but when the police came he tried to attack them and so all they could do was hide in their cars and shoot him. He did not die instantly but he ran back inside to his play room and died there. The woman was sent to the hospital and had 7 teams of trauma surgeons trying to stabilize her since she was in such critical conditions.

The parallel between these two situations is pretty clear. They both show that even though you can tame a wild animal to a certain extent, they still have their wild life instincts. Nobody has any business acting as if a wild animal is a member of their family. If you are dealing with wild animals you need to be trained for the job you do, not as a leisure activity.

Would you ever consider working with wild animals or taming one to be your pet? What would you do if you were ever in a situation like these?

hey do you want to be my friend?

2009-02-16T11:43:00.001-06:00

In class last week, Mr. O’Connor posed a question about how conversations start and made some comments on conversation “etiquette”. I have actually thought about it a lot how conversations really start and how they differ from person to person. When I am in a long conversation I think about it after how we got to the last part of the conversation. It is so interesting how the mind works and what words or sentences trigger your brain to something else that is sometimes relevant and sometimes completely random.
There are those certain people your friendly with but are exactly “friends” per say and the only type of conversations you have is small talk. Those are the worst because not only is it awkward during the conversation but then to leave it even worse. The conversations you have with people you have the most common ground with usually tend to be the most successful and longest if you have the time.
When I don’t have something that I need to ask or tell a person when we start to have a conversation I think of the last conversation we had or something I know we have talked about before and say something about it then start from there. Conversations can get really rough really fast if certain topics are brought up. Transitions are Mr. O’Connor’s specialty but most people have problems with them, in writing and in conversations. If certain topics just don’t flow together they need to have something in between to connect them somehow. It is hard to do this on the spot sometimes or even if you have time.
How do your conversations differ from person to person? Do you like to start the conversations or end them? Do you have any tips for people who have trouble conversing with people in person?

changing his mind

2009-02-08T09:40:00.001-06:00

When former President George W. Bush deployed troops to the Middle East, he faced serious criticism. Then when he felt a surge of troops was needed many people said it would not work. The tables have turned now. President Barack Obama said throughout his campaign that he was going to bring the troops home and get them out of harm’s way, and there would be no way that he would deploy more soldiers. The funny thing is, now that he is in office and is getting the reality of the situations at hand, he has changed his course of action drastically. Now he is planning on sending thousands more soldiers overseas. Now that he is the president, what is the general public going to think of it? Is he going to be beat to shreds as was Bush, or is he going to be glorified? Is his whole campaign of “change” going down the drain? Will we find out more of who he really is and what he stands for now that he is actually in office? Realistically everything he said he was going to do is not going to happen. He is probably going to need to change his opinion and stance on many issues, as he has already. It will be interesting to watch out for is if he will be glorified or judged in a negative way.

money money money

2009-02-01T15:27:00.000-06:00

As we were talking about misleading narrators and depicting what the underlying meaning is, we led into talking about athletes. The mythology unit really coincided with athletes. It all started with Michael Vick. The question brought up was if he “broke” the myth that athletes are untouchable by the law. Since he was sentenced to 23 months of jail time, obviously he did not, at least with the case with him and the dog fighting. Everything that happens within the professional athletic world is surreal and strange to me. Although they put a lot of wear and tear on their bodies, I don’t understand why they are paid as much as they are. There are so many other jobs that people have that make the world a better place and save lives and do actually good for the country, but they don’t get paid nearly as much as they should or as much as the athletes. I love sports and I could only watch sports for the rest of my life but I don’t think that the athletes deserve how much they get paid. Most of the time and with most of the money they earn, it is not even put to good use. The athletes buy multimillion dollar houses, hundred of the thousand dollars worth of cars, and it is all blown away. They should save it and use it for things that are necessary, not just things they want. I think that the main reason for it is that some of them come from families that had almost no money and now they don’t know how to manage the huge pay checks that they get because they don’t look at the big picture of life. Overall the money needs to be put towards better uses, before it all gets to the athletes and once the athletes have it.

What is your take on it all? Do you think that the athletes deserve all of the money they get? How else do you think the money should be used or distributed?

WE NEED WATER!

2009-01-25T07:37:00.005-06:00

I have no idea what I would do if one day there was no access to fresh water. For one thing I would rush to the grocery stores and buy as many water bottles as I could. After watching the movie, “American Future: American Plenty”, it really made me think about my water usage, and hopefully it did to others as well. I am usually water conscience when I am using water, except for when I am in the shower. I am just like Mr. Bolos when it comes to wanting the water at a certain temperature. I will then take a long shower. Ironically yesterday, while I was in the shower, our hot water stopped working. I was just thinking, if I had actually listened to the movie in class, I would have been done already and I wouldn’t be in cold water right now. But it is not even close to not having water at all.

Luckily the water crises probably won’t hit home completely with our generation because there are enough resources, hopefully, for us to outlast but it is the future generations to worry about. One of the main topics in class was about watering lawns and being obsessive over it. The water being used to water the lawns, in my mind, is useless and should be used for more important things. One of the main questions is if new technology should be made for desalinization and use the salt water rather than the already fresh water, once it runs out. When should the process start?

What do you do or don’t do to save water? Did the video and discussions in class change your view?

fair pay? womens rights?

2009-01-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

Although equal rights for women and men have come a long way in the U.S. there are still aspects of this country that women do not have as fair of a chance. A major discrimination towards women that has continued is that women make 78 cents to a male colleague’s dollar. There have been many acts passed to make it closer, but it is still not equal. There are two bills that are trying to be passed within the very near future, The Paycheck Fairness Act and the Fair Pay Act. If employers do not follow the laws the penalties will be greater than before. The question of this all is, are the employers aware that they are paying the men more than the women, and is it intentional? If it is intentional, can it be justified?

"we're gonna be in the hudson"!

2009-01-18T19:54:00.000-06:00

Think about if you were on a plane and just took off. Within a minute after take-off, you looked out of the windows, saw the engines on fire and hear the captain say, “we’re going down, brace yourself.” This is exactly what happened a few days ago to the U.S. Airways flight 1549 flying out of LaGuardia Airport in New York. The flight ended up landing in the Hudson River. The reasoning for the plane to go down was because it flew through a flock of geese and they got caught in the engines, shutting them down. The pilot flying the plane happened to be an expert glider pilot, which is a plane with no engines; this was a miracle for the passengers. The pilot used the Washington Bridge as the land mark to guide the plane into the river, and landed smoothly into the river, not crashed. Nobody on the flight was killed, there were only a couple of wounded people, and this was amazing.
This whole experience must have been extremely shocking for everyone on the plane, but even more so for the people who already have fears of flying. If this was happening while you were on a flight, or something similar, what would you do with your remaining time, in the case that you have a chance you may not survive? Would you text someone, would you pray, would you hug the people around you, would stay silent, would you talk as much as you could in the time you had, what would you do?

WAR!

2009-01-04T11:41:00.001-06:00

There are multiple wars going on that the U.S is involved with currently. My family happens to have close friends who are in both wars, who have recently been in harm’s way. Jeremy is part of the psyops at the outpost cobra in Afghanistan, where he has had the dangerous mission of searching for Osama Bin Laden for more than a year. He has to deal with the tribal leaders and try to bring them to our side and have them give us information about the movement of the Taliban. The goal is to show them we are doing more for them than the Taliban. Ian was just deployed to Baghdad. His mission is to protect the commanders of the U.S army. He follows them wherever they go and protects them. He is a gunner/ body guard.
Do you know anyone who is fighting in any of the wars right now or did?
It is unbelievable that the American citizens would put their life on the line and go through all of the hardship in this way, just to protect our country. They have a lot of courage, and it is an honor to know some of the people who are out there doing this. How many of us would be willing to sacrifice as they do?
There are a lot of ways to show support of the troops. My family sent a care package with cigars, and homemade cookies. We got a letter back from Jeremy saying that they really appreciated it and they also really enjoy receiving, magazines and books for their down time and even wipes because showers are considered a luxury.
Since these men and women are doing so much for our country, I think that everyone, whether they agree with the reasoning for the wars or not, should support the troops in some way! Maybe our class could do something all together.

definitely materialistic!

2009-01-04T11:40:00.000-06:00

During this holiday break the materialistic views of the U.S. have really shown. Instead of the celebrations of the meanings of the holidays and the coming together of family, the main focus is the presents. On many of the commercials I heard and saw the people would be saying how the presents and where you get the presents from is more important than the holiday itself. The focus is on the retail sales and what stores are doing the best, worst, and what types of things are being sold. As the years have gone on the buying and the gifts have become more prevalent rather than the notion of giving. Although the economy was considered to be the worst in decades this year, people were still shopping all day on the days of the sales and even on the days with no sales.
What does giving really mean? Is it about monetary things, sharing time, sharing love, sharing friendships, sharing talents, sharing appreciation? The real question is where do you have to go and what do you have to do to realize the real meaning of it all?

what it you were a clone?!

2008-12-14T15:58:00.000-06:00

I have heard about cloning all of my life, but not as a serious topic. It has always been a futuristic idea that wouldn’t even come up as a legitimate topic within my lifetime. Well, it is now and has been for quite a few years. In my opinion it is a pretty scary thing to even just think about. There are so many questions about cloning and so many myths. The main issue that is holding back science to use cloning has to do with moral and religious aspects of it all. There are so many ways to look at it. It can be used to save parts of the world but at the same time it is killing another. There are the moral and ethics behind it all with the creation factors. I don’t know exactly where I stand with it, but some people are very one sided. It is also a questionable topic because it is hard to say how far the government should get involved when it comes to the legal issues. If the government makes a decision that is controversial it may put them in an awkward position with what their morals and ethical beliefs are.

What have you heard about cloning? What are the issues that you have with it all? Should it be legalized in the U.S.? If yes should there be any restrictions?

the irony of the justice system

2008-12-06T17:03:00.001-06:00

Yesterday O.J. Simpson had his sentencing. He was found guilty of multiple crimes, including breaking into a hotel to retrieve his own belongings from when his foot ball days, but it was theft. 15 years ago he was a super star hero that was charged for a gruesome murder of his wife and wife’s friend. He ended up not being convicted of murder, although most people concluded that he was guilty. He was sued in the civil court and found guilty there, but was not found guilty in criminal justice court. The irony is that he was sentenced for up to 33 years for his most recent crimes which seem trivial by comparison to the murders, yet he was not convicted for the murders. He had his freedom all of these years because of his obsession with his super star past that he acted as if he was invincible and could get away with anything. Is he finally getting the punishment he already deserved? This is a life lesson for everyone, just because you get let off the hook once it doesn’t mean it will happen again.

Do you have any stories with similar themes?

thanksgiving traditions?

2008-11-30T13:43:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday to celebrate. It is the beginning of the holiday season. It is a cheerful and grateful holiday. It really makes you think about everything you have in your life and how lucky you really are. Even if you feel like nothing went right during the year that passed, Thanksgiving Day is a day to think of the things that did go right, even if it is little things. The gathering of family is one of the best parts of it all. Everyone getting together is interesting but a lot of fun every year. Most people have annual thanksgiving traditions that are pretty standard each year. I know that our family does, we have it at my house every year and my mom cooks the whole meal and it is amazing. One of my aunts brings the appetizers and the other brings dessert. It never gets old, though. I love thanksgiving. The only dark side of it all is the day after thanksgiving, black Friday. Every year it is a very scary day to go out on, especially to go shopping. I feel as if this was probably one of the worst and busiest black Friday’s in history because of the economy, people wanted and needed the deals. There were some horrible happenings on Friday. One of the stories that I saw on the news that really disturbed me actually ended in a death. The one man was working at the Wal-Mart, opening the doors at 4am. The people at the door were so crazed that they trampled him to death. I mean were the materialistic items they ended up buying at all close to worth that man’s death? Definitely not. Sometimes it is unbelievable what this world has come to. It is so sad and unfortunate.

How was your thanksgiving? Did you go out on black Friday? Do you have any stories?

Organic Arugula Munchers

2008-11-23T14:19:00.002-06:00

It is quite interesting how Barack Obama tried to add to his political “story” that he was not an elitist. The thing is though; there is no way around the true fact that he is a liberal elitist. Part of what he plans to do during the next four years is to not give school choice to parents that want alternates to the public schools. Yet it was reported that he has enrolled his children into one of the most elite private schools in Washington, D.C. At the beginning of the year we discussed in class what we considered to be an elitist. We came up with something like arugula lettuce munching, latte drinking, liberal elitist etc. This is what Barack Obama is. Even during one of his speeches the other day he was saying how hard it was to find organic arugula lettuce in Iowa, I mean really, who actually talks about buying organic arugula lettuce, unless you are within the upper class? It is all just a show to cover up what the real truth is behind it all.

I hope that even if Obama cannot relate to a specific aspect that he selects people that can. It is very important that the president can relate to the typical American citizen and their experiences.

What Difference Does It Make?

2008-11-16T14:40:00.000-06:00

During the height of the presidential season, the candidates had to tell their “story”. Part of Barack Obama’s “story” was his race. He did not want it to be a focus of him and didn’t want his “race” to come into play. The thing is that he was always perceived as “black” and this did come up from him and others repeatedly. This was only because his skin looked as if he was black. He is also Caucasian. He is multi racial. Although it seems as if the country is overcoming racism, this in a way does not prove that. Barack Obama is still considered black.
Can we not overcome distinguishing someone by their skin color?

Interesting New Start?

2008-11-07T09:51:00.002-06:00

I don’t necessarily have anything against Barack Obama, but at the same time I really don’t understand where people were coming from when they said that he will be a great president. I am asking this question in all honesty, what he has done for our country to make him credible to be president. Also, I don’t know how much experience he has had with the issues he is left to fix. He has a lot of missing puzzle pieces to pick up and fix. I am just trying to think positive and hope that he will be able to pull it off. There are a lot of people pulling for him and some very skeptical and just crossing their fingers. Hopefully he will really be a president for all of the people of America, whether they agree with him or not! Obama becoming president should really show that racism is becoming slim to none and can be eliminated. He is the president, so everyone in America should respect him as much as they can and rally around, and get our country out of the rut we are in.

Do You Know The Answer?

2008-11-02T16:59:00.000-06:00

A recent tragedy has occurred with Jennifer Hudson, a singer, actress, whose mother, brother, and nephew have been shot to death within their own neighborhood. She lived in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago. Although her recent fame and fortune brought her out of the neighborhood, it was still her home and she was still connected. Her family had the opportunity to move away, but chose to stay because it was the life they always knew. Even though her success brought her to a better neighborhood, it is ironic that the violence still touched her. Now the people she cared about most are gone. Her family had a lot of courage to stay in that neighborhood hoping and everything would become better. It is unfathomable that within 25 miles of her, the crime rate is so high that people don’t even bother to call the police when they hear gunshots. This is a problem in Chicago that has never been resolved and seems to be growing.
This is a very complicated issue in that there are so many aspects to the problems. The root cause cannot be determined and therefore cannot be solved. It seems simple to fix, but it is obviously not easy in the least. If it were easy it would be solved already. Drastic measures need to be taken to reduce the street crime. So, what is the answer? How will we save the innocent victims of crime? How will we eliminate so many senseless crimes?

What are our rights?

2008-10-26T15:58:00.002-05:00

During class early in the week we did an activity that went over the first amendment and what our rights are that go along with it. We initially decided on our own which rights should be protected, meaning it should stay as it is, or limited, meaning it should only be legal in certain situations. We then discussed in small groups what our thoughts were, then as a whole class found out what the laws actually state. Within my group and some other groups the one that was the most controversial was if it is ok to wear obscene statements or words in public. I said that it was ok, because everyone has their own opinions of what is obscene and not. If only a group of people or type of person is offended by something it doesn’t mean that everyone will think the same way. It is true that people should know who and where to wear or say certain things, but not everyone is conscience of this though. It is part of expressing yourself the way you want and show who you are in a way.

What statements were the most controversial in your group?

You Need To Make Fun of Yourself

2008-10-19T15:12:00.002-05:00

Being able to make fun of yourself is a strong trait to have. I mean, you can't always take yourself so seriously, or be so defensive. A great example of this is SNL. SNL brings this out in people because the people that are made fun of on the show would be extremely offended. Yesterday, Sarah Palin was on SNL, there have been a few skits made about her previously too. This was a good decision for her to make. It shows that she is comfortable with herself, which is another important trait. The skits have made the number of viewers of SNL go up and more positive exposure for Palin, a win, win situation. The fact that she actually went on the show and was in the skit made it even better. SNL always makes strategic moves to make the show as good and funny it can be without crossing the line, about current events. If I were to change anything within the show it would be to be more balanced with the political skits because it has seemed one sided, against McCain and Palin so far.

Did anyone else watch this? Or have any comments about other topics within the post?

What Does First Class Really Mean?

2008-10-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

This weekend I have been in Seattle vistiting family and colleges. For the first time of my life my family took first class. This was a very unique experience. As soon as we were in our seats we had the flight attendants asking if we needed anything. They took our jackets immediately, ask what we would like to drink, what we were traveling for, if we needed more pillows or blankets, if we had enough space, and this went on the whole flight. This is completely different then when we fly in the coach section. The flight attendants are not very polite and just want to get through the flight without being disturbed. The difference between the two are so dramatic. It is not very fair. The people in the coach section should be treated the same as first class even though the seats may not be as nice or as expensive. The experience was really great, and I hope that it is the same when we fly home on monday. The point though is the service should not be horrible just because it isn't first class.

What have your experiences been while flying?

What Are The Points For Anyways?

2008-10-01T13:23:00.002-05:00

Today in class we were getting papers back. Normally when teachers are passing back assignments all of the students get really anxious to know what their grade was and what the point totals were. When the assignment is given back and the grade shows, the immediate thought is what is my grade and percentage in the class now? Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor were explaining today how they don't grade based off of the point totals and the percentage. Although we don't know exactly how their grading process works yet, it seems as if it is a rare way of grading. It seems as if our grades will be based off of the content of our work and our participation within the class. I really envy this teaching style because the grades and perecentages should not be the main focus within the class. It should be about growth in learning and the overall scheme of work ethic, etc. I have never had any other classes like this and rather than doing the work to learn it, it was all about the end grade and percentage.

Has anyone had a class that graded similar to this? Are students only worried about what their grade is going to be? Why do we think like this, where did these ideas come from?

Seriously, What's The Real Theme?!

2008-09-28T18:25:00.002-05:00

So next weekend is homecoming weekend. New Trier does things a little differently than other schools. Once we are juniors and seniors we dress up in themes. The themes are supposed to be creative. There are some ideas that are creative and are hilarious. There are others that are not at all, but some people find a way to think that they are. Most of the themes tend to be an idea for the boys....and there "hoes", etc. Just like Halloween, homecoming is an event that girls have excuses to wear barely any clothing and get away with it without being directly made fun of or harassed. I don't understand it because you can have a good theme without looking like. "hoes". In my mind it is completely degrading to girls and really not that funny.

What do you think of the whole idea?

Psycho political supporters

2008-09-19T14:27:00.003-05:00

Throughout this presidential season, there have been many uproars of false information about the candidates. It has been coming from both sides. I am not talking about the actual candidates making information up, it is all of the people that hate the opposite party they support. The accusasions of both sides are ridiculous and just cause more hatred. There are so many ways that people can get their points across without ruining anyone's reputation. America is supposed to be the country that is one and treats everyone as equals. All of the bashing that goes on is so unnecessary. If people want the candidate that they think should be president to get promoted throughout the nation, then spread information around that will help them in positive ways. Saying negative things and lies about the opposing candidates may get a point across that they are a bad choice, but it happens on both sides, so it really doesn't help the candidate that you want to be president to win.

The attack of Ike!

2008-09-13T11:10:00.002-05:00

We are fortunate to live in an area where a hurricane like Ike cannot happen. Thousands of people along the gulf coast chose not to evacuate, after they were warned of the danger. It was so dangerous that authorities were telling those who refused to leave to write their social security numbers on their arms so they could be identified. Whether or not they evactuate though, the losses are astronomical!
Can New Trier students help in some way?
There are many ways we can help. Some ways include, having a clothing drive, food drive, suppiles drive, or fundraisers to donate money to charities like the Red Cross that are supporting this cause.
We need to support our country and come together or help!

George W. Bush was so 8 years ago!

2008-09-06T17:54:00.003-05:00

At this point in the presidential debate both parties are pretty heated. There have been many speculations about Senator McCain's decision to choose a women for a running mate. What many people saw in her, was the Governor of Alaska that did not have many credentials to be vice president. On the other hand, many people believed that she would be a great addition to the white house. The real question is whether or not it was a strategic move on Senator McCain's part. I believe it was a strong choice for him to make. Some voters that wanted Hilary Clinton to win could have been feminist, only voting for her because she was a woman. Those people may in turn vote for McCain because his running mate is a woman. From Sarah Palin's speeches, I think she is a strong woman that is going to be great in office with John McCain.
Was it a strong move for John McCain to have Sarah Palin be his vice president?

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2008-09-03T09:25:00.000-05:00

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