Blog #30 More Nature Writing

1. Describe specific connections between the text you read and your experiences in the many aspects of MSB.


With the book Into Thin Air, there wasn't really anyone that had died in our Media Saves the Beach project.. But for the most part we were experiencing the great outdoors just like the story of climbing Everest. Our experiences weren't at all as extreme as that in the story that I read, but for the most part there were similarities. We went out and did our own experimentation and had our own essential question that helped us question a topic that we felt that we could do something about or change something in our environment that would be of help and/or use. Krauker wrote about his experiences and we had to do the same. It wasnt just writing.. but it was writing about the differences that we are all trying to make.

Honors History #4

While taking honors humanities, I really improved my writing skills. I built up on my comprehension of some of the literature that we read and when reading that it really helped with my reading skills. I didnt really understand some of the books that we were reading all that much, but after discussing it with others who were in honors, I understood that there was more than just text to all of these books, but that there was a deeper meaning in every one of the stories. It was difficult to pull that out in each of the books, but after a while it got easier to do. Some of the prompts that we were given were difficult to understand as well and sort of triggered a different way to write and that took a while to get the hang of that. If I were to re-do this honors I probably would have taken more of the writing tips to make sure that my writing was as perfect as it could have been. With some of my essays that I wrote I didnt take all of the tips that we were given and if i had done that i could have made my writing the most that it could have been. Next semester i will do a better job of this. We were given many tips to improve our writing and next semester I will take more time to actually use the tips to improve what I have. If we could add something into our literature section I would probably have to say an essay having to do with Shakespeare or possibly spending some time translating the sonnets. I dont know if we would actually be able to spend some time on that though because we spent time with Shakespeare's writing during our freshman and sophomore year. Maybe we could spend some time reading the classics. I really enjoy some of the classic books and maybe we could do another nature reading also!

Blog #29

2. Following the publication of this book, numerous public battles ensued over specific people's actions and the author's presentation of them. Does Krakauer have the authority to criticize any of the people on Everest that day? If so, who and why?

On the expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, unexpected events occurred and the weather made the specific day on Everest a complete disaster. Of course being a part of the team going to the summit, Krauker is allowed to have his opinions about what had happened. In this case, he took it a little too far. On May 10^th there were different scenarios and situations that led to different fatalities, but saying that it was a specific person’s fault… He has no authority to criticize. The article told the story from that day but ended with the blame of many people that had either died or had tragic experiences at the summit. The reasons could have been the arrogance of Hall, the rivalry between the two guides, clients wandering or experiencing altitude sickness or even the author himself sleeping in the tent as Hutchinson goes looking for the lost group. Being entitled to your own opinion is great but playing the “blame game” is not the way to go.

Krauker was given the job of writing an article for Outside Magazine that gave the story of the summit climb on May 10^th. There were many deaths that day on the mountain, but two of the stories that were excluded from this story that would have been beneficial would have been from the two guides Hall and Fischer. Saying that it was there own fault that they had died on the mountain was uncalled for and was almost disrespectful to them as well. 

“Hall had become so adept at running climbers of varying abilities up and down Everest that he may have become a little cocky. He'd bragged on more than one occasion that he could get almost any reasonably fit person to the summit, and his record seemed to support this. He'd also demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage adversity.” This statement in the original article was unwanted, especially by his wife, and was not needed as a summary of what occurred that day. Of course Hall had the confidence that he could make it to the top of the mountain and that is a trait that was necessary for him to have. Most people would want to feel safe in the hands of their guide, especially when they say that they can help them make it to the top of the summit. After all, that is what each and every client had been paying them thousands of dollars for. Every client that he had would have wanted to know that he had that confidence and would be able to successfully guide him or her to the summit. His “cocky” personality was not the reason for his death and the other deaths that had occurred that day.

Another one of Krauker’s reasoning’s behind the deaths on the summit was the supposed rivalry between Hall and Fischer. “In a certain sense, they may have been playing chicken up there, each guide plowing ahead with one eye on the clock, waiting to see who was going to blink first and turn around.” Hall and Fischer were friends and even though they had some rivalry did not mean that was one of the reasons for their deaths. I guess it would be understandable in a sense that the rivalry could have thrown off their concentration, but being in a professional life or death job, there is no room for that. Krauker obviously thought that and maybe that was the vibe that he got from the two of them and how they treated each other. His statement may have been one of their faults, but once again he had no authority to say that was a reason that there were fatalities.

When three miles above sea level, the altitude was so extreme that some of the clients became delusional and there were health conditions that could not be avoided. At the summit there were some people that could not handle the altitude and when the storm came, the sickness and conditions became unmanageable. Half of the crew was left behind for reasons having to do with people being delirious to not even being able to handle the situation. When this happens, there is absolutely nothing that can be done. Controlling their bodies and what was going on in their minds could not be prevented and there is no room in there to blame. Krauker even suffered from altitude sickness while he was on the mountain. There was nothing he could do about that and because he didn’t go out and look for people was not his fault either when he was at a point where he could not comprehend what was going on.

Truthfully, I believe that there was no one to blame on this expedition. There was no one at fault and no one could have done anything about what had happened. It was either that choice or the fact that everyone made a mistake and everyone was at fault. While on the mountain everyone made at least one mistake but nothing could have been done about it. The accusations that Krauker had made about the people that were at fault behind the event, were completely unfair and he was unright to make those statements. Krauker could have even been at fault if it was in the opinion of the others. The storm caused a situation for everyone to be in it for themselves and to try and get out of there alive. It was a very tragic day because of the fatalities but then again there is always the question of tragedy when in the wilderness.

Blog #28

On the expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, unexpected events occurred and the weather made the specific day on Everest a complete disaster. Of course being a part of the team going to the summit, Krauker is obviously allowed to have his opinions on the tragic day, but he took it a little too far. On May 10^th there were different scenarios and situations that could have led to the different fatalities, but saying that it was one person’s fault is a little out of the question. Being entitled to your own opinion is great but having that authority over other people is definitely out of the question.

Krauker was given the job of writing an article for Outside Magazine that gave the story of the summit climb on May 10^th and of course he is entitled to his opinion, but blaming some of the people for the deaths and also their own deaths was a little extreme. There were many deaths that day on the mountain, but two of the stories that were excluded from this story that would have been beneficial would have been from the two guides Hall and Fischer. Saying that it was there own fault that they had died on the mountain is so uncalled for and in my opinion was unnecessary.

“Hall had become so adept at running climbers of varying abilities up and down Everest that he may have become a little cocky. He'd bragged on more than one occasion that he could get almost any reasonably fit person to the summit, and his record seemed to support this. He'd also demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage adversity.” This statement in the original article was unnecessary and was not needed as a summary of the event that had happened that day. Of course Hall had the confidence that he could make it to the top and most people would want to feel safe in the hands of their guide saying that they can help them make it to the top of the summit. After all, that is what each and every client had been paying them thousands of dollars for. Every client that he had would have wanted to know that he had that confidence and would be able to successfully guide him or her to the summit. His “cocky” personality was not the reason for his death and the other deaths that had occurred that day.

Another one of Krauker’s reasoning’s behind the deaths on the summit was the supposed rivalry between Hall and Fischer. “In a certain sense, they may have been playing chicken up there, each guide plowing ahead with one eye on the clock, waiting to see who was going to blink first and turn around.” Hall and Fischer were friends and even though they had some rivalry did not mean that was one of the reasons for all or some of the deaths on the summit.

Truthfully, I believe that there was no one to blame on this expedition. There was no one at fault and no one could have done anything about what had happened. The accusations that Krauker had made about the people that had made mistakes and were at fault behind the event, were completely unfair and he was unright to make those statements about those people. There were people that had their own struggles and being at an altitude of three miles above sea level caused thought process and decision making to be unstable. 

Blog #27 Nature Writing

1. How do specific mental and emotional qualities (such as confidence, self-control, and more) make a person fit to climb Everest but also possibly lead to disaster?

When climbing Everest, the qualities of confidence is definitely required or all hopes of ever reaching the summit will be lost. While having confidence makes a person fit to make the incredible climb, it’s when a persons confidence turns into arrogance is where room for disaster is made. The guides are the ones that need to have the most confidence out of the entire team because they are the ones whom the entire group confides in to ensure that they make it to the top as well as return safely.

While the guides are supposed to have the confidence to take a team to the summit of Everest, the two guides in this story had a little more arrogance than that of confidence. The guides are obviously supposed to build up the comfort level with the group they are working with, but Fischer and Hall lowered their group’s guards down. While Fischer and Hall were able to tell everyone which step to take and advice on living conditions on the mountain, the natural occurrences is something completely out of their control.

The occurrences of the bad weather and harsh conditions during their expedition to the summit is what led to many disasters. The qualities of arrogance and letting up their guard are what caused this to happen. The unexpected avalanches and storms completely shocked the team and set up down fall for the rest of the trip.

When Krauker meets Fischer he tells him that he has “built a yellow brick road up to the summit.” Of course this statement is supposed to give Krauker the ability to trust that choosing him as a guide would be a good choice because he would be able to get him to the summit. The other guide Hall was just as guilty for having the arrogance of getting to the summit in safe and sound conditions with nothing to go wrong. Hall "bragged on more than one occasion that he could get almost any reasonably fit person to the summit" Of course the two guides didn’t take into accountability that even though they were strong enough and “fit” enough to get to the summit, and have done it multiple times, it was the weather that turned their expedition into a disaster.


2. What is the significance that more guides than clients died on Everest in the events of the story?

The fact that more guides died than clients is significant because that occurrence basically says that no matter how skilled and experienced you are, nature is unknown. Even though the guides had climbed Everest multiple times, there are different situations that are unknown. For example, the dangerous weather conditions that the guides thought would be attainable caused tragedy on their trip. No matter how experienced and fit you are to climb to the summit of Everest, there is still the unknown of the natural events that could happen. When you’re in the wild, you can’t expect everything to go perfectly right because most of the time, that isn’t the case. You cant let your guard down and you have to expect the unexpected. 

Blog #26

We are going to be selling the calendar as our professional exhibition

Honors Novel #3

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his novel “The Great Gatsby” to show the corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s. The character of Gatsby was used specifically for the point that Fitzgerald wanted to get across. The American Dream has always been the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” but the character of Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s proof that the American Dream is being crushed. When we find out who Gatsby is, and that he isn’t all he’s cracked up to be, we realize that his lifestyle isn’t all that amazing and that Gatsby’s American Dream was never even there to begin with.

One of the constant occurrences in the 1920’s that Fitzgerald felt was the corruption of the American Dream was the constant partying. The 1920’s was after World War I so it was almost as if it was one big celebration. Every single week Gatsby would have a party. He was known all throughout New York as the man who held the most extravagant parties in the city. Those on the east egg even knew who he was because word of him certainly got around fast. The corruption of the American Dream was brought upon by the nonchalance attitudes of the people. All the people that would show up at the parties would just be there to have a good time. Most of the time they were drunk, even though alcohol had been banned. The idea of partying was greatly favored among the people of the 1920’s and was one of the reasons for the corruption of the American Dream.

Gatsby is used as the corruption of the American Dream also because his character showed arrogance throughout the entire story. The reasons behind his attitude were because he wanted to get Daisy who was the girl of his dreams. In every single scene that Gatsby is in, he shows off his possessions. He basically wants everyone around him to know that he is better than them, when in fact he’s not all he’s been made himself up to be.  Gatsby is from new money so he lives in the west egg. His house is astonishing and the possessions that he owns is what captures the people’s attention. Gatsby has the idea in his head that if he has more, he will be able to impress Daisy. “We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk vivid with new flowers, through dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms with sunken baths-” He thinks that throwing money at materialistic things will capture Daisy’s heart, when in reality it really doesn’t.

Fitzgerald also uses Gatsby by revealing that his character is fake. Not just the character in the story, but the actual character of Gatsby turns out to be a fake. The character of Gatsby really is a James Gatz from a family of no wealth who prided himself off of a millionaire that he worked for. “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” Gatsby had been living a lie, but the thing is, he didn’t realize that he actually was. He had gotten to caught up in the new person that he created, that he didn’t even remember the person who he was. He was all about living in the past, but only up to a certain point in his life. Gatsby created the person that he wanted to be and he was successful with it as well sticking to the story he came up with.

The idea of the corruption of the American Dream was essentially the character of Gatsby. Along with all the parties and money, he not only recreated a new person, he lied about the person who he actually was. The American Dream is to live happily, work hard and to raise a family. The entire idea of Gatsby completely contradicts this dream. Gatsby is all about throwing money at material things and having the idea in his head that money will buy him everything. The only thing it can’t buy him is happiness, and he finds this out when Daisy no longer finds an interest in him because of his money. 

Blog #24 More current events

1. http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Sewage-Spill-from-Mission-Valley-to-Ocean-Beach/qWYuIGp6oEeMp2ZNMf20lQ.cspx
On September 24th there was a sewage spill of over a thousand gallons of sewage into the San Diego River causing the beaches at the river mouth to be closed for a couple days.
"Signs warning of contamination will stand near the mouth of the river at Dog Beach until follow-up testing deems the area safe again for recreational uses, the DEH reported." This can be used in the "did you know" facts saying to watch for the orange signs because it may mean there is high contaminations in the water.


2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/15seals.html
This article is about the fact that the seals will be able to stay at the Children's Pool and the people will not be able to use this area is a swimming place.
"But a state law that takes effect on Jan. 1 gives the city broad discretion to maintain the beach as it sees fit, and the City Council has indicated that it favors keeping the seals. The state law was drafted at the urging of the city attorney’s office."


3.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-malibu-sewers7-2009nov07,0,4163417.story?track=rss
Raw sewage going into the beaches up in Los Angeles due to the bad septic tanks and piping from the years before. There is sewage and waste all over the beaches and are being drained from the pipes directly onto the beaches and they think the new septic tanks will be able to put an end to this and make the beaches more clean.. as well as sanitary. 


4. http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/encinitas/article_4d4777a4-0cd1-54b5-a36d-9ee741e3972a.html
"Indeed, said Honadle, cigarette butts are the most-littered form of trash globally and represent one out of every four pieces of trash picked up by volunteers at local beach cleanups. He also noted a recent study by San Diego State University professors Tom Novotny and Rick Gersberg, who recently found that chemicals leached from cigarette butts into water can kill fish."


5. http://sandiegonewsroom.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36229:lawsuit-challenges-proposed-desalination-plants-eir&catid=41:water&Itemid=58
"On Sept. 15, the city of Carlsbad approved changes to the site plan and pipeline network of the proposed Carlsbad Desalination Project. Among of the approvals was an addendum made to the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) issued in 2006. A month later, the environmental groups San Diego Coastkeeper and Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) have filed suit to challenge that addendum and the other changes approved by the city of Carlsbad."

Blog #23 Environmental Current Events

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/15seals.html

This article is about the fact that the seals will be able to stay at the Children's Pool and the people will not be able to use this area is a swimming place. The article states that there will be a law enacted as of January 1st that will let the seals stay at the Children's Pool and will be able to use the area is a place where tourists can go and see them. There was no information missing from this article. The story stated the people that were active in th legal decision making as well as where, when and when the new law will be enforced. This article could be used in my MSB project because we need information for our captions and this could easily be used in one of the captions that we have. Each caption needs to be about something different and we also need "did you know" facts and some of this information could be used as well.

Blog #22 MSB Organizations

San Diego River Park

San Diego River Park Foundation is not a foundation built upon an endowment or other source of funding. We are a foundation in name because we are built upon a foundation of people that have come together toward the goal of creating the San Diego River Park.

The vision of the San Diego River Park is a greenbelt from the mountains to the ocean along the 52 mile long San Diego River. This greenbelt is really a trail system and a clean and healthy river system which connects a diversity of parks, open spaces, public places and community facilities spread out along the length of the River.


Surfrider


The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.


Surfrider has local meetings where people from the community can come and listen to what is going on with government involvement in the movements that this organization is taking to protect and make the beaches more enjoyable for the people.

Honors History #3

The Roaring Twenties

American society in the 1920’s, also known as the roaring twenties, was the start of the modern era. It was the time in which our nation had many major changes in our economy, technology and culture. Some of the changes included the construction industry that was absolutely booming, new technology such as the automobile and also the way that women were looked upon and their new image.

           

            With the growth of construction, many people were successful with finding a job and bringing in a good income. Jobs involving construction started bigger business with steel, concrete, lumber, home mortgages and insurance companies. After the war was when the increase of construction grew really big. The big cities of the nation were getting bigger and the stress of having more were put upon the construction industry as well. The major cities started having buildings built that were over 20 stories tall and in those days, that was unheard of. Suburban growth was increasing the most of all. More and more people were moving from the cities the suburb and a need for more housing was definitely growing. In Grosse Point near Detroit, the suburbs increased by 700 percent. That incredibly large number was topped by Beverly Hills which increased in the suburban area by 2500 percent. The construction industry was very beneficial to the modern era and helped many people by giving them a job.

            While construction industry was growing larger and larger, the automobile industry was the one that hit the jackpot. The automobile industry was the company that was absolutely flourishing and grew bigger day by day. Before the 1920’s, automobiles hadn’t quite made their grand entrance on the popularity scale but by 1920 there were 10 million automobiles in America. By the end of the 1920’s, the numbers had increased to 26 million. Automobiles became more popular in the 1920’s because they were more affordable with the good economy. “Henry Ford made it possible by pushing standardization and mass production to such ruthless extremes that the automobile became affordable.” The price for Ford’s Model T was $290, which was an unbelievable low price from the original price of $845. The economy was doing so well in the 1920’s that automobiles could be sold $600 less than the original pricing of them. The advance of the automobile changed America by the large spread of paved roads and a new roadside economy.

            The women of the 1920’s were the “new women” of America. Fredrick Lewis Allen called it the “revolution in manners and morals” of the 1920’s. Before World War I, there were many restrictions on women and once the war ended, all of the restrictions were lifted. Pre-war, women could have been arrested for smoking cigarettes, driving automobiles without a man in the car with them, using profanity and even for going to the beach and not wearing stockings. After the war women were free to do just about anything they wanted. The 1920’s began a time where women could be rebellious and express themselves openly. The women of this time period became known as “the flappers” and were known for wearing makeup, tight outfits and hats. Another reason that the 1920’s produced a kind of “new woman” was because birth control became very popular. Once again, before the war birth control was not allowed but after the war birth control was allowed and it gave women the comfort of having sex and knowing they had a very good chance of not getting pregnant.

           

            The roaring twenties resulted in a time where life was carefree and the economy was absolutely booming. The 1920’s was a time where the businesses were skyrocketing, women were looked at differently by their actions and it was easy enough to just go for a stroll in a new automobile. The beginning of the modern era was where change began to take place and the culture of America changed as well.

Blog #21 Gatsby chp 1-4

Gatsby and Nick are both somewhat detached from their surroundings. Compare and contrast this sense of detachment. How are they similar and/or different in this respect?


Nick is the kind of character that just takes life as it comes. He doesn't voluntarily enter a situation or even voluntarily leave a situation either. When he is given an opportunity, he usually takes it. Nick is usually detached from the surrounding he is in. He seems as if he would be a really akward type of person. Gatsby is the kind of character that knows his purpose in life and wants to pursue it. Although he has an opposite personality of Nick, he too is detached from his surrounding. Gatsby is trying to pursue the woman that he loves and because of this he has an elaborate life style and all he wants is more to try and get her. He is detached in a sense that the only reason he has this elaborate life style is because of possibly impressing Daisy the day that he sees her. When Nick is with Gatsby and spending time with him, he is very detached from the environment that he's used too and knows so well. Nick is detached from the "rich" lifestyle that Gatsby lives and tries to get Nick to join in on.

Blog #20 Beginning the Great Gatsby

1. Who is the narrator? Describe his perspective, biases, character traits, etc.

The narrator is the character Nick and he's a character that does his own thing and doesnt neccesarily involve himself in other people's lives. He lives a lonely life but is successful in what he does. He hasn't really shared any of his opinions on certain topics.. for example what they were talking about at dinner when he went to Daisy's. Nick didn't really talk about what he thought about the controversial topics. 

2. What do you think F. Scott Fiitzgerald accomplishes by chooses this specific narrator versus another choice, such as a different character or 3rd person?

Because the narration is in the first person point of view, we are able to read what the character is thinking about everything. I think that he is a good character that the author chose because his mind isn't filled with a bunch of controversial topics and for the most part he sounds as if he's a very simple person.

Blog #19 Critique and professional example

1. The layout for this calendar is really nice and the graphs for the tide calendar is really organized and is able to be seen easily. I think the layout along with the tide calendar is the most successful part because just from starting the tides.. I've realized its a lot of work and being able to put the time in to make it look this nice is the most successful thing in my eyes.
2. The intended message is about the beaches and showing the tide information for each day of the year.
3. The people that plan on purchasing these calendars are obviously the audience for the final work of the calendar.They probably also want the tide information if they are wanting to buy a tide calendar.
4.  What could have brought out the message more would be writing captions about the animal that was in the above picture.
5. One technique they used was using the pictures through out the entire two pages. There's a total of three pictures in the whole page for the calendar and I really like that they do and encorporate the theme throughout the entire page.
6. I chose this sample because the tides graphs looked like they were done really well and thats kind of what I'm looking at right now because we're having a little difficulty with that step right now.

Honors Novel #2

The Delights of the Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne has the “uncivilized free and wild thinking” that Henry David Thoreau speaks about in his essay “Walking.” “It is the uncivilized free and wild thinking… not learned in schools, that delights us.” The story of Hester Prynne captures the reader within the first visualization that the narrator gives us of her. We are given a scene of a large number of people gathered in the center of town to watch the conviction of a young woman holding her baby in her arms. The only part that the townspeople pay attention to is the letter “A” upon her breast. “A” standing for adultery, is what captures the reader into this story and will later on delight us with the “uncivilized free and wild thinking” of the story.

            The character of Hester and her daughter Pearl make the story of the Scarlet Letter complete along the lines of the “uncivilized free and wild thinking” that Thoreau speaks of in his essay. Pearl is the product of the mischievousness acts of her mother. The fact that an affair that was unknown to everyone else other than the Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale is what makes the story a whole, as a piece of literature, that pulls in the reader. It took seven years for anyone to find out about the affair and to find out who Pearl’s father was. It is even a mystery to the reader who the man in the affair is until the very end of the story.

            The narrator in the story not only uses the actions of Hester Prynne to show the uncivilized and wild, but the actual thoughts and the way she thinks of herself is what makes her that much more of a strong character. “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness. . . . The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers,—stern and wild ones,—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.” When Hester is first given the scarlet “A” that she wears upon her breast, she was ashamed and thought so much lower of herself than she should have. But who wouldn’t? Hester had full obligation to feel this way, but it was the steps that led her to the character that she became within those seven years that made her so admirable. Of course she wouldn’t be admirable in the sense that she had an affair with another man while she was married, but having the strength to pull away from the reputation as well as the self-doubt is what made her strong.

            Along with Hester comes along her daughter Pearl. Pearl is a character within herself and has the outgoing side that helps make her mother stronger. Although Hester has the strength within herself, Pearl was a large contribution in those efforts. Just as any other seven year old does, Pearl still obtains the naïve state of mind and does not really understand the whole concept of her mother’s scarlet letter. Hester has worn the scarlet letter since her daughter was born and does not know any other than that. ‘“Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!”’ Pearl knows that she wants to be exactly like her mother and of course that also includes the letter “A” upon her breast. The idea of adultery is not comprehendible to her and she has been told her whole life that the heavenly father is in fact her father. What Pearl does understand is the sadness that her mother has lived with her entire life.

            The “uncivilized free and wild thinking” that we read about here that is delightful to the reader, is the personal struggle that Hester has to go through to reach the character she is by the end of the story. A life filled with pain is finally brought to an end when the father of the child presents to the public that he was the one responsible. It all ended for Hester when this occurrence happened and she is able to pursue the life that is beyond the scarlet letter that represented adultery for seven years of her life. What was unbelievable and delightful to me was the fact that Hester still loved Arthur after all the years. After being left and completely alone and isolated by the man, she was able to still be madly in love with him and he obviously felt the same after dying for her. The symbol of adultery became removed from Hester in a literal sense, but it already had been a while before that because as Hester became stronger, the letter just became a hypothetical symbol of shame that no longer worked to make her strength disappear again.

            

Blog #18 Newspapers and MSB

What lessons did you learn from the Industrialization Newspaper that you carry forward into the MSB project?

Write a reflective piece in which you identify specific things, content, skills, or habits that you will address in MSB as a response to your experience with the newspaper project.

While doing the Industrialization Newspaper, I realized that it was okay to talk to other people about the topics that I was writing about and to collaborate together. For example.. I worked on my article with Deejay. We both had a topic that related to each other so we shared our information with one another. It's always been a little difficult for me to talk to someone about sharing information because I've always kind of just gone and done it myself. But it was nice to hear someone else's opinion on a topic and incorporate that into my final piece of work. I'm working on the calendar as my final project and I really need to collaborate with my group and working on the newspaper helped me be more open to other ideas and being able to ask for help from someone in my group. 

Blog #17

For the calendar group we are working on contacting people concerning sponsorships for the calendar. So far we have come up with contacting small local places but also bigger organizations such as Sea World and Belmont Park. We are hoping to get donations from the companies and possibly sell some of our calendars at the stores to make a profit for the HTHMA funding. We arent really sure if that will happen yet... but its a potential idea.

Honors History #2

McKinley for President

Willing to make change for the public

Election time is coming up within the next few months and the voters are right up neck to neck for the two candidates, McKinley and Bryan. While the two are close, the reasons for casting the vote for McKinley over Bryan is very clear and should be known to all.

For the past years we’ve had the issue of our government taking no action for the people of our nation. McKinley is ready to make a change for the people from our communities. He wants to make it a priority of listening to the public as well as having self-righteousness for the people. "Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law," says McKinley. The first priority for McKinley is to hear out the people of the United States and help make it a society where our people are happy with their lives.

Aside with listening to the public, McKinley is also in favor of equality for all. Not just including the work situations for all workers, but he is for having equality between the different races. Racial equality is something the McKinley is reaching out for. We are in a moment in time where many immigrants are still coming to the United States and thousands are working and living in environments that would not be tolerable for the majority of America. The numbers of immigrants coming to the US has greatly increased the past years and equality is on the list of important national goals. This also includes equality for the African Americans in our society. With support for the civil rights movement, he wants the enforcement of the fourteenth amendment to help with the equality movement.

Just like all Americans, we all have experience with work and we know the difficulties of having to make money to put food on the table and put a roof over our heads. Everyone knows that money doesn’t grow on trees and to get what we want in our life, it usually comes with a little more than just wanting. A huge load of work is what brings the cash in now a days. Unlike the other presidential candidate, McKinley knows what its like working for what he wants and is the most relatable candidate in the election. Starting from a small town family in Ohio, McKinley has worked from having absolutely nothing to being a presidential candidate in the election of 1896. Being a man that worked up from poverty, he knows the good work ethics as well as what we, as a mainly working class nation, needs. The majority of America is in either the working class or middle class, and having a president that knows what our people need would make him the most desirable candidate out of the two.

Being of the working class, most of us are in a labor union and have the responsibility of working everyday to not only bring money home, but to work to make our community the place that it is. While being in support of the unions and the union workers, McKinley is also a huge part of why he is the best candidate. McKinley is in favor of the safety, civil rights and well being of the working class. It is safe to say that this includes all people of the unions.

Another one of McKinley’s goals is to unite all of the United States. The past hasn’t left all of our states in great unity and to have all our states in unison is greatly desired. McKinley has a desire to expand to the American national frontier.  Meaning, having a combination of different religions and economic cooperation between the different states.

As for the governmental causes, McKinley is also the candidate that is in favor. He not only knows how to handle the public, but when put in a governmental situation, he would know what to do as well. McKinley favors civil service reform as well as protection of voting rights for all US voters. He is also for tariffs, which will greatly impact the American industry in a positive way. Our industry has not been the best in recent years because of the Democratic free trade causing the depression and unemployment. The tariffs will help enable you as workers and will also provide a protection wage for your family. This is certainly a win-win situation for all.

The candidate that is voted into office in the next months will be the one that changes our nation. McKinley is for the people and wants our opinions to be taken into consideration. He is for the families in our community and wants to make our work environment a place that we want to be and want to have successfulness. A nation based on the public opinion is what we need and McKinley can make this happen for all of us.

MSB #16 comments, ideas, critiques

From Kim's blog about her idea with doing a picture essay, I thought that her idea of doing something at the Children's Pool was a good idea. For the calendar group we could do something having to do with the children's pool in la jolla. We could possibly take a picture of the seals.. but not just a picture of one seal but to also have background in it as well. There was one picture of a seal in the calendar last year but it I dont think that it was the best picture and maybe one that isnt a close up would be a better choice if we choose to put Children's Pool in the calendar.


I looked at the other posts from the calendar group and most of the ideas are all the same that we want to incorporate into the calendar this year. I liked Emilie's idea of doing the smaller pictures on the bottom part of te calendar, below the main picture. I liked Audrey's idea of doing landscape photos but also doing some pictures that have a main subject in the photo.. and not necessarily doing the rule of thirds for every picture but also having the subject in the middle main part of the photo.

Blog #15 MSB

CALENDAR!

I am a part of the calendar group and we have decided on maybe doing a theme of the beaches and what they have that makes them each significant and what people know them for.

I personally am a die hard fan for the surfing calendars. For as long as I can remember I've always had a surfing calendar. They really inspired me to do the calendar for Media Saves the Beach and I'm hoping to maybe get a page on the surfing. Torrey Pines has an amazing surf and all of my friends go there to surf so maybe we could focus on something like that for the TP page.

Do we have any light houses in San Diego???? Maybe we could do something to that effect.. I'm really not sure if we do but maybe a page could be dedicated to a light house at a certain beach if we found out where one is?? OH! I guess there's one in Point Loma at Cabrillo National Monument. So that would be something that I could look into about.


Would it be impossible to get a picture at night with a full moon? I dont know if that would be asking too much but that would be so amazing if we were able to make that happen.

Blog #14 MSB

What are the important aspects of the beaches? What are the different beaches in San Diego known for?

• Ocean Beach... the pier
• The Children's Pool.... seals
• Torrey Pines
• Sunset Cliffs
• La Jolla
• Mission Beach
• Del Mar

Let's maybe take some pictures of the places at the beaches or lets do some research and see what's important and significant to those beaches... maybe a certain animal or certain marine life in distinct to the beach.. or something they are known for. For example.. the OB Pier. Starting with pictures could be a good idea but we might not necessarily know what we are looking for so some research might be good for a little heads up on what we need to photograph and then we will have an idea of the captions and information that will be on each page with each picture.

Blog #13: Industrialization and Coastal Environments

"In a striking change of direction, the California Coastal Commission yesterday voted 8-4 to give San Diego its third exemption from pollution standards set by the federal Clean Water Act.

Just two months ago, commissioners voted overwhelmingly to deny the five-year waiver from secondary treatment levels at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. The facility processes sewage from more than 2.2 million people in and outside the city's limits.

The commission's reversal saves San Diego from having to retrofit the facility at a price of up to $1.5 billion. The last major step is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which already has granted a preliminary waiver.

San Diego is the only city in California that hasn't committed to meet the secondary treatment level for discharges to the ocean."

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/08/wastewater-plant-gets-exemption/?metro&zIndex=179167

This article was talking about how San Diego has been exempt from the pollution standards for a third time now. The votes were 8-4 so they won by a large amount. The article said that we were the only city in California that hasn't agreed to these standards and there are many people that are upset about it.

The article could have included more opinions from the other people that had voted rather than the one woman that they talked too. It says that they changed their mind but it doesnt really  say why they did.. so maybe they could have gone a little deeper into the reasoning for why they changed their minds. 

For a follow up article, it could say the reasons for why they changed their minds and if they were going to go further into changing the votes. At the end of this article they say that they might do something so San Diego wont be exempt from the standards. Maybe opinions from the opposing side could be used as well... maybe some quotes from the opposing view points.

Honor's Novel #1

Identity to Be Found

Beloved by Toni Morrison depicts a character that is caught between colliding cultures of the past she lived and the present life she is living now. Sethe’s conflict clash is trying to find who she is and moving on from the past that she cannot forget. The main character Sethe goes through a time in her life where everything that had overwhelmed her twenty years earlier comes back to her again. 

In the beginning of the story Paul D, a man whom Sethe hadn’t seen in 20 years, shows up at her home. Paul D brought back the passion and love that she had once felt for her husband who disappeared. Paul D had a promising love for her until he found out that Sethe had murdered her own daughter. The images of her three children who had been lost in her mind years before, came back to remind her of what she had done. With these memories causing so much hurt and regret, Sethe’s daughter Beloved reappeared which only made things worse.

 With Paul D reentering her life, everything from Sethe’s past came back to her. This also literally included her daughter whom she had murdered. All the horrible events and occurrences that Sethe had left behind two decades before, came back to haunt her until something so real as the daughter she murdered entering her life again. It had been 19 years later and the daughter who had been lost so many years ago came back to reinforce the regret upon Sethe. Beloved sang the songs her mother had sung to her, she knew about the earrings Baby Suggs had given Sethe and she had the identity of someone who Sethe couldn’t quite recognize.

While Beloved represents Sethe’s past, Denver represents the present and future for Sethe. Denver is Sethe’s youngest child and the one who Sethe prided herself to live for and be made into her entire life. While Sethe couldn’t make Beloved’s life the best that it could be, she made sure that she lived for Denver and filled her life to its fullest. Although Denver loved her mother very much, she was always afraid of the acts in her mother’s past. When Beloved comes along, Denver and her become close, as if they had been sisters their whole life.

Sethe eventually got to a point where she let her entire past overtake her and she ended up being so caught up in her regret that she literally would do anything to make it better. Sethe felt so bad about what she had done to her daughter that she wanted to make things better and have Beloved forgive her. She becomes so consumed with Beloved that she literally did everything for this woman. Beloved began holding her mother hostage in their home and she would not let her leave. The months and weeks that the two were in Sethe’s home, the characters did a character swap with each other. Sethe became so weak and so fragile while taking care of her daughter and Beloved became the motherly figure to Sethe.  Denver had seen this happening and went for help.

The character of Beloved and Sethe contrasted each other and Beloved was used to help Sethe become content with her past and to move on from what had happened. Sethe subjected herself to the captivity of Beloved. When she actually faced her past instead of hiding from it, her past went away. Well at least the fear of her past disappeared. Sethe had been living years and years of a fear that she didn’t want to deal with. When the opportunity came up for her to forget she started off cowering from the past but then faced it head on. 

Media Saves the Beach Questions

What can be done to help decrease the trash in the North Pacific Gyre?
This interests me because the North Pacific Gyre is said to be 2 times he size of the United States. They tell us what we can do to lessen the effects and such.. but I want to know what we can do to help reduce what is already there. 


Would more trash cans at the beach reduce trash?
When we were doing the water testing we were located at Sunset Cliffs. The amount of trash there was incredible! The trash was everywhere and when my group and I started picking up trash, we had no place to put it because there were no trash cans within sight. If there were more trash cans it would probably reduce trash instead of just dropping your trash right where you are.


How many gyres are there located in North America?
I would like to know how many there are because maybe something can be done to reduce the amount of trash going into these areas in the ocean.

Blog #11

      Our “Modern” America 

      When the topic of the Civil War is brought up, most people automatically think of a war between north and south or those that wanted equality versus those content with the way things were. There are events even to this day that are acts of hatred towards other people of different ethnicities. Although many people will say that the Civil War was America’s “second revolution,” in reality the Civil War was the beginning of “modern” America.

      In 1865 the Civil War officially ended and on December 6, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed which ended slavery. The era that began after the war was known as the Reconstruction Era and the goal was to help the south rebuild after their loss to the north in the war. Most southern states were not thrilled about the fact that the north was trying to help them with their transformation into a “modern” America. The people of the south were content with having slaves and people of darker skin being treated lower than their own. The people of the north were all about equality and fairness for all no matter what a person’s skin color is. The opposing views of the two sides caused controversy and each put up a stand for their own opinions and beliefs. 

      When the war ended there were three amendments that were ratified and passed which were instrumental in the beginning of our “modern” America. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery; the fourteenth amendment allowed blacks to become citizens of the United States, and the fifteenth amendment allowed blacks the right to vote. The Civil Rights Acts were put into action in 1964 and 1968 and started the equalization of every individual in America. The laws passed in our nation’s history have made it so that equality is something far more realistic in our modern day. In Pre-Civil War days, blacks did not have any rights at all. It was unheard of for whites to even speak to someone with darker skin than their own. Now there are blacks and whites in classes together, working side-by-side, and living next door to each other. There are interracial relationships and marriages, and the numbers of biracial Americans is increasing daily.

      In American history there hasn’t been a good track record for equal rights between different races. People have the same legal rights, but some Americans will still look down on another who has a different color skin, it happens every single day. Equality is what we aim for. We still fight for equality 150 years after the Civil War is over. Our “modern” society has changed our ways dramatically and made opportunities for people equal. Equality is attempted, but just because we have those rights doesn’t mean that people are treated the same by others. We can live in a society where we pretend that everything is perfect, but most of the time it isn’t. There are many that still can’t get over what happened in the Civil War and those that still think and speak degradingly of another because of skin color. 

      In the article “Dying for Dixie” from Confederates in the Attic, there was a woman interviewed and she said, “Kids today, they’re weaker and wiser.” This woman was a black storekeeper from Todd County after the murder of Michael Wasserman, a case that occurred in the south in 1995. In actuality, the way she spoke of kids being weaker and wiser is real in the world right now. To this day there is still violence and stereotypical remarks coming from the north to the south. People are weaker and hurtful things cause lashing out and hostility towards those of the other race. Maybe people just don’t know about the steps that have moved racial discrimination way down and made equality between individuals more reachable now than in earlier years.

     People have opinions that make equality very difficult. Many point out the lows after the Civil War which still affects our society today.  However, there are many changes that have expanded and made our society grow. If the Civil War hadn’t ended the way that it did, there would be a large number of the population that would be greatly affected. Right now we have an African American president. That could not have even been imaginable 150 years ago. Even 50 years ago that would never have happened. Our society is integrated with people of different races at the work place, in our schools and even in our very own government. Before the Civil Rights Acts, African Americans couldn’t even receive an education with those who were white, let alone be in the same room with them. Equality is what we aim for. People will speak about not living in an equal society but equality is not an option because of people that don’t want it to happen. 

Blog #10: What's the deal with Reconstruction?

What's the deal with Reconstruction?

What is/was Reconstruction? What went well? What went poorly?

Why is it relevant today?

Connect the basic history of Reconstruction with a modern issue, as found (and cited and excerpted from a modern news story).

The time period after the Civil War was known as the Reconstruction Era. The point of the Reconstruction as to regain order in the southern states after the war. In the south there were many problems concerning government and economic problems so this era was to help regain some of the balance in those certain areas. The north sent a troops called the Union Army down to the south to try and create peace and to enforce the new laws as well. The south was not happy at all with the defeat from the north and they did not cooperate at all with the Reconstruction that was going on. The Union Army was there to enforce the laws that slavery was being abolished and the south didnt want to listen to the government so they were also there to tell them what was going on. It didnt really work out that well because there were many many troops off in Texas fighting against the native americans, so there wasnt enough troops down in the south to exactly make something happen. The whole reconstruction didnt work out that well. This is evident because if it turned out well, there wouldnt be problems that are going on now still with racism. 

Blog #9 Media Saves the Beach in the News

Post an excerpt from an interesting and relevant news story that connects to coastal issues, making sure to include a link to the original story. What is the issue and/or controversy? Where can one get more information? In what way(s) does the story relate to our class? How might it tie in to our work for Media Saves the Beach?


"SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A sewage spill in Mission Valley led on Wednesday to a coastal pollution alert in Ocean Beach, about five miles to the west.

Wastewater began overflowing from a blocked sanitation line near the intersection of Camino de la Reina and Mission Center Road shortly before 11:30 a.m., according to the county Department of Environmental Health.

By the time city crews got the problem under control about an hour later, roughly 1,370 gallons of sewage had spilled into a storm drain that empties into the San Diego River.

Signs warning of contamination will stand near the mouth of the river at Dog Beach until follow-up testing deems the area safe again for recreational uses, the DEH reported."


http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Sewage-Spill-from-Mission-Valley-to-Ocean-Beach/qWYuIGp6oEeMp2ZNMf20lQ.cspx




This story directly relates to what we are doing with our Media Saves the Beach project. The spills that happened actually happened last night and it was a very big deal down where we were testing the water today.  There was a little over a thousand gallons of sewage that was spilled into the San Diego River and was exiting through the Dog Beach exit. It was obviously a big deal down at Dog Beach because there were big orange signs and warning signs saying not to go into the water and that the water was highly contaminated. This ties into what we are learning in class and our Media Saves the Beach project because we are learning about and testing the amount of bacteria and ecoli that is in the water. There would definitely be large amounts of bacteria in the water after the spill last night because it went directly into the river and was a straight source to the water down in Ocean Beach. 

Blog #8 Media Saves the Beach

What ideas do you have for Media Saves the Beach? What content interests you? What projects might you create?


I find this whole entire project very interesting! I am actually very excited to get started with everything. When I was little I had always dreamed of being a marine biologist and marine biology has interested me since. I'm really interested in testing the water and seeing what life is in the water and seeing the contaminants that are in the water as well. I think that after we test the water, we will probably be a little shocked to see the amount of contamination that is in the water. Most of us just take for granted that the water is clean, but I think it will be interesting to see what we really are getting into. The project that interested me the most was definitely the making of the calendar. I really enjoy doing layout type things and also photography interests me very much. I think working with a group of people to make the calendar would be enjoyable and also investing so much money into it, I think that we would be able to make a good outcome for it. :]

Blog #7: Final Draft American Icons

Dream in Gold

By: Shannon Merrill

 Volleyball has always been the sport I loved and was good at. I found this out in 7th grade after I tried almost every other sport and didn't find a liking to any of them. When I went to my first practice, holding the volleyball felt so comfortable to me. I knew I loved it the moment I stepped on the court. Growing up I had always watched the Olympics and especially beach volleyball. Misty May and Kerri Walsh were my favorites. The unbeatable women's American volleyball duo. I remember hearing my Dad telling me about Misty May and how she was one of the greatest volleyball players of our time. 

It wasn't till four years later that I actually met the woman who has been to the Olympics, won gold medals and has nearly won every game she has ever played in. I don't necessarily aspire to be the worlds best volleyball star when I grow up, but I do want to be successful at what I do in life and have my entire heart dedicated to it. I would like to be able to look back at my youth and tell people that I had dreams and I had to work hard to make it happen. 

Misty May started her career as a young athlete just like everyone else. With inspiration starting in her youth, she started just as any young girl does. When I met her, she not only made an effort to talk and speak to many of the girls, but she watched us play as well. Misty May, who is an Olympic gold medalist, watched my team play volleyball. That showed me that she actually cared about watching the youth play just as she did when she was younger. 

Misty May is such an inspiration to many of young girls who play volleyball and have dreams of making it to the Olympics. I not only look up to her for making it that far in her career and accomplishing her goals, but it really made me aspire to be like her more when she came to our local volleyball tournament to watch us play. She talked to each girl and signed a poster saying "Dream in Gold." I still to this day have that poster on my wall not just to say that I've met her but to know that someone who is so accomplished and so successful told me to follow my dreams and to never back down from them. When I am successful later in life, I hope to be able to share my stories with youth and to be able to tell them to follow their dreams and achieve their goals. 

Works Cited

"Misty May-Treanor." USA Volleyball. 14 Sept. 2009. .

”Misty May”. The Official Site of Mist May.  Web. 14 Sept. 2009. .

"Speaking with Misty May-Treanor" NBC Olympics. 14 Sept. 2009. .

"2008 Misty May Treanor Bio: Beach Volleyball." NBC Olympics. 14 Sept. 2009. .