See:

-In formal attire

-Only young African American men and women

Think:

-The students are separated from others (title: “A Prom Divided”)

-Being separated from white students

America is repeating its history rather than progressing or regressing. Many believe that Obama is proof that we are progressing but I believe that to be a myth because there is still visible segregation. The photo tells us that the prom is segregated. During the 1970’s, America thought it had overcome racism until the busing rallies occurred in Boston and many were threatened, these students are upset because it seems nothing has changed.

Patriotism

The assignment for class asked us to find and post a picture we took of an American flag and analyze it.  Now, as weird as this may sound, the project was not very easy! I looked around many places to find American flags or things that had the same print to take photographs of.  Of course while I was driving with some friends I saw the perfect photo I could have taken, but no one had a camera!  Oh well, back to this photo.  I saw this flag this morning while celebrating mothers day at Arlington Race Track.  It's very hard to see but up close you could see that all of the flags were at the same height and it seemed to me as though the American flag was the most tattered and worn.  At first I didn't know what to think of it, but then I realized that the statement the park was making (not on purpose) was that they care about the other countries and their feelings, more then America's.  It's almost sad to me that our flag is given no respect, in any country, the flag of the country is supposed to be held higher then any other flag around it.  Here in places, Arlington's own flag was flying higher then the countries flag.  Now I may be the only person who seems to be bothered by it, but it really struck me how oblivious people can be about the messages they send.  I assume that the race track did not mean to portray themselves as people who care more about pleasing others then respecting our country, but it was still assumed by myself.

Learning Experience

Today after all of the students in our American Studies class turned in their precious Junior Themes you could almost feel the tension release from all of our peers.  We have been working on these papers for the last month and we feel as though our thesis, our intro, and transitions are all well put together and ready for Bolos & O'Connor to read.  Everyone that I have met who has gone through the difficulty of the junior theme says that it is the hardest and toughest paper they have ever written.  While I agree with all of the statements, I also want to add that this paper has tested my abilities in so many ways, that I almost want to challenge myself with something similar again.  The feelings of understanding and accomplishment I received when I was researching and then when I turned it in were amazing.  I feel as though because we were pushed so hard, and because we had to be so driven to write these papers, we learned something not only about the thesis' we wrote, but about ourselves.  We learned what styles of writing work for us and what styles don't (such as Leslie trying out her sisters style), we learned how to keep ourselves driven and focused on such specific topics, and we also learned how to use our time as wisely as possible.  Of course every other paper we have had to write in the past has demanded these things from us, but the junior theme brought out more of that demand then ever before.  It showed us the potential we have to write something about a topic we have never studied before, and become mini-experts while doing so.  I think that in end, this paper did not only help us learn how to write, and how to portray our points, but it taught us something we could not have learned from smaller works alone.

Interview

I am sitting here in second period AIS and I am trying to find an interview and it seems as though no one in the world wants to give their email out! I have gotten many addresses and phone numbers, which of course are helpful and I can still use them, but emails are fast and you can respond quickly to all of them. With phone numbers you can call, and leave a message if someone isnt there, but you can never be sure if they will get the message in time. You can not take a voice mail box with you!! So now I am stuck with trying to find the hours of these places and trying to work around as many obstacles as I can!! Please help me! If you know anyone who is a qualified psychologist or doctor that happens to specialize in ADHD diagnosis, please let me know! Thanks!

Do you have it?

8% of American children and teens have this and it costs the government over $9.8 billion a year to combat. AD/HD is the culprit, a disease that has sharply increased recently and cause many doctors and parents to wonder if there is something wrong with the children of our society, or the adults.  There are many ideas for what causes AD/HD, smaller frontal lobe size in brains, asphyxia during birth, high lead concentrations, mothers around smoke while pregnant, and many others(SOURCE).  Even though these ideas seem to be perfect reasons for the recent rise in diagnosis, none of these problems have increased in the past years, in fact they have decreased.  Another aspect to look at when thinking about the rise is how much pressure is put on children these days and how early it truly we put them on.  Childhood used to be about taking your time while growing up, now children are held to higher standards that seem beyond unreasonable.  The sudden pick up in speed has also left children who need me time to grow up behind, they are labeled as mentally slow and challenged when in reality their teachers and parents just do not have the time to help them. 

Another problem is that many scientists disagree about the idea that AH/HD is more of a behavioral problem them an actual illness.  Which side is there to take, I know people who are diagnosed with AD/HD and it seems as though some have a legitimate problem which does need medication and requires help, and some others seem as though they are fine, and they use their "condition" as an excuse.  Is the recent rise in the diagnosis correlate with medical causes or with societies problems?  Where do we draw the line, and how can we figure out how to?

"The buck stops with me"

Shortly after AIG was given over $170 billion, it gave each exectuive bonuses up to $2 million and less. The executives who recieved these are the very same that brought the company down the tubes. The President has addressed the issue today, and he stated that although no one in his office reviewed the papers for AIG, they will take responsibilty for it and make the company realize what it did wrong. President Obama said that, "The buck stops with me" meaning that the chairman of AIG will no longer go unwatched and has as much freedom, if he still has a job at the end of the week. The cheif executive asked the executives to give the bonuses back, and many have, but a few still hold back. Who do these people think they are? They have ruined a company and they believe that they deserve bonuses all above $100,00. These are the kind of people who need to be blamed for our countries financial problems, they do not deserve to have jobs anymore.

Moving Forward

President Obama announced today that he has lifted the ban on Stem Cell Research. He said that he will "vigorously support" the research and he hopes that it will bring the country much needed help. He lifted the ban which was put in place by President Bush, who based his reasoning on religion. However, President Obama wants to lead the projects forward based on intergrity. Many religious groups disapprove of this and think that it is terrible.

Stem cell research is something I completly support, one way to get these stem cells is to have men and women who have embryoes they do not use(for pregnancy) to donate them for research because many of the embryoes get thrown out as medical waste. Thinking about how many lives those little embryoes could save if they were only used to help, instead of being selfishly thrown away, makes me think about where our countries thoughts really are. Do they really want healthcare to move forward? Or are they letting their religious leaders scare them out of it?

I honestly do not know where the majority of the country stands, and if they do not like it and do not support it, I really hope for the welfare of the sick that they atleast learn to respect it.

Portrayal

Today in class we talked about how New Trier projects it self in the posters it puts up, the signs, flags and much more.  One thing we did not talk greatly about is what they do not put up.  One thing that shocks me is that New Trier refuses to put its statistics into magazines and newspapers about the best schools in the country.  The only justification I've heard for them not doing it was that all rankings do is sell.  I somewhat disagree with that, you never hear of colleges refusing to let their rankings be put up.  It makes me think that New Trier almost portrays themselves as better then the ranks.  That the ranks are only for schools who want attention, because after all, who doesn't know about NT?!  Am I the only person who thinks that this is weird? 

Foreshadowing?

California Drought--A few weeks ago in class we watched a video about the resource that the United States is running out of most quickly.  Running out of water is the main fear for many people across the United States.  I know this sounds a little random and after Bolos and O'Connor telling us to explain ourselves, I will.  I was looking for a topic for a blog post and I decided to stray away from CNN which I usually trust.  I went to the New York Times home page and saw something that caught my eye, in California there is a huge shortage of water making food prices rise and jobs to decrease, which is exactly what the video we watched said would happen!  

It caught me very off guard to think that we are truly already out of water in many places in our plentiful country.  I know people who live in California and it frightens me that one of these days they could just run out of water.  Also, the article focuses specifically on a town where the unemployment rate is 30-40% worse then the rest of the country.  The people in the town thrive off of farming and they can no longer work on the fields because they are no longer getting any water.  The government has completely cut off their water supply to their fields to try and help fix the draught but it is making life in the town almost impossible.  It so sad and scary to me that people in the United States are doing this bad, even during a recession.  I always knew that there were people all across the country who were in trouble but this is beyond something I could ever imagine.  People who had jobs for $8 an hour no longer can work and they have to go to food lines to provide for their families.  This town is truly suffering and it seems as though the water shortage foreshadowed by the movie has finally hit us.  There is no longer a chance for America to deny that we are running out of this resource, we need to face the truth and figure out something to help these people and fix this problem.

Madoff's Wife- Does she count?

As I was cruising CNN tonight looking for a good idea for a blog post I found something that didnt relate to myths or mythology, but something that my family and I had talked about a while back, and it's something I question. When Mr. Madoff was accused of making 50 billion off a ponzi scheme in early December, my family and I wondered, what happened to his wife? Does she get the money, or does she get left on the streets with nothing. After all, no one knows if she was truly involved or even if she knew any of what was going on. Will American's have sympathy for her and try and help her and her sons get through this tough time, or will they take some of the just anger out on her? She did take 15.5 million right before her husband was arrested so does that make her out to be a bad person? Or just a woman caught in between a rock and a hard place? Was it right for her to take those 15.5 million, or should she give it back, after all, she does have to live, but does she need that much?

Playing on fears.

This evening i was listening into to a portion of President Obama's emergency address to the country. It spoke about our record holding recession and how it will only get worse if no action is taken. Listening to his speech was very unnerving. It made my sister and I very worried about the true state of the economy. I was about to go upstairs when he allowed the press to ask questions, so i decided to listen to the first few.

The first reporter he allowed to speak mentioned something he said previously that morning to the people of a small town close to South Bend, Indiana. He told the town that if we do not take immediate action, we will be in a recession for the rest of our and our childrens lives. The reporter asked him if he truly meant it, or if he was playing off the peoples fear. It was a well worded question and President Obama did seem caught off guard. He quickly justified himself with a response that I did not listen to very closely that mentiond many economists agreeing with something relating to what he said.

What really stuck with me was whether the president has the right to play off of peoples fears to get things done if he thinks it will help the country. I know there are others ways to get bills passed and laws created, but is this the quickest and most effective way? It made me think about all the people in the US who did not hear that question, and whether they buy into the no turning back idea... and if they do, will it happen because of that.

The Greatest Revenge... An Education

As I was looking for something to write about in my blog tonight I started thinking about how tomorrow we have to go back to a long week of school and torturous homework. I looked on CNN and saw a headline about two teenage Afghan girls getting attacked for going to school. They were walking to school and two men approached them and threw acid on their faces. They were told it happened just because they were woman trying to get an education. They now are suffering with severe burns and scars even though this happened months before.

Their response to all of the commotion was that they were going to get their revenge by getting the educatino they deserve. One of the girls was quoted saying "I want our country to persevere. I have to do something for my country, I must go to school." It made me think about how we take school for granted every single day. In other countries women and men have to fight to get to school every morning they wake up, and they see it as a responsibility to their country. Our worst issue when getting to school is that we wake up late and miss our breakfast, or that we get stuck in traffic and cant finish our homework in advisery. This article really made me think about how I personally and many others at New Trier should work a little harder and gripe a little less and really try and make a difference just like those girls.