Connecting the Dots

When I first read the actual requirements for the paper (in class on Friday) I was so surprised at the shear amount he expected us to write in a matter of a few days. I was a little overwhelmed at first but when i thought about it a little bit i was more at ease. I thought about the ways i could tackle the assignment systematically without any day being overwhelming.

I have always had a passion for nature and the helping of people. i had grown up doing a lot of outdoor activities like camping, fishing, back packing, etc. It pains me to see all the developments springing up in the Santa Maria Valley. Sure its great that our community is growing, but it shouldn't be at the expense of something that cant just be re-created. I'm still fairly clueless about exact careers i want to pursue, i just know the general areas. My dad has been trying to help me with telling me about a few different careers. One career that stands out is one in Solar Energy, I'm just not sure of an actual position or job in it. It is a growing field, the demand is growing, and it does pay well. I would get to take my part in lessening our nations dependence on oil and increase our use of pollutant-free unlimited solar power.

        I intend to link this to the topic of discussion by talking about how the people that typically go into technological fields like this are typically one race or another. I'm sure there are cases of racial discrimination in the hiring of technicians and the admission of students to colleges to take the necessary classes.

Racism in the 21st Century

7 Times....7!

What could possibly justify 7 bullets in an adolescents body, rendering him lifeless and downright massacred, all because he raised a toy gun to Police. Why 7? It is simply ridiculous the amount of excessive force and overkill used by the officers. Was it out of the question to simply fire a warning shot or to reason with the kid? This shows the lack of reasoning and even bravery apparent in some of what are supposed to be the "City's Finest". Erica's essay in response to this was very emotional and well written. I could tell that she wrote in a way that would purposely bring up a lot of emotion towards it. It was enjoyable to read, despite the topic. Her punctuation made it so as you read it, there would be pauses for extra effect and emphasis on certain ideas such as at the very end with the "First bullet dead, second bullet dead, etc."

Racial Profiling Lives On

It's amazing that even today in 21st century America, the "most free place in the world", racial profiling and discrimination is still an issue. The article Racial Profiling Lives On is about the controversery of a Supreme Court ruling that New York Police officers have the right to pursue African-Americans and Latinos with little or no basis of illegal activity. This quote shows the reason of its controversy, "Despite the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of that provision gives the police frighteningly wide discretion to follow, stop, question, frisk and employ excessive force against African-Americans and Latinos who have shown virtually no indication of wrongdoing." Police have the right to specifically target individuals for search and seizure simply based on race. Even if they look like a specific race, they would still be labeled as it.

Vocabulary List #9

ultimate-ending of a process; maximum
ex: It was his ultimate goal in life.

 interactive-reciprocal action, effect, or influence
ex: Smart phones are more interactive than ever.

 principle-an accepted rule of conduct
ex: It is important to have good moral principles.

 guidance-the act of showing leadership
ex: Parents often are a source of guidance for their kids.

 collaboration-the act or process of working together
ex: The students collaborated to finish their project.

 formative-giving form or shape; molding
ex: A formative stage in manufacturing.

 summative-additive
ex: It was a summative assessment.

 racism-a belief that one race is superior to another based off of generalizations
ex: Racism was a major social issue in the 1960's.

 intelligence-capacity for learning, understanding, reasoning and other forms of mental activity
ex: Humans are known as the beings with the most amount of intelligence.

What I See Is All In My Head

When I watched the video I played close attention to one ball and followed it as it was passed and I counted 13 passes. Either I overlooked two passes or I didn't notice the other ball being passed by a person in white. I did see the gorilla though at first, but ignored it because it had nothing to do with what I was supposed to do. This relates to the class discussions because things are only what we perceive them to be. When we look at the blue book in class with the lights on, it looked much different when the lights were off. Some argued that it was the same color because how could the actual color change just because the lights were off? It was common sense to believe that it was the same color. If someone only saw it with the lights off, they might say it was Navy Blue. People have different standards for what makes certain things different, and it is all a matter of perception and point of view to see things the way we see it.