Into the Wild: Part Two, Prompt One

Specific qualities that a person would have to have in order to pursue extreme adventures in the natural world would have to be a strong love of nature, self-motivation and knowledge about nature in general. Without these qualities, a person could never survive in the wild.

If you don't love nature, there probably wouldn't be a point of going into the wild to begin with. But if somebody didn't love nature and still went into the wild, they would be heading straight towards disaster. You would go out into the wild and most likely be driven to insanity by a mixture of the bugs, weather, altitude (depending on where you were in the world), wildlife in general and several other things. You have to be completely in love with nature before you can go into it.

Somebody who isn't self-motivated cold never survive in the wild because they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. A lack of motivation can often lead a person to believing that they are incapable of doing certain things, such as finding their own food, setting up camp, even the ability to live. A lack of motivation can lead a person to laziness and if one is trying to live in a strange environment on their own where they have to find their own food and kill it, they might believe that they are unable to find their own food because it's "too hard". This can lead to starvation. If a person lacks motivation but realizes that they still need to eat, they might get lazy and eat something poisonous, which often leads to death.

The last thing that a person absolutely must have in order to survive in the wild would be previous knowledge of how nature works in general. If somebody walked into the woods completely unprepared for what awaited them, there is no doubt that they would suffer and most likely die. Lack of preparation and knowledge of how to survive in the wild can lead to freezing to death because they wouldn't know what equipment to bring for cold weather, starving to death because they wouldn't know which plants were edible and they might not have brought something to kill animals with, or they might end up dying from something such as being crushed by a boulder because they didn't know what gear to bring while climbing a mountain or drowning because they didn't think of the current. You have to understand how nature works before deciding to live in it.

A person planning to live in nature has to have these three qualities in order to survive. If they don't, they will most likely die of something completely avoidable such as poisoning, drowning, and even starving in some cases. A person must not only posses all three of these qualities, but they must be prepared for the worst. They need to realize that there is a strong possibility of something going wrong. If a person believes that they are invincible, getting hurt or sick will come as a shock to them which could cause them to suffer and struggle even more. A person needs to have a certain sense of mortality in order to go into the wild. Without a sense of their own mortality, a strong love of nature, self-motivation and knowledge about nature in general, walking into the wild will surely lead to death.

Honors Writing Four

1) I feel that my time management skills have vastly improved by taking honors humanities this semester. I feel that the blog posts in particular have helped me the most because of the fact that you can see what time a blog post was made. Since we usually only have a short period of time to write an essay in, (shorter than I am used to anyway) it can be extremely obvious if an essay was written at the last minute because of the time that the blog was posted at. I learned very quickly this semester that if I wanted to succeed in humanities this year, I was going to have to schedule time to work on essays and other blog posts. Now, I am scheduling all of my assignments, not just the blog posts.

2) Because I wasn't used to the amount of time we were given to complete large assignments, I didn't do extremely well when it came to revising my work multiple times, which was one of my strengths last year. Over the course of the semester I have slowly gotten used to these shorter amounts of time given to work, so I have gotten better at finding time to draft and revise. If I got the chance to do this semester over again though, I would start the drafting and revising process much sooner.

3) I intend on taking a bit more time with my essays. Over the coarse of this semester, I have definitely improved on my time management when it came to my essays, but they still aren't quite where I want them to be. I want to create more than two drafts of an essay, drafting and revising used to be one of my best skills and I want to start using that skill again because it is so important in writing. Also, I do plan on shooting for an A again this next semester. I received one this last semester, so I believe that as I continue to improve on my writing, I shouldn't have too hard of a time reaching my goal(s).

4) I'm not really sure what I would pick. I have such a broad interest in both history and literature that I wouldn't really know what to pick. I like everything in history from the the American Revolution to Obama being elected president, and I love to read just about anything. If I had to pick a specific time in history to study I would probably look more into the thirties, i.e.. the great depression and WWII. I know that I studied WWII last year and I learned a little bit about the great depression, but that is just the most interesting time of history to me personally. The great depression and WWII both hugely affected my family, my grandma on my mom's side grew up right in the middle of the great depression and my grandpa on my dad's side died of nuclear radiation from atomic bomb testing, (we believe). So the late 20's through the early 40's are a very important time in history for my family in particular that I happen to find really interesting.

Into the Wild: Prompt Two

Christopher McCandless was fully justified in hurting his friends and family by choosing his own course in life because he never intended on hurting anybody, he thought that nobody would even miss him, he was planning on coming home and his family and friends respected what he was doing and were excited for him

McCandless never thought that he would hurt anyone because he figured that nobody would even care if he disappeared. “…And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well. Painlessly, that is, from McCandless’s perspective-although not from the old man’s.” McCandless clearly believed that he hadn’t made an impact on people, so he figured that nobody would really miss him or feel hurt if he died. This thinking was a bit oblivious and maybe even a bit inconsiderate on his part, he honestly didn’t realize that people loved him so much, so he really wasn’t at fault for hurting them.

McCandless never intended on hurting anyone. Just the opposite, he had intended on coming home to see all of them. “He seemed to have moved beyond his need to assert so adamantly hi autonomy, his need to separate himself from his parents. Maybe he was prepared to forgive their imperfections; maybe he was even prepared to forgive some of is own. McCandless seemed ready, perhaps, to go home.” McCandless had never intended on dying. If he had intended n going into the woods to die then he would have been at fault for bringing pain to his family and friends. He wanted to go home and tell all of his loved ones about his amazing experiences what a wonderful time he had. He might not have always agreed with his family, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to hurt them.

McCandless not only lived his life to the fullest but inspired others to live their lives to the fullest as well. McCandless showed an eighty-year-old man what life could be if he just lived the way he did. Before he met McCandless, Ron Franz was practically agoraphobic. He rarely left his house and seemed completely stuck in the past. McCandless showed him what life could be just by living life himself. “You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every American should see at least once in his life… Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make everyday a new horizon… he moved out of his apartment and set up camp on the bajada. Franz occupied McCandless’s old campsite, just past the hot springs.”

Even McCandless’s parents, Billie and Walt, understood his decision to live in the woods. His father, Walt, even said: “I didn’t know how I was going to react to this, but now I’m glad we came. This brief visit, he says, has given him a slightly better understanding of why his boy came into this country.” Although they were still hurting, when McCandless’s parents saw the place of their son’s death, they felt strangely at ease. They went into the Alaskan woods and saw what their son had seen, amazing experiences and the magic of self-discovery. If anybody could blame McCandless for bringing pain upon his loved ones, it would be his parents. But not even they could blame him after seeing the place that he loved.

Christopher McCandless lived an amazing life and had experiences that most can only dream of having. Nobody can blame him for wanting to live his life to the fullest, for that was all he was trying to do, live. His death was completely unexpected and unplanned, it was not his fault. He would have gone home but in order to get there he would have had to cross a river with a strong current and he knew that he wasn’t a good swimmer. He didn’t go home because he WANTED to live. He never wanted to hurt his family and friends, that’s why he didn’t go home that day. Christopher McCandless was fully justified in hurting his friends and family by choosing his own course in life because he never intended on hurting anybody, he thought that nobody would even miss him, and he wanted to go home.

Into the Wild: Outline

Question number two: Was McCandless justified in the pain he brought to family and friends in choosing his own solitary course in life? Why or why not?

Paragraph One: Thesis and Opening

-Thesis

*McCandless was justified in the pain he brought to family and friends because:

-He never intended to hurt them, (he was planning on coming home)

-He figured they wouldn't miss him or feel attachment, (check page)

-He helped them live their lives to the fullest, (Ron)

Paragraph Two: Point One

-He figured they wouldn't miss him

*Check page number

-He didn't miss them, (makes him a bit wrong)

-Bad relationship, (father in particular)

Paragraph Three: Point Two

-His story influenced people to live life to the fullest

*Ron left his house and started to branch out

*Author travelled all around Alaska

Paragraph Four: Point Three, Final Point?

-He never intended on hurting them

*Cut himself off on purpose, less personal

*Intended on going home

Paragraph Five: Closing

-Never had the intention of hurting them, so he wasn't wrong

-Never considered other people's feelings, so he was slightly wrong

-Overall, I believe that he was in the right: Explain

Into the Wild

Answering questions 2 and 3

2) I think he wouldn't agree. He seems like the type of person that would find a dangerous task even more exciting once somebody who had different views from him disagreed. If somebody exactly like him but much older that him said not to do something, he might listen to reason. I think that the statement is true personally, especially when it came to him, but I think the fact that an older person said it would immediately make him disagree.

3) I understand what that writer is saying, but I don't entirely agree. I agree that (had he survived) he would have been extremely lucky, but I do understand why he went into the woods and I find it amazing that he actually did it. He wanted to go on a trip of self discovery, and he also wanted to see everything the earth had to offer. I think that it would be amazing to go out into the woods, (and survive). He must have had some of the most amazing experiences possible. I hate what all his family had to go through after he died, but I don't think he was being selfish. He said in one of the final chapters that he was going to go home, but he ate some poisonous seeds, thus ending his life. In all honesty his death was one of the least miraculous parts of his life. I don't think he wanted, or expected, his family to be so hurt over his death. I think he figured they felt as little for him as he did for them. But in the end, even he admitted that he loved them and I don't think he ever expected them to go through that much pain.

The IVIE Awards

1) IVIE Awards Website

2) There is a $10 entry fee, must be turned in by the 1st of April 2010 at 4:00PM, limited to seven minutes, and all the people being interviewed must fill out a release form, release forms must also be filled out for all pictures/film/music etc. that do not belong to me.

3) I have already had my interview subjects fill out their release forms and almost all of the footage/pictures are my own. Some of the pictures belong to one of my interview subjects, so she is filling out that form too. I have plenty of time to make sure that final edits have been made to the film, and I do not intend on making the film more than 7, maybe 6 minutes.

The Great Gatsby, Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald criticized the American Dream in his novel “The Great Gatsby” in a fantastic way. He showed that this supposed “American Dream” is not perfect. The frivolous spending, the stupidity brought on by alcohol and the feeling of immortality, not to mention the utter lack of respect for human nature. All of these things are horrible side effects of “The Great Gatsby’s American Dream”.

At first glance, one might think that Gatsby’s unlimited amount of money and good looks, along with his extreme popularity would be the perfect view of the American dream. Everybody would want those things, and at first it would seem perfectly fine to have all of those things. Fitzgerald showed that these things were less than perfect.

Gatsby, not Gatz, represented “The American Dream”. He was extremely wealthy and had everything that a person could possibly want. But Gatsby’s money and materialistic ways came through dirty dealing and bad decisions in life. He worked with criminals, sold illegal substances in bulk and was possibly a murderer. The American dream in my opinion doesn’t just mean extreme materialism, but good morals and general human kindness. Gatsby had zero morals and zero social graces.

Gatsby was (supposedly) involved in illegal trading, distribution of illegal substances and he tried to steal someone else’s wife. If these things alone don’t show a criticism of the American Dream, think of this. Every single person who had money, whether they were well educated or not, acted like a complete fool.

Gatsby, who was the suppose to be the very essence of the American Dream, had no social graces, let Daisy take complete control of him to the point that he bought a house near hers just so she might come over and he took the blame for killing a person, which ended up getting him killed. Tom, who also represented the American dream, (because of his endless wealth) cheated on his wife, lied about it and acted like he was completely invincible, which is one of the worst things all any one could do.

I believe that the statement “The Great Gatsby is a criticism of the corruption of the American Dream” wholeheartedly. All of the characters that represented the American Dream acted like fools, spent their money frivolously and had a complete disregard for their own mortality. The American Dream is great in concept, but not always in practice. The reason why the above mentioned prove how the American dream corrupts people is because all of these things lead to poor outcomes.

When people act like fools, they make poor decisions. Gatsby got involved with bad business, possibly even the mafia. Tom and Daisy were both cheating on each other, Tom cheated more than once. If Gatsby hadn’t gotten involved with alcohol he might have made something of himself in a legal way, he might not be as wealthy but he didn’t need all of that money anyway. If Daisy hadn’t have cheated, she Tom and Gatsby never would have gotten in an argument, meaning she wouldn’t have been hysterical and wouldn’t have hit Myrtle. If Tom hadn’t been cheating, Myrtle wouldn’t have tried to run out to him, meaning she might still be alive, (Gatsby too).

“The Great Gatsby” was an amazing book and F. Scott Fitzgerald did an amazing job explaining the corruption of his characters. From Gatsby’s job and life style, to Tom’s extreme spending and affairs, his characters were constantly being blinded by their money and high statuses in society. Even Nick, our supposedly unbiased narrator, was trying to achieve the American Dream, even though he could see what it was doing to his friends and family. His wanting to be rich alone could be seen as corrupt.

I believe that every word in “The Great Gatsby” criticizes the American Dream. Every character was corrupted in some way or another. In my opinion, the most honest sensible one in the entire story was George Wilson. His only fault was loving his wife. The only moment throughout the entire book where he was less than that was when he shot Gatsby. Other than that one moment, he was the only one that never let money or the “American Dream” corrupt him. Other than George Wilson, every single person in “The Great Gatsby” let money and power run their life, and it always ran them into horrible places. That is why I truly believe that the statement, “The Great Gatsby” criticizes the American Dream” is completely accurate.

1) Blog #9 Article

-This is from an article explaining how Mission Bay is now safe for people to swim in with only a slight chance of them getting sick. It mentions a few studies and tests done to get this information.

-"The study contradicts a popular notion that Mission Bay is unsafe for use most of the year. The idea originated in the 1980s when Mission Bay experienced many sewage overflows and pollution from storm drains throughout the year."

Click to read the rest of the article.

2) Blog #23 Article

-This article is about a recent discovery about the staph infection, MRSA. It talks about the percentage of children and teenagers that have died from MRSA.

-"Half of patients infected with the new strain of MRSA(methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus) died within 30 days, says Carol Moore, PharmD, a research investigator in infectious diseases at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit..."

Click to read the rest of the article.

3) Audrey's Blog

-This article is mainly about a clean-up that was done at a beach. It goes over different items that were found during the clean-up, so it really lets us know what to look out for and what our littering does to our planet.

-"Cigarette butts, plastic bags, water bottles, Styrofoam chunks, Flip-flops, medicine bottles, netting, thousands of random pieces of plastic. Nobody's picture of paradise. Yet, day after day, it finds its way onto otherwise beautiful South Florida beaches. Cleaning it all up just about requires a small army."

Click to read the rest of the article.

4) Scientists Document How Manuka Honey Fights Superbugs

-This article is about a new discovery that can help treat MRSA, (it's really hard to treat since antibiotics don't work on it unless they are extremely strong). It talks a lot about how they discovered this "cure". Also, it talks about some of the things that MRSA causes. Since MRSA is a big part of my topic, this article is very helpful.

-(NaturalNews) When infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as superbugs, are in the mainstream news there's usually a sense of panic connected to the story. After all, this type of infection is spreading and can be life-threatening. For example, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a strain of staph that's become resistant to broad-spectrum antibiotics. MRSA can cause everything from swollen, painful boils to pneumonia, bloodstream infections and surgical wound infections that are lethal. And standard Western medicine has mostly run out of antibiotics to treat these potentially deadly health woes.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

5) Mission Bay Water Quality

-This is a research paper all about a research project conducted including Mission Bay and two or three other local bodies of water. It describes what the water was like when they first started testing it and what it was like after they attempted cleaning it up.

-"The Mission Bay Water Quality Survey, initiated by the City of San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department in 2001, collected data from 14 stations within the RCW (Figure 8-1). The focus of this monitoring has been on bacterial contaminants, but other physical and chemical analytes have been collected as well. This program collected weekly samples during both dry and wet weather conditions for 36-months."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

The Roaring Twenties

The roaring twenties were a interesting time for America. It started an entirely new culture, from jazz music to surrealism.

The twenties were the building blocks of the society that we know today. Before the twenties, jazz-like music was completely unknown and surrealism was a completely foreign concept. Once the twenties showed up though, a younger generation started to take over.

When alcohol was banned, people began to act out. They fought against the government by importing alcohol and throwing large parties where you could drink as much as you wanted. when this began, people's thoughts began to change a bit. They stopped seeing things to literally and started seeing them in a bit of a metaphorical way. Surrealism is a good example of this concept. Before the twenties, realism was one of the only (appreciated) art forms. It looked at things in a very literal way, if you saw a man sitting under a tree, that was all that was there. But once the twenties arrived, (1925 to be exact) surrealism arrived.

Surrealism was more an expression. It exhibited free thought and rebellion. Surrealism showed things in a more metaphorical way, you wouldn't see a man sitting under a tree, and if you did there would be some deep meaning behind it. The cover of "The Great Gatsby" is a perfect example of surrealism. It shows a woman with no nose and a single green tear rolling down the side of her "face".

Also, jazz showed up on the scene. Jazz was unheard of pre-twenties, the sound was different from any other form of music and the musicians themselves were different, (jazz musicians were often minorities, which was very uncommon for the era). People that listened to jazz were often people like Gatsby from "The Great Gatsby". They might or might not have money but they were typically against the government, (or at least the ban on alcohol).

The twenties truly brought about one of the first "rebellious ages". All of the norms were being changed from "classical" to "abstract". If it weren't for the 1920's, our generation wouldn't be the same at all.

MRSA Article

"Nov. 2, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- A newly discovered strain of drug-resistant staph bacteria is five times more deadly than other strains, a new study suggests.

Adding insult to injury, the new superbug appears to have some resistance to the antibiotic commonly used to treat it, researchers report.

Half of patients infected with the new strain of MRSA (methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus) died within 30 days, says Carol Moore, PharmD, a research investigator in infectious diseases at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit..."

1) This article is about a recent discovery about the staph infection, MRSA. It talks about the percentage of children and teenagers that have died from MRSA. It gives a lot of statistics about MRSA, (in teens specifically) and it talks a lot about deaths and permanent injuries cause by MRSA.

2) It has a lot of statistics about MRSA. Deaths caused by it, how many people get it etc. Also, it gives a bit of advice on how to both prevent and treat MRSA properly, which is extremely helpful for my topic.

3) It doesn't mention how many people have gotten it in the past year, it just mentions what percentage of people were seriously effected by it. Also, it would be nice if it had mentioned how many people got MRSA from swimming or being in polluted water, but it didn't mention that either.

4) My entire project is based on people getting MRSA. A lot of my friends have had MRSA, so I wanted to study it further and find out how the water, (Mission Bay in particular) has played into that. I need statistics about people that have gotten MRSA, (teenagers in particular) so this article is perfect.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

MSB Organizations

1) Solana Center

2) To create a better environment through innovation, leadership,

education and participation.

- Solana Center has events set up that involve the community. They work with the community in Escondido often and many of their events revolve around cleaning up the environment around said community.

- Solana Center is involved with the county by participating in county-wide fundraisers. They join several other environmental groups in county-wide fundraisers such as ones held at Qualcomm Stadium where anybody can attend.

Click to visit Solana Center's website.

1) San Diego Coastkeeper (Baykeeper)

2) San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them.

We balance community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.

- San Diego Coastkeeper is constantly working with the community around them. They often ask for the local community's help with water collection and beach clean-up days. All of these events are listed on their website.

- San Diego Coastkeeper doesn't extend outside of San Diego, so they like to involve the entire county of San Diego in their work. Twice a month they conduct a county-wide water test where anybody can volunteer. Coastkeeper wants to involve the community so that people can be informed about the issues that we may be having with our water.

Click to visit San Diego Coastkeeper's website.

The Great Gatsby One

Nick is detached because he doesn't really know the people and town that well. It seems as if he feels more like he is watching everything rather than participating in it.

Gatsby on the other hand seems like he is in his own world. He doesn't deal with people like Tom or Myrtle, he deals with criminals and strange people like Owl Eyes. He seems a bit Warhol-ish that way.

Nick doesn't seem like he wants to get involved with either Tom or Gatsby. He seems like he wants to get into bonds and focus on nothing else. He hasn't tried to get involved with Tom or Gatsby, they just show up and take advantage of his unwillingness to say no. He seems detached because of this unwillingness to meet with his neighbors.

Gatsby seems detached because he gets involved with people, but he's awkward around them. He messes up details about his own life, such as where he grew up and what happened to his family. He seems like he is in a constant daze in that way.

Water Quality Video

Gatsby One

The narrator is Nick Carraway. He comes from a well-off family, they aren't rich but they aren't poor either. He seems nonjudgmental and trustworthy because of what he was saying on the first page of the book. He said that his father had told him never to judge people because they might not have had the same advantages as him, which makes him and unbiased character, allowing you to trust his opinions. Carraway also seems a bit out of place in New York since he really isn't rich like his neighbor Jay Gatsby.

Since Carraway is different from the other members of the story, (since he's not rich and he doesn't know the other characters that well). He doesn't come into the story with an opinion of the other characters, so his opinions of the situations in the book grow as yours do. This way, you can still relate to the book more than you could if it were a third person narration, but you aren't immediately forced to believe one side of a situation or another since the narrator doesn't even have an opinion of the situations at hand.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Honors Two

If ever there was a misunderstood piece of literature, it would be Huckleberry Finn. Controversy surrounds the book to this day, calling it racially insensitive and bigoted. But in my personal opinion, Huckleberry Finn is one of the most open-minded stories of its time.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most captivating books of all time. It was rare that in the era of Mark Twain, somebody would actually think about helping a slave.

Jim, a runaway slave, was befriended by young Huck, a concept that was practically unheard of at the time. Huck helped Jim hide from the rest of society, because if someone in his position was discovered, he would either be sent back to his master or he would be thrown in prison and possibly killed.

The book wasn't "uncivilized with free and wild thinking" just because of the rarity of Huck and Jim's situation, (a white adolescent helping a black man) but also because of the adventures the two shared. There was never a dull moment in the story, between sailing down the Mississippi on a raft, to Huck dressing up as a girl.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic for a reason. The fight for Jim's freedom was a thrill from the very beginning and the constant fear of somebody catching the pair glued me to the book. If this story were anything less than uncivilized free and wild thinking, then it probably would not be the classic that it is today.

Professional Example

1) It shows real life examples of the problem discussed, (littering and poor water quality etc.) This is helpful since it gives you an idea of what the problem is and how we can help resolve it. Plus it makes you take a look at your own actions, have you littered, dumped oil down storm drains etc.

2) "Reduce, reuse and recycle". It states in the video that the problems discussed can all be resolved by reducing your use of non-recyclable products, reuse all throw-away objects as much as possible and recycle.

3) The intended audience is everybody. This clip is a public service announcement, it's simple enough for a child to understand but adults should listen to what it says as well. Public service announcements are generally meant for everybody to watch and pay attention to.

4) It shows examples of the problem at hand and explains how these problems are caused. They give a few statistics about the types of garbage that were found in the water, most of which were recyclable. It then explained what we can do as individuals to help rid the world of this problem, (reduce, reuse and recycle). Putting all of these elements together help us as people understand the need for recycling and that it really doesn't take much energy to solve his problem.

5) They showed examples of the problem mentioned. By showing an example the problem seems much more real. This causes people to relate to the problem and want to do something to help.

6) I thought that the topic mentioned was relevant to our project and that some of the statistics in it could be helpful. Since it's a bit shorter I thought it would be a good source for someone to use if they needed a bit more information quickly.

Newspaper Reflection and MSB Ideas

I learned the importance of sharing information.

I've always known that sharing information with team members was an important part to group work, but I had never really thought much of haring information with class-mates. While working on my article, I often found myself going over to other class-mates, asking about the research they had done.

Even after the project was over, I would still ask people about their topics and what all they have learned about American history. I never liked asking people about their projects before, but now I realize that it is a good thing. This way I can gather information and sources from people that are studying the same or similar subjects as me.

MSB Interview Ideas

1) San Diego River Park Foundation

http://www.sandiegoriver.org/

I don't know much about this organization, but I have heard from multiple people that it is a reliable source dedicated to the conservation of our water's natural beauty. Plus, the it also wants to educate people on the poor water quality in the San Diego area.

2) Coast Keeper

http://www.sdbaykeeper.org/

Coast Keeper is dedicated to nothing but the conservation of our beaches and bays. The fact alone that we are already working with Coast Keeper is reason enough to interview someone from the organization, but I think that its work with the public is also a great reason to interview them.

3) Surfrider Foundation

http://www.surfrider.org/

I think that interviewing somebody from Surfrider would be a good idea. I know that High Tech High often works with Surfrider Foundation plus they are a well known group in San Diego known for protecting water quality. They are definitely both a reliable source.

US Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/ow/

The US Environmental Protection Agency is a government run agency dedicated to the protection of all things environmental, including the water. I think that somebody from the EPA would be perfect to interview since their entire job is dedicated to protecting the environment.

Council-member President Kevin Faulconer
http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd2/

Kevin Faulconer is a local council man dedicated to the cleanliness of our coast. As president of the city council, he would be a perfect person to interview about the state's water quality.

Donna Frye

http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd6/

Donna Frye is a very high up member of city council. If anybody would have answers about our city's water quality, she would. She would be another great source to interview.

William McKinley for President

1896, in the small town of Canton Ohio, Governor William McKinley continues on the path to becoming the 25^th president of the United States of America.

William McKinley, humble governor from the north. Having worked for years as a member of congress, Governor McKinley understands the inner workings of our government. He has voted on bills that have impacted our country for the better and he knows the members of congress.

“I have never been in doubt since I was old enough to think intelligently that I would someday be made president…” The governor said once, discussing his place in the race for presidency. He and several others are nothing less than pleased with his place in the political race.

Governor McKinley’s influence on international issues are without a doubt positive. McKinley has strong views on Cuban government and wants to show the Cubans that we are friends, not enemies. With McKinley’s help, Cuba can be a free, independent country that will help us in our times of need.

McKinley has promised to employ both white and black men. He believes in a new America, one without segregation or racism. Also, he has started planning ways to find new jobs for people who were left unemployed by the depression we began to suffer from just three years ago.

William McKinley is without a doubt the right choice for president of these United States. He is a strong spoken man with a plan and he can be trusted to pull us out of this depression. With McKinley by or side, we will become one of the strongest countries in the world.

1) "William McKinley quotes." Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. .

2) "American President: William McKinley: A Life in Brief." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.

3) "American President: William McKinley: Campaigns and Elections." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.

4) "American President: William McKinley: Domestic Affairs." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.

MSB Comments/Ideas/Critiques and More!!!

Shanna McCue

From Shanna's blog, I thought it was interesting that she had three very different subtopics to her original question. I think it is a smart idea to have three main topics to work off of that are so different. That way she can follow an exact timeline and keep her audience interested.

http://somethingthatshannawrote.blogspot.com/

Audrey Le

From Audrey's blog, I thought she asked a good question when she asked, "What are the helping organisms and hurting organisms?" I never really thought to ask about which organisms from the water might actually help us. I have been paying attention to nothing but the bad parts of the water. I think that now I might want to pay attention to some helpful parts of the water.

http://hthmaadle.blogspot.com/

Kyle Bray

From Kyle's blog, I thought it was interesting that he said, "What kinds of pollution are most common during these times?" It made me think about what might have been the main cause of pollution in the past. If we could find out what the main cause of pollution was in the past as compared to pollution now and the water quality from then and now, maybe we could find out how to solve some of our pollution problems.

http://kylebrayhumanities.blogspot.com/

Media Saves Mission Bay, Part Five

A documentary video that addresses the question: How common is it for people to get infections from Mission Bay?

I like the film "The Plastic Gyre". Even though it's studen

t work, I think that it is a great example of a short documentary.

-The script is very well written and well thought out. I want to work on re-writing and revising my script as many times as possible so that I can have a film that people can easily understand and learn from.

-The film work was well planned. Each scene looked like it had been story-boarded and planned out ahead of time. They never just took a camera and started to film something random, they planned out each scene which is what I want to do. That way I can have a well produced film.

-The statistics and facts are incredibly helpful. They don't over-power the entire film, but there are enough facts to show evidence behind what the film-maker was talking about. I want to make sure that I can find a good amount of important and relevant facts. That way there will be evidence behind my film and people will find it of interest.

A photo essay that addresses the question: How common is it for people to get infections from Mission Bay?

-Well angled. All of the important aspects of the picture are included, (sewage pipe, sewage in the water, sewage pipe coming out of the cliff etc.) I want to take a good picture that includes all important aspects of the scene like this one does.

-Lighting. The lighting is just right in this picture, it's not too bright or too dark, causing the picture to lose color. I want to take a picture that shows off all of the color like this one does, (the green sewage is very important).

-Well planned. This was obviously not the "first draft". This picture looks like it had probably been taken multiple times until it came out just right. I want to draft and revise my pictures the same way, so that I may have the highest quality product I possibly can.