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.