3rd Quarter Blog

Hi Mr. B and Doc Oc! This is my favorite post from this quarter :)

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Coining Phrases

As I was parousing the news this morning I came across something that shocked me.  Famous country and pop singer, Taylor Swift, has trademarked many lines from her songs.  Swift has taken out several trademarks for phrases like "Party Like It's 1989," "This Sick Beat," "Cause We Never Go Out of Style." It is interesting to me that she would do something like this.  These lines have become very popular sayings in everyday use, and some people might say that she is being a stickler about it and just trying to make as much money as possible. 

However, upon a little research about Swift trademarking the lyrics, I have seen a different perspective.  "This is arguably less about her wanting to boil every single thing she does down to a “revenue stream” and more about a pre-emptive strike against callously opportunistic third parties who might want to make money off her without either her involvement or her say so." I agree, I think that these lines are so widely known and so commonly used that people will see this as an opportunity to make money off of her hard work.  Americans tend to see an opporutnity and snatch it up and try to build an empire with it.  The American Dream to work hard enough and be able to make your way to the top.

Still, parts of me wonder why she would trademark the phrases? I am wondering if companies will try to make money off of these phrases if they have to pay to print them in the first place?  Is it worth it? 

Thursday, January 8, 2015

NYC Finally Joining the Tech Age

For about 4 or 5 years now, I have always been able to bring in my laptop, or iPad or phone to school and not have to worry about it being confiscated.  At my elementary school we had a program called BYOD; Bring Your Own Device.  My teachers have encouraged me to bring in technology so that I can make the most of my learning experience by having many more resources available at the tip of my fingers. Even now, every single student in my high school is required to have an iPad. I was absolutely shocked when I saw in the Chicago Tribune today that New York City is just joining this phenomenon.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is lifting a longtime ban, set in place by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to allow students to bring technology, more specifically, phones, into school.  This policy is to go into effect March, 2.  Before this, students like Jessica Flores, had to pay $1 a day to store their phones in a local store or a van to make sure that it wouldn't be taken.  Over the course of a school year that can really add up, and seems to be a waste of money.  It baffled me that when technology is such an integral part of my learning, and learning all around the country, that this is just now a policy in New York City.  It is so much easier to find information in moments on an iPad or phone and can help greatly with learning.  It seems that American culture really is shifting to a more technological learning process and New York City is just now jumping on that bandwagon.

Do you think that technology is a good thing to be able to have at school? Or do you think Mayor Bloomberg was right to have it banned?
Students All With iPads To Help With Learning

Sunday, January 4, 2015

They Create Monsters in Here

About two weeks ago, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will no longer house minors in solitary confinement.  There is an ongoing argument about whether putting minors in solitary is "cruel and counterproductive." People argue that if they are shut away and treated that poorly as minors, they will end up acting more violently as they get older. This is what they create in here, monsters,” one inmate said. “You can’t conduct yourself like a human being when they treat you like an animal.” If inmates are being treated like "animals" then that is all they know.  It gives them no chance to rehabilitate.  Perhaps if the jails concentrated on a method of rehabilitation and teaching the inmates, especially the minors, how to get a fresh start, "monsters" would not be created.  The adolescent years are key in shaping the person to who they will become. If we treat the minor inmates like animals and in such a cruel manner, that is how they will act.  
De Blasio Speaking with Young Inmates at Rikers Island

Mayor de Blasio said, “It’s our moral responsibility as humans not to create a situation where so many people have to experience so many difficult things,”  We are all human.  Despite our worst errors, we should all have a chance to learn from our mistakes and improve.  Minors have the rest of their lives ahead of them, if we can teach them by example, perhaps if and when they are released from jail, they won't turn to "monstrous" ways.  By eliminating a harsh treatment of minors, perhaps we are taking our moral responsibilities as humans and making things just a little easier. 

"A Population That Never Was"

A Shot from Helfman's "Historical Correction"
Picture of a White Nobleman
What photographer, Maxine Helfman, aims to do with her photographs are to make people think.  Most recently, a series of her work, "Historical Correction" which she has been shooting since 2012, has received an outcry of attention due to all the racial discrimination being brought up.  What Helfman is photographing are Flemish-style portraits, using only black models.  She is putting people of color in a style that historically was of the European elite. The models wear the same expressions and style of clothing that a 17th -century nobleman or woman would wear.

You see in these wonderful pictures they are wearing the expressions of which a nobleman would pose for a portrait to be taken or painted.  I put in a picture of a white nobleman to compare. You can see how similar the expressions and clothing are to that of which the model is posing for. They both have hard looking stares and are wearing all black with white collars.  

"Helfman wanted to create historical documentation of a population that never was." Although she is very careful to be respectful, be it another artist, or an expert for another cultural point of view. 

""I never want to create something that's tongue-in-cheek because that defeats the purpose," she said. "It's disrespectful to the (statement) I'm trying to make."

She is making people think about her work which is coming into big discussion as events like Ferguson continue to pop up.  Racial discrimination is a very relevant topic and Helfman's goal is just to get people to think, not to step on anyone's toes, but just think, and then rethink.  

"WOW! You're so tan!"

As we will be coming back from winter break in a matter of hours, I already know what I am going to see as I walk through the halls of my high school.  Almost every girl who went to a warm vacation spot over the nice two-week break, is going to be wearing some kind of shirt or dress that shows off their "amazing" tan lines.
Studies have shown that people think tanner skin is more attractive and even healthier looking.  Yes, the sun does provide people with that good vitamin D that we all need, but people really can overdue it.  As I know my friends and peers do, they sit in a chair by a pool, or sit on a beach for hours on end, letting the Sun's UV rays burn into them.  Of course they know the risks for skin cancer yet people are willing to take that risk, just to look tan.  Because they like looking nice coming back from a vacation, many people then want to be tan all year round, when you know for sure they wouldn't be laying out. "Sunless tanning products, spray-on tans, and cosmetic bronzers totaling $516 million annually, not to mention the indoor tanning industry and low-dose sunblocks marketed as "tanning creams." People go to such extremes just so they can look "good."

The odd thing is, tanned skin has truly changed meanings in the eyes of the public.  Having tanned skin used to mean that you were working class person who had to do labor outside.  However, that all changed with the Industrial Revolution when the working class got moved indoors into factories and then only the upper class could afford to go on elaborate vacations to warm, paradise.  It is so interesting to see what Americans value as important now.  To show your friends that you had a great time and a "successful" trip, you come back tan.  It is funny how the perception of being tan has changed and how years ago it was considered a lesser thing to be darker.  Now it seems that the tanner you are, the better.  

A Legend Dies

At the astonishing age of 104, Luise Rainer passed away December 30 of pneumonia.  She was an icon who will always be remembered as the first star to win back-to-back Oscars.  The first Oscar she won was for a reportedly "wrenching performance" in "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) which was followed a year later by her award winning acting in "The Good Earth" (1937.)  She was only 28 at the time.  She is not your typical Hollywood star who loved the lime light and took any role she was offered. On the contrary, she turned her back on Hollywood.  Rainer wanted to be cast in the "meaty" roles that had meaning.  In an interview she said, "I hated Hollywood.  That's why I turned my back on it." She truly was a very talented actress and said she could not enjoy her awards because she felt like it wasn't fair. "The awards meant nothing because I considered the acting was just a gift. They made my life so difficult, so clamorous."  She quit her job and turned her back on Hollywood at the peak of her career so that she could fulfill the "roles" of being a wife and a mother.   
Luise Rainer With Her Two Oscars

She moved all around and although she was not American born, I think she showed some amazing American characteristics.  She didn't let anyone tell her what to do.  When she was unhappy with her marriage she made the decision and got out of it.  She would not take the lesser roles and stayed strong with her conviction.  I think that doing what you believe in and trying to excel at it, is a strong American value and she portrayed it.  She was an amazingly talented woman who lived her life the way she wanted.  She will truly be missed. 

Miracles Come From Tragedy

Friday evening brought tragedy to the Gutzler family as the twin engine aircraft their father was flying crashed and everyone on board passed away, except for the youngest passenger. 7 year-old Sailor Gutzler was the lone survivor in this horrific accident.  Bruised, scratched, with broken bones and bleeding she trudged three quarters of a mile through Kentucky's January weather in Florida attire until she knocked on the door of Larry Wilkins.  Sailor Gutzler told Wilkins that she had been in a plane crash and both her mom and dad were dead.  Also on the plane had been her 9 year-old sister and her 14 year-old cousin.
Investigators Trying To Determine The Cause of the Crash
Her father, Marty Gutzler, had been flying since he was 16 and had logged about 4,000 hours, and taught as a flight instructor.   The family was flying from Key West, to Nashville, IL, and according to family, he had made the trip "many, many times" At 5:55pm Marty had made a distress call, and then lost contact with the air traffic controllers. They were less than 10 miles from the airport they would have stopped at to get help.  About 40 minutes after Air control lost contact, the Kentucky Police received a call from Wilkins with the news of Sailor being alive.  She had used survival skills, taught to her by her father, to light a branch from the burning plane so she could light up her path to find help.

Their home town is devastated, but from all of this, we can truly see how amazing her story is.  This is nothing short of a miracle that a 7 year-old could have found her way out of such a tragic situation.  Wilkins called 911 right away and cleaned her up.  It is truly reassuring to know that in light of a horrible situation, there were people out there who helped out and helped this amazing little girl.