Monday, December 10, 2007
The Handmaids Tale
So far, the book is relatively slow. I love the writing and the plot really makes you think. Something that has been bothering my group and I (more specifically Paloma and I) is how little background knowledge the author gives us. It wouldn't make sense for her to give us any background information because the story is written from Offreds perspective, and her deeply reminiscing on the past would be somewhat irrelevant to the current story. Still, we would like to know some more information on how the society became the way it is. Slowly we are getting more clues but I think that everything will click into place once the author reveals some of the past's secrets. On another note, I have a feeling that Offred is going to start breaking the rules. She has showed many signs of a rebellious alter-ego. She talks about stealing, smoking, and just breaking the rules. This is rebellion because the society she lives in is extremely protected and breaking the smallest rule could have a sever punishment. I am wondering if she is going to concieve. If she doesn't it wouldn't be a disappointment because then we would get to see where the "unwomen"go. This is almost my preferred plot change because we can already safely assume that once she gets pregnant, it will be downhill from there and not the most exciting story. I am eager to see what happens with her and Nick also, they seem to have a little bit of a thing going on. The main theme in the book so far is brainwashing in my opinion, and Im sure it will continue throughout the book.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Mexico School Part 2
This is just a continuation of my last blog, if you want more information then you can read my previous post.
What I learned from this section of the article:
1. Text books are provided for free for primary levels of schooling. Grades 7-12 have to pay for their books, similar to the U.S.
2. The grading scale is different than our though. In Mexico, they are graded on a scale of 1-10. Teachers give exams 5 times a year, similar to state testing in the united states, because this exam must cover national curriculum. But then there is an additional national exam at the end of the year. If students score below a 6 on this test, they are required to repeat the grade.
3. The secondary schooling is divided into strict content areas. Grades 7 and 8 curriculum includes geometry and algebra. All 9th grade students must take trigonometry. All students must take a foreign language 3 hours a week. Science is also a requirement but because of the lack of laboratories, it is hard for students to engage in hands-on science. All students take 2 hours of art a week and 3 hours of technology. But again, because of lack of resources, sometimes these are subject to change.
4. By the time high school arrives, students are required to choose a school that will specialize in a certain career option. The school they attend will also prepare them for college, where they will continue to study in the same field.
What I learned from this section of the article:
1. Text books are provided for free for primary levels of schooling. Grades 7-12 have to pay for their books, similar to the U.S.
2. The grading scale is different than our though. In Mexico, they are graded on a scale of 1-10. Teachers give exams 5 times a year, similar to state testing in the united states, because this exam must cover national curriculum. But then there is an additional national exam at the end of the year. If students score below a 6 on this test, they are required to repeat the grade.
3. The secondary schooling is divided into strict content areas. Grades 7 and 8 curriculum includes geometry and algebra. All 9th grade students must take trigonometry. All students must take a foreign language 3 hours a week. Science is also a requirement but because of the lack of laboratories, it is hard for students to engage in hands-on science. All students take 2 hours of art a week and 3 hours of technology. But again, because of lack of resources, sometimes these are subject to change.
4. By the time high school arrives, students are required to choose a school that will specialize in a certain career option. The school they attend will also prepare them for college, where they will continue to study in the same field.
Mexico School Part 1
I realized today that I didn't know very much about the Mexico education system in general, so I did some research and I found a really good site.
It stresses that most educators keep in the front of their mind, the background of their students and where they have come from. This is especially important in San Diego, and specifically at Bell because so many students were born out of the United States. Not only from Mexico, but from other places around the world as well.
Here are some things I found :)
1. The first education law was created in 1867 and it stated that education should be nonreligious, mandatory, and free.
2. Although Mexico has come a long way in creating a school for all children in Mexico, they still struggle with educational failure. Millions of students drop out after primary school, up to 9th grade.
3. Very rural communities struggle with this because the people are indigenous and speak Spanish as a second language. Most of the children only do the required amount of schooling time so that they can help support their families. Unfortunately, this contributes to lowering Mexicos' literacy rate.
The organizational structure is as follows:
Primary school
There is a lot more that I will blog about tonight, but for now, class is over :)
http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/mexico.html
It stresses that most educators keep in the front of their mind, the background of their students and where they have come from. This is especially important in San Diego, and specifically at Bell because so many students were born out of the United States. Not only from Mexico, but from other places around the world as well.
Here are some things I found :)
1. The first education law was created in 1867 and it stated that education should be nonreligious, mandatory, and free.
2. Although Mexico has come a long way in creating a school for all children in Mexico, they still struggle with educational failure. Millions of students drop out after primary school, up to 9th grade.
3. Very rural communities struggle with this because the people are indigenous and speak Spanish as a second language. Most of the children only do the required amount of schooling time so that they can help support their families. Unfortunately, this contributes to lowering Mexicos' literacy rate.
The organizational structure is as follows:
Primary school
- Pre-escolar: Federally Funded programs for children ages 4-5.
- Primaria: Schools with grades 1-6 and at aleast one teacher per grade.
- Multigrados: One-room schools with one teacher for grades 1-6 or multigrade schools with several teachers, each teaching more that one grade.
Preschool and Primary
- Pre-escolar: Federally Funded programs for children ages 4-5.
- Primaria: Schools with grades 1-6 and at aleast one teacher per grade.
- Multigrados: One-room schools with one teacher for grades 1-6 or multigrade schools with several teachers, each teaching more that one grade.
High School (Grades 10-12)
- Preparatorias and Bachilleratos: Schools for college-bound youth, where students must choose one of 4 professional areas: physical-mathematics, chemical-biological, economic-administrative, or humanities.
- Tecnnologicas and Comercios: Schools for students who have a particular vocational career in mind.
There is a lot more that I will blog about tonight, but for now, class is over :)
http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/mexico.html
Thursday, October 11, 2007
10 tons of cocaine seized in Mexican port town!
In Mexico City, Mexico, 7 suspected drug traffickers were arrested for posession of over 10 tons of cocaine. They are part of the Gulf Cartel, one of the two biggest drug gangs in all of Mexico. A cartel is a group of people or a business that come together under a common cause, or goal, in this case; drug trafficking. Felipe Calderon, the relatively new president of Mexico, has made an effort to put together a group of troops whose specific focus is to go after drug traffickers. He spoke of this effort in Tamaulipas, it is a big problem because people are smuggling mass amount of cocaine and marijuana into the United States. This has been an successful operation because recently, a big time drug trafficker Sandra Avila Beltran, nicknamed "Queen of the Pacific," was arrested along side of her boyfriend, another celebrity in the world of drug trafficking, Juan Diego Espinoza. When put in front of a judge, Beltran claimed to have made these mass amounts of money by selling clothes and renting houses. She is being charged with organized crime, money laundering and conspiracy to traffic drugs.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/latinamerica/la-fg-mexico6oct06,1,2033087.story?coll=la-latinamerica
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/latinamerica/la-fg-mexico6oct06,1,2033087.story?coll=la-latinamerica
Monday, October 8, 2007
Our interview today! Beyond the Border update
It went really well, incase you were wondering. Maddie and I got picked up from school at 10:30 and we headed over to Bell Jr. High where we got to prep for about an hour. Then we got to get some really good footage of Mr. Essex's 7th grade english class in 5th period. They were really cooperative and acted like we weren't nervous or anything. Then for 6th period we got to interview Mr. Essex, who seemed to be most of the kids favorite. He also let us pull 7 kids from his class so we could interview them. We did a group interview of 4 kids, which was really sucessful, and then 3 individual interviews which also went well. However, we didnt get to interview the vice principal because she was out sick today, but we will be going to her house on thursday to get that final interview done.
Over all, we got some really good footage and Im glad everything went well.
Over all, we got some really good footage and Im glad everything went well.
Bottled Water - How it is effecting our planet (pt. 2)
My last post was more about why bottled water is an over priced joke, and this one will actually about how bottled water is accumlating too much plastic than our planet knows what to do with.
Worldwide about 2.7 million TONS of plastic is used to bottle water, anually. The most commonly used source for plastic polyethylene terepthalate (PET), which comes from oil. That means that 1.5 billion barrels of oil is used to package water each year. That amount of oil could fuel about 100,000 cares for a year. This wouldnt be such a big problem if people recycled more. Byt some 86% of bottled water is trashed or littered. Plastic can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Thankfully, some companies are trying to take a more earth friendly approach at bottling their water. An example is BIOTA which puts its spring water into an eco-friendly, biodegradable plastic called polylactic acid, which comes from corn. This bottle will only take about 80 days to dissapear, as opposed to 1,000 years. So if youre going to bottle your water, at least think about the earth before yourself.
Worldwide about 2.7 million TONS of plastic is used to bottle water, anually. The most commonly used source for plastic polyethylene terepthalate (PET), which comes from oil. That means that 1.5 billion barrels of oil is used to package water each year. That amount of oil could fuel about 100,000 cares for a year. This wouldnt be such a big problem if people recycled more. Byt some 86% of bottled water is trashed or littered. Plastic can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Thankfully, some companies are trying to take a more earth friendly approach at bottling their water. An example is BIOTA which puts its spring water into an eco-friendly, biodegradable plastic called polylactic acid, which comes from corn. This bottle will only take about 80 days to dissapear, as opposed to 1,000 years. So if youre going to bottle your water, at least think about the earth before yourself.
Bottled Water - How it is effecting our planet.
National Geographic explores!
February 24, 2006
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0224_060224_bottled_water.html
Heres what I got out of it:
Putting a bottle around some water is not only taking unessecary cash out of Americans pockets, its hurting our planet too! It is producing mass amounts of garbage and using a ton of energy. A report by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) says that the amount of bottled water consumed by the world doubled between 1999 and 2004, reaching an all time high of 41 billion gallons a year. Bottled water is proven to cost more than gasoline! It doesnt make sense that people complain so much about the sky-rocketing gas prices when bottled water is even more expensive! Most of the money that goes into bottled water is through transportation. An example: 1.4 million bottles of a finnish botted water company were shipped to Saudi Arabia, which is about 2,700 miles away. Evian water delivers 60% of its water to destinations across the globe as well. The united states, not so schockingly, is the biggest consumers of bottled water, 7 billion gallons a year, followed by Mexico, China, and Brazil. Although this is true, Italians drink the most bottled water a day, per person; the equivlant of about 2 glasses a day.
Even the The Natural Resources Defense Council, says that there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle, it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap." A activist group in New York concluded that 25% of bottled water is just tap water, sometimes treated, usually not. In fact, if the water is treated, the amount of chemicals put into the water to "purify it" can actually make it unsafe for babies or younge children to drink it. The only places where bottled water would be a batter alternative to the tap is in 3rd world countries where healthy tap is not available.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0224_060224_bottled_water.html
Heres what I got out of it:
Putting a bottle around some water is not only taking unessecary cash out of Americans pockets, its hurting our planet too! It is producing mass amounts of garbage and using a ton of energy. A report by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) says that the amount of bottled water consumed by the world doubled between 1999 and 2004, reaching an all time high of 41 billion gallons a year. Bottled water is proven to cost more than gasoline! It doesnt make sense that people complain so much about the sky-rocketing gas prices when bottled water is even more expensive! Most of the money that goes into bottled water is through transportation. An example: 1.4 million bottles of a finnish botted water company were shipped to Saudi Arabia, which is about 2,700 miles away. Evian water delivers 60% of its water to destinations across the globe as well. The united states, not so schockingly, is the biggest consumers of bottled water, 7 billion gallons a year, followed by Mexico, China, and Brazil. Although this is true, Italians drink the most bottled water a day, per person; the equivlant of about 2 glasses a day.
Even the The Natural Resources Defense Council, says that there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle, it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap." A activist group in New York concluded that 25% of bottled water is just tap water, sometimes treated, usually not. In fact, if the water is treated, the amount of chemicals put into the water to "purify it" can actually make it unsafe for babies or younge children to drink it. The only places where bottled water would be a batter alternative to the tap is in 3rd world countries where healthy tap is not available.
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