Blog #8

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68Q4AS20100927

The Obama administration asked to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to continue.Deputy Assistant Attorney General Beth Brinkmann said that if they ceased funding it would be a ""setback for the field" and that biological material would be destroyed" at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.""

Some of the arguments the panel of judges made was that the funding would put scientists working with adult stem cells at a disadvantage and it goes against the constitution.

2. Explain what Constitutional concepts are relevant. Some may be obvious, but others maybe more subtly related. Explain the Constitutional connection in your own words, but also reference the specific Article & Section or Amendment(s).

Under amendment 14: "...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due processof law" continuing the funding of embryonic research would deprive embryos the right to life, and would deprive scientists working with adult stem cells the right to property.

"The injunction on the funding came after a challenge by two researchers who work with adult stem cells and opposed embryonic stem cell work -- Dr. James Sherley, a biological engineer at Boston Biomedical Research Institute, and Theresa Deisher, of Washington-based AVM Biotechnology."

3. Explain what interests you about this article and/or the Constitutional connections you found.

I am personally interested in the bio-tech industry and I believe this research should be carried out as it can save and cure many diseases and disorders. But I also believe that it should be carried out without the intentional destruction of life. And I also wonder if an embryo has these rights if it is not a citizen until it is born.

Blog 7

What stands out to you in your learning?

What really stands out for me is the fact that a lot of our work will be displayed to possibly important people in our community and not just random parents of students. And the fact that we will be creating work that will be sold just adds to the level of professionalism needed (even though it isn't thoroughly exercised.) Another thing that came up when I was reading the syllabus was that we were going to study industrialization. I am very interested in that specific topic and studied it before.

What is working well in this class?

I am definitely seeing an improvement in my writing while using the writing tips; normally I have a bad habit of not starting the action early and that made my writing weak. I also appreciate the blog system, it eliminates the printer factor, no more paper jams or lack of ink.

What can you do to build upon your successes?

Besides listening to instructions, doing some challenge agreements wouldn't be a bad idea for the future projects.

What very specific, concrete & manageable steps can you take to make the most of your opportunities to learn in this class?

Although I barely do it myself, asking questions and participating in class is a very constructive thing to do. Getting more sleep could counter-act the lunch time crash. As I said before taking on challenge agreements.

What are your goals for the next few weeks in class?

My first goal would have to be getting more sleep so I can improve my performance in class. Another one would be to participate more in class but lately I haven't been too confident in my speech patterns, which could be blamed on my lack of sleep. I also plan to take on challenge agreements, and just follow instructions in class.

Blog 6

I’m not a Doctor!
By Jeffrey Acera

Lights dimmed, the screen shrunk to a widescreen format. Popcorn bags rustled with anticipation. But instead of seeing the familiar movie trailers, an underwear model appears on screen, and you hear: “Hey, do you wanna see my d**k?” “What the f*ck are you wearing?” “Mark your spot” “You want some f*cken more?” And with that the commercial ended. I overheard giggling in the back, I turn around and see for every adult there were around 1-2 kids under the age of 12. I did not see or hear any parent attempting to prevent the children from witnessing that commercial. The bleeps were so short; you could clearly hear the obscenities. Suddenly it hit me, why in the world were kids this age in a movie rated R? And why were there so many? Throughout the movie every time someone’s head got blown off or was killed in some gored demise, I would hear a child’s chuckle. I walked out of the theater and thought to myself, where the hell is this generation going?

Since 1960 over a 30 year period there has been a 560% increase in violent crime, a 419% increase in illegitimate births, a quadrupling in divorce rates, a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes, and more than a 200% increase in the teenage suicide rate. If I said these statistics came from a war torn country would you believe me? What if I told you that it came from the U.S.? If you’re un-phased, I would count you as part of the population that provides opportunities for these things to happen; for indifference is the final form of hate. I on the other hand intend to try to help in any way possible for me. Often people judge based on race and this stops from others reaching out a helping hand. In some ways, I feel a lot like the cartoon Asian boy, known as Dr.Tran. He becomes plagued by a narrator who refers to him as “An international superstar and America’s number one commodity.”Stereotypes are but a small part of a poison called relative truth. Ours is a generation that does not care to find the line that separates the black and white, but is content in decaying in the gray. How am I supposed to even begin to help stop this generation from such decay?
That very thought echoed in my head, and as I passed by a group of young kids in front of a computer watching Dr.Tran. I recognized a tiny voice yell “EVERYTHING’S F******* WONDERFUL!!” I walked up to the group. Asked if I could show them something cool, I proceeded to put on an episode of the original Pokemon. The children watched intently. I walked away thinking Pokemon wasn’t the answer to America’s problems, but it’s a start.

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Blog 5

1. What aspect of the American Icons artist statement has been most successful for you? Why?

I haven't really done an artist statement this way, where the statement was done before the actual art. And I haven't really used most of the writing tips that we had to implement in this piece before. So I would have to say the learning process would have to be the most successful part of the artist statement.

2. What writing tip(s) have been the most helpful? Why?

Make meaning early has been the most helpful because I tend to make sentences too complicated to the point where they lose meaning. So I feel that helped me to become a better writer through that. Another strategy to merge 2 similar sentences and save space also really helped me along with the writing process.

3. What aspect of the artist statement has been most challenging? Why?

The one page limit has been the most challenging for me because I wanted to fit in not just my connection to my icon, but the moral degradation of America along with stereotypes and connect this to another icon. But I never got it to the point where I accomplished that. (yet)

4. What writing tip is most challenging? Why?

So far it has to be watch your adverbs. Since we didn't go over it the day it was supposed to be presented but from what I saw I do that a lot. Where I use an adverb that takes away the impact of the verb. I adopted a writing style where I expound by going over details and then expound on those details, and I tend to use a lot of adverbs to accomplish that.

5. Post a section of your writing that you are currently working on. List at least three questions that, if answered, would help you improve your work.

That very thought echoed in my head, and as I passed by a group of young kids in front of a computer watching Dr.Tran. I recognized his tiny voice yell “EVERYTHING’S F******* WONDERFUL!!” I walked up to the group. Asked if I could show them something cool, I proceeded to put on an episode of the original Pokemon. The children watched intently. I walked away thinking Pokemon wasn’t the answer to America’s problems, but it’s a start.

1. What aspect of this paragraph takes away from the rest of the piece?

2. How can I keep the shotgun rule while keeping it relevant and still make an impact?

3. Should I keep the small anecdote and change it or make a literal statement?

Blog #4

Post your opening & closing paragraphs of your Icons Artist Statement. Then....

Opening:

Lights dimmed, the screen shrunk to a widescreen format. Popcorn bags rustled with anticipation. But instead of seeing the familiar movie trailers, an underwear model appears on screen, and you hear: “Hey, do you wanna see my d**k?” “What the f*ck are you wearing?” “Mark your spot” “You want some f*cken more?” And with that the commercial ended. I overheard giggling in the back, I turn around and see for every adult there were around 1-2 kids under the age of 14. I did not see or hear any parent attempting to prevent the children from witnessing that commercial. The bleeps were so short; you could clearly hear the obscenities. It hit me suddenly, why in the world were kids this age in a movie rated R? And why were there so many? Throughout the movie every time someone’s head got blown off or was killed in some gored demise, I would hear a child’s chuckle. These kids weren’t scared, they found this funny! I walked out of the theater thinking to myself, where the hell is this generation going?

Closing:

That very thought echoed in my head, and as I passed by a group of young kids in front of a computer watching Dr.Tran. I recognized s tiny voice yell “EVERYTHING’S F******* WONDERFUL!!” I walked up to the group. Asked if I could show them something cool, I proceeded to put on an episode of the original Pokemon. The children watched intently. Now everything’s wonderful.

1. Explain why you chose this opening/closing combo.

To complete the loop of talking about moral degradation in America I closed with myself doing the small action of showing some kids that it doesn't need to be stupid or crude to be entertaining.

2. How does it tie together your big ideas?

I mention stereotypes in the middle paragraph but it just ties in with moral degradation. The conflict was what can I do to reverse moral decay, and the resolution is taking a small step to help by replacing something "bad" with "good"

3. Explain the types of thoughts that you hope your reader has when they are done reading your work.

At the least I want them to start thinking about how the moral integrity of what they watch listen and see affects society. Or leave them with the thought of "they showed THAT to kids??" or "Kids actually are exposed to this??"

Blog #3: American Icons & Resources

Dr.Tran - represents how asians are stereotyped today, and the moral degradation of America. And I can relate to Tran because I go through the same stereotypes.

Calvin Klein Underwear - Directly correlates with the moral degradation of America but in a more metaphorical sense represents that america still has some moral fiber somewhere but it isn't firm, it's stretchy... like a waistband. But most of the comedy is immature and sexual and dirty, I really shouldn't have to explain how that relates to underwear.

Statistic for evidence in moral decline

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/usadecline.html#table

Dr.Tran Wikipedia Page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Tran

includes synopsis of the entire series

Calvin Klein Underwear X commercial

I quoted it to show an example in degradation of American values and standards.

Dr. Tran MAIL (S1, Ep04) "Hotel Soap"

Dr. Tran MAIL (S1, Ep04) "Hotel Soap"

I also quoted a phrase from Hotel Soap in this video. It also furthers America's degradation in humor.

My journal

This contains valuable writing tips that can be used to revise and enhance my writing.

Possible Icons

Dr.Tran

How did this Icon become important to you?

Dr.Tran started out as a nonsensical cartoon with a stereotypical asian child being bothered by a stereotypical commercial narrator. But as crass, rude, and nonsensical the humor is, I remembered this came from the internet, therefore it is internet humor. And eventually I warmed up to it and showed it to my friends, we then instantly started to quote the cartoon endlessly. As ironic and hypocritical as it is, looking past everything I still find this funny.

What does this Icon represent to you? Why?

As my friends and I recited the lines from Dr.Tran, I started to realize: has this generation's sense of humor become so tasteless that we have to quote lines from something that doesn't make the slightest effort to be clever; but instead throws stupidity at your psyche until you laugh from the numbness of your brain cell loss? And in a way this series makes fun of the American dream; where having endless material possessions while living with a constant bombardment of corporate advertising is the idea of happiness. He also embodies the stereotypical pressures of being Asian, having everybody expect you to be insanely smart and good at everything. (except driving)

What or who are the other icons related to this one?

One of them would have to be cartoon network. But instead of just a degradation in the sense of humor they also have degradation pf a sense of moral ethic. I remember shows like "Hey Arnold!" and remember they taught pretty important moral lessons through entertainment; nowadays its just about entertainment for entertainment's sake. Since Dr.Tran draws from the stereotypes placed on Asian children, people like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee can be connected. Both of those actors made way for Asian culture in America, even though they helped enforce certain stereotypes they still showed that a small-time person of Asian descent can still do great things. To be literal, actual Asian doctors in Britain saved their National Health Service program http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3239540.stm . If I wanted to be more figurative I could connect him to commercialism and the manipulation of consumers.

Here is the video that started it all *warning, contains offensive American humor as well as American sexual jokes and cursing*



Bruce Lee


Who and what did this Icon inspire?

Bruce Lee helped make way for Asians to be accepted onto the big screen, and helped to erase social stereotypes and inspire other Asians to pursue careers of a higher social status. He also made martial arts movies popular and inspired future martial arts movie stars; and in turn made martial arts popular.



What does this Icon represent to you? Why?

Not only Bruce Lee, but people like Michael Jackson helped to break down racial barriers in the entertainment industry. So you could say Bruce Lee embodies the hope that with determination and the right planning you can achieve great things.




How did this Icon become important to you?

Bruce Lee was the inspiration for me to get into martial arts, but instead of just learning how to open a can of whoop-arse, I also learned valuable principles like respect and control.

The Stage

What does this Icon represent to you? Why?

The stage represents the world, and is a constant reminder that every action will affect how a scene is played out. Almost like a divine comedy, but with a twist, everybody has the freedom to choose their role. And like a story each person's life will tell a of song and dance, drifting in and out of the sweet and breaking down into the bitter, having a dance of joy then collapsing into a slump. And like a play, characters eventually meet others and so it goes from there.

How did this Icon become important to you?

I like to dance various styles of hard dance and like all arts, it's meant to be shared with others. But the floor just became a travelling stage, as long as there was ground, and some music. And even if a person does not dance or sing or paint, their personal plays intermingle and become woven with all they choose to share it with. I feel that the most when I think of my future career in the medical field, whichever discipline I choose I will be on the world's stage. Whether I fail or succeed is up to me. Asides from this, the stage is the birthplace of entertainment, and the tool which Shakespeare used to bring his creations to life.

How did this Icon become important in American culture?


As early as the first pilgrims who brought along musical instruments and song during colonization to vaudeville acts that traveled to entertain American pioneers who expanded into the west.