Blog # 18

I learned that working on a newspaper required hard work as a team and a lot of arguing to try and get the final product to look the best as possible.

In the MSB project I will use the skills I learned from the newspaper project to work as hard as I can. I will produce a highly polished piece of work that has many revisions. I learned to be able to take critical feedback which is helpful.

Blog # 17

http://www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/parks/

I would interview one of the city officials of the parks and recretion program because some of them may have had first hand experence with something.

http://www.surfridersd.org/

I would interview one of the members of this organization because they might have tried doing something at this beach before.

http://www.surfingsandiego.com/

I can interview local surfers about first hand experences they have had.

Donna Frye City council member she can be resourceful because she might have some good information about my question.

Councilmember Sherri Lightner because she is incharge of the la jolla region and in sure she has come across this problem.

blog #16

From (Dani's), I realized/learned/thought.... I got a really good idea from Dani that I can use a photo that has different elements to it like one way would be from the residents point of view and what they think about the cliffs so then that picture would be something that they see.

http://danielatoscano.blogspot.com/

From (Ben's), I realized/learned/thought....  I got some good ideas from bens like i can use the question "what is San Diego doing to help"

http://skainsman.blogspot.com/

From (Constance's), I realized/learned/thought.... that I need to find more specific questions.

http://theconstanceblog.blogspot.com/

Blog #15

1. I would want to take some pictures of a topic that has a effect on the water.

some very good examples are from nationalgeographic.com where there is a very professional picture then a little essay about the picture.

The way they make there pictures in a perspective where a lot of people can relate to and its an easy to understand picture and essay. The way they organize all of the pictures with the essays looks very professional.

2. My other idea is doing a video about water pollution with a collaboration of pictures.

a good example of this would be a video about water pollution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqNUTlY5foQ

the voice goes with the pictures and video very well. It isn't to hard to understand what he is talking about. Also the pictures are very well taken.

Blog# 14

How does the water at PB point affect the wildlife and locals?

What started all the pollution here?

How does the water affect the wildlife around PB point?

Has anyone ever gotten really sick from this area?

http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2009-09-30-62784.113116_Water_quality_at_local_beaches_gets_high_marks.html

http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/northpb.shtml

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050526/news_7m26beach.html


I can use this information to do some more in depth research on how the pollution started and what specifically it effects.

Blog # 12

http://www.10news.com/news/21161476/detail.html#

"All but one of San Diego County's 79 monitored beaches had excellent water quality during the summer months, according to a report released Wednesday by the environmental group Heal the Bay.
According to Heal the Bay's 2009 "End of Summer Beach Report Card," 78 of the 79 beaches in San Diego County monitored between Memorial Day and Labor Day received an A or B grade for water quality.The only dark spot this summer was Pacific Beach Point, which received an F grade, according to Heal the Bay."

1. This story is about the grades each beach in San Diego got after they were all tested at the end of summer. Its about one beach that got an F. Then they compare our beaches to LA's to make ours look good.

2. The missing information is the evidence for the the grades of each beach. How do we know the beaches god good grades?

3. A good follow up story would be about the beach that got an F and what the City is doing to fix it or if they will fix it.

Blog # 11

1. How do bacteria levels affect dogs at the local dog beaches?
I can research how the water has been in the past and how it is now. I can conduct some interviews of experences locals have had with the water and their dogs.

2. How has the change in environment in Mission Valley effected the river and everything in it?
 I can find some controversies that are going on right now with the river and building projects. I can also do some research on past geographical maps to present ones.

3. How does pollution effect tide pools?
What tide pools would I research on. Find out how the pollution gets into the tide pools and what in them it effects.

Dying for Dixie

Grant Garrity

Per. 1, 3

In “Dying for Dixie,” author Tony Horwitz travels to the town of Guthrie Kentucky to explore the murder of Michael Westerman. Many events involving hate crimes and racial disputes had been occurring for a long time in this town, but even more  after the death of Mr. Westerman. It seems as if the “war” never ended. The war I am talking about is the war between blacks and whites. This all started after the south’s grave defeat in the Civil War. They are thought to have never recovered from this terrible loss. Instead of seeking out a war between states again, the war has developed into a war against race.

             When 4 black teenagers were at a local gas station, Michael Westerman drove up in his truck, with a confederate flag flying off the back. What were his intentions of flying this flag, other than to provoke violence? Or was he trying to provoke someone? When Mr. Westerman was supposedly shouting racial slurs to the black teens, they began to chase after him in a car. This resulted in Damien, the oldest of the four, pulling out his gun and shooting Mr. Westerman in the heart. Someone doesn’t pull out a gun unless they are provoked. So what this comes down to is that verbal harm can result in physical harm.  The KKK is a good example of this. They harm people that are different to them. During they day, they are average people. By night, they are completely different people.

Maria Eskridge was the clerk at the front desk at the local motel where author Tony Horwitz stayed for a majority of his time in Guthrie. He ends up talking to her about the Westerman shooting, and finding out a lot about the town before it all happened. He finds out that the town was not very fond of blacks. The pool at her motel used to always be crowd on the hot summer days, and it was where all the whites would hang out and cool off. Well one day she said, two black kids decided to jump in the pool and it was like someone sent an electrical shock through the water, because all of the whites jumped right out, she exclaimed.  There were many instances where verbal abuses towards blacks were exchanged. One instance, was when Mr. Westerman supposedly used racial slurs towards the black kids in the gas station. There are two sides to the story, but I can see him doing that to aggravate someone. Another instance where racial slurs were exchanged, was when Tony chose to go into a local bar, and one of the locals was very short tempered and was sort of bullying Tony. When tony asks one of the locals what “FTW” was, he stood up off his stool and got in Tony’s face and said, “who’s asking” in a violent manner. Another man who is looking over his shoulder as he writes down what the other man said rips a couple of pages out of his notebook. The people in the town don’t like outsiders coming into their town and getting in their business. They like to keep to themselves.

            The war that is going on is not a fighting war and it may not be a verbal war. It is about different types of people that have different opinions. Good examples of a group of people that have different opinions are the KKK. “ I WANT YOU FOR THE ALMIGHTY KU KLUX KLAN!” the words of the Klan members as Tony comes across a rally to get people in the town to join. During the day they may come across as nice people when they are dressed in nice church clothes but at night, its like those robes have a part of the devil in them making the bad flow right through their veins. From the cross burnings to the lynching’s the outbursts of these members would surprise anyone who saw. The Klan in the past was not as bad as they are now but it’s amazing to see what they have become. Groups like these are often not supported by many people because people want change and want to try and pave over how bad we treated people in the past.  Racism is still a large problem here in the United States to day and racism is one of the main reasons why this war is still going on.

Verbal and physical abuses are two possible ways how a war can get started. In the town of Guthrie these two things are still going on. People are still aggravated about what happened and others still think the same about the other race. I personally do not think this will ever change in the south or anywhere else for that matter because not every person will always get along.

Horwitz, Tony. Dying for Dixie. Confederates In The Attic. Pantheon, 1998. Print.