Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Richert category.
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AOW – Dhaka Slum Dwellers Live Under Threat of Eviction
This week, we read an article called, “Dhaka Slum Dwellers Live Under Threat of Eviction” that was written by Syed Zain Al-Mahmood. It was about people living in Dhaka’s Korail Slum had to face a conflict with the government. The conflict was happening because the government had bull-dozed over 50 feet of the road without permission. The government had told the people that the families only needed to go off 10 feet of the road. However, they ended up bull-dozing 50 feet. This impacted the families by some families being injured seriously, some families even getting crushed underneath the bull-dozer, and some families losing all they had. This made thousands of people living in rental shanties made out of mud. The people sat on the airport road blocking all the cars to tell the government that they are not getting away with this and they stated that they will move after the district administration announces the eviction would stop.
I understand how the people might have felt after seeing their homes being swept away. They would have felt furious and very disappointed toward the government. We can say that this is the government’s fault. The government clearly said that they only had to move 10 feet away, but the bull-dozer went through 50 feet of the road. If they knew that was going to happen, they should have stopped at 10 feet and tell the people that they needed more feet. If they had told them that, the people would have moved with no words. It was because the government didn’t warn them, which meant the government didn’t care about the people. In the article, it said, “They say many people were injured and one young girl was crushed under a bull-dozer during the forced evictions, although this has been denied by the district administration.” I mean it was harsh enough to evict them off their homes, but they even killed a little girl. How cruel does a person have to be in order to kill a girl that was in her home knowing nothing about a bull-dozer going over her home and herself? I really don’t understand what they were thinking while they were bull-dozing over all the houses.
I think this article really wakes us up. It really shows us how cruel a person can be. It tells us how we can’t judge a person by its looks. It teaches us how we should not trust people so easily. For me personally, this article just made me realize how cruel, devastating people can be or turn into. Right now the news is full of these things, and is full of stories how a mom killed her own baby, or a father sold his own daughter. I just don’t understand why people do that kind of things. I really want to know what those people think when they decide to cause those problems.
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ESLR writing
“Guys! Buy your tickets now~ You can watch a movie with your friends, you can eat snacks and drinks!” Student council is always busy on ticket selling days. We run around the hall ways, advertise during break and lunch. Sometimes, we even miss half of our lunch selling tickets. Some pople just pass by, not even noticing us. Some people stop by, and buy our tickets. Lunch is almost over, and we still got half of our tickets left. We quickly go in the building, and ask people that are in front of their lockers, in the library, dragons den…etc. This is one of the ways I show Dedicated Service.
From all the five Expected School-wide Learning Results, I am most successful with Dedicated Service, but I would want to be more successful with Respect for all. I am most successful with Dedicated Service because I give up my personal time outside of school to go to service projects. Recently, February 25, I did a charity concert in my choir. I still can’t forget the emotion I had right before the stage. My heart was beating fast. I was standing behind the red curtains. I could hear the audience clapping their hands to cheer us up. My friends next to me was bouncing around and whispering to each other how afraid they were. I think we were more nervous then the other concerts is because it was a more meaningful concert. After the concert, We got to donate the money that we earned from ticket sales to the orphanage. Almost every year, I do a charity concert in my choir. Also, I am a part of student coucil. Every week, we have a meeting, and we plan activities for our comunity, and we do fundraising. We are now getting ready for Spring dance. These are the reasons why I think I am most successful with Dedicated Service.
I am least successful with Respect for All because I treat people depending on my mood. For example, if I feel bad, and my condition is low, I don’t talk much with my friends, and make them feel upset. I try not to show my friends that I’m not feeling good today, but that doesn’t really work out. When I feel bad, I don’t smile a lot and not say hello to my friends. They do try to cheer me up, but for me, that doesn’t really help. So, I think I am just making my friends upset too. Also to my mom. At home, when something bad happened at school, I don’t talk to my mom. When I come after school, I just get angry at my mom. So, if she asks me about school, my answers are all very choppy and very short. I think I should try to improve my Respect for All.
There are things that I can do that can help me be more successful with Respect for All. First, I can try to keep my mood positive and not do things that would make me feel bad. If I try to control my mood, I wouldn’t make my friends upset and I wouldn’t be angry at my mom. Also, because I know the things that would make me feel bad, I can try not to do those things. Second, I can tell my mom earlier that I have a bad mood. If I tell my mom, she wouldn’t ask me a lot of questions. She would know that I would answer it very short, and she knows I would be annoyed. Or, I can try telling my mom what made me upset and feel that way. Rather than just knowing it by myself and being mad myself, I can try talking to myself, and maybe that would help me feel better. These are the things I can do to be more successful with Respect for All.
In conclusion, from all the five Expected School-wide Learning Results, I am most successful with Dedicated Service, but I would want to be more successful with Respect for all.I am most successful with Dedicated Service because I give up my personal time outside of school to go to service projects. I recently did a charity concert and I am a part of student council. However, I am least successful with Respect for All because I treat people depending on my mood. For example, if I feel bad, I don’t talk to my friends a lot and don’t really smile. There are things that I can do that can help me be more successful with Respect for All. First, try to keep my mood positive. Second, tell my mom earlier when I have a bad mood. Third, try talking to my mom about the things that’s making me feel bad. If I try these things, I am sure I can be more successful with Respect for All. Lastly, not only these ESLR’s but I will also work hard to achieve all the other ESLR’s.
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AOW – Martin Luther King Jr.
After I read this article, I understood why people would celebrate his birthdays. At first, I didn’t really know about him. All I knew was that he was a black man that did a lot of good things to stop racism. In this article, it tells us 8 specific things he had done for racism and his friends. I think the white people back then was crazy. How could they do this to them? Black people were also humans, and they should have accepted them as their citizen. They didn’t even treat them as humans. They treated them as animals, dirty monsters that trespassed and were just doing harms to them. Actually, the blacks did not do anything wrong. I don’t think this was the right thing, and if I were a white, I would be glad to help the blacks fight back racism. I would not just stand there and watch all these problems just pass by…
The most astonishing part was when he went to jail with nothing done wrong, and decided to stay until the white policemen sent him free. Of course other blacks tried tohelp, but he refused and told them he would stay. The white policemen got embarrassed for putting him in jail with no reason, and let him out. I think this shows how brave he is, and how determined he was to fight racism. He spent 45 days in jail, being stared by the white people. If I were him, I wouldn’t have thought of that. If I was in jail, and the people told me that they would help me get out of jail, I would be very happy… I would receive their help and get out of there. For him, that wasn’t the case… I think his belief of racism was too strong that nobody could fight back his emotions.
In addition, by reading this, it made me change my perspective on the white people back then. Right now, people changed a lot and things changed. Still, it kind of made me feel sorry for the black people and kind of angry toward the white people. I know not all white people were involved in this problem but white people back then was very selfish, and cruel. How can they do this to the black people? Didn’t they think of the future? Did they think if they continue to criticize them, racism would continue till now? If they did think that, they were wrong. I also thought what white people would be thinking when they faced a black man/woman in the street. Would they still feel guilt or would they just walk by because it wasn’t them who did it. If I met a black man/woman and I was white, I would be very embarrassed and I would not be able to face them eye to eye. I would be very shamed of myself, even though it wasn’t me who did it. In conclusion, I think Martin Luther King Jr. did a big thing and he was the one who changed the history. 
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AOW- Steve Jobs
” You’ve got to find what you love.” He didn’t graduate collage, he’s biological mother also didn’t graduate collage, he was adopted the day he was born, he went around picking up 5 cent coke bottles to earn money, he used to eat at the Christian Church because he had not enough money, and he slept on the floor in his friend’s dorm. He had an hard-working life. This is what Steve Jobs had to come through and win through all his life. When I read all this, all I could think was really? really? REALLY? Because when I first heard about Steve Jobs, I thought he was in the perfect range. I imagined him as an rich man, good family, best education, made Apple and worked his way through. But I was wrong. He went through all this difficulty. But a lot of people didn’t graduate college such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg. He even got fired from his own company that he made with his friend. But after he got fired, he started to work for PIXAR and NEXT. I think he has a lot of luck. Because if some people drop out of collage, most of them would end up living in streets or working in a part-time job. But Steve Jobs had been successful. And he enjoyed his life. So I think that he is an amazing man and very confident about himself.
Also, he lived his everyday life thinking about DEATH. He had a pancreas cancer, which is an disease that can’t be cured easily. The doctor told him to say ‘bye byes’ to people and get ready. He was told that he couldn’t live more than 6 months. DEATH was the biggest thing that made Steve Jobs change his life. He made the biggest choices and the best choices. He turned away from pride, from embarrassment. He had nothing to loose. He was going to die. There was nothing more important than DEATH to him. But then, after awhile, he got one more check from the hospital, and he’s cancer was in a very weird shape of form that could be cured. So he got operated and he was okay for a few years. He felt miracle. Because most of people would died or had a hard time but Steve Jobs, luckily, had survived and could live longer. So he lived his everyday life as if he was going to die tomorrow. He always looked in the mirror and asked himself, “If this was your last day of your life, would you do the things that you are about to do today?” and if the answer was no, more than twice a week, he knew he had to change something in his daily life.
I think even though he died, he should be left in our history and be remembered forever. Because he made the biggest technology company, but also he told us a very important lesson. ‘Even the people that doesn’t graduate collage can success in their life.’
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AOW- Before I die…..
I really think that this is the most interesting thing I saw! I just love it. I want to try one of this. Because I have never saw this. And this is not the only one that Candy Chang did. I love the pictures that people took and posted. Some were very touching. For example, one of them said, ” Before I die..I want to live without regrets.” I love this statement, because I agree with them. I think that this is a very good idea to gain more courage and hope for the people that lost hope. Some people said that they wanted to change the world before they die. I think that this is such a kind message to everyone.
I couldn’t believe that also people really wrote on the wall… I thought that people would just pass by without even noticing, but people really put an effort to make a beautiful wall. I really enjoyed reading what individual people wrote on the wall. Some were silly, such as, “Kiss your sister.” But still they put an effort to post on the wall and make people laugh. Also, there are some other places that Candy Chang made this kind of wall with different topic.
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AOW – Modern Slavery
But these people states that the police are doing the wrong thing and some people doesn’t even want to get investigated. They think that the Travelers weren’t that bad. And I also think that these people are true. They get money for that. And they get a house to sleep in. So I don’t think that this can be called as “slaves.” In a month they get about 250 Dollars. This can be a lot to those people. Also, they say that they are not being forced to work, they approved to work. So, maybe the title really doesn’t fit for these people. I think that this article makes us difficult to say “This is a bad thing.” or “This is a okay thing.”
In conclusion, I think that this is a okay thing to do. Because, as I said before, they give you money (8 Dollars a day) and they give you a shelter. So, I think that these people can’t be called as slaves and also Travelers shouldn’t be on the BAD BAD side. If they forced these people to work for them and bribed them with money, then they should be in jail, but they didn’t even force the people. So I think that it’s a okay thing to do in this situation, not world-wide.
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AOW – Skateistan
Skateistan
First of all, in the article, there was a part that talks about a girl, Faliza, who says she did not have dream and thought she would have nothing to do in the future. For me, this was a part that I had hard time imagining in my head. Because who would not have a dream in a young age of 11? When I was young, my dream changed every week or even day, so for me this was an unusual thing. I felt really sorry for her. Dream and hope is what we live for, and depend on. But she had given up her dream to support her family with 7 siblings.
Second of all, I was surprised when Faliza said she depend her and her family’s survival on $170. This made me reflect on my behaviors. For example, food. Sometimes, when I go to restaurants with my family, I order a lot of food. And I waste a lot of them. I didn’t feel that bad at first. But after I read this article, I started to regret and pledged that I would never do that again. In addition, after skate boarding, she has to go out and work again but she endures the hardness by daydreaming about tomorrow going to skate boarding school. A question just popped out of my head when I read this part. “In the burning sun? Alone? What if she gets hurt? She says, “My mom wants me to stop working on the streets,” she says. “But I still have to; I have to support my family.” I felt her perseverance to support her family was incredible.
In conclusion, I think having the Skate-boarding school is a very good idea. First, because by doing this it can make children hope and dream. Second, some people depend their life on this program, for survival. After reading this article, I learned a lot of things from my behavior. For example, when I go downtown I see some kids coming to us for money or to buy little treats. Usually I just pass by, or just wave “no” to the kids, but now I think if I do see them, I should give some help. Because I didn’t know it would be so hard for them like this. Also, it made me reflect on how bad it is to waste food or money on something that I don’t really want. So, this article gave me a lot of hope and now I will change my behavior so I don’t feel ashamed in front of those people.
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AOW – 9/11
When I looked through the picture, I found the picture that I liked the most. It was picture #11. I could count almost 80 people in this picture. This was the moment when all the people were having a ceremony and praying for the people that died by rescuing people and also people that were trapped inside. Also, I like the picture #27. This was a picture of a firefighter, Sean McCallister, and his wife, in the ceremony for the firefighters. When I look at the wife’s eyes, I can see the disappointment for those people. And also all those people at the back, it looks like firefighters but not sure. But for this photographer, I think he just made the perspective on the wife, and everything blury. But maybe he could have tried taking a picture where it’s more cleaner and more stable. Because Sean McCallister is shaking. So I think that this photographer could have done a better job.
Picture #11 Picture #27
When I also saw the video for 9/11, I was just like shocked. I could not imagine a twin tower standing in New York City. Because I never knew about this event. I have never heard of 9/11 or even a terrorist attacking the twin tower building. I had no idea when I first saw this video, but now I know a heart-breaking history of New York City. I also kind of wonder what would New York City be like if there was still a twin tower. I think it would have been pretty cool. Also, I read a article about 9/11, and it was about who did it and the details. But it WAS pretty shocking… I couldn’t believe it. And when I saw the papers flying around and the smoke following people around, plane continuously hitting the twin tower, police mans and firefighters running toward the building… And the amount of people dieing increasing. In total, including the terrorist, 2996 people died. This is UNBELIEVABLE!
In conclusion, I think that this date 9/11 will never be erased from people’s heart for generations and generations. I feel really sorry for the families that lost their a member of their family. And so grateful for the people that rescued people from the twin tower. I wish these terrible events will stop happening, not only New York, but the whole world!
http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/America-remembers-9/11/G2699,A10120
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AOW – Flash Mob
Can people live without social network? When I first read the article “Is it Technology To Blame?” by-Daniel Tovrov, it said teenagers that disagreed with the society, killed a man that was walking down the street. The first thought that came into my mind was “What were they thinking?” If I was the parents of the dead man, I would be seriously angry and upset. What did he do wrong? What were the teenager’s thinking? If I were the dead man’s parents, I would totally agree to ban the social media network. Because the article also says that these teenagers contacted each other to murder the man, especially by text messages and deleting them so their parents won’t know about it. And then I thought about being in the position of their parents. For example, in the morning, before I went out to work, I turned on the television and saw a gang of boys that were taken to the police after murdering someone, and it turned out to be MY SON! I would be embarrassed to face the other people. I would never let my son come back home unless he promises or reflects on what he did.
Also, when I heard about the idea of banning the social media/ network because of murdering cases and violence, I was kind of surprised. Even though, I understood the position of the people that wanted the networks to be banned, I also thought about the position of people that disagreed. Because if we ban the social network then people like me, who has done nothing wrong, has to get the same punishment. I think that is an unfair thing to do. In addition, some people use social network to contact their family that lives far away from. If they hear the news that the social network will be banned, what would they think or feel? They will not like the idea, and maybe they’ll fight back for their rights. I think that we should think of a better way that would be good for everyone. In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading the article, and also learned a lot from this article. It kind of made me disappointed and also worried about the social network being banned, but in the other hand, I think that this is a very good experience for the people to know about what’s happening in the world these days.
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2011/08/12/mobsx-large.jpg
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AOW – London Riot
At first when I read the article carefully, I saw that it was a girl that was going to attend the Olympic to do the ambassador. The first thought that came straight into my mind was, “she is never going to attend to the Olympic,” because she was in the group doing the riot. But to me, the more surprising thing was that her parents actually called the police. If I was their parents I don’t think that I would call the police. First of all, she’s my daughter, and even though she did something illegal I will ask her the reason first. It’s not like she just did it because it was fun, maybe she had another reason of doing it. And also, before I even turn her in, I would bring her home and listen to her story. She might have her own reason.
Also, when I looked at this article, I was thinking if I was her would I go out and face the trouble? Because she would’ve known that if she went out to break things and do things illegally, she would know that she would be forced out of being the ambassador in the Olympics, so if I was her, I would just stay home and get ready for the Olympic. This isn’t a chance that comes every year or even ten years. Maybe that was her first chance, and her last chance. But by doing those behaviors she just blew away her opportunity in just a moment. That was what made me kind of wonder while I was reading. Another thing that was interesting was that Chelsea went in the court with an 11 years old girl. This made me straight think, “What in the world is she doing out there?” She could’ve been seriously in danger or even death. What was her parent doing? She was out there with Chelsea and breaking stores, breaking glasses throwing anything that they can find, and this was not a good behavior of an 11 years old girl to do.
In conclusion, I think that this article made me think a lot about what I would do if I was in the riot. Also, it made me think a lot about our society and how the world is going on, and also about people that is just different from me, us. Most of the people would have said just stay home and stay away from it. But these young people stood up and did illegal things with a group of people. I just think it’s wrong and not a good behavior for a child to do.
