Saturday, May 17, 2014

Don t judge be positive


 My Research was about the cleanliness of New York city, throughout my research I have came across a lot of important information, however I felt like there was  two  part of the research I decided not to include in the final paper.  I felt like it wasn't important although it was relevant to my topic I decided to to include these two sections.
One part my research paper I decided not to include in my final paper was about the Cholera epidemics of 1832 in New York.  New York City had become one of the dirtiest city by the 19 century causing people to become sick. The cholera epidemic killed thousands of people in Europe and North America. According to Robert Mcnamara the cholera outbreak was caused by the lack of proper sanitation, which does is not surprising because it was later discovered by scientist that bacillus which is found in water was the main reason for the cholera outbreak.  The lack of sanitation has been an issue in New York City for a very long time which   has caused others lives. I believe proper sanitation could of prevented the cholera outbreak because if New Yorker toke actions and made sure their water was being cleaned and also New Yonkers could of voiced their opinion to have clean water to drink.
   Another part of my research paper I decided not to include in the final paper was about the tourist New York City and what they think of New York City regarding the lack of sanitation's in the streets. Tourist reviewed New York City as very dirt and smelly city. In a survey they had said that they would often see piled up garbage’s on sidewalk. According to Michael Howard about 11.4 million tourists has visited the united states.  I understand tourist is very important  although they do have their opinions, the tourist still would prefer new York city than any other place . Tourist is good for the economies and so of course the mayor would like to welcome a lot of visitors from outside the untied states. I think the reason why I decided not to include this section of my paper is because I felt like the tourist should stop judging and learn about how to help improve the poor sanitation even though they may not be a resident of new York if the care so much they should help.  I “m not saying that one is not  entitled to its opinion I am just saying that instead of giving bad comments and reviews why don’t you stand up and give solutions on how to help to the cleanliness of new York city. 
Work cited 
Michael Howard "New York City sees Record High Tourism in 2013". December 10,2013
Wsj.com/news/Articles . Web May 17,2013.


Friday, May 9, 2014

Spike Lee



Spike Lee is a famous film director whom I remember showing how Brooklyn was in the movie Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee himself grew up in Brooklyn and his father still lives there. He has strong feelings against gentrification, and would be considered a very good first person source on a paper discussing said topic. While at the Pratt Institute someone asked him about the good that gentrification brings, and he proceeded to give a 7 min speech on the topic. Due to the fact that he is very anti-gentrification I thought he would be of good use when writing the cons section of my paper. I tried to also search for people that were against what Spike Lee specifically to keep this report unbiased. What I found was that Spike Lee was not so much anti-gentrification as he was anti-white people moving into these locations. The impressions he gives is that if minorities were to come and fix up these neighborhood and raise property values he would be more on board. This was too biased for my paper and not justified enough. For my paper I tried to keep race out of the picture because I know that minorities are capable of being a part of gentrification.

Works Cited
watchthis. “Spike Lee Goes On Epic Rant Against Gentrification In NYC Audio.” Video
Youtube. 2014 YouTube, LLC, Feb 26, 2014. Web. March 29,2014

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Daddy's style.

     While the New York City's Shelter System should be a reliable and safe place where you can spend the night, many people who have been through it think otherwise. "I was allowed entrance, but I was told I had to give my walker to staff for 'safety.' Apparently, they were afraid that either someone would trip over it or that I would use it as a weapon" The disabled old person who needs the help of a walker to move was not able to do so while in the Shelter. With only the option of having the walker or a place to sleep, she was left with no options. "While it is not the fault of those who run them some shelters are unable to accommodate people in wheelchairs." Public shelters shouldn't be denying the entrance of disabled people. Instead, those should be their number one priority because they are less likely to be able to defend themselves in the streets. This people have no other option but to go by the rules of the New York City's Shelter System or sleep in the streets.

Kylyssa "Why Homeless People Don't Use Shelters" Squidoo. n.d. culture on squidoo. Web. 7 May 2014

Saturday, May 3, 2014

No Tolerance for Horseplay


What started in 1994 as a tool to help discourage weapons in schools has become a tool for criminalization of immature behavior. Thanks to the zero-tolerance policy etiquette, many students are being targeted as criminals for simple offences such as horse-play. It was only a few years ago when Andrew Makel, a ninth grade student, was expelled for shooting a few spit wads at a student during a lunch period. The initial punishment was for 10 days, but according to John W. Whitehead, school officials brought local law enforcements “which initiated juvenile assault proceeding for criminal assaults against young Andrew.” Andrew Mikel’s suspension lasted a year.

Some officials like, John Lynn, wrote to the administrators, and claimed that he was not comfortable expelling or suspending Andrew Mikel for the reminder of the year, but he was ignored and the school board disciplinary committee upheld the ruling. Kevin Sieff wrote an article and said that the federal Gun-Free-School-Act mandates that schools expel students who take weapons, including hand guns, explosive devices and projectile weapons to school. Therefore, “Mikel's plastic tube, which was fashioned from a pen casing, met the definition of a projectile weapon because it was ‘used to intimidate, threaten or harm others.’ “

Andrew Mikel’s case is an example of a zero-tolerance policy developing into a tyrannical trend. It is blatant that the policy has become an easy getaway for school’s to throw away students that do not meet the school protocol. Imagination has become a thing of the past, horseplay is a treated a threat, and whatever freedom children had to express themselves with has become a warning bell for schools to slaughter.  Whitehead, president of the institute where Andrew Mikel studied, said, "School officials have developed a very dangerous mind-set that allows virtually no freedom for students, while at the same time criminalizing childish behavior.”

Take for instance, Patrick Timoney, a nine year old, fourth grade student, who brought one of his favorite toys: A Lego toy to play with his friends. Unaware of what was about to happen, the principal caught him, pulled him out of the class, and called his parents. The student’s toy apparently had a 2-inch plastic gun. The Department of Education stated that the principal, Evelyn Matroianni, was simply following the “no tolerance” policy code (Miller). Timoney’s mother responded in an article, “This isn't a safety issue…this is a judgment issue. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? It could poke you in the eye?"

The zero-tolerance policy was never proven to help students. These policies tend to ignore the root of misbehavior in favor a brute ruling. They do not look at the intention of the child, the policy is meant to look at the action, punishing the child without thought of consequence. Whitehead wrote, “Andrew Mikel, an honor student active in Junior ROTC and in his church who had hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, can no longer be considered as an applicant.”

  • Miller, Carlin. "Two-Inch LEGO Gun Gets 4th-Grader Patrick Timoney in Trouble; Where's the NRA?" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 4 Feb. 2010. Web. 03 May 2014.


  • Sieff, Kevin. "Plastic Pellet Incident at Va. School Ends in Expulsion, Assault Charges." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 03 May 2014.


  • Whitehead, John W. "Zero Tolerance Schools Discipline Without Wiggle Room." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 May 2014.


New York City Bike Share Program

                                                          New York City Bike share program.
Over the course of my research on the final paper regarding the New York City Bike share Program, I came across things that I believe were important but not very significant for my paper.  On the New York Magazine I found a piece describing how conservatives hate the Bike Share Program. The second thing is from my personal experience, I found the best spot in the city to ride bike for fun.
First, the Citi Bike Program is a bike share program that was initiated, introduced, and strongly advocated for and supported by the Bloomberg Administration.  Many conservatives do not share the former mayor views, particularly his political views on environment. Bloomberg has more liberal views on climate change and its causes. Thus, having a massive bike share would help the environment by reducing the car gas emission because people drive less. On the other hand, Conservatives do not think human is responsible for climate change. So we, as human have to leave “nature” alone regulate itself.  According to Amira, author at New York Magazine, “Conservatives hate the bike share program for some well-known reasons: they do not like Bloomberg for his political views, especially on guns. They do not believe in climate change and he does. They believe the French people ride bikes more than any other people, they do not want to be associated with French” (Amira).
Secondly, whether you like the Bike Share Program or not, there is in the city a special place you can ride a bike and fully enjoy it. From my own experience, I like to ride bike alongside the Hudson River. This is the beginning of spring, soon it will be summer.  From time to time I enjoy riding bike for fun, for pleasure as do many people in the city. My favorite part in the city to ride is alongside the Hudson River on the West Side Highway going south. It is the most beautiful place to ride for fun in the city. Here is the river in the middle of the two great cities (New York City and Jersey City). Here is the fresh air coming from the river that I always enjoy. Two cities that I personally call twin cities. There are built in the same spots and they look similar in some ways. One of the most beautiful moments I enjoy in the city while riding bike is around the sunset. It is really fun to ride bike below 34 th Street when the sun is laying down. Contemplating the reflexing of the orange sun rays in the roof of the buildings both in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City make me more appreciative of nature.
Finally for many reasons, New Yorkers have many different views on the Citi Bike Program. Personally, I like to ride bikes only for fun.

                                             Work cited

Dan Amira. “Why Conservatives Hate Citi Bike So Much, in One Venn Diagram”, newyorkmagazine.com, June 5, 2013.  newyorkmagazine web,  May 3,2014.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Just Didn't Work

One part of my research paper that I was not able to include is the personal accounts from people who have been stopped and frisked; also cops personal thoughts on stop and frisk.  These two things will not work for my paper because I was trying to steer away from seeming as I am complaining.  My purpose in writing this paper is to try to examine all facts only to be able to get the reader to really access if stop and frisk and effective or necessary.  Using personal accounts is very bias and one sided because it is a given someone who was stop and frisked doesn’t approve of it.  And on the other hand, cops were not willing to give accounts on stop and frisk and of course are going to give me the politically correct answer because they are not going to speak out about something that makes them look bad.  Another research that I included in an earlier post that I did not use is an article I had found about a cop who was being sued by his prescient for speaking out against mandatory citation numbers each cop has to reach.  The reason why I decided to opt that article out of my paper is again because that does not work towards my argument or proving that stop and frisk is ineffective.  That is because at the end of the day a crime is a crime small or large.  If they are giving out petty citations that they would not give out on the usual just to reach their mandatory amount, for example littering, at the end of the day it is still justifiable.  For that reason I decided to opt out these three elements from my research paper to make it more concise and more factual.   

Impression Management and Cyber Bullying

​Impression Management can be defined as the strategies that we use to communicate by deciding which part of ourselves to reveal. In the movie "Cyber Bully​ A 17-year-old, Taylor, was the main character of the film. Everything started when Kris (Taylor’s mother) gave Taylor a laptop as a birthday gift. She created a webpage in which she was friends to Scott (Taylor’s crush). He then asked Taylor to go to the school dance, and Taylor agreed. When something is very popular, everybody wishes to get it and that’s why Taylor created her Cliquesters page, which is later hacked by Eric (her brother), and that’s how everybody turned up on Taylor. She was being called “whore and slut” and that she was sleeping with guys for five bucks. 

After all the harassment by Lindsey (the girl that bullies Taylor), Scott told Taylor that he couldn’t go with her to the dance. Cyber bully film shows how friendship can be a failure and how it can break up a long lasting relationship. Samantha (Taylor’s best friend) betrayed Taylor by creating a fake identity on Cliquesters as (James), so Taylor would move away from Scott because Samantha thought that he was going to hurt Taylor, since Samantha was dumped by one of his friend. 

Moreover, Taylor posted a video online saying that since everybody hates her, she hated herself too and that she was done. Samantha saw the video and ran towards Taylor which was about to make a suicide. She then tells Taylor that she was the one who created the “James” profile. Taylor attends to a place to get some help; she forgives Samantha which is later the one who’s getting bullied. Taylor, Scott, Samantha and some other characters stood up and made Lindsey stop the bullying.

Work Cited

Booth, Teena "Cyber Bully" July 17 2011.Web. March 22 2014

Zero-Tolerance: Children Being Left Behind

New York City Department of Education needs to ban the zero tolerance discipline code. Often times, the policy is extreme and does not match the student’s offence, but what is the ‘zero tolerance policy’ and why should it be disowned from the New York City’s school disciplinary code? Zero tolerance is a severe form of punishment in which students are, usually, suspended or otherwise expelled from schools.  At first glance, the code appears understandable, even a reasonable policy; children are required to understand that breaking rules are imperatively dangerous and absolutely disruptive to the environment many of the teacher’s and faculty members try to uphold, except, that upon closer inspection- when it becomes apparent that the zero tolerance policy is an easy way of getting rid of minor problems- the zero tolerance policy does nothing for children; it does not help them academically, it does not help them on an emotional level, and it does not help them on a social level.

Zero-tolerance is accepted in most schools. According to the New York Department of Education and the center for safe and responsive schools, the policy can be issued when a student has in their possession: firearms, weapons other than fire arms, alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Over the years, the policy has refined to punish students who are also violent or verbally aggressive. There are two types of suspension that are common with the zero-tolerance policy: the first is the principals’ suspension and second is the superintendent suspension. The principal suspension may last anywhere between one and five days. A superintendent suspension may last longer than a principle suspension, and can last anywhere between 30-90 days or a one year suspension without the possibility of early reinstatement.

Now, no one wants to see a child with firearms or with drugs. It is imperative that immediate action always be taken into consideration when they become a danger to the school environment. Students should know that bringing firearms and drugs can be detrimental to their safety, their peers’ safety, and the teacher’s safety. However, is the zero-tolerance policy the correct answer to a student’s rash behavior? Well, Jamie Tackket Koppel, director of Youth and Education Justice believes that the practices schools uphold are criminalizing children rather than educating and socializing them. “Missing an entire week of school makes it very difficult to keep up or catch up with what is being taught.”
                
      Schools are now reconsidering the zero-tolerance policy. Children are being suspended, even arrested for minor offences like cursing, or getting into minor fights with other students. Broward’s superintendent said, “It was wrong to keep saddling students with criminal records that can hurt their chances of getting a job or college financial aid.”



  • C. Liu, John. The Suspension Spike: Changing The Discipline Culture in NYC's Middle School.. New York City: New York City Comptroller's Office, 2013. E-book.
  • Koppel. T. Jamie. “Testimony of the Children’s Defense Fund – New       York.” Children’s Defense fund-New York. Children’s Defense fund New York, June 6, 2013. Cdfny.org. 2014
  • "Zero Tolerance, Reconsidered." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Jan. 2014. Web. 02 May 2014.


Where Did All Of the Housing Voucher Programs Go?

The effects of high housing costs on low income renters can be severe and enduring. Because of the housing cost are extremely unaffordable, low income households have insufficient income to cover all other basic needs such as clothing, food, medications, transportation, child care families are unable to invest in education, Life insurance and all of these things are essential or is needed for life sustainability. Families will continue to live in poverty because their income. According to research regarding this issue it shows that housing instability and homelessness interfere with the health development of children in many ways that have a lasting impact, including the hindrance of their educational success and thereby their future earnings as adults. According to the Bowles-Simpson commission and some other major bipartisan groups that have examined the nation's long-term fiscal challenges have espoused the principle that deficit-reduction efforts should not increase poverty or exacerbate hardship or vulnerable Americans. This year's sequestration violates this principle, forcing deep and indiscriminate cuts in non-defense discretionary programs. If Congress fails to reverse them, low income families will experience a significant loss of rental assistance, and more individuals and families will experience a lengthy periods of housing instability and homelessness, compromising their children's chances to develop into healthy and productive adults.

Cyber Bullying and its effects

Cyber bullying is defined as the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. Cyber bullying occurs the most while the person is attenting school. This can be very sad because the person getting bullied starts missing classes and therefore getting bad grades. Since they chose to stay home, the alcohol and drug use becomes their best friend.

Cyber Bullying is rapidly becoming a major problem. "Although it is less physical than traditional forms of bullying, it can have more devastating, and longer-lasting effects" (Meech) Cyberbullies think that they aren't really bullying because they are not looking at the person face to face, so they think that they are not hurting others. Meech asserts that cyber bullying is worse than physical bullying because it subjects the victim to be humiliated in front of a larger audience which is the internet and everybody can see it. 

There are a variety of reasons of why people bully. Wanting to have the most power and control is perhaps one of the reasons of cyber bullying. Also, family issues can contribute to bullying. In addition, parents should be aware of what they do and say in front of their children because it can have long lasting effect. 


Work Cited 
Meech, Scott "Cyber Bullying: Worse than Traditional Bullying" Educators' eZine. Tech and Learning. May 2007. Web. April 30 2014


New York City not being what most people expected

  Throughout my research there was a part I decided not to add to my paper. It's a part about the percentage of  people that move back to their original hometown state, because they weren't happy living in New York City. Maybe, because their new jobs wasn't what they expected, most people have a dead end job, or it wasn't the way they thought it would be. For example,  41% of people that are new to New York move back home. Furthermore, there is quote that relates to my topic very well " I came to America because I heard the streets were paved in gold, when i got here I found out three things, first, the streets weren't paved in gold; second, they weren't paved at all, and third, I was expected to pave them" I love this quote because it relates to what I'm trying to say in my paper, However, it's like i always say in New York City you have to work very much to get where you want to be, most people that first arrive here believe that everything is easy, and that the money is easy, and it's completely the opposite.  
                
                                                         Work Cited
Gallup "What percent of residents want to move out of your state?" Glennbeck.com May 1, 2014 Gallup. Web. May 2, 2014

Political Awareness

      Social networks have become a significant part of our modern civilization.
It is an easy and fast way people can interact with each other in different
locations. With Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks we are
able to become more aware of the world we are living in. Many social networks
have contributed to create a whole new world where we are free to express our
thoughts and share it with our friends.
        I've narrowed down my research paper to the negative effects of social
networking with teenagers. Since I am only talking about the negative effects of
social networking, I will not include the positive effects I have came upon. A
positive effect that stood out was the rising cultural and political awareness
among teenagers.
           "The Raising Children Network says that teens can benefit from media
exposure by developing cultural and political awareness"(Mokeyane). Teenagers
who may be limited to interactions with people from different cultures and ethnic
backgrounds can use social networks and social media to expose themselves to
different types of people. Social media encourages teens to question cultural
stereotypes because social media displays different cultural or ethnic groups
which can differentiate from the stereotypes their family and peers have drilled
into their heads. News outlet, such as CNN and Fox News, provide teens with an
opportunity to educate themselves about what is going on in other states and
countries. These News outlet always encourage teens to develop a political
stance. It's great to know that teens can learn more through social medias and
share it on social networks to educate more teens. 


Work Cited

Mokeyane, Nola K. ."Media's Positive & Negative Influence On Teenagers". N.D GlobalPost. Web. GlobalPost. May 1st, 2014.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Central Park Crimes

               There were alot of intersting things that I found out about Central Park. One in particular that I decided not to put in my research paper was the amount of crime that goes on in the upperside of Central Park. Such as robbery's and rapes, there has been alot of stories about women joggers geting attacked in Central Park after late hours going pass 12am. One story that I found on ''New York News and Politics'' in 1991 a 28 year old women was raped and beating to the point the rapist through she was dead and left for dead. Reyes the rapist when to visit the area he raped the young lady after already serving 13 years in prison. He was in hand cuffs and escorted by police officers and told his story. He pleaded guilty to 33 years in prison.

              Growing up I would always hear stories about people getting hurt and things happening late at nights in Central Park. My grand mother lived on the East of Harlem and going to her house I would sometimes have to walk pass Central Park. When walking pass I would be scared and think of the things that I herd. When walking with my cousin we would fuss about who's being on the outside towards the street saying that "some one would try to kidnap us" and walk really fast, if we wasn't with an adult.

               I also read on the ''The New York Times" that there many homicides that accrued in central park. The homicides are the reason for the police to have to be in the area also robberies. There are also hired securities to be on the look out and about 30 or more cambers installed through the park. With all the crime that has happen in the park, the park has become strict on rules and close down the park at 1am. If someone is caught hanging out in the park after curfew can be given a ticket.



 
Work cites
 
Smith, Chris. "Central Park Revisited". New York New and Politics. N.D. New York Media LLC. Web. April 28, 2014.
Foderaro, W. Lisa. "Dark Days Behind It, Central Park Pulses at Night". The New York Times. December 28, 2011. The New Times Company LLC. Web. April 28,2014
 
 

 

Causes of homelessness

New York is often associated with this notion of "Glam and Glory" however did you know each year about 100,000 New Yorkers experience homelessness. As Linda Lingle once stated "Chronically homeless means constantly homeless; it means repeatedly homeless" being homeless is like falling into a hole and having trouble getting out. There are 3 causes that lead to being homeless such as For one without a good income how are us as citizens supposed to carry out our lifestyle. This relates to the problem of jobs. Without a job we cannot receive a decent income so by increasing jobs this can help us in preventing homelessness, individuals obtaining jobs to at least support themselves would be very beneficial since it is such a major cause in the rise of homelessness. Another major cause is domestic violence. There can be disputes in the family which can lead to violence, this can cause a separation in the household most likely leading to someone no longer staying in the house and potentially starting a new life on there own elsewhere. This can be a hardship since the person who moves out may have no where left to live so they are almost forced to adapt to living homeless. A third cause of homelessness is mental illness. "20 to 25 percent of the population suffers from some form of mental illness."(Mental illness and homelessness) This is a problem that is almost irreversible, serious mental illnesses disrupt people’s ability to carry out essential aspects of daily life, such as self care and household management.  Mental illnesses may also prevent people from forming and maintaining stable relationships or cause people to misinterpret others’ guidance and react irrationally. These people are forced into homelessness as they are almost powerless to improve their health.


"Mental illness and homelessness" National coalition for the homeless Nationalhomeless.org July 2009 Web. May 1, 2014

"Top causes of homelessness of homelessness in America" home aid Homeaid.org Building new lives for Americas homeless








Cyber Bullying and Parents

Imagine your child not wanting to go to school and you think it's just because he wants to stay home playing video games? How about when you find out he's being bullied? Not every kid is brave enough to tell their parents about cyber bullying because they think that if the bully finds out that they told, it will get worse. There's when you as a parent start to think what should I do? Well, if your child is being bullied, you want to act up and do everything you can do to stop it, if possible. There are plenty of ways to help your child cope with bullying and teasing. The very first thing you may do to help your child be aware of bullies is by talking to them about it. It is very important to speak to your child, so they will be prepared if it happens.

Let's take a look at this "Each day, 10-year-old Seth asked his mom for more lunch moneys, yet he seemed skinnier than ever and came home from school hungry" (Lyness). This is a sign of bullying and parents should take that serious. It turned out that Seth was giving his lunch money to another kid who was threatening to hurt him if he did not pay. Therefore, it is important for parents to discuss this  type of problem with their children, because it is very difficult to figure out if bullying is happening. Most of the time kids don't talk to adults about what is happening to them, because they think that their parents will urge them to fight back and that's what they're scared of.

Work Cited

Lyness, D' Arcy "Helping Kids Deal with Bullies" Kids Health. Kids Health July 2013. Web. April 28 2014

Standardized test

              Tests are given across the nation to all children, every year in grades three to eight. These tests are standardized test. Standardized test are test administered and created in a specific manner. These tests have to follow “certain rules and specifications so that testing conditions are the same for all test takers” (“What is”). The questioning, administering and scoring of standardized test are supposed to be consistent. The measures taken claim that the grades produced will be reliable. These tests are supposed to see if the student is measuring up with the standards set for the grade he or she is in. The standards have been set higher due to the new common core that New York City (and most of the nation) has adopted. These grades are then averaged within their schools grades, the entire school, the city it’s in and eventually the country. But there is an enormous problem. Many argue that the standardized tests aren’t being made fairly and that children are missing out on useful instruction due to test preparations.

The No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2002 required that all students, grades three to eight, be tested annually across the nation. Standardized test help schools understand where they stand academically and measure students’ academic achievements. They are the same exams administered state wide, varying standards by grade. Every state has them, they are just called differently. Only until recently were the standards set the same across the country, due to the common core standards most of the nation adopted. The better the test scores the better the schools score. The better the schools score, the more parents want their children to attend. The better the school is the higher the property value and the more funding the school gets. In reality, schools with better grades earn “bragging rights”. A parent from the Bronx, New York would much rather send their child to Bronx Science than to Evander Childs High School.

Sadly, since standardized testing has risen, the United States dropped from number 13 in math to number 31, with a similar decline in science and flat lined in reading (“Is standardized”). People are arguing that the test aren’t being made fairly. For example, a question from an exam given to sixth grades is asking which plant isn’t a fruit if all fruits contain seeds. They give them the following choices, oranges, pumkins, apples or celery. The answer is celery. What if the parent to that child doesn’t make enough to but fresh fruits and doesn’t grow up eating celery (Popham). This is just one example of the many that occur. Testing students with standardized test are alienating millions of children. In retrospect the children are punished because most of the time they aren’t allowed to pass to the next grade. Things are just getting worst. With the new standards that the nation has adopted, common core, even more students are failing. Leveling out the playing field with standards is understandable, but the measure taken to asses and measure the students’ academic achievement is wrong.  

             “Measuring temperature with a tablespoon” (Popham). That’s exactly what it seems like those in power are doing in testing students with standardized test to measure where they stand academically. Sociologist Max Weber introduced the concept “life chances”, which means the opportunities individual have to improve the quality of their life. Students in low income neighborhood don’t have the life chances that the students that live in the Hamptons, New York have. They haven’t experienced the same things or brought up the same way. Yet both students are tested with the same test. The disadvantaged students are those in the lower income neighborhoods because these tests are made to compliment the students living in the Hamptons. Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson states in a speech he gave at the RSA edge lecture “there are many brilliant people who think they are not because they are being judged against this particular view of the mind”. Why do these people hold the power to judge our children and criticize their achievements when they don’t meet their standards when taking these unfair tests?

Learning should be natural; it should come as second nature. Our children should be enjoying their time in school. Test preparation every single year takes the joy out of teaching. Educators have labeled it “drill and kill” (Fey). Students are missing out on valuable new topics due to the mind-numbing test preparation.

           Test taking is understandable, but for it to be the sole way of measuring a student’s academic achievements is unfair. Then throwing in biased exams makes it destructive to our children’s growth.

Work cited

Fey, Lori. “Drill and kill testing; just say “no”. MSDF.org. Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. March 30, 2012. Web. May 1, 2014

“Is the use of standardized test improving education in America?”. Procon.org. Procon. N.d. Web. May 1, 2014   

Popham, James. “Why standardized test don’t measure education quality”. ASCD.org. Ascd. March 1999. Web. May 1, 2014

What is a Standardized Test?”. Johnson-Center.org. The Johnson Center for Child Health & Development. N.d. Wed. April 30, 2014

Gentrification 2



Many people argue that not everything that comes with gentrification is all bad; there can be many positive effects to this process. At the beginning the property that gets bought is usually abandoned buildings, empty lots, and even empty warehouses. This helps out the neighbor hood look better and no one has to move. New businesses start up and so many new shops open up in these areas causing an influx of money to that area. This economic boost is very helpful to many of the residents that are already living there. The people already living in these areas can find new jobs in these places. Since they are so close to home they say money on transportation and time.
                Abandoned buildings and empty lots can end up having people using them for bad things. We have all heard the term crack houses before. These are empty buildings that people will go in to do drugs. When these places are bought up fixed and used for stores you lose some of the drug problem. Because these locations are no longer available for people to use in secret crime goes down in these areas. It's true that as new buildings are built and renovated property taxes go up but "as the property tax base increases, so does funding to local public schools" (Roos)
                Not everyone is displaced when prices start going up, there are many programs that can help people stay in their homes and enjoy this new better neighborhood. "Rent regulation is the most frequently cited form of support. It is followed by a suite of programs that includes public housing, housing vouchers..." (Newman) Sometimes the people living there are even able to purchase a home for cheap when the gentrifications starts. This changes their monthly rent life to that of a homeowners. It is easier to preserve building when there are many reasons to; the real estate developers would want this to happen so that they can keep selling property. No one wants to visit areas where they is a giant eyesore. With this preservation of important places it can help make said building into a historic landmark without people wanting to tear it down because it has become a danger to other residents. The newer people who are coming to live there can sometimes also bring more influence to this area which would allow for a landmark committee to make places into landmarks.

Works Cited

Roos, David. "How Gentrification Works." How Stuff Works. 
HowStuffWorks, Inc. Web April 25, 2014
Newman Kathe, Wyly Elvin "Gentrification and Resistance in New York City" National Housing Institute. National Housing Institute. July/August 2005. Web March 30, 2014


Gentrification 1



                Gentrification in the process in which low income urban neighborhoods or deteriorated areas are converted to more upscale communities, with condos, higher rent apartments, houses, and new chain stores and businesses."The term was first coined by urban geographer Ruth Glass in the 1960s to describe the surprising phenomenon of upper middle-class British families buying property in London's gritty East End."(Roos)This process take many years to finish and goes through a variety of steps; Something people wouldn't count as the beginning of the process is the fact that these areas must become rundown and prices for rent and leases must go down. Then we have what have been called the "urban pioneers" these are the people who decide that low price are just right for them to start living there and changing some of the cultural aspects of the area. (Roos)
                The pioneers start to buy places for to use for venues, this causes real estate agent to start calling these areas "up and coming neighborhoods" this makes people from higher economic classes start buying property, and start the renovating building, increasing property values. As more a more property is bought up by people businesses start seeing this as an opportunity to start buying property as well for new stores. Parks and playgrounds are either fixed, rebuilt, or a just plain built. The neighborhood no longer looks, nor cost, like it used to and you will have more people going to those areas to visit or shop at. The same people who would have avoided passing through those areas before now flock it.
                How often does this happen in New York City, we know Manhattan and Queens have those really nice areas to live at, but did these areas get bad before they got better. Soho is an example of a location that when through this process a number of years ago. Hell's kitchen a place that got that name through negative reason has also been gentrified. Even "El Barrio" has changed over the years. Even though the economy is not at its best moment right now, this has not stopped gentrification from happening. Harlem itself is being gentrified, even with many people opposing it every step of the way. The South Bronx is changing as well, hunts point with its many warehouses it being renovated.
                


Work Cited
Roos, David. "How Gentrification Works." How Stuff Works. 
HowStuffWorks, Inc. Web April 25, 2014