Lit Circle Responses Part Deux

Section A-

What I find most interesting about the book, is the idea the good and evil cannot exist as only one or the other, and that we must embrace that humans are inherently both. It's extremely interesting to think about, because it also affects how the reader view the main character, Alex. There's all sorts of mixed emotions because he's not really a likable, but it's difficult to not sympathize at some points. I do enjoy this book, but only for the big picture. It's hard to read all of the "ultra-violence" and enjoy it, because that's kind of awkward.

Some Themes that I've Noticed:
-Good & Evil (as discussed above)
-The Nature of Violence

which are actually very much intertwined themes.

Section B-

Small Question: What are the historical origins of the "nadsat slang"?

Big Question: How does the treatment change the way the reader views Alex's character?


Section C-

In terms of important quotations, one that seems to stand out for me is the quote:

"Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?"

Though this isn't really a statement, it kind of infers that perhaps good that is imposed is not truly good at all. This is important to the idea of good and evil, and how increasingly much they seem to have in common. It also impacts the way we view Alex.

water analysis

4a.

Of the five Samples taken in Mexico, it is easiest to say that the similarities between the first three can be chalked up to the fact that they were taken from the same source, while the last two were taken from separate locations. Sample #1 was described as having low turbidity, which makes sense given that it was taken from the part of the water that had vegetation growing, meaning that it obviously was capable of sustaining life (no matter how minimal that life might be). Samples #2 and #3 however, were taken from the edge of the body of water, where the water does not receive any circulation, and lays stagnant, allowing any bacteria to fester. Sample #2 had the highest level of nitrates (15) and was also the one described as having a layer of “goop”. Samples #1, #4, and #5 all had neutral pH levels of 7, however, Samples #2 and #3 had pH levels of 6.6 and 6.5, slightly below what is considered neutral and consumable. This is due to the fact that they were taken in the locations with no circulation. However, all five samples had a dissolved oxygen level of 4ppm, and had relatively close temperatures, ranging from 20 degrees Celsius to 21 degrees Celsius.



4d.

Mexico Sample # 5, collected in the estuary area, is most similar to that of Sample #3 and Sample #5 of Famosa Slough. This is because Samples #3 and #5 were both taken within the closest proximity of the Famosa Slough itself. Some of the apparent similarities would be the DO levels, Mexico Sample #5 and Famosa Sample #3 both exhibiting a DO level of 4ppm (Famosa Sample #5 close with a DO level of 3.5ppm). As mentioned previously, Famosa sites #3 and #5 had lower levels of dissolved oxygen, presumably due to the fact that these areas had the most flowing water. The same can be said about Mexico Sample #5. Also, both Famosa Sample #1 and Mexico Sample #5 were described as having birds near by. This is made possible because of their neutral pH levels (7pH). Interestingly enough, the Mexico Sample had lower nitrate levels than those of the Famosa Slough. This may be because the soil in the Slough of the United States could be enriched with certain fertilizers and etc. that would produce a higher level of nitrates.

4e.

Mexico Sample #4 and the sample extracted from the San Diego Bay were actually extremely analogous, each statistic only being a fraction of a percent different. Both with neutral pH levels, Mexico with 7ph, San Diego Bay at 7.17 pH, and both with equivalent dissolved oxygen levels (4ppm). The neutral pH levels of the Mexico Sample were to be expected, considering it was taken from a beach where locals often went clamming. What’s interesting is, geographically speaking; a beach and a bay are rather different, one being a direct source, while the other is more of an inland pool of water with minimal circulation. However, the statistics taken from the beach and Mexico, and the San Diego Bay, did not reflect this polarity.

Citations!

Lapper, Richard. "World- US Migrant Workers Send Home $62.3 Bn." Financial Times. 15 Mar. 2007. 05 Sept. 2007 <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f94e4d5c-d32b-11db-829f-000b5df10621.html. >

"City of Carslbad Evicts Migrant Workers." Migrant Housing Issue. 21 Nov. 2001. La Prensa San Diego. 02 Nov. 2007 <http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/november21/MIGRANT.HTM. >

"Interview with Roberto Martinez." Border Operations/Migrant Life/ Organizing for Human Rights. 2007. 02 Nov. 2007 <http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/hrcr/rm2001a.html. >

Fotos

Stress.

There is no doubt I have been neglegent with the blog recently. Last week was absolute mayhem with all the fires and uncertainty. I'm glad it's over, but I now realize all the catching up on blog posts I have to do.

I'll start with baby steps considering there is much work to be done elsewhere.

Today in chemistry we learned about polyatomic ionic compounds, which was very interesting, and difficult.

Also, Vanessa, Mari, and I have yet to locate the interview tape from our expert interview source which is very distrubing and a great source of stress right now. However, we were productive with our work time today and completed the narration part of the video.

Water Field Trip!

Today was the day of our water quality field trip! We ended up testing two of the three locations, the latter not even being one of the originally designated stations, because the military base was closed to civilians. We got 3/4 of the way to shelter island, when Anne called Spencer and said that maybe it was a bit too long of a walk, so we tested the closest water supply we found.

Overall, testing the quality of water turned out to be surprisingly easy (and fast!). I was expecting it to be very tedious, but reaching the location was probably the hardest part.

Interview with an Angel

Well Vanessa and I just finished editing and revising our questions for the interview with Enrique Morones (which is tomorrow). I'm pretty excited about it, because some of the questions are rather "spicy".

Here is a list of the questions as they stand:
Questions for Enrique Morones

Mari: First of all, how did you become interested in this line of work?
Enrique: (answer)
M: What was your reason for founding Border Angels, and what exactly does it accomplish?
E: (answer)
M: So, what is a typical scenario for someone traveling from Mexico to the United States, who is hoping to create a better living situation for themselves and their families?
E: (answer)
M: Is it typical for families to travel together, and camp together? Or do they often get separated? What is the living situation like in the camps?
E: (answer)
M: Is there a lot of violence directed towards these immigrants?
E: (answer)
M: Do you see a lot of obvious prejudice and people talking poorly to migrant workers, even those who have obtained legal status?
E: (answer)
M: You’ve been openly received by many human rights’ advocates, what is it about Border Angels that makes it so successful and sets it apart?
E: (answer)
M: Now, on the other hand, you’ve received some pretty harsh criticism from your sort of rivals, the minute men. What would you say to them and the people who believe that what you’re doing is anti-patriotic, and hurtful to the United States.
E: (answer)

Life Lesson!

Well I just had a nice little ego boost after looking at my good friend Andrew Sorenson's blog (which is probably why we are such good friends! There are other reasons of course, do not be alarmed, I'm not that superficial). I digress, the point is that I was inspired that he mentioned my blog in his and I felt compelled to write something.

I just finished adding my subscriptions list into Google reader, which is what led me to Andrew's blog. I realized that had I downloaded the list right away, I may have even come across more helpful and relevant information earlier. Then I got to thinking (which is always dangerous), the thing with this whole blog bit, is that it can be as beneficial as we want it to be. Much like our learning experience at HTH as a whole; it is what we make it.

That being said, I should probably finish up my homework and work on my SLC.

Weekend Recap!

This weekend I worked on formatting my agenda for the upcoming Student Led Conferences. Interestingly enough, in the five years I've been in the HTV I've never had an SLC, because my teachers preferred to have parent teacher conferences.

Because of all the work time we had on Friday during 4th and 5th period, I didn't really need to work much on the script. However, I did review it a couple times for visualization purposes. Our storyboards will be quite helpful, but I like going over the script every so often just to keep that artistic visual fresh.

In terms of chemistry I didn't have much homework either because we finished our presentations, and had the quiz on Friday. I suppose it would be helpful to go over my notes just as a reminder, that way I really internalize the information.

Well, that's a recap of my weekend (academically speaking).

I would much rather continue doing lenghtier posts like this at the end of a weekend, because otherwise they feel a little incomplete. Just for the record.

Script Revised!

Migrant Workers Script

[Stationary shot, “chair scene”]
(Nicolette) The term “migrant workers” has been appearing more frequently and more consistently in the headlines. Usually preceded by the words “illegal” or “exploited”. So what is the reason behind the sudden controversy that seems to surround migrant workers, and more importantly, why has exploitation of them become an understood necessary evil for the United States economy? Tonight, Working Class Heroes answers these questions and more as we take an in depth look at the lives of migrant workers.

[shot of crowd milling through HTH](Mari) Most people have a pre-formulated concept about the lives of migrant workers and illegal immigrants in the United States.[shot of Mari in front of interviewees](Mari) So, __________, what kind of lives do you think that illegal immigrants lead?(Three peer interviewees) _______________________________[photographs of Great Depression](narration) Latin American workers, which will be the main focus of our segment, started coming to the United States during the Great Depression. Due to the ruined financial state of the country, their wages were often extremely low, and the labor was time-intensive and rough. Conditions were unforgiving and workers were rarely able to better their lives, having to keep working to barely escape bankruptcy.[pictures of newspapers with articles on illegal immigration]In the last decade, the issue of illegal immigration has become more and more pressing, and more awareness has arisen towards the problems that occur with the increasing presence of a migrant labor force.

We are going to discuss the problems that specifically affect those workers, such as housing and wages.

[Statistics on a background]Economically, the United States is more dependant on the flow of migrant labor than many would imagine. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, migrant workers in the United States sent home a collective $62.3 billion dollars in 2006, which is a 14% increase from 2005. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have the highest receiving rate of remittances. With the pressing issue of illegal immigration however, the INDB estimates that the number of remittances will begin to decline, which could have negative effects on the economies of not only the recipients, but the United States as well.

Migrant farm workers as a whole do not have adequate housing, and the issue is often glossed over by the government. In some circumstances, employers are not required to provide housing for their workers, and thus, it is upon the migrant workers themselves to find shelter for their families, often on a sub minimum wage. Also, if the worker does not have legal status, housing seems an even bigger nuisance, as many land lords mandate that tenants provide proof of legal residence. Those who speak out against the assimilation of illegal immigrants into US society, such as groups like the minute men, argue that these are conditions that all illegal immigrants choose to accept, and that they should obtain legal citizenship the proper way. However, the current legal process is a taxing and time consuming affair that can take several years. Meanwhile, outsourcing of work seems to be increasing at a rapid pace, which creates difficult situations for the people in countries from which many migrant workers originate, creating a cyclical pattern of opportunity forming into exploitation.

But this exploitation has not gone unnoticed. Groups like Border Angels, run by Enrique Morones, are working to do the exact opposite of the minute men. That is to say, they are working to preserve the rights of those caught in the middle of this predicament.

[Cut to interview with Enrique Morones from Border Angels.]

[Closing chair sequence]
Tonight, Working Class Heroes has covered the basic information on migrant workers and the hardships they go through each day. Being a migrant worker makes seemingly easy tasks that most people take for granted, a lot harder to accomplish. Such as finding a house to live in and earning enough money to support your family. It’s our community to become more aware of these things, and take measures to remedy them. Until next time, this Working Class Heroes signing off, I’m Nicolette.

busy bee.

Welllll today Mari, Vanessa, and I had our presentation on the properties of water (three of them to be exact). I felt it went rather well, except I realized afterwards I forgot to mention that another unique quality to water is that it can be considered an acid AND a base. Regardless, I felt good about the whole ordeal.

Now I am off to study for the chemistry quiz tomorrow, which will contain questions on chemical compound names.

Before I go, here is a link to an informative website that my group and I used to form our presentation:

http://www.btinternet.com/~martin.chaplin/explan.html#158


Enjoy!

Raindrops

Today Anne was VERY kind and gave us the entire period to work on our water quality PowerPoint presentations.

My group mates and I were uncertain as to what information we could include without boring our audience to tears, however, we did learn that raindrops are apparently NOT shaped like tear drops (are you feeling as betrayed as I was?), and that they resemble more of a "miniature hamburger bun". Strange. In any case, another interesting bit of information is that water can be observed in all three states; liquid, solid, and gas.

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html

^^Test your knowledge with the "True/False" quiz, like Vanessa and I did.

Recap: Thursday-Sunday!

As you may have noticed, I have fallen behind tremendously in terms of my blog updates, therefore I will try to make this post as "meaty" as possible to compensate.


Thursday we took a field trip to balboa park, to visit the Museum of Man (specifically for the copper age exhibit). In addition to the copper display, I also saw an exhibit on evolution. I actually enjoyed the evolution one more so than the copper age. Mainly because it was much more engaging, and I could relate to it easier. However, the copper age exhibit was interesting and very informative. After the museum we went and sat by the coi pond in balboa park, and wrote about the trip in our journals. When we finished with this, Anne had us take notes on water quality testing, to prepare us for when we take samples of water in various places around San Diego. It was a lot simpler than I had anticipated, which was a relief I suppose.

Friday was a long and project packed day! In the morning I worked through periods 1 and 3 to complete the powerpoint presentation on Chile with my partner, Kerstin Fuller. Then, in Anne's class, I worked on some CPM and molarity problems in preperation for the quiz. I finished both this, and the actual quiz, much earlier than I anticipated, and was fortunate enough to have time to work on completing the DP requirements for the digital portfolio.

This weekend in general I tried to focus on the water quality project, for which my prompt deals with the physical properties of water.
I came accross this website:
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html

I found it to be helpful because it was formatted in a very simplistic and easy to follow manner. Also, the source seems to be reputable because it is sponsered by the US department of the Interior. This may not always be the case, but seeing as the website pertains to the chemical properties of water and not something with a political agenda, I'll have a little faith in my government.

standard deviation

Well, evidently I am supposed to be blogging about chemistry, which I had forgotten entirely up until this point. SO, here it goes.

Today in class we had an experiment revolving around measuring the accuracy of glassware. I thought that the end results were very interesting, because I was not familiar with "standard deviation". I assumed that there was a term for it, but I didn't actually know up until today. It was pretty cool that one of the standard deviations was only 0.002% which is incredibly small.

script: second draft

Migrant Worker’s Script (Second Draft)

[stationary shot, “chair scene”]
(Nicolette) The term “migrant workers” has been appearing more frequently and more consistently in the headlines. Usually preceded by the words “illegal” or “exploited”. So what is the reason behind the sudden controversy that seems to surround migrant workers, and more importantly, why has exploitation of them become an understood necessary evil for the United States economy? Tonight, we answer these questions and more as we take an in depth look at the lives of migrant workers.

[shot of crowd milling through HTH](Mari) Most people have a pre-formulated concept about the lives of migrant workers and illegal immigrants in the United States.[shot of Mari in front of interviewees](Mari) So, __________, what kind of lives do you think that illegal immigrants lead?(Three peer interviewees) _______________________________[photographs of Great Depression](narration) Latin American workers, which will be the main focus of our segment, started coming to the states during the Great Depression. Due to the ruined financial state of the country, their wages were often extremely low, and the labor was time-intensive and rough. Conditions were unforgiving and workers were rarely able to better their lives, having to keep working to barely escape bankruptcy.[pictures of newspapers with articles on illegal immigration]In the last decade, the issue of illegal immigration has become more and more pressing, and more awareness has arisen towards the problems that occur with the increasing presence of a migrant labor force.We at Working Class Heroes Productions are going to discuss the problems that specifically affect those workers, such as housing and wages.[statistics on a background]Economically, the united states is more dependant on the flow of migrant labor than many would imagine. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, migrant workers in the United States sent home a collective $62.3 billion dollars in 2006, which is a 14% increase from 2005. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have the highest receiving rate of remittances. With the pressing issue of illegal immigration however, the INDB estimates that the number of remittances will begin to decline, which could have negative effects on the economies of not only the recipients, but the United States as well.Migrant farm workers as a whole do not have adequate housing, and the issue is often glossed over by the government.[shot of immigrant housing, taken while in Mexico]In some circumstances, employers are not required to provide housing for their workers, and thus, it is upon the migrant worker themselves to find shelter for their families, on a sub par minimum wage. Also, if the worker does not have legal status, housing seems an even bigger nuisance, as many land lords mandate that tenants provide proof of legal residence. Those who speak out against the assimilation of illegal immigrants into US society, such as groups like the minute men, argue that this is knowledge that all illegal immigrants choose to accept, and that should they obtain legal citizenship the proper way. However, the current legal process is a taxing and time consuming affair that can take several years. Meanwhile, outsourcing of work seems to be increasing at a rapid pace, and creates difficult situations for the people in countries of which many migrant workers originate from, creating a cyclical pattern of opportunity forming into exploitation.[group member in front of interviewee]Here, we interview ___person___ on the subject of migrant workers.(interview questions here).


[closing chair sequence]
Here at Working Class Heroes production we have covered the basic information on migrant workers and the hardships they go through each day. Being a migrant worker makes seemingly easy tasks that most people take for granted, a lot harder to accomplish. Such as finding a house to live in and earning enough money to support your family.

alrighty.

Well, I really liked these couple of sentences that I just wrote, therefore I thought I would post them, so I could remember them (and of course, for you to admire them):

"Recently, the phrase “migrant workers” has been appearing frequently in the headlines. Usually preceded by the words “illegal” or “exploited”."

The day has come, for the LAN[!] WOHOO

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited.

ANYWAY, today is also the due date for the storyboards, and my group is essentially done. The reason I tentatively use the word "essentially" is because we are planning on making further revisions to our script (beautify it and all that jazz), therefore, we are not technically done. Although, are we ever really done?

storyboards.

Well, the storyboards are due tomorrow, so that was our main priority today during work time. We didn't manage our time very wisely, and were just starting to draw them today, which put us at a disadvantage because we couldn't get them critiqued by our peers. This did not go unnoticed, and we have learned from our mistake (hopefully).

ANYWAY, for now I am working on re-writing the opening narration sequence for the final draft of our script.

three!

Continuing on with the "5 recycled sources", I was looking through blogs, and I came accross a very informative link off of Christopher Connell's page:




The artice itself was extremely text heavy, and a little dense. However, there was plenty of information that could be used to make our documentary seem more "professsional.

Script Rough Draft (Updated)

Here is our script so far (I am posting this so my group mates will have easy access to it):

ROUGH Draft of Script (1)

(Narration) Most people have a pre-formulated concept about the lives of migrant workers and illegal immigrants in the United States.
(Mari) So, __________, what kind of lives do you think that illegal immigrants lead?
(Three peer interviewees) _______________________________

In reality, migrant workers have had, for hundreds of years, lead lives of discrimination and difficulty. Many people may think of migrant workers as being solely Mexican, but in reality, the history of immigrant labors stretches to many countries. Some early workers, from the 1800s, had roots in China and Japan, coming to California for a better life, but being met with poor conditions, low pay, and racism. Filipino workers, who came to the states in the 1890s after the Spanish occupation, were bound by unfair, discriminating laws that kept them in isolated, destitute conditions.

Latin American workers, which will be the main focus of our segment, started coming to the states during the Great Depression. Due to the ruined financial state of the country, their wages were often extremely low, and the labor was time-intensive and rough. Conditions were unforgiving and workers were rarely able to better their lives, having to keep working to barely escape bankruptcy.

In the last decade, the issue of illegal immigration has become more and more pressing, and more awareness has arisen towards the problems that occur with the increasing presence of a migrant labor force.

We at ___news organization___ are going to discuss the problems that specifically affect those workers, such as housing, wages, and health issues.

Economically, the united states is more dependant on the flow of migrant labor than many would imagine. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, migrant workers in the United States sent home a collective $62.3 billion dollars in 2006, which is a 14% increase from 2005. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have the highest receiving rate of remittances. With the pressing issue of illegal immigration however, the INDB estimates that the number of remittances will begin to decline, which could have negative effects on the economies of not only the recipients, but the United States as well.

Migrant farm workers as a whole do not have adequate housing, and the issue is often glossed over by the government.
In some circumstances, employers are not required to provide housing for their workers, and thus, it is upon the migrant worker themselves to find shelter for their families, on a sub par minimum wage. Also, if the worker does not have legal status, housing seems an even bigger nuisance, as many land lords mandate that tenants provide proof of legal residence. Those who speak out against the assimilation of illegal immigrants into US society, such as groups like the minute men, argue that this is knowledge that all illegal immigrants choose to accept, and that should they obtain legal citizenship the proper way. However, the current legal process is a taxing and time consuming affair that can take several years. Meanwhile, outsourcing of work seems to be increasing at a rapid pace, and creates difficult situations for the people in countries of which many migrant workers originate from, creating a cyclical pattern of opportunity forming into exploitation.

(insert info here)

Here, we interview ___person___ on the subject of migrant workers.
(interview questions here).

Part Deux

Continuing on with the five resources borrowed from my classmates assignment, I decided to check out my group mates blogs, considering that we are researching the same topic essentially.

I found a really nice link on Vanessa's blog:
http://www.pdhre.org/rights/migrants.html

The reason I enjoyed it so much is because it included quotations from important world conferences held on behalf of human rights protection. For example, the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna. There was an obvious bias in the composure of the site, however the bias is the same one that my group mates and I are trying to portray, and they also back up their arguments with textual evidence, which is a powerful persuasion technique.

Revise!

OKAY, well today was the due date for the rough draft of the script[!] and somehow we managed to make the deadline, despite communication obstacles and etc. We reached the conclusion that ours was formatted more for an essay, rather than a script for a movie. Olivia, Chris, and Adrian helped us see this after they critiqued our script.

I think that the peer reviews were a beneficial exercise, however, I do feel they would have been more so had we taken the first draft deadline a little more seriously, and had better time management skills.

script[!]

Here is what I have written thus far for the script (which truly lives up to the "rough draft" title):

Economically, the united states is more dependant on the flow of migrant labor than many would imagine. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, migrant workers in the United States sent home a collective $62.3 billion dollars in 2006, which is a 14% increase from 2005. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have the highest receiving rate of remittances. With the pressing issue of illegal immigration however, the INDB estimates that the number of remittances will begin to decline, which could have negative effects on the economies of not only the recipients, but the United States as well.

Migrant farm workers as a whole do not have adequate housing, and the issue is often glossed over by the government. In some circumstances, employers are not required to provide housing for their workers, and thus, it is upon the migrant worker themselves to find shelter for their families, on a sub par minimum wage. Also, if the worker does not have legal status, housing seems an even bigger nuisance, as many land lords mandate that tenants provide proof of legal residence. Those who speak out against the assimilation of illegal immigrants into US society, such as groups like the minute men, argue that this is knowledge that all illegal immigrants choose to accept, and that should they obtain legal citizenship the proper way. However, the current legal process is a taxing and time consuming affair that can take several years. Meanwhile, outsourcing of work seems to be increasing at a rapid pace, and creates difficult situations for the people in countries of which many migrant workers originate from, creating a cyclical pattern of opportunity forming into exploitation.


What was interesting about writing this, was that in the first paragraph, I literally took parts of what I had already paraphrased in a blog post a while back. I guess I finally am feeling beneficial for having to update this thing.

Source Sharing

Today I mainly worked on compiling my research so I could funnel it down to what would be necessary to write my portion of the script (which is due friday!).

Also, I took a look at some of my classmates blog's, and on Ryan Curtice's page I found this link: http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/article.php3?id_article=2094

which I found interesting, because there is a clear bias on the issue, and it made me think about subtle ways that we (we, being my group and I) can work in our own bias into the news broadcast. Obviously it won't be as blatantly stated, but it was something to think about.

The site seems pretty reputable because the article on undocumented migrant workers has to do with a court case, as opposed to just a stated opinion.

Exploitation vs. Opportunity

Tonight I focused my research on the migrant workers project, and found some interesting information on the history of it all, or specifically, the Bracero Program.

It was particularly interesting because of the article on the encomienda we read for homework. The Bracero program was essentially a form of exploitation of the Mexican migrant workers, and it reminded me of the Spanish exploiting the Indians.

Perhaps different circumstances, but none the less sad and unnecessary.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/ONTHEMOVE/themes/story_51_5.html

Death Tolls

Now that the Aztec mini-project has been completed, I have been seriously focusing on researching the socio-economic conditions of migrant workers in the United States.

However, all of my research seems to be leading me to the current conditions from a human rights perspective. There is a lot of criticism on the way the border is being maintained, and the brute force that border patrol seems to be using. On one site in particular, they break down the death toll so you can get a feel for why these unneccesary deaths are occuring (which is kind of an oxi-moron really).

In any case:

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0646

UNESCO Information

Tonight I focused my research on the socio-economic conditions of migrant workers.

I found a good source that addressed the overall situation for migrant workers in general (not just specifically to the US), so I thought that might help some of my classmates. The page is a UNESCO site, so the text is pretty dense, but it is reliable.

Also, there is a lot of technical information, and facts that sound very reputable, and would fit nicely in a news style video.

Here is the link I used:
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=9093&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html

Earlier today I had my Aztec mini-project presentation, which I felt went rather well. There wasn't a time where I was totally fumbling to think of answer to a question, so that was good.

Now, I am focusing on getting my blog up to date, and doing even more research on the socio-economic conditions of migrant workers.

My goal for this week is to collect three additional sources to site, which is what I am working towards currently.

Tonight I put the finishing touches on my posterboard for the Aztec project, and I made the Aztec chocolate drink. Lucky for me, the Aztec's drank it cold, and not hot like the Mayans, therefore I don't have to worry about heating it up tomorrow at school.

I did not do research for the bigger projects tonight, because the Aztec mini-project held priority in terms of due dates, however I am working on getting the expert source confirmed.

MLA Formatting

This afternoon I mainly worked on compiling exactly what I wanted to put on my visual aid (a poster-board) and found a nifty website to make timelines with:

http://teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timeline/

It allows you to input up to 6 times and events, and automatically formats it for you. I thought this was a great tool, and as I mentioned above "nifty". I hope this helps some of you.

After this I did worked on my bibliography, and put it into MLA format.

Today I worked on my visual aid for the Aztec mini-project, and continued further research on the socio-economic conditions of migrant workers from Latin America.

I read an article written by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), that brought up the issue of gender discrimination in migrant workers, and making migration policies encompass such things.

Also, it discussed non-governmental organizations that have been advocating for migrant worker rights, around the world.

This article was very informative, and very credible considering it was coming from a branch of the United Nations. Therefore, it provided many useful statistics that could be used in our movie, without fear of illegitimacy.

Here is the link I used:

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2006/english/chapter_5/engendering.html

Today in class, we had time to do research for the mini-project in humanities, however, I unfortunately did not get to the lap-tops in time, and consequently was left to sketch out what my visual aid will look like.

I did do more research at home, and liked one website in particular, because it discussed the religion of the Aztecs from a point of view that wasn't nearly as Anglican as other sites I have found. Most web-sites play up the human sacrifice, and use words like "atrocities" and things with negative connotations. This one was much more "here are the facts, this was there culture".

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/AZTECS.HTM

I think I finally understand the purpose of this blog! I haven't been writing much about the project work I have been doing, because I was under the impression that it was more of a "look at what I found" in terms of research only. In any case, here it goes.

Today I mainly did research on for the Aztec mini-project. I focused on music, because that was something I had been interested in making an artifact for. In researching I found that many of the instruments were percussion, and wind instruments, which would be much harder to replicate than say, a string instrument.

The website was actually very interesting, and included sample clips of different Aztec tribal songs: http://www.philtulga.com/Aztec%20Music.html

Migrant Workers & Remittances

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, migrant workers in the United States sent home a collective $62.3 billion dollars in 2006, which is a 14% increase from 2005. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have the highest receiving rate of remittances, however the remittances were actually more beneficial for the lower income Central American countries, of which the remittances accounted for approximately 10% of the GDP.

With the pressing issue of illegal immigration however, the INDB estimates that the number of remittances will begin to decline, which could have negative effects on the economies of not only the recipients, but the United States as well.

This article was very interesting, because it illustrates the importance of immigrants and migrant workers for the United States economy, which is the leading argument for those who oppose the harsher immigration reforms.


Works Cited:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f94e4d5c-d32b-11db-829f-000b5df10621.html

Basic Aztec Overview

While doing research on the Aztecs, I came across a good starting block website: http://www.aztec-indians.com/

It's easy to navigate, and has a wide array of information. Because of this, it isn't necessarily beneficial for in-depth research. However, I was able to find some interesting facts about traditional instruments from the Aztec civilization.

There isn't a posted author, which makes me a little nervous in terms of credibility, but it doesn't seem to be sponsored by any "questionable sources".

Essentially, this website is great for an "over all" briefing of Aztec culture.