Progress in America

This image is a clear representation of Progress in America. I see a sunflower covered gas nozzle and blurred cars in the background. I think this signifies the need for fuel efficiency and how auto technology has progressed. When the Great Gatsby was written, the auto industry was in its infancy and only the wealthy, such as Gatsby, could afford cars, especially like the Rolls-Royce Gatsby has. Manufacturing improvements and mass production has lead to the production of more cars for less money. Rather than a luxury in the past, a car is now often a necessity. Most people today, rely on cars for transportation. If someone oes not have a car, they are most likely considered Lower Class. It is more affordable for consumers to purchase cars nowdays because of the varying models and prices of cars. I wonder what is next for the future of cars. The creation of hybrid and the future of cars is Progress in America.

Social Class and ACT/SAT Scores...do they correlate?

Over the past few weeks we've been talking about social class in class and its really caught my interest. And then my friend recently brought up how she had watched a show on social class and how it can effect scores on the ACT and SAT. I looked further into this because at first I thought she was being a little dramatic about the situation. How could your social class effect how you do on a test that everyone has been taking for years? Then i found out the truth. The ACT and SAT is written by humans therefore there are mistakes in the test and the test may be geared toward one social class or group. For example the test is written in English,
what if English is a second language for one student. This could effect there score by the way they read the question and not accurately determine how smart they are. Also the ACT and SAT are geared more toward how you read the question and doesn't take into account what kind of person you are. It doesn't take into account weather you play a sport, or have 2 jobs, or do community service. Therefore when colleges get your scores all they see is a number and not how well rounded you are as a person. Because the ACT and SAT are geared more toward how you read the question there are prep classes that teach you how to decipher these questions. Now these classes cost a lot of money therefore the kids growing up in higher social classes have the money to pay for ACT and SAT prep classes. Some classes even guaranteeing a higher score than your previous or your money back. So parents with money are almost guaranteed that there child will get a better score on the ACT or SAT because of money. While the kids that are in lower social classes are left to take the test cold and hope that they get a better score the next time they take it just by chance. I find theses types of tests subjective and i don't think they should be a main focus when admitting kids into schools. I do understand that there has to be some sort of knowledge test and it will never be 100%, but what I do hope is that ACT and SAT scores start to take a back seat to you as a person and how well rounded you are.

Stars and Stripes

Over the past week in American Studies class, we have had many discussions about the American Flag and what it means to us. To me, the flag means a lot. It is a representation of freedom and symbolizes who we are. This weekends assignment was to take a picture of a flag and analyze the photo. As I was driving around this weekend, I began to look for American Flags. It really amazed me how few houses had hanging American Flags. I was near the beach and thought I would take a picture of the Gilson Beach Flag pole. This Flag Pole also had the Illinois, State Flag flying underneath the American Flag. This is not the first time I have seen the Illinois, State flag flying with the American Flag in Wilmette. It also is on the flag pole at Centennial Ice rink and pool, and also at the Wilmette Rec Center. However, that is besides the point. The representation of the American Flag I took a picture of really stood out to me. As I took this picture, the wind was pretty strong which made this flag fly and look very proud. I believe that we as Americans should hang flags throughout the entire year and not just on Holidays to represent our country and our troops.

Junior Theme Part 2

So far, everything is going well with my Junior Theme. My research is great. I am finding so many things on Title IX and the sexism of women in sports. I emailed a few people who are very involved with Title IX and have an interview set up via email with Bernice Sandler who is a woman who was very involved with Title IX. She developed and organized a successful national campaign to press for the development and passage of Title IX and other laws to end sex discrimination in education and has worked with title IX longer than any other person. I am very fortunate to get this opportunity to ask her questions on this very interesting topic.

Junior Theme

As I was sitting in the library on Monday, I was brainstorming topics for my Junior Theme. After just a couple minutes, I knew exactly what topic I wanted my Junior Theme to be about and that is the Sexism of Women in Sports. Being an athlete, it is very clear to me that women are treated much differently than men when it comes to sports. As most know, just a few weeks ago, both the New Trier Green and Girls Hockey Teams won the State Championship at the United Center. This was all over the news papers but of course, the boys got more press than the girls. To me, this does not seem fair at all. Another example is that since I have been looking at division I schools all over the nation for hockey, I have noticed that at most schools, the men have much nicer ice rinks than the women. That is not fair either. Those are just a few examples of how women are treated much differently than women when it comes to sports. This topic is something that I have thought about a lot in the past few years because as I get older, I begin to notice it more and more and it is a topic that I am very interested in doing my Junior Theme on.

What are your thoughts on Sexism of Women in Sports?

#13

A few blogs ago I talked about the number 13 and the superstitions that go along with it. I recently came across another article that caught my eye. Again it was about the number 13 but this time it had to do with the present and how the number 13 could effect us in this "unlucky year" Last week's Friday the 13th was one of 3 this year, something so rare that it only occurs every 11 years. The root of the fear of the number 13 goes as far back to biblical times when the 13th member of the last supper betrayed Jesus. People are so afraid of the number 13 that they often omit it from there everyday life. Next time your at a hotel check the floors as you go up the elevator, you will realize that there is no 13th floor in certain hotels.  Or next time your at an airport, check to see if there is a gate 13. There are many places that do not use the number 13.

So next time your out, take a look around and see if you see the number 13.

Janitor Jobs

So recently as I was browsing through my emails I came across a specific article that caught my eye. Now usually i would consider these to be junk mail but something about this specific article  pulled me in. The other day we were talking about openings of janitor jobs and New Trier. Now if you watch tv, listen to the radio or even just go online you know that we are in a serious economic crisis. The article I came across talked about a Middle School in Ohio that received an overwhelming response to a $15 per hour janitor job over the summer. This school got over 700 applications for the one job. I found this quite interesting because we just talked about this exact job in class. So many people are applying for this job because of the economic crisis and the because of the benefits they will get from this job. They know where they will be each and every day and the pay is great. Now i can only imagine what it would be like to try and find a job in such poor economic times, what do you all think about the recent fall of our economy. do you think more jobs like this will create more competition?