SA project SI Interview

Interview with Neighbor

1.      Do you understand that we are hurting the world? Do you try to help? How?

Yes, I am aware that we are contributing to global warming. I ride my bike to work every day. It saves energy and gas. I give my newspaper to a nearby animal shelter. I always recycle. I don’t use my car that often, when I do, I carpool.

2.    Do you see many people helping the world? How?

Yes, more and more people are riding their bikes every day. More people could be helping though, it makes a difference. Many people take the train and buses, but still most people use cars, and it’s wasteful.   

3.    Do you have possible solutions to stop global warming?

Possible solutions could be to turn down the heat at night, don’t let the water run, recycling, (reduce, reuse, recycle.) I do all of these myself. If there is another “easy” way to help, I’ll do it. We could easily stop global warming if we get into the process of recycling, reusing, turning off unneeded things, etc.

4.    Is helping the environment a part of your life? How so?

Yes, I want to help reduce my “carbon footprint.” Everyone can make a change. It all adds up. I read the news paper and I understand and I am aware that I must help. Helping the environment has become a part of my everyday life.

5.    Is helping the environment important to you?

I’m helping myself too, and my family. When you help the Earth, you’re helping yourself. Pass on better world to my children. It’s your world, you need to help it. Also, riding my bike keeps me in shape. It’s a win-win. When I help the environment, I feel like I’m doing something good, and when I do it, I know I’m doing my part on Earth.

            I interviewed my neighbor about global warming. Because of all the talk of global warming and how we’re hurting the planet, I wanted to know what he thinks. He rides his bike to work every day to save energy, recycles, and does whatever he can to make the Earth greener. He started to be green after he had his first kid because he wants her to live a long and healthy life. I agree with him when he said more people could and should start riding their bikes or start doing more green things every day.

            He wants to reduce his “carbon footprint” because everyone’s counts. He said if we all did a little recycling, and conserved water and fuel that the Earth would definitely change and that global warming wouldn’t be as bad. He understands that it’s us who are causing global warming and he thinks everyone should be more aware. “When you help the Earth, you’re helping yourself.” Global warming has been rising and has become a part of our lives. Some people think that global warming was a factor in the severity of the last storm “Sandy”. So even if it requires more effort, doing more “green” things can help slow global warming and therefore help us.

SA project original poem

Rebekah Ehrlich 811 ELA Project Social Awareness Original Poem

All the Hate

The doors are shut

For my life has been cut

Tiny little pieces of me remain

I listen in silence

I feel the pain

And wait for the day

To end

As time goes by

The names shout louder

All the hate

How can I appreciate?

So I get teased

I’m on my knees

Please, why won’t it stop?

What is the reason

For the things people do

No reason for it

I’m just fine with you

Trying to seem cool

Acting like a fool

Hurting me, hurting you

I eye the door

For the days almost done

Let me go in peace

For I’m not the only one

Sticks and stones

May break my bones

But words will never hurt me

Never will they get to me

The names and mean threats

I’m proud to be me

So don’t you forget

 I wrote about bullying because it happens a lot. Usually the person getting bullied hasn’t done anything to become a victim, sometimes the bully just picks on people. But it really hurts; it makes you feel unnecessary in life. I wanted to show how I feel about bullying and how I see it. I don’t recall being bullied or threatened, and I’ve never bullied anyone. But from what I’ve heard and possibly seen, I think this is how I would feel if I got bullied. Bullying is unnecessary and shouldn’t be something to make the bully feel cool or better than the person he or she is bullying. But still, bullying is all around us and has been a big part in our lives. Even people who are making fun of someone as a joke, and say their kidding, it can still hurt and make people feel self conscious.

People have been trying to stop bullying, and bullies have gotten punishment when caught. Schools acknowledge that there is bullying and try to stop it as best they can. But there is also cyber bullying, which is harder to stop. I wrote this poem to show that I acknowledge bullying and will try not to be a bystander. Writing this was hard, I understood how words can hurt people just as much as “sticks and stones.”     

SA project RR on SI song

The song Where is the Love by the Black Eyed Peas deals with the social issues of war, racism, gangs, and bullying. It talks about terrorism, the war with Iraq, gangs like the KKK, the Crips, and the Bloods, and more. The chorus is, “where is the love?” It’s asking why is this going on, what happened to love? It repeats a lot because if we had “the love” we wouldn’t be fighting as much and the world would be a more peaceful place. In the world we’re living in, people keep on giving in and aren’t helping when they can. There are bullies and there are bystanders that are just as bad.

 The song is about the war with Iraq and how were trying to stop terrorism but we still have terrorists, some living in the USA. Instead of using our words, we are still fighting. We are wasting lives of innocent people, even children when we could settle the argument a different way. The song says we’re making wrong decisions; we’re not doing what we could be doing, which is talking it out when there are conflicts. Nations are dropping bombs, chemical gasses are killing kids, and with ongoing suffering, the youth are dying young. How we’re hearing children crying and we’re not doing enough to help. “There’s a war going on but the reason’s undercover.”

It’s also about gangs. It mentions the Bloods, the Crips, and the KKK. The KKK was a gang created in 1865 to hurt African Americans. But even after African Americans gained their equality, when the KKK wasn’t as enforced, new gangs formed. Now there are gangs like the Bloods and the Crips that were created to fight and hurt others, not just a specific ethnic group.  The Bloods and the Crips are two violent and well known gangs, like the KKK. They don’t have a specific group of people to hurt like the KKK did but they still hurt people, often their own kind.

In a section of the song it says, “but if you only have love for your own race,
then you only leave space to discriminate. And to discriminate only generates hate.” This is a very powerful statement in general. It means that there are people who are discriminating against races and it’s building more hatred. For example different gangs are discriminating against one type of race, even their own kind. They’re not respecting each other and their own “family.” A point in the song is that we’re “makin’ wrong decisions,” meaning that as a nation we could do more to stop racism.

Where is the Love by the Black Eyed Peas

What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma

Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK

But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah

Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love, the love, the love

It just ain't the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace are so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong

Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone

So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong
In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin' in
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover

The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)?
Where is the love (The love)?
Where is the love, the love, the love?

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' our wrong direction

Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema

Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity

That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found
Now ask yourself

Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?

Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love?

Sing with me y'all:
One world, one world (We only got)
One world, one world (That's all we got)
One world, one world
And something's wrong with it (Yeah)
Something's wrong with it (Yeah)
Something's wrong with the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got
(One world, one world)
That's all we got
(One world, one world)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

        The Witch of Blackbird pond by Elizabeth George Speare is about a girl, Kit who was raised differently then her new family. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins Mercy and Judith are poor, and religious, unlike Kit who was raised rich and free with her Grandfather. Now, he is dead, and she must learn to adapt to a new style of life. But from her home she travels to her Aunt's house by boat alone. She is only sixteen and has no other family. But already she makes a difference. Most people back then dont know how to swim, but Kit's Grandfather taught her. So when Kit swims to get a girls lost doll, she shocks everyone making them think she's a witch. Already she has made a bad impression and does not fit in with everyone in New England.
          From where I left off in the book, she sees a woman named Hannah Tupper, an old women who everyone thinks is a witch. I think that they will get a long and Kit will feel more at home. But since the author made it clear that people dont talk to her because they think she's a witch, what will they think of Kit? William Ashby, a rich boy has called for Kit, which means he would like her hand in marriage. From what I read, Kit is free and doesnt want a husband at the age of sixteen. But her uncle has always wanted some sort of a son, and Kit is used to being rich. But what will William think of her if she becomes friends with a "witch?" If she decides she likes him, will it be to late?
          I can connect to Kit because I'm used to the city life and having electricity. During Hurricane Sandy I still had power. I know it is hard to change your life, my grandparents live in the country and when I visit my other family, it is not polite to use electronics while im there. Kit's change is more complex then mine, but I can still understand how difficult it is. Especially not knowing anyone and having most of your family hate you. Judith thought William would cal for her so shes mad at Kit, and her uncle Matthew wanted a boy cousin to do work. Not a rich non working girl.
         Even this book is about the olden times, and has a different style of writing, it is very interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read. It is funny and full of action as well. I cant wait to read more and see if my predictions come true.   

sandy article

            The article The Marathon is Cancelled—Finally by The New Yorker is about Hurricane Sandy canceling the marathon. Hurricane Sandy took away homes, power, gas, and people. The drinking water in Breezy Point, Queens is no longer drinkable. But as of Friday afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg was saying that the I.N.G, New York City Marathon was still on. Residents in housing projects in the Lower East Side have been relying on fire hydrants for their water, and the elderly and disabled need their neighbors to go to the hydrants for them. But as of Friday afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg was saying that the I.N.G, New York City Marathon was still on. More than two hundred thousand of Con Edison’s customers in Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island are without electricity. With individual people, the number of people without electricity is much higher. And these people might not have it back for another ten days. But as of Friday afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg was saying that the I.N.G, New York City Marathon was still on. Around 5 P.M. the news broke out that officials had, finally, decided to cancel the race or to postpone it for later in the year. It was the right decision, but it took too long to make.      The Marathon had been canceled due to Sandy’s destruction. Still, Mayor Bloomberg thinks it should be held in a week. But 2001’s marathon took place almost two months after 9/11, not less than a week after it. The city needs more time to come together, show that it’s bowed but not broken. The city needs to finish repairing the destruction; it needs to help its all of people.  Bloomberg was promising that running the marathon would not take away resources that could go to Sandy’s victims. But, that is not true. The marathon would require the police, fire department, New York Road Runners, streets with fire hydrants on it, would coast money, and would take away time and space that we could be using to repair the damage.    

People have been donating to the people who lost their homes with everything in it due to Hurricane Sandy. Everywhere you go you’ll see bake sales, donation boxes, and talent shows collecting money and donations. The N.Y.R.R. says that it will donate a million dollars to Sandy’s victims.  But that donation looks petty compared to the tremendous donation the group could have given simply by cancelling the marathon earlier in the week and diverting the supplies for the race to those in need. The New York Post has already noted the massive portable generators set up in Central Park, which, the Post says, are big “enough to power 400 homes in ravaged areas like Staten Island, the Rockaways and downtown Manhattan.” At the start of a typical race, sponsor Poland Spring provides more than ninety thousand eight-ounce bottles of water, plus more than sixty thousand gallons more along the way. "That water could have gone to the people in Breezy Point, or to those getting water from hydrants, or those without any at all."

            Of course, it makes sense for Mayor Bloomberg to want to keep the marathon at its planned date. It would make everyone happy and reunite people in a time of crisis. Although, the repairing of the destruction would be postponed, everyone’s minds would be at ease. People who were planning to run are crushed by this decision. They have been preparing and looking forward to run in the New York City Marathon. Some of them do it to raise money for charity; it’s even expensive to enter. But the marathon is only being postponed; Mayor Bloomberg promises that there will be a race.

            Most people agree that this decision was for the best. It’s better to work on Sandy’s mess now and then look forward to a race afterword. So many people are still without power, homes, gas, and more so why celebrate? It’s already been about five days and not a lot has changed. But in time people will get their power back, gas won’t be as scarce, and victims will find new homes. Thanks to everyone who helped the repairing process will be easier and quicker. I hope that the next time a storm comes, we will be ready. That there won’t be as much devastation and destruction.