what will BP do?

BP gas stations are going to be losing a lot of business because of recent desicions.

5.25 million gallons of gasoline were dumped in the ocean, and still remain there. Because of the spill, places like florida will lose jobs and tourism. I won't go to BP anymore, because if they still have consumers then it will seem like it is okay that they aren't trying hard to fix the spill.BP needs to work harder, because if not their company will go down hill.

Jake Mulka

Jacob Michael Mulka. I still remember the first day I met him. It was the first day of school, and I was new. Already the third hour of the day, I was becoming more familiar with the building and people in it. When I sat down in my third hour teacher, Mrs. Beroff’s class I was nervous, shy, and bored. It was the third hour of six that I would be sitting and listening to the teacher talk about things that I’d heard all day. After the bell rang, Mrs. Beroff let us know that she was going to assigning a seating chart. I wasn’t too upset about it, because I didn’t even know anyone that I wanted to sit with yet.

In the next few minutes, I realized that I’d been seated next to a funny, cute, red headed boy. We started talking, and by the end of the hour I found out that he played hockey, got good, grades, and was very easy to get along with. Also another student in our class, Dan Vayis, was on his hockey team. They were quite the pair. I went to my fourth hour in a very good mood.
As the semester went on, I had a great time. They both made jokes about the things we learned, and always had the whole class laughing. One day, when I forgot to do my homework, Jake’s great personality shined through. The nice guy that he was, he shared his homework with me. When we did our labs, Dan Jake and I were always a group. Throughout the semester, we started working with other students too. Dalen, Hayley, and even Brittany. We were a pretty talkative group. Occasionally, when we had substitute teachers, we had to be separated. We always had a good time though. \

Once when we had a sub, Mrs. Zao, we had the funniest hour ever. Every time she said anything, the whole class started clapping. When a girl asked to use the bathroom, everyone started clapping. When she took attendance, everyone started clapping. Jake apologized for the class’s clapping, because of the nice child that he is. He even mentioned to Mrs. Beroff that the class was being disruptive towards her.

She always liked him, and so did I. I can’t think of anyone I know that has a bad opinion of Jake. My funny, red-headed, nice, sweet friend Jake.

Simun blog

Overall, I thought Simun was a great experience. In the beginning it was very nerve wracking and intimidating thinking of being in a group with sophomores and juniors and having to speak in front of them, but by the end I became a lot more comfortable with it. The researching was hard and kind of annoying, but I’m glad we did it because that is how we got to know about the topics that we were debating. I was really happy that we had a practice run-through the day before it started because if not, I would’ve had a very hard time getting to know how to ask questions and make movements.

The first day of Simun, I didn’t do very well. I was very nervous, unsure of when to speak, and the scenario didn’t have much to do with my country. I got my name on the speaker’s list, and gave a speech. After it was over, I felt a lot better. The second and third days were a lot easier for me. Almost right away I realized how my country was tied in, and I was used to speaking to that group of people. The senior mentors helped encourage me speak, and without them I would’ve spoken a lot less. I gave a few speeches, and whenever I was unclear about decisions that were made I asked questions. Researching helped me because I needed to know what countries dealt with certain scenarios.

To prepare for Simun, we had to answer four questions that we would be debating. When we did the first question, I decided to wait until the last minute. (Not such a great idea.) I realized that it took more effort than one Sunday searching for an hour about it. So for the next three questions, I gave myself more time. For some of the questions, the answers weren’t very clear. I had to dig around on a lot of different websites, and a lot of times when I actually did find some information it was incorrect, but in the end I got enough good research.

Next year, I don’t need to prepare much differently. I’ll give myself more time to research, and hopefully I’ll have more experience talking in front of groups. Simun was a great experience and helped me put myself out there.

should they invade?

If the United States tried to invade Pakistan in fear of them being invaded by the Taliban, Venezuela wouldn't agree with them. Pakistan's government isn't very stable, but that doesn't mean that the U.S. should take control. The United States already has enough issues of its own, and doesn't need to intrude.

Venezuela would be against the invasion. If they had anything to do with it, the United States would be stopped. The Taliban are very dangerous, but they could gain control either way. They wouldn't necessarily even want to invade, because then their intentions would be made public. Venezuela and the U.S. aren't allies, so they could possibly fight back when it comes down to guarding the country.

Lost on Planet China

J. Maarten Troost talks a lot about China's government. He starts to talk about Mao, and how everyone worships him even though he has been dead for around 50 years. He even goes to see his tomb, which is a common tourist attraction. He wonders about how much the country is censored, and when his friend gets him a “translator” for a day he figures it out. When Dan hires Meow Meow, he is surprised.

At first, he asked her a series of questions. She replied with answers saying that she didn’t know about the cruelty, or how wrong it was for the government to have that much control of things. When he went out to eat with his friend Dan, he asked them questions about businesses. He was told that when you are a business man, you can’t make the wrong moves, or the government will remove you. This is surprising to hear because China is becoming bigger and bigger, and you would think that more people would know about these issues.

Culture is very different in China then in the United States. They eat different foods, celebrate different holidays, and have a different type of government. When J. Maarten Troost goes out to eat at a restaurant , he finds fried duck. Where can that be found here in the U.S? practically nowhere.

The amount of pollution is unbelievable. Walking down the street, he sees some people to the extent of wearing a gas mask. In places like California, the pollution is bad, but not that bad. The reason for it is because when Mao was in power he thought that by having many factories and buildings that the country’s economy would become ahead of the rest of the world.

He did crazy things like tell everyone to melt steel when it wouldn’t be used, kill all the birds. No person in the United States would ever tolerate the government if this happened here. The people here would stand up for them selves.

Summer time :)

Summer is the best season. From the first day of school in September to the last day of school in June, summer is all I can look forward to.
During the summer, there is nothing to worry about. No homework, teachers, or catching the bus. The only thing that I’m required to do is put on sun screen so I don’t get a sun burn.
The best place to be is Irish Hills. In our two bedroom cottage, we usually fit around twenty people. Some camp out in the back, some sleep in their cars. The pontoon is our main way of transportation, other than our flip flops or bare feet. By the end of the three month vacation, my feet are as tan as the sidewalk. My aunt brings her large, plastic raft called Paradise Island that reeks of sun screen and lake water. That’s the usual tanning spot. We swim out to the large, wooden raft where we do backflips and cannon ball in after soaking in the sun for a few minutes. Sometimes we catch minnows from the dock and even fish.
The nights are the best part. Every night, no matter what there is a bonfire. We roast marshmallows, talk around the fire, and sometimes light off fireworks. Our music is always blaring, and there Is always excitement. All the little kids tell stories. Sometimes about lake monsters, and sometimes just about nothing.
In the summer, there is no sense of time. The only clock is inside, and I’m rarely there. I can never tell whether it is Saturday or Thursday. I’m either sitting on the boat, walking around, watching the bonfire, or listening to loud music with friends and family. I really like boatrides, especially when we go really fast. It’s almost a rush, because I feel like I could fall off.
Sometimes we go fishing. I like fishing, but I usually get bored because it takes so long. Once, I caught a two foot Pike! Of course it was too big for us to keep, but I was very proud of myself.

big fish story

Ice fishing -a common winter sport. Oh no, not for my family.

Saturday morning, bright and early. Unfortunately for me, being the light sleeper that I am, I was woken up by the “creek” of my bedroom door opening. Good thing I had something to look forward to, otherwise I’m not sure I would’ve ever gotten up. My cousin Val walked in the door. “Hi! Are you ready to go? Are you going to shower first? Did you pack a bag already? Should I grab your phone charger for you?” I lifted my head up off my pillow. “I’m just going to take a shower.” I quickly hopped out of bed, and took a shower. Once I was out, I got dressed, got my bag ready, and went down stairs.

“Are you ready Chlo?” my dad was eager to get on the road. “Yeah, let’s go.” After about an hour of country music, snowy scenery, and family singing, we were at our cottage. It took a while to unpack. My brother, Danny fell asleep in the car and had to be carried in. As we unloaded our bags and the food that we brought, we waited for the other guests to come. Ken and his son Christian, Jason and his daughters Kelsey and Lauren, and Dave and his daughter Kelsey. For a while we just hung out. We had a few snacks, and I took a little nap. Once the dads were ready to head across the street to the lake, we grabbed the clam, the bait, and the oggers.

Being on the ice was thrilling. It took us a few tries to find a good spot to anchor the clam down. The crisp air was blowing through my jacket. Everyone was slipping and sliding, and enjoying the weather. Finally once we settled down, some of the younger girls began to ice skate. I’m not very strong, but I was determined to drill a hole to fish in. it took me a while, but I finally did it. Christian, Val and I were huddled around my hole, seeing if any fish were biting. Unfortunately, none were. After sitting around for an hour and a half, we got pretty bored. I couldn’t resist. Ice is ice. I had to taste it. And yes, I do know its lake water. It wasn’t that bad to be honest. Now all I wanted was to taste the water in the hole.

I stuck my head as far as I could (it wasn’t very far, the hole wasn’t very big) and tasted the water. Quickly I jumped to my feet. “The water is warm!” I said. “No it isn’t! Is it really?” Val couldn’t believe it. “Give me the ogger! I’m going to dig the hole bigger! Put on your bathing Suits! We can all go swimming!” We all ran back to the cottage, changed, and for the rest of the night we forgot all about our hats gloves mittens and scarves. The next morning, we went back home. I told my mom, and of course she didn’t believe me. Neither did my grandparents, or my best friend. I don’t really mind though, because we all know what happened, and it was a lot of fun.

New Mayan Tomb

The discovery of the Mayan tomb will not reveal what happened their culture.

Recently archaeologists have began to believe that we will unravel the secrets of the Mayans. Things leading to what happened to them. How their culture died out, and for what reason. This is false information. The mayan people were spread out on a lot of land, and had many tombs. Not all their information would've been kept in one place. Like in this situation, when someone dies you can't go to one person for their life story. You have to keep finding out more and more things, because not only may they not give you accurate information, but they won't be able to tell you everything about it.

Some would say that this will reveal all their secrets. This is not true. There could be an artifact in one place, and in another undiscovered tomb somewhere can be another piece to it to make it work. While you won't get all the information you need to really learn about the Mayans, there will be some that will help us learn a lot.

What I've learned over the simester

Over the course of the semester, I learned a lot. We covered a lot of material, from the use of periods and commas to what happened with the Rwandan genocide.
The first thing I learned was how to write a good thesis. When I first came in the beginning of the year, I wasn’t exactly sure what a thesis was supposed to have in it. I learned that the theses should be an introduction to what you are writing about, and should help your paragraph stay on topic. When we started actually writing papers, I figured out how. When we wrote our letters as Paul Rusebigina during the Rwandan genocide unit, I made sure that all the writing led back to my theses statement. For a paragraph where I wrote about why the Interahamwe were killing, my thesis was “The Interahamwe are being persuaded to kill.

Another thing I learned was how to comprehend something that I don’t know anything about. When we first started having a weekly article from the New York times, it was really hard. As we did more and more, I figured out that I needed to define all the words, and then put the sentences together to get the gist of it. It took a lot of practice, but after a while I started getting higher grades on the responses from understanding the articles better.

By listening to The Man in the Well, I learned how to think about things at a deeper level. When we first heard the story, I wasn’t really sure who the man could’ve been. Was It a robber? A homeless man? Someone who was just trapped? It took me a while to figure out that it could’ve had more of a meaning. The class discussion helped a lot. I discovered that the man didn’t really have to be a man. It could’ve been the children’s conscience, or anything else like that. Now when I read things, I take into consideration that there could be a deeper meaning.

Researching the countries we were learning about on the computer helped me a lot also. In the beginning of learning about each country, I didn’t have any background knowledge. Each time we were assigned to look certain things up, I learned a lot. If we hadn’t done this, I wouldn’t know as much as I do now. The articles we printed were mostly details about the countries. This helped me a lot for the Rwandan genocide debate, and the South Africa quiz.

Margin notes helped me understand things a lot better. When we did the articles from the new York Times and had to decode and understand them , I still had questions. Margin notes gave me a chance to answer those questions, and make comments to think about. They really helped me have a better understanding, and also compare and contrast with other things we’ve been learning.