Colonialism on trial
In this project we spent multiple weeks reading a book called things fall apart. In this book it tells the story of a great Igbo warrior. We read two chapters every day until the end of the book. Upon completing reading the book, we began to discuss how and why Europe began moving into the African provinces. From there we learned about the american civil court system. Then for the last section of this project we had to build prove and present a trial in just under a week. It was stressful, frustrating and annoying, but in the end it payed off. We went to court house 3 in the Durango court, we were then required to listen to the defenses case and prove our own.
My group was the prosecution. In the end of the book things fall apart it is ended with the main character killing himself. So my team had to prove that his death was caused by the British colonial rule. In my personal opinion, this case was very one sided. My group was required to prove that a man who killed himself was stable, were the defense only had to prove that he was insane. We had to be able to pull evidence out of the smallest areas, and we had to have the burden of proof.
I found that it was a challenge, it provided to be a lot of stress. I enjoyed the idea of reading through the book to find a characters back story, then writing a story that made the person real. I enjoyed creating questions to be make my point more clear. However through all this I do wish that the sides were more balanced, in my opinion the defense had a easier point to make. While we needed to put together evidence that could support our side of the case without proving it. Through this project I would keep it all the same except, try to balance the sides a bit more. An example of this is if you had done a case for the killing of Kotma and the burning of the church, then that would change the sides and cause this case to become a murder case instead of a assisted suicide.
I really enjoy how this case was all about learning of African culture and the American justice system. And also the ability to argue with people and have no rebound is quite enjoyable. I hope you keep this project in your list of to do. But every year try to tweak it and add on to it. That would make this even better, also give people more time to build a case theory and work around it.
My group was the prosecution. In the end of the book things fall apart it is ended with the main character killing himself. So my team had to prove that his death was caused by the British colonial rule. In my personal opinion, this case was very one sided. My group was required to prove that a man who killed himself was stable, were the defense only had to prove that he was insane. We had to be able to pull evidence out of the smallest areas, and we had to have the burden of proof.
I found that it was a challenge, it provided to be a lot of stress. I enjoyed the idea of reading through the book to find a characters back story, then writing a story that made the person real. I enjoyed creating questions to be make my point more clear. However through all this I do wish that the sides were more balanced, in my opinion the defense had a easier point to make. While we needed to put together evidence that could support our side of the case without proving it. Through this project I would keep it all the same except, try to balance the sides a bit more. An example of this is if you had done a case for the killing of Kotma and the burning of the church, then that would change the sides and cause this case to become a murder case instead of a assisted suicide.
I really enjoy how this case was all about learning of African culture and the American justice system. And also the ability to argue with people and have no rebound is quite enjoyable. I hope you keep this project in your list of to do. But every year try to tweak it and add on to it. That would make this even better, also give people more time to build a case theory and work around it.
Legalizing Marijuana: Is it Beneficial?
By Owen Hickerson and Harley Farkas
Marijuana, commonly known as weed or cannabis, is a drug widely known for being legal in Colorado and Washington. Medical marijuana is legal in over 12 other states and is almost entirely illegal in every other state. The original purpose of the legalization in Colorado and Washington was to fund schools and public areas such as parks and wildlife centers. However the tax revenues from marijuana dispensaries has not been often used to help pay for school and park beautification, even though the tax is 70% of all profits made from marijuana sales. In the past four years the amendment has not been changed, nor are there any plans from the state government to change it. However with the law came multiple pros and cons. Here’s why we should and shouldn’t legalize marijuana in other states.
Recreational marijuana is mostly bought and used by adults. However, the Amendment made it much easy for minors to get a hold of marijuana. As Amendment 64 (the amendment that legalized marijuana) was going through the voting process, and eventually placed on the Colorado ballot, adults could legally purchase marijuana. However, adults have been illegally passing on legally purchased marijuana to minors.
A pro of this easy supply was it caused some teens to stop smoking, as Scientific American said “The number began to drop from what they use to be, due to the danger factor having been eliminated.” A theory for this is it had become a simple task and the numbers of minors that smoked on a regular basis was dropping because without a challenge a lot of minors said it was no longer fun and rebellious against their parents. Although the legalization of marijuana made it easy to get, it also made it harder to be “cool” in the teenage community.
In the past four years the influx of people to Colorado has been drastic. People move from all around the country to attempt to have easy access to marijuana. A sign this is most likely happening is the amount of traffic and people visiting that has become massively larger. Due to this influx of people, the number of homeless people has also increased. As of 2014 Denver, Colorado has the 24th biggest homeless population in the world, where as in 2010 Denver was the city with the 8th lowest homeless population in America. The reason that homeless people have begun to accumulate in Denver is because people come for the easy access to drugs. They could come from anywhere, some come for work in the pot industry, however many have come for the ability to walk into a shop and pick up an ⅛ of an ounce with ease.
But what are the benefits for this mind-altering plant? Marijuana is sold at stores called “dispensaries” and people can go there to purchase many Marijuana related products, including the actual plant. The sales tax goes straight to the state’s government and is used for various types of things. Colorado passed Amendment 64 on November 6, 2012 but commercial sales of marijuana to the general public didn’t happen till January 1, 2014 and since the measure passed the state has seen a boost in the tax base. Just last year the state made over $700 million in tax revenues from dispensaries and Scientific American predicts the sales are estimated to go up to $1 billion by 2017.
So where does this money all go? Colorado Amendment 64 decrees that most of the money is dedicated towards schools. The first $40 million dollars raised went to a Colorado program called Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST). This program distributes the money equally to local schools and educational programs. This most recent year $2.6 million of marijuana tax revenues were added on top of the $40 million raised in 2014. That money will go to the $5.6 billion cost to run schools in Colorado. So far the money has been sitting in the bank and not spent on school. But Colorado plans to distribute it all by the end of 2016. The extra money from the taxes are free to be spent by state.
But money isn’t the only benefit from legalizing marijuana. A lot of the money is used for improvements in infrastructure, such as new parks and road repairs. Also, legalizing marijuana creates hundreds of jobs for the state. Budtenders, advertisers, and dispensary owners are just some few jobs that the marijuana industry creates, and most of them are good paying too. The average Denver budtender, a dispensary employee, makes $70,000 annually. The legalization also has made the drug safer and more under control. This is because marijuana is sold in dispensaries and those stores regulate and maintain the plants. So the buyer knows what they’re buying and exactly what’s in the strain of marijuana, so no sketchy drug dealers or back alleys.
As for who plans for more laws like amendment 64, multiple states have begun to consider and implement them into their ballots. These laws would be adding medical marijuana and/or recreational marijuana. For this the states have broken up into three categories, most likely, considering, and no way. In Nevada, Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Maine they are most likely going to legalize marijuana in the next one to two years, these areas are very eastern focused. The reason they hope to legalize marijuana is because simply the number of of signatures to put it on the ballot exceeded 402, 468. As for Connecticut, Michigan, and Rhode Island, they are considering to have it put on the ballot within the next 5-10 years, they have chosen to keep it off the ballot for now because there are still some serious debates going on, in order to figure out whether or not to sign it. As for our last group Delaware, Maryland, New York, Missouri, and Vermont there is hardly any chance that they will putting them on the ballot in the next few terms.
When people think about Marijuana they think about a drug that alters your brain's chemistry and makes you an unmotivated stoner, but life is a lot broader than people think. Legalizing marijuana has effects on our society that are unpredictable at best. We may see this drug as an endless bad decision for teens, but when is alcohol a good choice for a teen. In no way is marijuana an okay thing to smoke at a constant rate, however neither is alcohol yet the average adult drinks one too two alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, and just over 40% of Americans smoke up to a pack of cigarettes weekly. Our society is filled with drugs and all that the legalization of marijuana does is make it easier to get.
By Owen Hickerson and Harley Farkas
Marijuana, commonly known as weed or cannabis, is a drug widely known for being legal in Colorado and Washington. Medical marijuana is legal in over 12 other states and is almost entirely illegal in every other state. The original purpose of the legalization in Colorado and Washington was to fund schools and public areas such as parks and wildlife centers. However the tax revenues from marijuana dispensaries has not been often used to help pay for school and park beautification, even though the tax is 70% of all profits made from marijuana sales. In the past four years the amendment has not been changed, nor are there any plans from the state government to change it. However with the law came multiple pros and cons. Here’s why we should and shouldn’t legalize marijuana in other states.
Recreational marijuana is mostly bought and used by adults. However, the Amendment made it much easy for minors to get a hold of marijuana. As Amendment 64 (the amendment that legalized marijuana) was going through the voting process, and eventually placed on the Colorado ballot, adults could legally purchase marijuana. However, adults have been illegally passing on legally purchased marijuana to minors.
A pro of this easy supply was it caused some teens to stop smoking, as Scientific American said “The number began to drop from what they use to be, due to the danger factor having been eliminated.” A theory for this is it had become a simple task and the numbers of minors that smoked on a regular basis was dropping because without a challenge a lot of minors said it was no longer fun and rebellious against their parents. Although the legalization of marijuana made it easy to get, it also made it harder to be “cool” in the teenage community.
In the past four years the influx of people to Colorado has been drastic. People move from all around the country to attempt to have easy access to marijuana. A sign this is most likely happening is the amount of traffic and people visiting that has become massively larger. Due to this influx of people, the number of homeless people has also increased. As of 2014 Denver, Colorado has the 24th biggest homeless population in the world, where as in 2010 Denver was the city with the 8th lowest homeless population in America. The reason that homeless people have begun to accumulate in Denver is because people come for the easy access to drugs. They could come from anywhere, some come for work in the pot industry, however many have come for the ability to walk into a shop and pick up an ⅛ of an ounce with ease.
But what are the benefits for this mind-altering plant? Marijuana is sold at stores called “dispensaries” and people can go there to purchase many Marijuana related products, including the actual plant. The sales tax goes straight to the state’s government and is used for various types of things. Colorado passed Amendment 64 on November 6, 2012 but commercial sales of marijuana to the general public didn’t happen till January 1, 2014 and since the measure passed the state has seen a boost in the tax base. Just last year the state made over $700 million in tax revenues from dispensaries and Scientific American predicts the sales are estimated to go up to $1 billion by 2017.
So where does this money all go? Colorado Amendment 64 decrees that most of the money is dedicated towards schools. The first $40 million dollars raised went to a Colorado program called Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST). This program distributes the money equally to local schools and educational programs. This most recent year $2.6 million of marijuana tax revenues were added on top of the $40 million raised in 2014. That money will go to the $5.6 billion cost to run schools in Colorado. So far the money has been sitting in the bank and not spent on school. But Colorado plans to distribute it all by the end of 2016. The extra money from the taxes are free to be spent by state.
But money isn’t the only benefit from legalizing marijuana. A lot of the money is used for improvements in infrastructure, such as new parks and road repairs. Also, legalizing marijuana creates hundreds of jobs for the state. Budtenders, advertisers, and dispensary owners are just some few jobs that the marijuana industry creates, and most of them are good paying too. The average Denver budtender, a dispensary employee, makes $70,000 annually. The legalization also has made the drug safer and more under control. This is because marijuana is sold in dispensaries and those stores regulate and maintain the plants. So the buyer knows what they’re buying and exactly what’s in the strain of marijuana, so no sketchy drug dealers or back alleys.
As for who plans for more laws like amendment 64, multiple states have begun to consider and implement them into their ballots. These laws would be adding medical marijuana and/or recreational marijuana. For this the states have broken up into three categories, most likely, considering, and no way. In Nevada, Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Maine they are most likely going to legalize marijuana in the next one to two years, these areas are very eastern focused. The reason they hope to legalize marijuana is because simply the number of of signatures to put it on the ballot exceeded 402, 468. As for Connecticut, Michigan, and Rhode Island, they are considering to have it put on the ballot within the next 5-10 years, they have chosen to keep it off the ballot for now because there are still some serious debates going on, in order to figure out whether or not to sign it. As for our last group Delaware, Maryland, New York, Missouri, and Vermont there is hardly any chance that they will putting them on the ballot in the next few terms.
When people think about Marijuana they think about a drug that alters your brain's chemistry and makes you an unmotivated stoner, but life is a lot broader than people think. Legalizing marijuana has effects on our society that are unpredictable at best. We may see this drug as an endless bad decision for teens, but when is alcohol a good choice for a teen. In no way is marijuana an okay thing to smoke at a constant rate, however neither is alcohol yet the average adult drinks one too two alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, and just over 40% of Americans smoke up to a pack of cigarettes weekly. Our society is filled with drugs and all that the legalization of marijuana does is make it easier to get.
News project reflection
In this project I wrote a 958 word essay in conjunction with Harley Farkas as to the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana in all of Colorado. I felt that I tryed my best to provide facts, a small amount of bias, as well as a solid idea as to how it may effect our economy. I had started with project with no intent of writeing an essay, but after I started my resarch and my writeing I found that the topic by itself was interesting as to how it effects the stock market and our societys money trade.
However the paper was well angled to inform and entertain I felt that my work to design the page and art side of this was more kindered to me. I felt prowd of my the banner I made and thee way me designed the entire website itself. I hope that this project next year could have a wider veiw of the world and its news. I think that over all I did pritty good on the project, I tryed to keep the flow of the paper to one voice even though it two entirely diffrent writers. I hope its great next year.
This project was a steamroller of crazy. We spent over a month doing research and forming a good informative article. I personally did not enjoy the project because I felt uninterested. I find that being able to free write without any restraints tend to be a better outcome. I personally wish that rather than a news article we had written our own story's. The exhibition did not feel organized or we thought out because our goal was to get the news out to the public yet we still had an exhibition in the middle of the day at school. I feel like this entire project should be set up to show how people work when they are told to do different piece of a larger picture then have to throw it all together and make it look good. Animas is a project based and community based school so we should get our work out to the public and do better to break it up so the people who don't want to write are still writing but also doing things they enjoy.
However the paper was well angled to inform and entertain I felt that my work to design the page and art side of this was more kindered to me. I felt prowd of my the banner I made and thee way me designed the entire website itself. I hope that this project next year could have a wider veiw of the world and its news. I think that over all I did pritty good on the project, I tryed to keep the flow of the paper to one voice even though it two entirely diffrent writers. I hope its great next year.
This project was a steamroller of crazy. We spent over a month doing research and forming a good informative article. I personally did not enjoy the project because I felt uninterested. I find that being able to free write without any restraints tend to be a better outcome. I personally wish that rather than a news article we had written our own story's. The exhibition did not feel organized or we thought out because our goal was to get the news out to the public yet we still had an exhibition in the middle of the day at school. I feel like this entire project should be set up to show how people work when they are told to do different piece of a larger picture then have to throw it all together and make it look good. Animas is a project based and community based school so we should get our work out to the public and do better to break it up so the people who don't want to write are still writing but also doing things they enjoy.
Balance of bias seminar reflection
During our seminar Joe asked is a program worthy to tell us what we enjoy, our group then found that we all have a very strong opinions based on it. This question felt very interesting to me because it was a good talking point and it seemed to almost fluster a couple of people. I felt like it almost had a tone that was meant to argue why we need a computer to monitor what we want to see, in my opinion this is just accepting that computers are taking over the world.
In the seminar I felt that I was good at taking questions and redirecting them into other topics. I felt this way because when we were all just repeating each other I felt I had an ideal to try and keep the conversation flowing. However I did feel that I didn’t try hard enough to get the people with smaller voices to talk, next seminar I hope I can get an honest opinion out of every person there.
In our conversations and journals we need to have an honest bias that tells the consumer what is going on in the world and our community, we need to let people understand what is happening without trying to change their viewpoints, that is why a balance of bias is the most important writing technique for a journalist.
In the seminar I felt that I was good at taking questions and redirecting them into other topics. I felt this way because when we were all just repeating each other I felt I had an ideal to try and keep the conversation flowing. However I did feel that I didn’t try hard enough to get the people with smaller voices to talk, next seminar I hope I can get an honest opinion out of every person there.
In our conversations and journals we need to have an honest bias that tells the consumer what is going on in the world and our community, we need to let people understand what is happening without trying to change their viewpoints, that is why a balance of bias is the most important writing technique for a journalist.
This I Believe Project
This I believe was a two week long project focusing on what we believe in. We wrote a narrative that told about what we believe to be true and why we believe it to be so. So in the first week we spent our time see what believe in and writing style's that could display our self's in a deep manor. Then we wrote a three hundred and fifty to five hundred word essay based to convince the reader of why you believe it. After we finished our first draft we proofread and revised until we felt it was good. Then we were into the recording section. We had to record our essay between 1:45 to 2 minutes. It was challenging to keep proofreading and revising until it was good enough to record. It was also very fun to record it, because you got to after listen to your voice and see how you voice felt like it had emotion and connected to the audience. I felt that this project was a well organized and had been used before. It felt well planned out and like it was meant for the student to do and not the teacher to command. My favorite part of the project was finding out what I believe. I felt that this was good because it was directed by us and how we felt. My least favorite part was the writing and recording. I took multiple hours to finish editing and rehearsing, but when I was done I felt a lot better about it. Over all I thought that Ally had a very good choice in picking this project first rather than something else.
An Embodiment of Words
Owen Hickerson
We are all embodiment's of words. A word can carry a thousand emotions, but if we never listen, a poem would only be worth the piece of paper that it's written on.
It's common knowledge that for the entire beginning of our lives we spend our time trapped behind a table of lost thoughts listening to an elder who would seek to teach us more about who we are. Yet they still talk, and never listen toe to say. In one ear and out the other that's what’s we're told, if we managed to listen that long.
Once a man stood before me and told me that, unless I figured out who I was, I would never be good enough to myself. He had always been there for me, he was never to mean and never had any reason to be. Yet I always talked over him, I was rude I refused to listen I was a thorn in his side. But when he told me that I felt that I could be better. On that day I listened, I didn’t talk I simply stared straight ahead and listened. I told myself that unless I opened my ears and listened, I would never be good enough to talk. For I did not deserve it unless I earned it. I listen to others and only speak when my ears have earned enough to open my mouth. For I speak through what I hear not what I say, for how could we speak if we did not listen? For those who open their eyes and close their mouth who would lend an ear to what is said. They call you shy but all that you are is an embodiment of words, not spoken words, but thoughts of the others around you. The ability to not speak is the greatest power, for silence holds a strength that no others could ever hope to have.
Have you ever been ignored? The feeling that no one would ever care to listen to what you have to say. It stings, it feels as if what you have to say is worth less than what they have to say. It’s an endless cycle that causes shyness and anxiety, because people want the power to be heard. We are taught to have a superpower, we speak and change lives, we write and inspire, but we can also hurt others. It is said that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Yet this is a lie because a broken bone will heal, but a broken mind will take a lifetime to repair itself.
I believe in the will to listen to the trees, the wind, and the world around us. The will to listen is the will of a story, and a story hold a thousand emotions.
Word count: 483
Owen Hickerson
We are all embodiment's of words. A word can carry a thousand emotions, but if we never listen, a poem would only be worth the piece of paper that it's written on.
It's common knowledge that for the entire beginning of our lives we spend our time trapped behind a table of lost thoughts listening to an elder who would seek to teach us more about who we are. Yet they still talk, and never listen toe to say. In one ear and out the other that's what’s we're told, if we managed to listen that long.
Once a man stood before me and told me that, unless I figured out who I was, I would never be good enough to myself. He had always been there for me, he was never to mean and never had any reason to be. Yet I always talked over him, I was rude I refused to listen I was a thorn in his side. But when he told me that I felt that I could be better. On that day I listened, I didn’t talk I simply stared straight ahead and listened. I told myself that unless I opened my ears and listened, I would never be good enough to talk. For I did not deserve it unless I earned it. I listen to others and only speak when my ears have earned enough to open my mouth. For I speak through what I hear not what I say, for how could we speak if we did not listen? For those who open their eyes and close their mouth who would lend an ear to what is said. They call you shy but all that you are is an embodiment of words, not spoken words, but thoughts of the others around you. The ability to not speak is the greatest power, for silence holds a strength that no others could ever hope to have.
Have you ever been ignored? The feeling that no one would ever care to listen to what you have to say. It stings, it feels as if what you have to say is worth less than what they have to say. It’s an endless cycle that causes shyness and anxiety, because people want the power to be heard. We are taught to have a superpower, we speak and change lives, we write and inspire, but we can also hurt others. It is said that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Yet this is a lie because a broken bone will heal, but a broken mind will take a lifetime to repair itself.
I believe in the will to listen to the trees, the wind, and the world around us. The will to listen is the will of a story, and a story hold a thousand emotions.
Word count: 483