Abstract

For many centuries Japan has hunted whales as a means of getting food. In the past many other countries have also been involved in whaling, and it wasn't until a few decades ago that the global public decided that whaling could not continue for fear of eliminating certain species. In 1986 the IWC, International Whaling Commission put a ban on all commercial whaling, and since then all but a few select countries ceased their whaling practices. Japan is a country that has blatantly disregarded all laws that protect endangered species, and other marine animal preservation acts, and continued to kill whales despite their dwindling numbers. Unfortunately the international community is unable to change this because the Japanese are claiming that all the whales they kill are being used for scientific purposes. Japan is operating under a technicality because the IWC's ban allows for whaling as long as it is for scientific research. To truly solve this problem laws need to be tightened. There can be no space for interpretation of what determines "valid" research, the law should ban the killing of whales for all purposes. Any research that needs to be done should be conducted by non-lethal means. If action is not taken and this resource continues to be mismanaged, many species of whales will become extinct, and the earth’s natural ecosystem will face a mass amount of distress and imbalance.

Vocab Set #2

deduct- Deduct, as it is used in deductive reasoning, means to infer, or deduce something. Such as somebody looking at dark clouds, they may deduce that it is going to rain. This picture of the guy having an idea shows that he has observed, and deduced something from what he saw. Deduce also means to subtract from, or to takeaway from. An example would be a car that has been in an accident may deduct from the total value.



reciprocate- The word reciprocate means to give and take mutually, or return. It can be inferred that in this picture there are two people in love who obviously reciprocate feelings for each other. Because they share feelings of caring for one another, they are returning and receiving each other's emotions.






empathy- This word means to understand, share, and be sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of another person or thing. Almost like feeling another person's pain with them. It goes further than just feeling sorry for them, it shows that you also share their burden. This picture shows two people who seem to be experiencing the same emotion, one of them is being empathetic to the other.






incognito- This word means to conceal one's identity, or to go without notice. Kind of like being undercover. This picture of a mask keeps the wearer unexposed, and their identity hidden, therefore they are incognito. Another example of this could be the stick insect, or leaf insect, which disguise themselves to look differently to fool predators.










precipitous-This word means very steep, or perpendicular, or overhanging rise and fall. The cliff in the picture could be described as precipitous, because of its steepness, and abrupt fall. You could also use precipitous to describe a slope, or a gorge, or something with sheer sides.

Vocab Set #1

VOCAB HONORS

flourish - to brandish dramatically; a decoration or embellishment, to be in a vigorous state. to thrive.
"During the agricultural revolution the productivity of crops flourished, and crop yield reached amazing heights."

guerilla - a member of a band of irregular soldiers that uses guerrilla warfare, harassing the enemy by surprise raids, sabotaging communication and supply lines, etc.
"To win the war, the United States had to resort to using Guerilla tactics against the enemy."

renegade -

1.	a person who deserts a party or cause for another.

2.	an apostate from a religious faith. of or like a renegade; traitorous.

"He was known as a renegade because of his lack of respect for the law."
repose -

1.	the state of reposing or being at rest; rest; sleep.

2.	peace; tranquillity; calm.

"After the math final, his face was in a state of repose, the stress of the last few weeks gone."

stereotype - to characterize or regard as a stereotype
"Because of his angry behavior everyday at school, he has been stereotyped as unhappy.

symbiosis - the living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, or parasitism.
"The shark and the remora lived in symbiosis, each helping the other."

tariff -bill; cost; charge.
"China was unhappy about the newly imposed tariffs on their goods, because less Americans wanted to get their imports."

tempo- Tempo is a characteristic rate, rhythm,
or pattern of work or activity. To have a song with
a fast tempo means that the beat is fast. This
picture of Travis Barker drumming relates to tempo,
because he keeps the rhythm, rate, and tempo of the music.










tranquility -quality or state of being tranquil; calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity.
This picture of a buddhist monk meditating
in the middle of the mountains, away from all the stress
of the city, shows his tranquility and inner peace. Meditation in itself
is all about clearing your mind, and being able to find your
own tranquility, not just from outside influence, but from yourself.

tumult -violent and noisy commotion or
disturbance of a crowd or mob; uproar
This photo of a rowdy class is an example of
tumult. All the students are distracted, making loud
noises, and in uproar. (Much like students tend to
act when their teacher is not there).

tundra -one of the vast, nearly level, treeless plains of the arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.
This photo is a depiction of the vast tundra in North America. The plants are all extremely adapted to living in
cold places with less sunlight. The animals that inhabit the tundra also have specific traits that allow them to survive in the cold plains.

unanimous -

1.	of one mind; in complete agreement; agreed.

2.	characterized by or showing complete agreement: a unanimous vote. This picture is of the U.S. Congress. They have to consider many sides of every argument, and are able to speed up the decision making process by unanimous consent, meaning when everyone is in agreement.

Response to Michael Pollen's "In Defense of Food."

Why do people eat unhealthy?

Mostly just because it is easier, faster, cheaper, it may taste better in some cases rather than healthier food, and because it is familiar, and sold in more places so it is more accessible.

What should the government be doing about Genetically Modified food?

I don't think that the government holds any role in education, or "telling" us what to eat. We should have the choice to eat what we want, healthy or not, educated or uneducated. The only role that the government plays, is ensuring that the people have access to all foods, healthy/organic, and unhealthy/processed foods.

Biography of Jeremy White

At 33 years old Jeremy White is fairly accomplished. He has drummed on tour in places like Japan and Europe, started his own company, and is now self-employed. Jeremy grew up in Sacramento California, and lived there into adulthood. During his school years he was extremely interested in music, and more particularly drumming. He was in his High School band, and has toured with bands like “A Perfect Circle,” and “Deftones.” Jeremy however, is not your typical rocker. Jeremy has no tattoos or piercings, and has never been really interested in experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
Jeremy’s parents separated when he was six years old, and although he has good relationships with his mother and his father, he is very close to his mom. Jeremy gives his mom a lot of credit for the way he turned out, calling her “the most amazing person in the world.” He says that through her selflessness and generosity, he has also learned to put others needs before his own. This trait, coupled with his positive attitude, and determination to always push himself, may have contributed to Jeremy’s success.
Jeremy’s plan was always to go to college for music. He thought that once he did this he may be able to find a band, and eventually reach his goal of getting a record label. However, as Jeremy soon found out, the music industry is an extremely tough career to be in. There are many aspects that you do not control, and it is not something that Jeremy felt he could count on as a source of income. Through this realization Jeremy found his new passion, financial planning. He said that he had seen so many people who had not planned for the future, and could not live the lives they wanted all because of neglecting to make a few adjustments. Therefore Jeremy decided to become a financial planner, and help people work on mapping out their future.
Presently, a typical day for Jeremy consists of meeting with clients at their houses, coming home, playing a bit of tennis when he has the time, trying to find non existent food in his refrigerator to make dinner, reading a good book, and then going to bed. Jeremy is very happy with his life right now, and he has no regrets. Every decision he has made was what he thought was right at the time, and any mistakes he has made he knows were necessary to learn from. Jeremy White just wanted to live a happy and dynamic life. He has definitely succeeded so far. With more than half his life to go, Jeremy has already done a lot. From being the kid with braces and six rubber bands in High School, to the educated financial planner today.
Jeremy is not totally sure about what is next for him. He is currently in a relationship, and he is undecided about having kids. In his future he sees himself doing a lot of traveling, and wants to end up lying on a beach somewhere in Hawaii with Elika who he got back together with, after crossing paths with her during his travels.

Social Deviance

Today we recorded people's reactions to social deviance in public. We wanted to see how the public would respond to activity out of the "norm."
Such as, guys dressing in women's clothing, and loud noises.

Mexico and the US

For the past two years Mexico has experienced extreme inner turmoil due to the situation with the drug cartels. Although the mexican government recently legalized all drugs the drug war has continued to ravage the country. The ongoing trade between South American cartels has made violence more rampant closer to the U.S. border. While the U.S. has not taken any official stand against these cartels, they still have a negative effect on certain parts of the U.S. This has brought about the question of whether we should intervene or not. Personally I believe that unless the U.S. is being seriously threatened that we do not have the right to march into another country and try to change it how we like. In this particular situation I think that the U.S. should only intervene in Mexico if Mexico requests our help, or if they approve of us being there. I think that in the long run helping mexico would benefit the U.S. by furthering our standing and good relations with Mexico and helping the U.S.' trade.

Barder & the Boy

"Come here Barder, come here!" The little boy had climbed up on the table and was yelling out the window. When he heard his dog coming he hopped down and ran to open the door. Barder, is a seven year old German shepherd that the little boy's family had had since before he was born. The boy and Barder walked outside onto the front lawn. The neighborhood was silent, and the only light was from the full moon. The boy grabbed hold of Barder's collar, and climbed onto his back. "Go Barder go!" the little boy whispered. Barder started running and before they had reached the hedge at the end of the lawn Barder was in the air. They were flying.

Writing In Reverse

It's the last day of the semester, and Jason Wes opens his eyes and stares at the red digits on his alarm clock by the corner of his bed. As the numbers come into focus Jason is filled with a sinking feeling. 9:24am. His film class at NYU starts in exactly 36 minutes. Jason throws back the heavy sheets that are covering him, and flings himself out of bed. If he showed up late to class today, his final project might not be accepted. Furthermore, his internship at the film studio that was due to start the next month would not accept him if he got anything lower than an "A" in his film class. Jason rummaged through his closet for some clean clothes, and threw them on. He didn't care that the vest he was wearing was his roommates, he just put it on and ran into the kitchen ducking and he passed through the doorway, so as not to hit his afro on the frame. He glanced at his watch. 9:32. Luckily, he had leaned his final project up against the stairwell the night before. His project was a short film that he and 3 of his friends starred in. It just so happened that out of the 4 of them, he was the one who was chosen to look after the reels. He scooped up his bag along with the film reels, and grabbed an apple from the counter as he shut the door behind him. Normally it took Jason 15 minutes to get from his apartment to the subway station. Today it took him 10. He locked his bike, and grabbed the two reels. He was sweating from the ride there. To his dismay, as he ran down the stairs he hit an old lady who walked in front of him, and her grocery bag ripped, it's contents rolling all over the floor. Jason scrambled around trying to help the old lady get her groceries, apologizing over and over. As the turn styles came into sight he heard his trains doors opening. It had already arrived, and people were flooding the platform. He sprinted the rest of the way film reels in hand. He swiped his card, and shoved through the turn style towards the train.