The Focus of Senior Capstone

During my time in Senior Capstone I have learned an incredible amount of eye opening information. There are so many problems in our world, and not just outside of the United States but also within our very own country. I feel that Mr. Pike, Mr. Denzin, and Mrs. Denzin have done an excellent job of bringing these issues to our attention while also teaching us the responsibilities of being a young student  which can have an effect on our society big or small. Our teachers have told us on how to take action, big or small, against these issues and what we can do about them. By teaching us to help in our community, donate our time and money, or, in my opinion the most important way to take action, by bringing the issue to the attention of the masses. This is truly important to an issue because if nobody knows of the situation than they can't take action to improve the issue. By teaching us the tools and ways to tackle issues in our world, I believe that Mr. Pike, Mr. Denzin, and Mrs. Denzin are truly doing a tremendous job at teaching us.
When it comes to what i'v taken from this course there are many changes that I have integrated in to my life thanks to this course. After our food and water areas of study I can proudly say i'v stopped eating fast foods and have tried to eat only organic foods and correctly fed and free roamed meat. I'v also successfully stopped drinking high sugar drinks including soda while also trying to pack my own water bottle where ever I go. I'v also learned while doing my community service of a new sense of the community. To have the community thrive you can't be selfish in your needs as well as helping out local stores economically to keep the community afloat. I believe by taking Senior Capstone I have taken a new perspective at my life along with the community in which I live in.
I believe that the class is very strong in what it teaches us students. Theres only one thing that I think could be improved in this class. I believe although the trips out of the country to help others is important, that being students with limited cash these trips are a little unrealistic. I think we should focus a little more on our community and city instead of these expensive trips. We could also use the money for the trip for projects in our community to improve and help it. Other than what i'v stated I believe this class is very strong in how it works and how it teaches us, the students, through service.

What Do You Actually Eat in 24 Hours?

	Breakfast	Between Breakfast and Lunch	Lunch	Between Lunch and Dinner	Dinner	Desert	Total
What I Ate	3 cups of coffee, 2 slices of banana bread, and a greek yogurt.	A greek yogurt, and a glass of chocolate milk.	Macaroni & Cheese with a glass of water.	A orange vitamin water, 2 small hostess powdered donuts.	I had a spring role and some Chinese chicken with garlic sauce.	A caramel magnum bar.	A lot of Food
Calories	508	300	259	245	335	320	1967
Sugar (g)	83	47	7	40	19	29	225
Fat (g)	12	1	3	6	10	20	55
Cholesterol (mg)	57	15	10	12.5	88	25	207.5
Sodium (mg)	457	215	561	145	1205	85	2668
Protein (g)	19	22	11	1.5	30	3	86.5
Potassium (mg)	351	190	296	180	440	0	1457
Vitamins (%)	Vitamin A 12%, Vitamin C 4%,	Vitamin A 10%, Vitamin C 2%, Vitamin D 25%	Vitamin A 1%, Vitamin C 1%,	Vitamin A 25%, Vitamin C 150%, Vitamin E 25%, Vitamin B6 100%, Vitamin B12 100%.	Vitamin A 30%, Vitamin C 82%	Vitamin A 4%	Vitamin A 82%, Vitamin C 239%, Vitamin D 25%, Vitamin E 25%, Vitamin B6 100%, Vitamin B12 100%
Other	Iron 10%, Calcium 16%.	Calcium 45%	Calcium 9%, Iron 14%	Calcium 11%, Iron 3%	Calcium 21%, Iron 72%	Calcium 10%, Iron 8%	Calcium 106%, Iron 107%
Ingredients	Coffee Beans, Water, Sugar, Bananas, wheat flour, vegetable oil, salt, vanilla, milk, pecans, baking soda, baking powder, eggs, wheat flour.organic nonfat milk, organic strawberries, elderberry juice concentrate, pectin	Organic milk, sugar, strawberries, pectin, elderberry juice concentrate. High Fructose Corn syrup, cocoa, salt, Xanthan gum, Vanillin artificial flavor.	wheat flour, Niacin, thiamine, mono nitrate, folic acid, riboflavin, and iron. whey (milk protein), milk protein concentrate, milk, milk fat, cheese culture, salt, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium phosphate, calcium phosphate, yellow 5 , yellow 6, citric acid, lactic acid, and enzymes.	Spring water, fructose, sugar, citric acid, mineral salts, vitamins, stabilisers, natural orange flavering with other natural flaverings, sweetener, color. Enriched Wheat Flour, Dextrose, Vegetable Shortening, Water, Sugar. Contains 2% Or Less of: Nonfat Milk, Soy Flour, Leavenings, Egg Yolks, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Modified Wheat Starch, Mono And Diglycerides, Tapioca Dextrin, Corn Dextrin, Guar Gum, Karaya Gum, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Enzymes, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Wheat Starch, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening, Titanium Dioxide, Extracts of Annatto And Turmeric, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid And Sodium Propionate And Potassium Sorbate And Calcium Propionate.	wheat flour, eggs, salt, water, carrots, leeks, ginger, garlic, cabbage, mushrooms, sprouted beans, green chillies, soy sauce, and white pepper powder. Chicken, soy sauce, light sherry, garlic, green onions, sesame oil, and chili paste, water chestnuts, soy bean pods, baby corn.	Milk, Cream, Sugar, Whey, Mono and Diglycerides, Locust Bean Gum, Vanilla Bean Specks, Carrageenan, Natural Flavor, Annatto Extract, Caramel Color, Belgian Milk Chocolate Coating: Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Milk, Milk Fat, PGPR, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Caramel Sauce: Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Nonfat Milk Solids, Coconut Oil Modified Corn Starch, Caramel Color, Salt, Mono & Diglycerides, Carrageenan, Soybean Oil Sodium Citrate, Potassium Sorbate, Natural Flavor, Chocolatey Coating: Coconut Oil, Sugar, Cocoa, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla Extract.

For an assignment for Senior Capstone we were asked to keep track of what we ate for one day during our 3 day weekend. I choose to keep track of what I ate on Sunday 1/20/13. What surprised me the most out of this assignment is that the smallest thing I ate practically had the most ingredients out of everything I have had in the span of 24 hours. It kind of made me feel sick after seeing everything that went it to just one magnum ice cream bar. I was also surprised by how much things have colorings in them, even my organic greek yogurt that I eat had at least one food coloring in it. For fun I also decided to do the nutrition of my day. I actually did pretty well but again the thing with the most calories in it was my magnum ice cream bar (since my Chinese chicken and spring roll made up the 335 calories), again pretty disgusting. I think this was a fun experience since I got a good understanding of what I eat in one day. I also now understand that some of the smallest and yummy things are usually the ones that have the most ingredients and "additions" to the product. Overall I think this was a fun assignment and gave me a greater knowledge of what I actually consume in 24 hours.

By Ryan Marcus

The Privatization of Water

After watching videos and reading articles on the privatization of water around the world, I have formulated my very own opinion on the topic of water privatization. In class we had the experience of watching videos like Blue Gold and Flow, while at the same time we read articles like "The New Oil" and "Making Water a Human Right Might not be such a Good Idea." Overall I find the privatization of water a horrible and frightening thing that is happening in our world. The fact that a company, like nestle, or a person can just own the supply of fresh water anywhere and just bottle it up, slap logo on it, and sell it to whoever is dumb enough to actually buy water that they can get for free somewhere else. During the videos we watched in our class we also learned that before the privatization of water there was usually a local system that was set up to provide everyone with water. These local communities usually had a clean source of water provided through a local well, lake, etc where there was absolutely no problem with how their local systems were working. After the privatization of water occurred big companies came in to these local villages and forced the people to get their water from them, forced the people to close all their water resources, such as their wells, and than practically packaged the same water they had before, which was free, packages it up, and sells right back to them. This is completely ridiculous as a company can just enter any area nearby a clean natural water source and completely ruin not just the water cycle by removing the water from the area,  but also completely destroying the wealth, if you can even call it that, of all the people who live by the water source. Through the privatization of the resource of water, big bad companies like nestle have completely gone over the line by destroying a perfectly balanced system that was already in place to begin with. In summary these are the reasons why the privatization of water is one of the most horrible things that this world has allowed to happen.

Nu2u Community Service

During my time in The Senior Capstone class at Saline High School I have been completing my community service hours at a second hand retail store called Nu2u. At Nu2u people donate cloths and objects that they have no need of anymore and we take those donations and price them to sell again. Nu2u is also a non-profit organization where all profits are donated to the local schools in the area. In their first few years open Nu2u has collected over 35,000 dollars and had given it back to the schools. For the Senior Capstone class we are required to gain 60 hours of community service until the end of the school year. So far I have worked 10 hours at Nu2u and 11 hours working on the Haiti promotional video that I made for the class for a total of 21 hours of community service out of 60 hours.The pictures below show me working mostly in the back room at Nu2u. In the backroom its here that we collect all the bags of donations and then we sort through the bags for the goods that are of better quality and then we sort those goods based on what they are (books, toys, clothes, electronics, etc.) by putting them on the back shelves. From the back shelves they are priced and then put out on display for customers to buy at low prices. Don't worry though, for what we don't put on our shelves we recycle for 15 cents a pound. So all those unusable articles of clothing are recycled to make new clothing. We put all the bags that are for recycling in a small black trailer outside of the store, every week a man takes the bags for us. Recently we are getting ready for the Christmas season. We have received numerous miscellaneous donations of Christmas things that seem to fly off the shelves. We have also been putting up lights, trees, ornaments, and other things that are all up for sale. And that's how Nu2u functions and works as a nonprofit organization.

(The front of Nu2u, where all the magic happens!)

(We're getting ready for the Christmas season. I proudly helped put those lights on that tree up front.)

 (Welcome to the back room! This is where I spend most of my time at Nu2u. This is where all the donations are sorted and put on the huge back shelves to be priced. As you can see there's really only enough room for about one person walking back there.)

(This is the black trailer where we take all the recyclable bags full of clothing and books that we leave for pick up. As you can see it fills up pretty quickly.) 

Senior Capstone Song Project

Brick in the Wall Part 2

By Pink Floyd

Lyrics

We don't need no education 
We don't need no thought control 
No dark sarcasm in the classroom 
Teachers leave them kids alone 
Hey teacher leave them kids alone 
All in all it's just another brick in the wall 
All in all you're just another brick in the wall 

[chorus at end by pupils from the Fourth Form Music Class Islington Green School, London]

We don't need no education 
We don't need no thought control 
No dark sarcasm in the classroom 
Teachers leave them kids alone 
Hey teacher leave us kids alone 
All in all you're just another brick in the wall 
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

Questions

The song, brick in the wall part 2, addresses the educational system in schools every where. Roger Waters wrote this song based on his views on formal education, he severely disliked his teachers and felt they were more interested in keeping the kids quiet than teaching them. "All in all it's just another in the wall", this line demonstrates that the teachers shouldn't punish and mistreat the students because in the end all they will ever be is an average person with an average life. Each brick in the wall represents a student who will become just a piece in the machine we call a society. Being a student myself this jumped out at me because I wonder myself if I will become an average joe, or if I can actually make myself something in the real world. This connects to me because, being a realist, I have to wonder if I will be a brick in the wall somewhere working in some brick shaped cubicle for some business. Although highly depressing in a sense, this motivates me to take action in my life! The views that I believe in don't at all match up with Roger water's, I don't think that the students of the world will become "Bricks in the Wall". I hope to disappoint Roger Waters by exceeding his expectations and becoming more than an average joe. This song is a controversial social protest against formal education because it asks the question if education will change the fact that kids are only becoming average citizens with the consistent education they are receiving. It also rises the question if teachers actually care to teach their students instead of keeping them quiet in the classroom. Roger Waters asks the question of are our education systems doing they're best to give are students their education? It also poses the question of are our educational systems truly needed because won't our students turn out the same with or without education? In conclusion Roger Waters wrote this song to pose the question to our educational systems are doing all they can for their students and if we actually need it just to become "bricks in the wall".

Lyrics Source

http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/another-brick-2-wall.html

Video Source

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7haV536yPQ

Motion 2

In this project we took motion and made a video doing a thing we had to teach ourselves. we decided to pick motion tracking. we took a coin and motion traced it with this sparkling, glowing thing. I learned that John Alex won't let me do anything during a project because he has trust issues........ and motion tracking is a pain in the butt.

Motion Me

Motion Me from Ryan Marcus on Vimeo.


In this assignment we learned how to use Motion and make our own motion name project. We put our name in and had things that describe us in with it. Our objective was to use motion by adding Behaviors to our name and descriptive words. I learned that Motion is a complex and useful tool (it reminded me of the 1rst time I used Final Cut) and i would love to learn how to use the 3D portion of Motion.