Free Write 12.8.11

What is going to be my greatest asset in preparing for the next 12 days?

My greatest asset in preparing for finals is keeping my stress level low.  When I stress, I tend to be much less productive. Also, I tend not to get the sleep and rest that I need in order to perform well.  In order to keep this stress level low, I am going to manage my time wisely, be organized in my studying, and have productive study time.

What is the greatest detriment that I have to avoid?

My greatest detriment that I must avoid are the minor distractions everyday that shield me from doing my work.  Somedays, I have a difficult time focusing on my work because I am distracted.  In order to prevent this, I am going to go to the library, and stay off of the internet.  This more focused study time will not only allow me to study better, but it will allow for more free time as well. 

Free Write 12.1.11

With the semester coming to a close, I have been feeling a lot of stress and anxiety with due dates an upcoming finals.  This past week I have had a lot of assignments due, along with early morning practices.  Sleep has been a priority, and my papers and assignments have been going smoothly.  I only have one more assignment due before my finals, and I look forward to having a few low key days before the studying kicks in.

Writing Partnership 11.29.11

My experience tonight at the Writing partnership was by far the best experience I have had at the Outreach Center.   Last week, Stephen and Pat started to tell me their stories that they were writing in their autobiographies.  However, this week, they read us their work and their stories of their lives were unbelievable.  Listening to both of them talk about their youth was so moving and heart-wrenching, knowing what i have today compared to what they went through at my age.  However, what was most moving about my experience tonight was listening to their optimism and their views of life, despite what they had gone through in their lives.  Pat, whose family life lead her down the wrong path as a child, had nothing bad to say about her family, and praised thm for doing all they could to improve her life.  Stephen, who struggled with alcohol, sex, and drugs, uses his experiences to teach others at AA meeting all around the country.  Both of them praised God and never hesitated to thank them, despite their misfortune and their life struggles.  It was almost as if they believed themselves to be fortunate for what they went through, because it taught them how to live life, and now they are able to share that with others so that they do not make the same mistakes.  Tonight was an eye-opening experience that really made me reflect on life in general, how fortunate we are, and how to look at our lives.

Free Write 11.29.11

Steve Jobs once said that the single most important class he ever took was a class in calligraphy. 

Steve Jobs might have said this because he knew that writing was the basis of all communication and understanding.  Without the ability to write, we would not be able to communicate with the people and the world around us.  By understanding calligraphy, and the different styles of writing, Steve Jobs was able to expand his horizon of understanding and knowledge.  Also, he was able to share his knowledge with the rest of the world.  Without the ability to read and write, we would not have a baseline for communication with others and our environment.  

Complex vs. Simple

• Simplicity - coffee cup, glasses, books
• simple in function? and not simple in construction?  - cell phone, birth control pill
• teapot problem - why is the water hot?
• complexity- highly developed
• simplicity - almost doesnt exist
• complexity - a system whee the components interact with eachother
• stacking - if you can make one or two things work you can build off of it
• stacking - taking simple structures and stacking them together vertically or horizontally.  can be literal physical stacking, or it could be figurative.  when stacked together, it becomes something complex.  this complexity turns into something simple
• ex.  the laptop is the final simple product
• binanary - the simplest way to show numbers

How Complexity Lead to Simplicity

• complex doesnt always mean complicated
• the more you step back to look a complexity, the better you will understand it simply
• simplicity often lies on the other side of complexity
• simple power of good visualization tools help you to 
• consider the entire system, then look at your focus (it will be more predictable)
• the more you can zoom out on complexity, the better you will be at zooming in on the details that matter the most
• fair transparent economic development and services.  took the complex system, recognized its complexity, and didnt make it complicated
• 
  

• inivative circuts allow for the production of cell phones
• simple idea lays on a serious of other simple levels that each have their own complexity
• simple is predictable - you know what it is going to do
• simple is cheap - is something is cheap enough people will find uses for them
• simple - high performance value or cost
• simple - high performance level - it is functional and reliable
• from a complex system emerges certain things

Free Write 11-17-11

What is complex about our class project is that there is so much planning that goes behind our work.  The main goal of the project is simple, because we merely want to deliver mattresses to those people in Albany who do not have then.  however, The process to completing this project is very complex because the simple goal is a result of a system, where all parts must be completed and worked together in order to succeed. 

When I think about my Mattress Project, I learned...

When I think about my Mattress Project, I learned a lot about the success of our project as well as what we could have done better.  This project forced me to analyze our progress with the project in relation to my case study and the different systems diagrams we discussed in class.  I realized that although we had some very great ideas, there were things that we could have done differently.  There were aspects of the Dragonfly Effect that we could have aid closer attention to, and we could have focused on our original planning of the project.  However, despite our flaws in planning, I believe that our project can flourish with time and hard work. 

Mattress Contact Information

Barbara Quin

518 472 9091 

storing mattresses?
list of people who need them/ want them delivered

Free Write Response 11-10-11

My relationship is from open-mindedness to inspiration.  This is the strongest relationship because if you open your mind to something new, whether it is a new concept, a new idea, or a new possibility, you could end up changing your life or even the world.  Many people believe that they are not capable of making social change, however, if they open their mind they can be inspired in unimaginable ways.  Sometimes I catch myself feeling this way, thinking that I do not have time for something, or that I do not know how to do something.  However, if I keep an open-mind to new ideas, I will be inspired to try something new and to create a change.

Free Write 11-10-11

After Alana's presentation, I was very inspired by the research she found and the work that she put into it.  After involving myself in many service projects throughout high school, I have been struggling with what to do now that I am in college and thinking about a career.  This research inspired me to take something that I am interested in and to act upon it.  The idea of a non-profit organization is appealing, and with thought, research, and time, I would like to the possibilities of somehow changing life on campus, or around the world. 

College Students Enacting Social Change

• A college student has the ability to establish a non governmental organization and use it to enable social change
• social change - making a difference in how people interact with each other in society
• establish a non profit organization to change the system to which we live in
• if you see something that you want to change in the world you have to act upon that impulse
• five components to bring about social change through non profit organization
• one - characteristic attributes such as adaptibility and determination.  willingness to start, fail, and start over
• as college students, we might be more willing to start this as we are still exploring - take a risk
• two - utilizing resources in college- advise of professors and faculty.  allows the opportunity to work your interests into your program and your courses.  college is a receptive audience
• three - interconnectedness - we can experience things in a first hand way.  our generation allows us to participate in ways that other generations could not.  Google Alerts.  amplifies a students' audience and resources
• four - facebook effect - when people utilize the power of facebook properly it can make a difference.  it is our news outlet. 800 million people have facebooks.  1 in every 9 people are connected
• five - organizational skills
• college student needs legal guidance and support for a non profit organization
• start a club on campus, get funding and programming help, utilize the audience
• the plan of action - 1. the prupose or mission statement 2.  decide how it will be paid for 3.  projects the organization wants to accomplish  4. timeline of events
• organizational skills are very important
• two conclusions:
• one - social change is very important to live a life of meaning, knowing that you made a difference to someone in the world
• two - things do not happen overnight, but if they have the dedication and the motivational drive it is possible to start a movement of social change.  have a profound impact on a part of the world

Afterward Presentation

• Dan uses a hypothetical situation to get people to stray away from protesting against bankers
• creates campaign to delay people finding out about problems in banks
• asked himself, what is the singular goal? (Wing 1)
• he did a poll and found out his information
• Wing 2 - how will he grab attention?
• uses sounds and different pictures to create a you tube video
• wing 3 - engage, how do i make people care enough about what I am doing?
• set up forum so people can comment of the issue, get friends to pass the link, and get people to follow through with their duties
• Wing 4 - take action... how can people take this problem into their own?
• used twitter and youtube, taregeted people who used bags the most, awareness-binding petition
• he used the 4 wings to cause a public distraction.  
• do not let yourself be distracted from your goals by other peoples goals
• people can feel mislead if you are just asking for money
• Mattress Campaign - treat this campaign as we would treat a math test
• this is where our focus is

To distract people from the company's problems, I could get my company involved with some sort of charity work.  I would find out the singular goal of the charity, and I would make that my goal from now on.  If I was focused on that goal, the other people would be focused on it as well. 

Battlestar Galactica Episodes Bastille Day, Act of Contrition, and "You Can't Go Home Again"

After watching these episodes, what I enjoyed the most was the drama surrounding the different characters throughout the episodes.  The drama continued between Number Six and Dr. Baltar, as she continued to influence his decisions.  Dr. Baltar is an intelligent man who wants what is best for the human race, however, his attraction to Number Six always gets in the way of his ability to think.  Number Six convinces him to reveal a new technology to be able to tell the difference between humans and Cylons.  In addition to the drama surrounding Six and Baltar, I grew to like Kara in "Act of Contrition".  I felt sorry for her after she lost her fiance, especially since she put the blame on herself.  Also, while I felt sorry for the President in earlier episodes, I did not like the way that she talked to her pilots in the last episode. 

My Inspiration

I was very inspired by my friend from high school.  During her junior and senior year, she created a program at our school called SMASH, which stood for 'Stop Madness and Severe Hating'.  This group was a anti-bullying group, and she created the roots and the outline for the program to take off and originate at our high school.  Watching her run the group was very inspiring, and after she graduated, it was her inspiration that allowed me to inherit her position.  I was inspired by the way she lead the group, ran and organized assemblies, and counseled young students who were experiencing problems with bullying.  I used this inspiration as I ran the group in my own way, and impacted the school in her footsteps. 

Video Notes Oct 20, 2011

• 45 year old love story
• received an expensive and high class education that almost destroyed him
• went to a village and saw people dying of hunger
• told his mother he wanted to work into a village
• he wanted to give something back, because life had given him so much
• his mother thought he let the family down
• he wanted to start a college only for the poor
• you have to have a skill that you can offer to go to the college
• professional- a combination of confidence and belief
• the college follows Ghandi's principles
• the teacher is the learner, and the learner is the teacher
• barefoot college, built by people who cannot read or write
• fully solar electrified
• food is solar cooked.  illiterate women put together a sophisticated solar cooker
• illiterate dentist
• no water is wasted.  collect rain water
• 60% of children do not go to school because they have to look after animals.  created night schools so that the children can receive and education
• children elect a prime minister

October 20, 2011 Free Write

With midterms coming up, I have mixed feelings.  With midterms comes a lot of stress, deadlines, and late nights of studying.  However, so far I have been able to stay on top of my work.  I try to start my work the day it is assigned so it does not accumulate overtime.  While the next few weeks will be every busy, I will try to manage my time wisely and get my work done at an appropriate time. 

Wing 4 Presentation

Take Action

• Alex's Lemonade Stand - help raise money fro childhood cancer
• newsletter to social media - timing is everything, Facebook and Twitter, less is more
• how too get people to help, choosing the right strategies
• pick the right type to ask, ask for time, differentiate between first and second asks
• stay away from asking for money, unless you have developed a close relationship with them
• stick to small actionable goals in the beginning
• Design Principle number 1: Make it Easy
• make i easy for others to act
• Prioritze your calls to action
• Desgin Principle Number 2: Make it fun
• take off the roughness of the topic
• games, competetion, make them feel like kids again
• Design Principle 3: Tailor
• Idiosyncratic fits
• Incorporating friendly competition
• Design Principle 4: Be open
• people can add or tae from, and alter the cause
• provide a frame and empower others
• you can see what you are doing right and wrong and then change it

Battlestar Galactica Epsidoes 33 and Water - Character Analysis

The President: Character Analysis

In episodes 33 and Water, the President of the ship in Battlestar Galactica serves as a very interesting character.  As the president of the ship, she makes the executive decisions, which carries a great deal of burden and stress.  At the end of the first episode, she is forced with the decision of whether or not to bomb the Olympic Carrier. While I understood that the decision was difficult, I was under the impression that her decision was based off of her own safety, rather than the safety of others.  Before her decision, her assistant tells her that either they will die, or the people of the Olympic Carrier will die.  It was not until after this statement that the President decides to destroy the other ship.  This shows her personal fear of dying.

                However, my opinion of the President changes in the second episode when she realizes the mass destruction of her actions.  In essence, she realizes that she ordered the death of 1300 civilians in order to ensure the survival of herself and her carrier.  Although her decision was a difficult one, and I do not believe it was consciously a selfish decision; she realized afterwards that she hurt many innocent people.  When she talked to her assistant afterwards, she showed him a piece of paper with the ship’s name on it that she carries in her pocket to remind her of her mistake.  This second episode highlights her positive qualities, her empathy, and her remorse for the innocent lives that were taken. 

Number Six: Character Analysis

 

In the first two episodes of Battlestar Galactica, the character who stands out as the most “evil” of all of the characters is Number Six.  In the first episode, she convinces Dr. Baltar to lie to the President, telling her that the Olympic Carrier is a threat to them and must be taken out immediately.  Her plan is dishonest, and results in the death of over 1,000 innocent civilians.  She is the most direct of all of the Cylons, and it is easy for the audience to identify her and her purpose.  Her looks are very distinct, possibly to put her apart from all of the other humans and Cylons.  Her blonde hair and flashy clothes help her to stand out, and she often uses this image to her favor.  Just as with Dr. Baltar, she uses he sexuality to persuade characters into doing what she wants.  Also, in the case of Dr. Baltar, she has the power over men to haunt their thoughts and their imaginations, influencing their decisions and their actions.  Dr. Baltar constantly had images of his memories and conversations with Number Six, and they often distracted him from doing his tasks.  Her antagonistic qualities throughout the first two episodes set her apart from everyone else in the series, and she uses her strong individuality and power in negative ways to hurt the human race. 

Florence Nightingale Case Study

Florence Nightingale encountered the system of health in the medical world.  In a world where nurses had a bad moral reputation, Nightingale transformed their career into a respectable and admirable job that not only saved lives, but helped the environment.  The medical system that Nightingale worked to reform was not working towards a goal.  The different parts, such as the cleanliness, amount of workers, and available tools, did not work together towards the goal of helping patients and saving lives.  She worked with the system of medical attention in the military, and then expanded her horizons to everyday society.  She reformed this system and played a key role into developing the success of the medical field today.

                Nightingale recognized the world’s dire need for a transformation of its medical field.  Her recognition started with military soldiers who were sick or wounded.  There were reports of medical catastrophes with thousands of soldiers in critical medical condition.  During her work in the military hospitals of Scutari, she witnessed ill soldiers lined up in cots stretching out over four miles.  These hospitals were not clean; they were filled with dirty clothes, rats, fleas, and the smell of underground sewage.  The bacteria in these facilities caused deaths from illness such as Cholera, typhus, and dysentery.  Water was scarce, and the hospitals lacked basic medical supplies.  All of these factors and different pieces of the system worked against each other, and against the goal of providing the best healthcare for the sick and wounded. 

                Since the system of military health had been the same for years, she attempted to change society’s understanding of the problem by informing them.  She produced and printed her own book called Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army.  In this book, she provided an analysis, using her own statistics, of the causes of death and sickness of military soldiers.  She created diagrams and charts that she later presented to army officials and War Office.  Also, in 1859, she published Notes on Hospitals.  This work discussed hospitals and their flaws in depth, and it came to revolutionize the theory of hospital construction.  Throughout her life, Nightingale wrote an estimated number of 12,000 books, letters, reports, and monographs.  Her research and writing eventually came together to change society’s understanding of medical needs. 

                Nightingale went about changing the system by acting upon it.  In Scutari, she convinced the War Office to send over women to act as nurses to save the thousands of men in need of medical treatment.  She provided new and clean medical tools and supplies.  She provided scrubbing brushes and made sure that the medical facilities were scrubbed clean, providing a suitable environment for patients.  She washed the patients’ clothes.  She built new kitchens, laundry rooms, and a warehouse for the new supplies.  She also authorized construction for a new ward.  She comforted patients, and established reading rooms and recreation rooms.  Nightingale not only went above and beyond to provide a cleaner and safer environment, but she made the hospitals a comfortable environment to help the soldiers feel at home.  Her actions to change the medical system in Scutari ultimately decreased the death rate from 43 percent to 2 percent.  Nightingale was able to reform the parts of the system that were lacking by altering them towards the goal of providing the best care of the patients. 

                However, despite her success in changing the system, she encountered setbacks that seemed to get in the way of her accomplishing her goal.  In the early development of her career, she received a marriage proposal.  The man was smart, charming, and truly loved Nightingale.  However, she declined his marriage proposal because she did not want to be distracted from her career.  She wanted to be an independent woman who could focus on accomplishing her goals.  Also, as her success grew, her failing health created a large problem in her plans to change the system.  However, she tried not to allow her own health become a setback in helping others.  After coming down with a case of Crimean fever during her efforts in the war, she was never able to fully recover from her illness.  She often fainted and suffered from physical exhaustion.  Even though she spent most of her time in bed, she did not let it stop her from working full-time with orders, visitors, and even writing books.  In fact, most of her successful writing was completed in the time she spent bedridden from her disease. 

                Along with these setbacks came people who opposed of her changing the system.  Among these opposers, were her parents.  Nightingale’s father originally forbade her from becoming a nurse after hearing of their reputation for low moral standards.  Nightingale fought with her parents for four years before they finally gave in and let her begin training to become a nurse.  Also, the army surgeons at Scutari originally opposed her and her reformation of their hospitals.  At first, they did not agree with her immediate relief efforts to bring women in to help with the cleaning and the patients.  However, these surgeons gave in to her reform after the Battle of Inkerman when over 500 soldiers came to the hospital, all in need of different treatments.

                However, although society forced Nightingale to deal with setbacks and opposers, she also had allies who supported her efforts to reform the system.  The secretary of war, Sidney Herbert, was her political ally.  At the start of her career, he asked her if she could take over the military hospitals in Scutari.  After her success, she was welcomed back to England as a heroine, and was even interviewed by Queen Victoria.  Also, Sidney Herbert persuaded the Royal Commissions to investigate the health in the military society.  Although Nightingale was not allowed to directly help the Royal Commissions, Herbert’s support allowed her to guide their relief efforts.

                After Florence Nightingale’s work, the new system of nurses and the medical field completely transformed.  Nightingale put her knowledge and research into action to change the course of nursing for years to come.  Today, nurses have a positive image; their career is admirable and professional.  Hospitals take great care in keeping their facilities clean and sanitary, as to not spread the germs of others that are sick or wounded.  The system works together for the common goal of keeping hospitals clean and safe for incoming patients and visitors, as well as helping patients to recover to good health.  Military nurses work every day to help those soldiers in need of medical attention.  In today’s economy, the medical field has become one of the only stable careers because the world will always be in need of doctors and nurses.  Without Nightingale’s knowledge and efforts to reform the system, the medical industry would not be nearly as successful and life changing as it is today. 

Unwind Summary - Part 1

In his novel, Unwind, Neal Shusterman tells the story of three young teenagers whose parents have signed them off to be “unwound”.  In their culture, children who are unwound are taken apart piece by piece and their body parts, organs, and hair are distributed and reused.  In a sense, they are organ donors who give away their entire body.  The novel focuses on the stories of Connor, Lev, and Risa, who are living with their parent’s decision to have them unwound.

                The novel opens up with each individual story of the three kids when they find out that they are being unwound.  Connor and Risa are very upset.  While Lev is upset at first, he seems to come to terms with the fact that being unwound is his purpose in life.  These three teenagers, who are originally strangers to each other, cross paths in an accident.  Connor realizes that Risa is an unwind, and he tells her to run with him.  She is hesitant at first, until she realizes that it is her only chance of survival.  Connor also recognizes Lev’s fate and takes him along.  Lev is surprised when his Pastor tells him to go with the other unwinds when they run away.

                The three unwinds do not get along at first.  Risa yells at Connor, and Lev does not understand why they “kidnapped” him.  The three are now runaways, on the run from the police who know they are unwinds.  In a hectic scape, Connor makes the mistake of taking a baby that the mother does not want.   The kids are now forced to take the baby with them and take care of him.  The unwinds go to a local school to hide and try to blend in with the other kids.  They hide in a bathroom and strategize what they are going to do.  While Risa and Connor are discussing the plan, Lev sneaks out of the stall and goes to the office of the school.  He does not agree with anything that Connor and Risa are doing, and he does not think that they should have the baby.  He tells the office that he had been kidnapped by unwinds who were hiding in the bathroom.  The police are called in, and Risa, Connor, and their baby have to make a quick escape.  A teacher at the school recognizes that they are unwinds by the looks on their faces.  Not wanting to know anything about them, she agrees to help them escape.  She also tells them to go to the antique shop close by for a place to hide.  Risa and Connor now get along with one another because they bond their anger at Lev.  Lev feels slightly guilty for turning Risa and Connor in to authorities.  Risa and Connor have a discussion about the storking of babies, and how the world would be a better place if life was welcomed and embraced, rather than discouraged by so many people.  I believe that here, they were not only referencing the fact that families give away their children, but that families can sign their children off to die, as their parents had done to them.

                Risa and Connor go to the antique shop and Sonia, the woman who works there, brings them down to the basement.  In the basement, are other children who are either unwinds, or abandoned by their parents through storking.  Risa and Connor talk to the other kids, and they hear the story of Humphrey Dunfee, whose parents had him unwound, only to change their mind and try to piece him back together.  They are there for multiple days, and before they leave, they give the baby to their friend Hannah, who can take better care of him.  However, they miss the baby after they give him away.  Risa, Connor, and the other unwinds decide to go from one safe house to the next, as they literally run for their lives.