Jan 31st Daily

Identify the 'Venus of Willendorf'. What does it suggest that the beginnings of art and the domestication of animals happen during the same period in human history?

Venus of Willendorf is the most famous ancient image of a woman, and was found in 1908 by Josef Szombathy in Austria. The date that this image was said to be created was about 24,000-22,000 BC. They were able to determine it was created this far back because of all of the layers of deposit on it. Venus of Willendorf is said to be an icon of prehistoric art. She became the "first woman," being built up to be an Eve-like figure to the world. The statue is a little over 4 inches tall, and is said to be held at Vienna's Naturhistorisches Museum. Venus of Willendorf was originally nicknamed la poire, meaning pear, because of the shape of the body. Because of this figure being the first Palaeolithic statue of a woman, all other art statues from this era are said to be "Venus" as a collective term for all of these figures. This sculpture showing what real women looked like at this time in life may have lead scientists to create an idea of what the animals looked like, which could make it easier to study the domestication of animals. Scientists could use this image of this woman as an idea of the domestication of animals because animals and humans are both mammals and they share a lot of the same characteristics. This images makes it somewhat easier to study the domestication of animals, and it could possibly suggest that the beginnings of art and domestication of animals happened during the same Palaeolithic period. 

Venus of Willendorf

Works Cited: 

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/

Weekly: Theory of History Movie

Watch Movie

Jan 27th Daily

Will a "Hypertext" World Make us More Accepting of Cyclic History? 

I think that if we lived a "hypertext" world, we would accept the theory of cyclic history a lot more. Hypertext is when you click on a link on a website that leads you to another website, creating a cycle of links and websites that you can look at. This is a great example of living in a cyclic history kind of world because a hypertext will lead you to another event, but eventually you will come back to the first website that you were on, just like events in history. In history, there are a lot of cycles that occur. One of the major evens of cyclic history is the cooling and heating of the Earth and global warming. There have been a lot of times in history were the temperature of the Earth in the northern hemisphere is very hot in the summer, but very cold in the winter. This is a good example of cyclic history because the weather is always repeating itself, like it is in a cycle. I think that a "hypertext" world would make us a lot more accepting of cyclic history because hypertext is a lot like a cycle, so we would be familiar with what cyclic history really is. Being familiar with this theory of history is the first step onto accepting it. Because of how similar cyclic history and living a "hypertext" world is, it is easy to be aware and accept cyclic history and how it works. 

Jan 26th Daily

Don't our traditional forms of information communication, notably "the book" and especially "the textbook" contribute to our belief in linear history? 

I believe that our traditional forms of communication like the book and textbook contribute to our theory of linear history for many reasons. Books, especially textbooks and research books, speak about events that happened in the past but for the most part, do not relate the events to each other, like the theory of linear history.  There are also many linear time lines in history textbooks based on events that had occurred.  We can learn and record events that have happened on a linear timeline and it helps us understand the material that we are reading in the textbook. Books of all sorts teach us about the linear history of whatever subject that book is on. It talks about the events that have occurred in or because of that idea or subject. It teaches us more about that subject, and using a linear timeline, we can easily see what event happened and if that even lead to another even to happen in the future. Linear history is in the form of a timeline and show events that have happened in the past from the date at which they occurred. It does not tell you that an event happened because of a different event that happened before it, but looking at events that have occurred can help you decide whether events in the past do lead to major events happening in the present time and future. Because of the knowledge that we have on linear history, we can agree that our forms of communications like the book and textbook do contribute to linear history. 

Western Civ Daily Jan.25th

Does History Progress? Is an Elephant Really "Better" Than a Mammoth?

History, in my opinion, can progress. In some cases, bad events from the past have helped another bad experience like a war or famine from happening. But for the most part, history does not progress. If it did progress, there would not be wars happening, people dying on account of lack of healthcare and food, and there wouldn't be terrorists. A progression in history would keep bad things from happening in the future, and that is just not happening. There have been civil wars in African countries for hundreds of years, with no progression, or anything which makes it seem that the wars are just getting better. I do agree with the concept like the Hegelian theory that says that everything in history happens because of something in the past. There would be no wars if there was not a reason to fight, which is an event in the past. People wouldn't be dying in Africa if there was not war and famine. In this sense, I do consider history a progression, but it does not mean that it progressed positively.

An elephant is not always "better" than a mammoth. An elephant is related to a mammoth. They are very similar, but no animal is better than another one, especially when they are so similar and related. An elephant is like a newer version of a mammoth, like a mammoth progressing into what a modern day elephant is. The biggest difference between an elephant and a mammoth is that a mammoth has a lot of hair on it and an elephant doesn't have any. This is the largest difference, which isn't even that big of a difference. This shows that an elephant is not "better" than a mammoth. They are just two different animals, and even though an elephant is an example of the evolution of a mammoth, it does not mean an elephant is better.

Western Civ Daily. Jan 24th

Is Modern Life "Always" Better Than it was in the Past? 

I personally think that modern life is not always better than the past. Modern life definitely has more advantages and newer and better technology than in the past, but that does not necessarily mean that it is always better. Technology can sometimes lead to problems, and people online can create rumors of famous and important people in the world which sometimes leads to nationwide controversy. The past was lacking technology, communications weren't always great, there were many problems like wars, nationwide depressions, and other problems, but there are still problems in modern time. The United States is in a war, we are dealing with major economic problems, less jobs available, and many other problems. The past may have been lacking a lot of things, but that does not mean that present time is always better. There have been awful things happening to people in the past like infectious diseases like yellow fever, comas, diabetes, pneumonia, and many other were once major diseases which most of the time, lead to death. After years of research in all of these diseases, they are now curable. This is a way that the present is better than the past, but there are still so many non-curable diseases still in this world like cancers, STD's, AIDS, meningococcal meningitis,  influenza, asthma, the common cold, and many others that are still incurable and are still affecting people all over the world every day. Therefore, in some ways the present time is better than the past, but there are ups and downs in both the past and present. This shows that modern life is not ALWAYS better than the past, but modern technology helps with a lot of things in the present times, but it is not the answer to everything. 

Exam Question 14

With Kelly McCloskey
1. We could use our computers for every class
2. We could use online textbooks
3. We could use our web cams to communicate with children our age in other countries.
4. We could take tests on online .
5. We could do homework and projects online.
6. We could use calculators
7. We could use our cell phones.
8. We could make our own websites
9. We could make our own search engines
10. We could use smart boards.

Exam Question 8

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddr5pbqf_1d3939kfs

Exam Question 13

1. UK leads in the beginning because they had a lot of the power and money in the world. They were on top.
2. The United States began to pass the UK because we were beginning to have a lot of immagrants come over from all over the world, and our industry was growing.
3. The drop in CO2 production in 1929 was due to the Great Depression.
4. China comes into the picture around 1904.
5. The United States consumes more CO2 than China  because we have huge industries.
6. Trinidad and Tobago struck oil in the 1940s, so its CO2 level went up drastically, then it went back down after a few years.
7. Luxembourg had also struck oil, and that is why they consumed so much CO2
8. All of the tine countries at the top consumed a lot of CO2 because they had found oil in their countries.

Exam Question 12

The gapminder graph shows me that the less money you spend on healthcare, the longer the people in your country live for most cases. Japan spends about $2,000 on healthcare and they have the largest life expectancy rate. The United States uses about $6,500 and they die around the ago of 78. This does not make a lot of sense since the United States is trying to build up their healthcare.

Exam Question 11

The traffic in Quezon City, Manila, and Caloocan City are not  as bad at the traffic in New York City, but it is still bad. There are a lot of people in these cities, but they are not very large, so there is a traffic problem. Manila is beginning to use Metro

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=207670833557346240906.00049a5fd2c8414cf9a24&ll=14.594715,121.05414&spn=0.770804,1.234589&t=f&z=10&ecpose=14.59471529,121.05414053,101949.29,0.005,0,0

Exam Question 10

I think that the three most important topics mentioned with the G20 are: 
1. Framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth 
I think that this is very important because the growth of the economy has been a major issue for so many countries recently. United States as well as many other G20 countries have been downfalling with their economy and they have to find a reason why this is happening and try to fix it to the best of their ability.
More information on: http://www.pittsburghsummit.gov/mediacenter/129639.htm and http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/g20/Framework_Fact_Sheet_Pittsburgh.pdf

2. Strengthening Support for the Most Vulnerable
This is very important because there are so many countries in this world that are very poor and are going through  massacre and civil war in their countries. The citizens have no rights and the government is becoming a dictatorship. They need help, and if our country and the rest of the G20 countries don't help, it will only get worse. 
More information on: http://health.change.org/blog/view/healthcare_reform_will_strengthen_support_for_vulnerable_young_children and http://www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_737.pdf

3.An Open Global Economy
A large amount of the countries in this world are in an awful economy. Citizens in African countries use less then a dollar a day, and even though United States is said to be in a depression, it is nothing to the African countries. They need to work on a way to make EVERYONES economy better.
More information on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7731741.stm and http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/16/content_7208357.htm

Exam Question 9

French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is the G20 leader this year. Sarkozy met with President Barack Obama to talk about fighting terrorism and becoming allies. Both the United States and France have dealt with terrorism in their countries before, and they both feel like there is nothing they can do but try to fight the terrorists wherever they are in order to feel safe in their country. Both presidents consider each other to be great allies. France is even getting suited up to help us fight in the war in Afghanistan.

Exam Question 7

A regional food hub is a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced
food products. (ams.uda.gov). Regional food hubs are essential to sustainable agriculture and food distribution because you can get more healthy foods to people in areas all over the country even when there is no farms or food markets around. It provides a good management that most farmers lack, and they actually try to have enough food and fruits for everyone so they can have enough. There are so many places in harford county and even in Bel Air where John Carroll could purchase vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy, and anything required in order to eat healthy. Brooms Bloom Dairy sells vegetables, fruits, and dairy to people everyday.

John Caroll should really look to find the locally grown fruits, vegetables, dairy, bread, anything before they buy it from places all over the world! Local is much healthier!

Exam Question 6

1. Climate change is caused by the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect helps regulate the temperature of our planet, to keep from global warming.

2. Human activity does affect climate change in some ways. Using to much gas and oil can hurt the atmosphere and leak poisonous gases into our world which can affect the climate, but it is not just the humans affecting climate change.

3. Climate Warming is when the temperature of the climate is warming in some spots in the world and cooling in others.

4. Global warming is real. The world is getting hotter in some places at some times and cooler in some places at some times, that is why the East Coast of United States has gotten bad blizzards over the last two years. It is cooling when other places in the world are becoming warmer.

Exam Question 5

Exam Question 4

There are so many different names from soda pop in New Mexico for multiple reasons. The biggest reason why there are so many names of soda pop is because it is one of the Southern most states in the United States, so there are people from Mexico coming into the state and calling it what they called it in Mexico. Also, there are many different groups of people from all over the United States with their traditions and ways of saying things that move to New Mexico.

Exam Question 3

According to Korea Times, Los Angeles is the most unfriendly city in the United States
http://www.koreatimes.com/article/639616

Exam Question 1

1. The sudden dip in the Overseas Arrival Graph was 2001. This sudden dip was due to the attacks towards the United States on September 11. This is when people from Al Queda attacked the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and they flew a plane down into an open field in Pennsylvania. The United States government closed down all air travel on that day and continued to close down over seas travel for a while longer after that, keeping any immigrants from coming into the United States, and anyone from leaving. Statistics like this can help educate me and others in how terrible and significant these attacks really were. Graphs like these for any historical event shows you how significant the event actually was. An example of this is when we looked at the graphs of AIDS and country's economy the other day. You can see how bad or good the events or topics were to the specific country.

Natural Disaster Project

My partner was Kelly McCloskey and we did Wildfires as our natural disaster

Language Interview

I did my Language and Experience Project on a guy from the John Carroll School. His name is Lionel Owona, and he is in the freshman class.

Q: Where do you come from? Where is it located in the world?

A: I come from a country called Cameroon. It is located in central Africa on the West coast bordered by Nigeria, Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Congo, and the Atlantic Ocean.  

Q: When did you come to America? How do you like it so far?

A: I came to America in July, so I have been here for about 6 months now. It is great here! I really like John Carroll and the people here. I have been learning a lot, and I have been having a lot of fun so far!

Q: What is your favorite part of America?

A: I really like New York City! I have been there twice, once over Thanksgiving break and another time over Christmas break. I went there over Christmas break for a basketball tournament with the John Carroll team. It was a lot of fun. It is a totally different experience for me, a huge city like New York, because there are no cities quite like New York in Cameroon. It is amazing.

Q: What languages can you speak?

A: I know how to speak French, English, and Spanish. French and English are the official languages of Cameroon, so I have been able to speak them since I was little. I spoke mostly French when I lived in Cameroon, so I am still learning more English, but living in America for so long has really helped. I am taking Spanish as my language here so I will be able to speak another language other than French and English. I think it is very important to be able to speak many different languages, so you will be that much more smart and prepared for any job that you have.

Q: What is your favorite subject at John Carroll? Do you have the same classes in Cameroon?

A: My favorite subject at John Carroll is algebra. I like algebra a lot because no matter what country you are in, it is always the same because it’s just numbers and letters. We do have the same subjects in Cameroon than we do in America, so it’s not that hard to keep up with the classes. Algebra is just a better class to me personally.  I like it a lot more than most classes.

Q: Where is the education harder- Cameroon or America?

A: The education in Cameroon is harder than here. The classes are much harder, we stay in classes longer, and we have to be bilingual to pass many of the grades. You have to be able to be bilingual in French and English to make it through primary school, so it coming to America was not a very hard transition in that way. The education in Cameroon is among the best in Africa, so I was lucky to be able to have a good education.

Q: Do you still speak your primary language with your family and friends from Cameroon?

A: Yes, whenever I am able to speak to my family and friends from Cameroon I speak to them in French. They are not as fluent in English as I am since they were not fortunate enough to be able to come here with me.

Q: What is your favorite hometown memory? What do you miss most about Cameroon?

A: My favorite memory from Cameroon is my house. I liked it so much because my family and friends were always there with me in my house and in town. I miss my family and friends very much. I haven’t been able to go back to Cameroon, and I am not sure when I will be able to. I hope I can see my family soon because I miss them very much.

Q: How is the United States different?

A: America is very different from my country with the houses, food, weather, season, and culture. The houses in America are much larger than the ones in Cameroon. They are also much larger and nicer. There is a different variety of food in America. There is Mexican food, Italian, German, any kind of food imaginable really. Cameroon is also very hot and tropical, and unlike America, there aren’t different seasons. It is just hot and humid all year long.

Q: Do you think you will stay in American after high school or go back to Cameroon?

A: I will stay in America to go to college and possibly make a career after college.

Cameroon Flag

Cite:  http://www.33ff.com/flags/worldflags/Cameroon_flag.html

If It Were My Home- Romania

January 6: 
Dear Journal,

Romanian Gypsy 

I am about to leave to start my journey as a foreign exchange student to Romania today. I will be in Romania for a full year, and I will write down my thoughts and feelings about Romania every 6 months. I don't know that much about Romania yet. I know that it is in Europe in between Bulgaria and Ukraine, but I don't know anything about those countries, so I don't know if that is a good or bad thing. I hear that they don't have the best weather there, a lot of snow and thunderstorms, not the type of weather I like. My main problem going over to Romania is that I speak English, and the official language is Romanian which I am not familiar with. I guess I will have to learn and hope I pick up on it if I will be living there for a whole year! I have been doing some research about Romania and I have learned a few things about what life is like there. There are a lot of gypsies, which is very scary because gypsies are known for stealing anything and everything in sight. I will have to make sure to keep all my money in a safe! I have learned that women generally go to school there for 15 years similar to United States, which is 17 years. I hope that they have a good education system there. Over 96% of Romanian women over 15 can read and write, which is very good! I am very excited to see what Romania is like!

July 9:
Dear Journal,
Romania is a very different to me, but it is a good different. I am learning what different areas of the world are like instead of being restricted to just the United States. Romania is a lot like the United States in some ways, but it is also very different.

A University in Romania

I have learned that recently, Romania is trying to revive its education. Like the United States, Romanian children start off at the age of 3, going into kindergarten which is optional but highly recommended in this country. As the graduate from kindergarten, children are sent to lower secondary, elementary, school at age six until the reach ten. Once you graduate lower secondary school, you move up to upper secondary school for six years. If you want to continue in an education and reach an upper cycle of high school, you must take and pass The National Test, which is a very difficult aptitude test. Most people finish their education in upper secondary school and don't go to upper high school. Then, after you go through high school, you take another national test called Romanian Baccalaureate Exam, and if you pass you can continue on into a university. I have really been focusing on the education of Romania these past 6 months, but my last half of the year I am going to focus more on the actually country itself and its economy and people.

January 5: 
Dear Journal,
My last six months in Romania taught me a lot about the country itself. I learned a lot about the people of Romania as well as government and economy.
The people of Romania:

Traditional Romanian Women Clothing

They have a negative population growth rate meaning that more citizens are dying in Romania then citizens are being born. Their growth rate is -0.247% which is not a huge difference between the amount of deaths and births, but still more deaths. The birth rate is 9.58 births/1,000 people. The death rate is 11.78 deaths/1,000 people. There are about 22 million citizens living in Romania as of July of 2010, which makes it the 53 most populated country in the world. Most people live to be about 73 years old, which is 5 1/2 years earlier than the average person in the United States dies. On a more positive note, less than 0.1% of people in Romania are living with HIV/AIDS which means you are 83% less likely to have AIDS if you lived in Romania than America. There are only about 87,000 people living with AIDS in Romania!

Government and Economy of Romania:
Romania is a republic country, which means that the power lies in the citizens, like the Unites States. It received its republic dependences on December 30,1947. Romania has been dealing with many financial issues recently. Their GDP fell more than 7% in 2009, and their unemployment nearly doubled, but they are working to build their economy back up.

Traditional Romanian People

Romanian Flag 

Romania

Works Cited:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bmash/blogger/blogger.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html#top
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/US/RO
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Romania.svg
http://www.romanianeducation.com
http://www.euroeducation.net/prof/romco.htm
http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2008/06/27/11-year-old-romanian-permitted-to-have-an-abortion.aspx
http://romerican.com/2006/08/23/cantecele-oltului-in-calimanesti/

Nigeria vs. United States

Nigeria

Nigeria is a federal republic. Its capital is Abuja. There are 30 states inside this country, and 1 territory. Nigeria recieved independence from the United Kingdom on October 1, 1960. Nigeria is not a very wealthy country at all, 70% of the country is under the poverty line, but somehow Nigeria is the 7th most populated country in the world, under China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil, and Pakistan. 

There are a lot of differences between the United States of America and Nigeria. First off, their area of their countries are very different. Nigeria's area 574,002.823 sq miles, which is the 32nd largest country in the world, which is about the size of California. United States has an area of 6.106,012.76 sq miles which is the third largest country in the world. The weather in Nigeria is mostly tropical and hot in the center, and arid when you go north. The United States has varies in weather. It is tropical in places like Hawaii and Florida, and artic in Alaska, arid in the mid-West, and the rest normal temperature. Nigeria does not have as many natural resources like the United States. The United States has about 20 natural resources and Nigeria has around 10. The population of Nigeria is 152,217,341 people which is the eighth largest in the world. United States has a population of 310,232,863 people in their country, which is the third largest in the world. 2.6 million people are living with AIDS in Nigeria today. There are 1.2 million people in Unites States with AIDS. People in Nigeria have a very high risk for major infections and diseases like hepatitis, malaria, meningitis, rabies, and a lot of other diseases. There are not a lot of deathly infectious diseases in the United States, but there are some, it is just not as  big as an issue in the Unites States. The main languages for Nigeria are English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Fulani. English is their official language, just like the United States. Children are only expected to go to school for an average of 9 years in Nigeria, unlike the United States where they go for about 16 years. There are many things different from Nigeria and the United States, but they are both very heavily populated countries which have an important role in the world.

Works Cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2836.htm
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/4aa52/

Top 10 Countries Map

Countries and Their Capital's.

1. China: Beijing
2.India: New Dehli
3.United States: Washington D.C.
4.Indonesia: Jakarta
5.Brazil: Brasilia
6.Pakistan: Islamabad
7.Nigeria: Abuja
8.Bangladesh: Dhaka
9.Russia: Moscow
10. Japan: Tokyo

Works Cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population