Vocab 2 Spring

Accoutrements- additional dress or equipment

Apogee- the highest point in development of something 

Apropos- with reference to; concerning.

Bicker- argue about petty & tribal manners.

Coalesce- come together & form one mass

Contretemps- an unexpected or unfortunate experience 

Convolution- a coil or twist 

Cull- select from a large quantity 

Disparate- especially different in kind; no comparison 

Dogmatic-inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.

Licentious- promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters.

Mete- dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment.

Noxious- harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.

Polemic- a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

Populous-a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

Probity-the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.

Repartee- conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies.

Supervene- occur later than a specified or implied event or action, typically in such a way as to change the situation.

Truncate- shorten (something) by cutting off the top or the end.

Unimpeachable- not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized; entirely trust

THE CHOICE

The Choice was a very sad story, I wish I new a better vocab word to describe the feeling but no. The story reminded me of a book I read by Lance Armstrong and his journey of overcoming chemotherapy and winnning the tour of france! Great story, who ever is reading this post should really read that book! -- " Every Second Counts"--

I'm used to relatives and deaths in my life to where the story did not impact me as much as the average joe. It made me also worry what if my own child, if i ever have one,  has cancer! IT brings up a lot of thoughts and feelings past most peoples comfort levels. Most persons dont want to think about subjects such as these but we need to be aware of our surroundings!

Ignoring the obvious in life is not good. We need to be more grateful for what we have and understand theres many people who have it worse. What can we do to help them? Words can only do so much as to what actions can do to these people to help them on their everyday constant struggle. Cancer, war, hunger, violence, racial injustice etc its all out there. Shame on you for trying to set these issues to the side just because 'they dont affect you'. Come the day you come accross a dilemma having to do with one of those subjects and you cry for help and recieve none. Ask yourself why.

that may be the first step to change

HACKING MY EDUCATION

Walking into class  I came in with fresh ideas. Dr. Preston talked about what we want to do in this course which is not typical for your everyday class room discussions but, I don't expect any less from my crazy teacher.

I propose what I really want to discover this semester is finding good careers and jobs having to do with E.P.I.C!! Engineering will soon boom at Righetti the students just do not know it yet. I have heard through the grape vine that faculty in science and art departments are tying to gather funds to create a engineering program at righetti since it's valued so much in our community and country! The real question I want to ask is how can I help?

It's a fact: THE POWER IS IN THE NUMBERS. We as students can gather together and find a way to promote E.P.I.C throughout campus! Yes its a challenging route but it is worth it in the end, we need new ideas and creative minds in America. We need change, good positive alternatives, and much more.

We have colleges and resources ready and eager to help promote engineering! We just need to find them, maybe I can create a blog on this subject? Possibillities are endless.

We are the future and that should be respected and recognized by adults and elders.

(:

Always nice to give and receive

So I was driving into the parking lot to Jamba Juice when I looked and saw a homeless man who ironically didn't look so happy. Once parked I looked Into my wallet and found a couple dollars I could spare. 

But then I came up with a better idea, why not give the home less man money and a smoothie. That's exactly what I did. Walked in the store bought the man a smoothie walked across the lot and gave it to him with some money. 

The return I got was a shy thankyou and a smile. Not just any smile but an actual honest smile. I came to realize when you give someone what they need rather than what they want. Those are the best smiles. 

New View On Racial Profiling

So over the course in expository writing we talked about various topics such as; vocabulary, obesity, the right to your own opinion , and the value of working in groups "outside" of school. Now I have a research paper to write out about what I learned and valued in this classroom mixed in with racial profiling. So I decided to start off with an approach like this.


In life we are given the right to our opinion.
therefore police men have the right to their own opinion--
should we as a whole trust the opinion of a police officer in critical situations?
trust civilians opinions?


Treyvon Martin
Boy shot 7 times
Were those opinions just?

These are some of my brain storming ideas hopefully I can write something worthy for a college grade. Lets see how the road pans out.

SHOT 7 TIMES

Yesterday Erica wrote a well written essay on a young Latino who got deliberately shot 7 times by policemen in fear of getting fired on themselves. The young boy was carrying a rifle that looked real and loaded.

Erica kept using the rhetorical question why 7 times to convey the magnitude and cruelty of the situation. Yes the boy posted a threat but what caused police to shoot this boy 7 times ? There is no reason for this madness or am I being biased?

Was there a reason to there madness. I was affected emotionally by this essay but maybe I should put myself in the police shoes. Dr. Preston showed the classroom the comparison of both rifles. I was appalled almost in awe at the reality of the rifle. It looked real. What was this kid doing with this rifle? If the rifle were to be real would the young kid have actually shot at the police men? 

But after going over both perspectives of the situation I thought firing at the young kid was the right thing to do. But not 7 times. Not SEVEN bullets fired into that child's body. One shot kills a bear. 3 shots killed our president. But seven shots into this child is just manslaughter. 

May his soul rest in peace. He was put into a society that influenced him wrong. He died with innocence and not understanding. Anyone of us could of been his shoes. Lets just say we are the lucky ones.

RACIAL PROFILING LIVES ON

After reading through the article and taking some mental note--no need for paper. I was able to really relate to the content and examples in the text itself. I am constantly being racially profiled and to think we live in the 21st century? I thought those dog days were over but no I was wrong they still "live". The real question we have to ask our selves is, is there justice to racial profiling? Can this be used for good?