Promoting Student Wellness

Boothbay Region High School, Boothbay Harbor- The second “Parents’ Meeting” went underway on April 26, after the previous one that occurred on the first of this month. The two hour meeting was a successful attempt to preserve positivity in the learning environment among the Boothbay Region Elementary School (BRES: K-8) and Boothbay Region High School (BRHS). Issues surfacing around the health and wellness of students created concern for both parents and faculty. This worry prompted community forums. Through the forums solutions have evolved for students to enjoy the educational process.
“We’ve had a really good year; a positive one. We’re tackling challenges as they come.”
- Boothbay Region High School Principal, Dan Welch
As a member of the Alumni of the Boothbay Harbor school system I was greatly pleased to talk with BRHS’ new principal. His enthusiasm for a “positive culture and climate” transpired through the phone and it created one less unsure Alumni member (hopefully many less from viewing this article). More recently, the school has installed twenty-two cameras and limited the access points. The reaction to the new security upgrade appears mixed among a few current students I’ve talked with. Realistically and contemporary speaking, there are very few schools that don’t have surveillance and a check-in point for visitors.
This measure was made because students don’t appear to touch base with faculty and uneasy situations have aroused. Welch assured preserving a positive environment and a comfort zone between students would lessen conflict. Welch also claims that by conducting community forums there will be no “isolated incidents” which will form an integrity-filled educational facility. BRHS is lowering the class duration from eighty to fifty-eight minutes and twelve new elective courses will be in place in the fall of 2011. Among these changes, BRES and BRHS are trying to promote a healthy education from endorsing exercise. Incoming freshmen will be required to take a course called “School Tools.” This class teaches students how to maintain school work and research development.
It was a great interview! Special Thanks to Dan Welch!

History Repeats Its Self

It has been clearly illustrated that the basic frame for civilization in the “new world” was an abstract of European technology. With this noted, the European settlers strived to be different from “Mother Europe” by creating more democratically correct expressionism. As noted in Starr, the motivation to create oriented communication was halted by the threat of being charged with sedition (Starr, 2004, p.46). In this time communication beyond talk was transferred through the hub system; the majority of active participants in this system were entrepreneurs who participated in the economy. Fundamental properties and aspects of this system still appear in the form of various postal corporations but one can not say the hub system that existed during the Industrial Revolution of 1750 is completely symmetric with contemporary postal systems. Another idea that is still being contemplated today is the two-step flow.

The two-step flow was concocted by Paul Lazarsfeld and introduced in 1944. The first step involves a medium sending out a message. Then an opinionated figure interprets and relays their comprehension to their listeners. The development of focus groups and at random surveys raises the question: could this acquired information be the third step? According to the American Academy of Political and Social Science the two-step flow has converged into a one step developmental process as a result of technological advancements (Bennett, W., Manaheim, J., 2006, p. 222). This theory seems like it’s a one size deal; what about the little people?

“Herein lies a cautionary lesson for thinking about the next paradigm: if we are at a point where both social structure and media technologies are changing rapidly once again, we will be well served by more careful specifications of the underlying social and technological factors involved” (Bennett, W., Manaheim, J., 2006, p. 222).

In order for a country to experience such an upgrade it must contain integrity in both the economy and social structure. Third world countries are poor because of their lack of productivity in the world market; some regions are not blessed with rich natural resources. “Money makes the world go round.” Without any domestic products the people of these nations can’t nurture themselves and become vulnerable of world powers entering and abusing the people through child labor, unfair trade, and pollution. There are other nations of high wealth that do not partake in mediums that are regulated by a democracy.

North Korea and South Korea are exemplary in the proof that wealth is among many factors in creating a public sphere. These two countries once were the Korean Empire until the territory was annexed by Japan in 1910. After many decades the area was split into two regions. The Northern area was controlled by the Soviet Union as the Southern was obtained by the United States. Similarly to a scarce relationship between the “big red” and the U.S., North Korea is seen as the mean little brother pulling his big sister’s (South Korea) hair. The current leader of North Korea, Kim jong-il murdered his father to acquire his position. Kim is portrayed as a totalitarian for: backing out of an armistice with S. Korea; testing nuclear warfare (as recent as 2006); his strict control of the press and forming isolation from the lack of media allowed entering the country (SAN-Hun, C., 2010, Times Topics: North Korea. New York Times).

Contrasting with its nemesis, South Korea is not in isolation with the world and the Republic is a huge participant in the global economy. The country possesses kun-long (KUNWAA) which is idolized in the Buddhist religion as the forbearance and ethically correct decisions a person constructs every moment in their life. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (NK) blames the U.S. for its shortfall. This idea would be fathomed more by people other than those of totalitarian descent if South Korea was failing too. The following is an excerpt from Korea Today of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:

From the first day of its military occupation of South Korea, the United States harbored a scheme to perpetuate the division of Korea, and it has tried to check at every step the surging trend towards reunification in the north and the south.

The little brother is angry; he thinks it’s unfair. The lack of interaction within multimedia has left the country with a bad label. The citizens are ignorant and misperceived about other nations’ customs. The New York Times clearly states the citizens of North Korea do not know how economically poor they are in comparison of other countries. North Korea has a constitution but until the dictator is out of power, there will be no ramifications similar to the United States’ first amendment to the constitution. Kim jong-il and his father have controlled North Korea since 1948. The territory remains the same and unfortunately one of Kim jong-il’s bastard sons is going to be revealed in 2012 to take the power.

History repeats itself in various forms. This registration is similar to how a person can go into a crowd of strangers and pick out people they recognize as reminders of friends and family with similar attributes. The North American colonies that were occupied by France in the later half of the eighteenth century that are now known as Canada were not allowed to have a printing press. The British colonies were allowed to have the printing press if the publisher had a print license. Sure enough, the British settlers were more literate than the French (Starr, 2004, p.50). Print technology helped the red-backs vocalize their issues about taxation without representation. This complaining that we in the contemporary hear and actively participate in was a severe offense known as sedition. British settlers caught participating in seditious acts were jailed, exiled and murdered to a brutal extent. Contrary to the belief that France always loses, the British colonies did what Canada should have done when the printing press was made illegal.

De facto freedoms are the solution to the contemporary North Korea. The government has been controlled by the same family for sixty-two years. Since when does every generation agree on no freedom but the sodomizing of the seekers?

REFERENCES

Bennett, W., Manaheim, J. (2006). The Two Step Flow. American Academy of Political and Social Science. 608. Retrieved from: http://prxy4.ursus.maine.edu:2149/stable/pdfplus/25097863.pdf

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. (2006). Worst Obstacle To Reunification of Korea. Korea Today. Retrieved from: http://www.kcckp.net/en/periodic/todaykorea/index.php?contents+1803+2006-01+80+36

Republic of Korea. (2010). Exploring Korea. Korea.net. Retrieved from: http://www.korea.net/exploring.do

SAN-Hun, C. (2010). Times Topics: North Korea. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/info/north-korea/

Starr, P. (2004). The Creation Of The Media. New York: Basic Books.

The Fearsome UMO Ultimate Frozen Fury

The University of Maine Ultimate Frozen Furies dominated at the 2010 UPA East New England College Open Sectionals (4-0) this past weekend on the Orono campus. There were twelve teams that participated in the sectionals: Dartmouth College, Bowdoin College, Dalhousie University, Bates College, University of New Hampshire, University of New Brunswick and the University of Maine at Orono & Farmington. The teams were split into 2 pools entitled Pool A and Pool B. The Pool play games’ duration went up to thirteen points.
The Furies played ferociously in Pool B where they had their first victory in a close game against the University of Maine at Farmington (13-10). Within a matter of minutes the Frozen Fury then stomped on Dartmouth College with a ten point victory. Bowdoin College’s Stoned Clown could not put out the fire and in the haze the University of Maine allowed only one point to be scored upon them. The last game appeared very close with a neck and neck struggle between the University of New Brunswick and the Frozen Furies. After several incredible passes back and forth, the Furies annihilated the Canadians (13-10). Good luck to the UMO Ultimate Frozen Furies!

Outside It Appears Silent

Society is able to communicate more effectively than ever before from the convergence of technologies. Various examples in history have portrayed the advancements in communication from David Sarnoff receiving the news of the RMS Titanic in 1912 through telegraph, to present day, when the citizens of Iran complained about the election scandals through Twitter and Facebook in 2009. These two new, social engines were available for people to use in 2006 and currently have had dramatic integration in states, countries and the world as a whole.
On January 18, 2010, just six days after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Chile tweets from twitter arrived consistently every second. On this same day a vast amount of Facebook members joined a group entitled “Earthquake Haiti,” which contained over 265,000 members who received messages on the minute about the conditions in Haiti (AJR, March 2010, Vital but Complementary). Both Twitter and Facebook relayed information from the survivors containing all the elements for journalists to write here in the United States. This information arrived at a constant flow; surprisingly the media audience may believe the Haiti earthquake is forgotten from the current lack of coverage in the news and press.
The citizens of Iran were in a similar place of mind as the Haitians when they were silenced by their government after hundreds of thousand Iranians protested, pleading for democracy. During the election day of June 12, 2009, cellular devices had trouble sending and receiving messages in Tehran. Later on the BBC urged its viewers that their broadcast was affected by interference of “heavy electronic Jamming” (Horrocks, June 14, 2010, BBC). The people of Iran adapted to this lack of communication by going online to voice their opinions through Twitter and Facebook. Later, on May 23, the Iranian government shutdown Facebook within the country for three days proving that communication from these social engines can still create an effect among a society.
The similarity between Chile and Iran is the fact that the issues these countries face have been silenced from different structures but they have adapted by using other technologies. The devastation in Chile is being silenced by the press from the other stories that include more interest for the viewing audience. This maybe true, but from the use of integrated technologies it is proven that people can’t be held in silence against their will.
REFERENCES
Horrocks P. (2009). Stop the blocking now. BBC News.
Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/06/stop_the_blocking_now.html
Palser B. (2010). Vital but Complementary. American Journalism Review.
Retrieved from: http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4864

The Martial Art Of Drumming

March 24, Collin’s Center, Orono- The sold out audience of all walks of life packed the campus auditorium to view twelve Japanese performers play Taiko drums, harps and flutes. The performance opened in darkness with a male performer at center stage sitting Indian style in front of a drum. The empowering sound created from this individual dressed in Japanese attire was accompanied by ten other percussionists. The sound appeared to multiply in magnitude as the visual aid came alive from the growing line of performers sitting in the same position from upstage left to right.
These performers created an overpowering illusion from their percussionist and choreographic skills for the audience to get lost into. The viewing crowd was in silence until one of the performers marched into the seated crowd armed with a drum and drumsticks. Taro Harasaki prompted the audience to become the metronome through clapping hands in a very generic beat. This lead into intermission as the once possessed audience appeared disruptive while exiting to stretch and refresh after the first hour of the performance.
Haha Lung is a martial artist writer and in his book “Mind Penetration” Lung tells how to remain in a peace of mind. One of the tactics often characterized as “black magic” is the use of vocal expression within specific letter sounds. The Tao artists chanted Japanese words as they performed, while the audience who probably didn’t speak Japanese was possessed from the sound coming from the performer’s mouths. This aspect was very interesting to view and experience. It is remarkable that even through a language barrier the audience felt the emotion intended for them to feel.
This performance was one of the last of “Tao: The Martial Art of Drumming” during their 3 month tour in the U.S. For more information about this performance please go to: http://www.drum-tao.com/en/

I will be attending a Tao performance tonight for this week's event. Unfortunately, it appears that it might be hard to capture multimedia from where we are positioned.

Motivation For The Future

Economists believe taxation interferes with the economy and there should be a different method for the gathering of funds for the community, state and nation. Educators may possess an inverse statement to the economists’ which is: funding reflects the productivity of the economy; thus implying the “economy drives funding.” Both these statements are of very different viewpoints but raise the same idea that society needs to adopt a different system to supply the needs of public education and services. The question that arises is: how can society create a new practice for funding?
As I talked with a contemporary mentor of mine, Tim Rice, who is recognized by students, alumni and faculty of the Boothbay Region School District as an exemplary educator, together we could not fathom a new system for the funding. Besides being a renowned athletics coach, Rice is a seventeen year veteran of both the Boothbay Region High School and Boothbay Region Elementary School acting as a teacher of health and physical sciences. Rice took time out of his school filled day to answer the following questions:
SM: The mill rate in Boothbay for 2008-2009 was 11.8 with 37.2% funding education; everywhere in the country the solution appears to be a raise in property tax. What do you think is a solution in regards to the placements of funds?
TR: In this surrounding area there are various schools without a large amount of students. If these few zip codes were consolidated into one school, I believe the budget deficit could be cut.
SM: How has the budget cut affected your school district?
TR: There has been a heavy loss of positions.
SM: Do you think the quality of education has changed due to these measures?
TR: No, in the sense that all of the teachers here are hard-working in providing education for the students.
What really opened my eyes as listening to Rice was the fact that the questions didn’t raise agitation within him but an attempt to create a solution. Also, there was no reference or concern for materialism illustrated, instead the motivation to make the best out of the situation. Before interviewing Rice, I asked the Town Manager of Boothbay Harbor similar questions and he responded:"Mr. Mayhew,
This appears to be more a series of questions for the School
system rather than the municipalities. I would defer you to them for
their opinion."
This transparency of concern that Tom Woodin possesses does not need to be illustrated anymore.

SPECIAL THANKS TO TIM RICE!