Lab #43- Time Capsule showing our world

This lab asks us to put together different objects that could symbolize our world and it's problems and aspects at present and put them in a time capsule to bury.
We chose the following:

The Bra: this shows how sex is becoming more and more popular and important and we have become far more comfortable and open sexually. This also shows the increasing pressures that women have to face telling them to be beautiful every minute.

The Dollar and Ring: these are there to show the constant nagging increase in power of the almighty dollar. It's role in our governments and just world has gotten rediculous!

The Leaf: this withered leaf symbolizes our new attempts to be "green" and more environmentally friendly. This could be a great reminder to people in the future to get back on track with this, if we stray.

The Blindfold: this is one of the most important objects. This is there to show that we have all been so used to being told lies and fooled about what is really going on in our world by the government and media that we are too scared to speak out when we realize what we are hearing is wrong. We don't want to have to take the blindfold off. We want to keep sleeping, so we don't have to feel things just because they don't give us our shallow, simple pleasures that we have become so very accustomed to. We don't want to have to admit that the world that we have claimed to be so perfect has problems and downfalls.

The Rubber Duck: This is here to show that oblivion and adolescence that is beginning to exist among everyone, not just the kids. We all live and look for only the things that make us happy and help us to have fun, rather than the things that could make the world and our lives better.

Heart Debbie Cakes: These are to show the major growth in gluttony and obesity in the world (mainly U.S.) We eat sooo much more than we did at one time. We don't take the vast amount of foods we've been blessed with with cherished thanksgiving, but casual lighthearted "pig out sessions".

String: This is here to show how we've all become little puppets, controlled by the strings of our countrys and their leaders. We don't think for ourselves anymore and just decide that whatever we hear goes, mainly because we are too lazy and scared to do otherwise.

White-out: This symbolizes the many times that we've fixed our world's problems by covering them up with cheap, temporary fixes, rather than facing them and erasing them completely. This could also show how our government hides and doesn't reveal all of it's mistakes and regrets to us. The bottle says,"Cover it", which is something we're sure is heard coming out of many political learders' mouths.

Knife: This is here to show the great increase in violence and war (the one we are fighting right now!). War has become something that we are more comfortable with talking about and seeing, which is a terrible thing!

Ipod Box: This is not only here to show how popular ipods are and how they perch in the ears of so many of us, steadily decreasing social capitol, but also to show the growth in technology, in general. We may see ipods and blackberries as the newest and coolest things, but someday, they won't be a big deal anymore. They will be a mere fad from the past.

We have barried our box containing these objects, with their descriptions and instructions inside. We have requested that our caspule be dug up in 2058 because 50 years is a good length of time to show and see change, during a lifetime.

Lab #20- 10 words in a foreign language

This lab asked us to find and learn 10 words in a language that we do not speak.

We found the following Italian words:

1. ciao---->hello
2. grazie---->thank you
3. scusilo---->excuse me
4. arrivederci---->goodbye
5. paese---->country
6. pazzesco---->crazy
7. ballo---->dance
8. stanza da bagno---->bathroom
9. alimento---->food
10. lama---->llama (yeah!)

We picked Italian because none of us really have much knowledge of or experience in the language. Hopefully, in the future we could use these words and even learn more beautiful Italian!

"Abbia un giorno eccellente e vigilanza fuori per quei ninjas… li otterranno!"
trans: "Have a super day and watch out for those ninjas...they will get you!"

Lab #21- Chalk to tag a Public Place

This lab asked us to tag some public place with a political message or opinion. We thought and thought and we finally came up with something to write. We decided that we would write "[your public opinion goes here]", just kind of trying to get across the message that we should all get out there and share our opinions and beliefs. So, we wrote this nice and big on a brick wall at the bottom of stairs that are traveled quite frequently. Once this was done, a great idea popped into our heads. We thought that maybe if we drew an arrow below this message and just left chalk layed out below the wall, other people would come and actually write their opinions right there. We didn't know how people would respond or whether they'd even take the time to write things, but right after we were done writing it all, here comes this girl that just silently picks up a piece of chalk and writes, "Learn B 4 you judge". We all just looked at eachother with our mouths opened wide, surprised. We stood back and admired the wall and waited to see if anyone would write anything else. Within a few minutes, there were already a few people writing things and then more came, and then more!! Over the next few days, the wall got fuller and fuller, people were talking about it, and everyone would stop to read it whenever they walked by. It was a hit! When our chalk ran out, some random person even replaced it with all this cool new chalk! This was so cool because it showed that people really cared about getting their ideas and opinions out there and known! Among all of the good things written, there were a few bad ones that were just rude and disrespectful, but that just proves that there are still the people out there that can't be serious and don't really care about those types of things. Besides the fact that a few of these popped up, we were quite pleased with the results! Seeing our wall gave us such a great feeling, just knowing that we could have that much of an affect on all the people that would pass by..people that we may not even know. It helped us to know that we could do something like this anytime, maybe even in our hometowns to get people to speak out and overcome the fear that holds most of us back.

Lab #31-One whole week without media!

This lab asks us to try to go a whole week without any type of media. We tried..we really did, but we may have cheated just a bit. We decided to do it the week of January 27th to February 2nd because we figured this week would end right before the Superbowl, something we just had to watch! It was so hard because sometimes we wouldn't be thinking about it and we'd walk through the Pickle Jar and look up at the TV and catch ourselves watching it or we'd get all ready to sign onto Facebook and then realize that the internet (in general) could always count as media. We also had a few school assignments that required the internet, in which cases we broke the rules! But overall, it wasn't TOO hard, besides the few random things such as those because we don't really watch tv or get on the computer that much and we certainly don't read the newspaper! Being at this school (NCSA) just keeps us so very busy with rehearsals, classes, meals, friends, homework, and then the best..sleep. These things are all we really have time for and if we DO have spare time, we don't really choose to spend it on things like TV or internet. We would definitly rather spend it with friends. There were only a few things we really missed in doing this lab.

Khara: "I barely even noticed that I was missing media in my life! I remain so busy that it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. The only thing I'd have to say got quite hard is that I wasn't able to watch the Golden Girls while I was getting ready each morning-I need my GG's to start off each day totally right!"

Mac: "It got kind of frustrating because I had to turn down going to the movies and I couldn't even go on the internet, something I rely on for keeping in touch with friends back at home."


Terris: "It really wasn't that bad. I just had to remember, like, whenever I'd go to the connector that I couldn't watch TV or the classic youtube videos of people singing cover songs that I can laugh at. I also couldn't watch Family Guy, the best show ever."

We decided that we would document a week day (Tuesday, January 29th) because we figured that we would cheat less then!

We all three have pretty similar schedules, since we are sophmores, so there is not too much variation in our days:

Khara:
1. I woke up, showered, got dressed, and ate breakfast.
2. I practiced sax for about 1.5 hours
3. I went to algebra, civics, lunch, biology, and then english.
4. I went to my room, put my books up, and then went to the gym with a friend, where I had to completely ignore the TV's that hang infront of the machines and just listen to my ipod.
5. I came back to my room, showered, went to dinner, and practiced for about another hour.
6. I went back to my room to do some homework (bahh poetry projectt!!)
7. I went down to the connector to hang out with peeps and had to turn down wathcing the wonderful "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", but ended up having fun anyways!
8. I went up to my room, talked on the phone, and went sweet nighty night.
9. Zzzzz....zzzz.zzzzzzz.zzzzzzz

Mac:
1. I woke up, showered, dressed, missed breakfast because I was running late, and went to my ballet class at 8:30am.
2. I went to algegra, civics, lunch, french, and then english.
3. I hung out at the Pickle with some friends and then had to leave to go to two more dance classes.
4. I came back to my room, showered, went to dinner, came back to the connector to hang out with people and talk about random childhood memories and Mike&Ikes till inroom time.
5. I did some homework and went to sleep.

Terris:
1. I woke up, got dressed, and went to breakfast.
2. I went to biology, civics, english, lunch, and then geometry.
3. I practiced violin for about 2 hours.
3. I spent some time with the girlfriend and did my homework.
4. We went to dinner and then back to the connector to hang out.
5. I went up to my room to finish the rest of my homework and then came back downstairs to socialize a bit more.
6. I went upstairs to shower, and then slept.

In all of our experiences over even this day, we really didn't have that much trouble because we obviously stay too busy to ever be bored, which is usually what causes people to be drawn to media. They need something to do and talk about. We've already got far to much to worry about and do here because of our focus on school and our arts!

This all shows that we can certainly live just fine without media and TV. It is all simply entertainment!

Lab #15-Livng on just 2 dollars??

Alright, so this lab asks us to live on just 2 dollars in one day. We knew this one would be sooo hard and nearly impossible because with electricity, our clothes, technology, water, and food, the only way we could go without using any money would be to sit in a dark room and just sleep or something! We attempted this though! The main thing we did it with was our food and what we ate or bought in the day because we really wanted to wear clothing..and we were sure that everyone else really would have prefered that as well! During the day, we tried not to run water or keep lights on for too long and just tried to conserve energy as best as we could.

We really have to say that knowing you only have 2 dollars to spend for a whole day is soo depressing! We spend so much money consciously that we never notice just how much it really is until we do something like this! Of course people in other countrys live off just 2 dollar in a day, but their dollar value is much higher than it is here, in the U.S. and many of them are so accustomed to the lifestyle and everyone they're around does it too, so it doesn't seem as hard. When we tried to do it, there were all these people around us that we knew, spending money here and there, at the pickle and at the cafeteria (meal plans). This made it harder for us to not spend any of our money! It's a terrible feeling when you really want to buy something and you know you can't because you only have 2 dollars to spend. You are ripped of some of the opportunities and advantages that you become so used to. We had to come up with some new diets for this day because if we used our meal plans, we would have been spending well over 2 dollars with just one meal!


Khara: I had no idea what I would eat at first because I didn't have that much food, but then I remembered that I had some Honey Nut Cheerio's! I figured that if I counted the amount of money I'd be spending on just 2 servings of this, along with some milk out of my .5 gallon milk carton, it would add up to 2 dollars, out of the total amount of both. I didn't eat breakfast because I wasn't too hungry anyways. I came back to my room for lunch to have a nice bowl of my cheerios, then went right back to a busy day. I waited to eat dinner later, around 8pm, so that I wouldn't be hungry again. I had another bowl of honey nut cheerios and was pretty satisfied!

Mac: I wasn't that hungry the day we ended up doing this, so it wasn't too hard for me. I woke up and well, I sort of stole breakfast from the caf. by not swiping, so I guess that counts as not paying or spending money. Then, I missed lunch and just ate an Odwalla bar and some water after a rehearsal. I wasn't really hungry for the rest of the day, all the way up until when I was hanging out with some friends at the Pickle and I sort of stole a few bites of someone's cheesburger-it was gooood.

Terris: Well, I had more than just a day of having to do this! My parents didn't send me more money for a really long time, so I didn't really have too much to spare. On the day we picked to do this, I wasn't really that hungry, like Mac. I had a really big dinner the night before, keeping me pretty full for the next day. I didn't eat any breakfast and was able to just drink water for lunch. It was around this time that I started getting a bit hungry..and even got a comment that I was "anorexic"-I had to explain that it was for a project. For dinner, I decided that I was quite hungry and decided to do the same thing Khara did, but with one serving of Special K. This eased my hunger and I was fine...although I did kind of what Lays out of the snack machine later, but I resisted!

Although we probably cheated in some areas and ways over this day, we most certainly did the best we could to just live on 2 dollars. It certainly made us thankful to have more than that on normal days!

Lab #26-Interview with someone over 70

We wanted to interview someone over 70 to find out what things have changed over their lifetime in technology, our government, and anything else they've noticed. We chose Khara's Uncle George. She called him and asked him to explain the changes he had seen.

He said the following:

"In my lifetime, I have seen no change in politics or government. Politics is about money and power. People run for office such as Senate and Congress for the money and the retirement. Normally, once a person has gotten into either house, it is hard to vote them out. Even today, all you hear about people in politics, is they talk about change. The word change can mean either for better or worst. I'm sorry, there has been no change.
Technology: When I was born, there was no television, no computers and in some cases, people had no electricity. We had radio and if you were fortunate enough to have electricity and enough money to buy a radio, you could be entertained by listening to Amos and Andy. Believe me, you did not see them, you just had to imagine them from what they had to say.
The greatest things that have changed are wages, comodity prices and all other living costs. Sliced bread, canned biscuits and many other items were not on the market. A hamburger cost 5 cents. A pepsi-cola cost 5 cents. A grown man made 10 cents per hour or $1.00 a day.
In 1942, I left High School to join the Navy to fight for my country's freedom. Pearl Harbor had been boomed just one year before. I could hardly waite until the Navy would take me in, because you had to be 17, and I was only 16, but I had a drivers license that said I was 17. Today, all the talk is about bringing our troups home. How soon we forget 9/11. Don't you wonder if we are as patriotic today as we were in 1941? There have been many changes in my lifetime. I have learned that we are responsible for changes for the better by hard work and keeping focused on what we want in life."


Through this interview, we have seen how prices have changed and gone up dramatically. We have also seen how even though we talk about change and always have, it still has not happened! He is also very conservative in many of his beliefs, proving that older people do tend to be more conservative. We learned lots from this and we got to hear many things that we wouldn't have learned otherwise. We should all talk to older people to learn their views because they have so much wisdom and advice to offer.

Lab we created-Distressed infront of Walmart

We decided that we would create one of our own labs for this project. We decided that I, Khara would sit outside of the infamous Walmart on a curb and look completely distressed and when I say distressed, I mean distressed! Not just a little sad...but bent over, weeping and sniffling. We wanted to see how many people would actually be concerned enough to stop and ask what was wrong. So, I went through with it. I sat right down on the curb, off to the side of the busy entrance where everyone coming in and out would see me.

I put my head down on my lap and began to sniffle a bit and would randomly look up as if I was looking for something or thinking about the "aweful thing that had happened to me". This went on for about 10 minutes and not a single person stopped to ask what was wrong. All I got was a bunch of stares from those walking and driving by. Finally, a Walmart worker that had walked out to get the trash from outside stopped as he was going by and said,"Are you alright? Do you need anything?" I just responded with,"Oh thank you, but I'm ok." I'm just waiting for a ride that was supposed to come an hour ago, but I'm sure they'll come. I didn't want to make up a story that was too rediculous because the point of the lab was just to see whether people would stop and show concern, and boy did they fail in this! It was another twenty minutes consumed of more funny glares and stares when finally a lady getting dropped off out of her car by I assume, her husband stops. She looks down at me and says,"Um hi, sweetie, you ok?" I just responded with,"Oh yea, my mom just hasn't come to pick me up yet and she was supposed to be here an hour ago". She then asked,"Do you maybe need a ride?" I just said,"Ohh no I'm sure she will come..sooner or later. Thank you though". I was not about to get in a car with a stranger of course, but it was so nice of her to actually stop and show some concern. I couldn't get over how many people just walked by, only looking at me as if I was crazy...of course it probably COULD seem so...seeing as how it was fake, but still! Where are all of the good citizens and neighbors?? Everyone just cares about their own busy day-to-day responsibilites, rather than others' hardships. I decided to just leave after this. Doing something like that could most definitly cause some minor embarrassment! I trully admire the man and woman that stopped and we certainly need more people like that in our world! We need to stop being scared of interaction and reaching to others' outside of our little bubbles of societys. So many of us say we care, but we need to start showing it!!