Research Paper Bibliography Update

Link to Bibliography

Definition Essay

Link

Note: this is late because I was absent

Senior Project Update

Senior Project Update

I have decided to stick with my topic, programming a basic computer game, instead of switching it to a more hands on project.  I have just started working on learning the essentials of programming. Although I will not start the actual construction until I have finished learning the essentials, I am on track for my senior project. For my mentor, I have decided to use a family friend who is very skilled in computer programming – she has the capabilities to cover much more than the basics. I have already conducted my interview, via email and text since she lives past Sacramento and it is difficult to find a time to meet that fits I with both of our busy lives. I have started amassing information for my Senior Project research paper, finding sources and other snippets of good information, but have not started writing the actual paper. So far, my project seems to be on track. 

Note: This is late because I was absent

Research Paper Update

My topic is on the involvement of the FDA in regulating the development of pharmaceutical drugs in particular compounding pharmacies in light of the recent meningitis outbreak

Sources:
  
"Guidance for FDA Staff and Industry" This website is produced by the FDA as a guide for compounding pharmacies. The fairly lenient regulations of CPs are in stark contrast with stringent pharmaceutical company regulations. Knowing the details and extent of regulations for each type of  company is important.

Burton, Thomas M. "Pharmecies Fought Controls"   This article details how compounding pharmacies effectively limited FDA regulations, which raises the question if the regulations had been higher would the meningitis outbreak have killed so many people.

I have more but I did not have enough time to type them.

Complaints

I stood outside of Napa High in the freezing cold at 8:00 am last Saturday. Sounds like fun. It was not. One might ask, what is a teenager doing at school on a Saturday morning. That is a very good question; I was waiting to be allowed to take my SAT IIs. The SAT requires numerous checks to validate that the test taker is actually the person they claim to be in an effort to minimize cheating. I have no problem with increasing or maintaining a high level of security for I want the SAT to be a fair test.  However, the process at Napa High was unnecessarily long. I waited over an hour before I went into the designated classroom and did not even start the test until 9:30.  In contrast, other schools where I have taken national standardized tests, both the ACT and SAT, had everyone’s identity validated before 8:00. Why was the process at Napa High so long? Why did no one complain or attempt to speed up the process?

First of all, no particular person was to blame for the extreme delay. The system of validation encouraged long lines and waiting with its single identity checker and sole student distributer. One teacher would match the ID card with the SAT ticket and another teacher would direct students to the appropriate classroom.  Instead of this long irksome process, why can’t the proctors of each individual classroom check IDs? There is no valid reason. The high school organizers of this particular system made the process cumbersome for no apparent rationale. With a little bit of extra thought and consideration, the whole test taking process could be a little less painful.

While I was waiting in this annoyingly long line, I heard plenty of grumbles about how inconvenienced the students were feeling. Comparisons to other high schools and irate remarks about the sanity of the organizers floated around in the air. No person, especially a teenager, wants to waste over an hour of their weekend because of someone’s un-thoughtful actions. Yet, no one dared complain during the process or after the test.  I was puzzled.  Why did I complain? I did not want to risk my test scores because I was mildly inconvenienced. This was not a battle I was willing to fight. Apathy and laziness were not factors in my decision of refraining from complaining. The potential repercussions greatly outweighed the reward. An hour of my time was not worth possibly invalidation of my test which would subsequently prevent me from going to the college of my choice. When people do not complain, it is not because they do not care or lack the backbone to stand up for their opinion. Instead, individuals determine whether the long term repercussions outweigh the ephemeral gains.

Response to "Drugs"

In the essay “Drugs,” Gore Vidal made numerous points on the benefits of legalizing all drugs. He argued that by taking away the monetary incentives from drug pushers,  such as the Mafia and the Latin American cartels, that the problems associated with drug users will simply disappear. However, there is an implicit assumption that seems to be erroneous: the crimes associated with drug use are only to acquire money for the drugs. People on drugs, have impaired judgement and are more likely to make poor decisions often endangering the safety of Americans. One of the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution is the right to pursue happiness with the caveat that it does not impinge upon others the rights of others . Allowing rampant drug use violates these rights. The government should not give up all attempts to prevent drug usage.

One solution that has been fairly effective is the Netherland’s drug policy. It categorizes drugs into two categories: soft drugs and hard drugs. For soft drugs, such as marijuana, the government does not target individual users. It targets the distributors. For hard drugs, such as heroin, both possession and intent to distribute are punished. The cultural emphasis that drug addiction or usage is a disease rather than a sinful act allows individuals to be treated instead of punished. Of the European countries, the Netherlands has one of the lowest percentage of drug users and the lowest percentage of crime related to drug use. Their system is not perfect, but it provides a better solution to the current way Americans deal with drugs.

ICE

Link to ICE

Response to Politics and the English Language

George Orwell comments about how the English language has starting to morph and distort the true meaning of words. However he does not address how languages rarely remain static. Shakespearean English is vastly different from modern day language or his own writing. Perhaps writers from the 1400s would shake their heads in dismay at the state of the current language. New words and phrases are continually added to the official English language due to cultural or technical changes. For example, people now tell others to go “Google” something. Back in Orwell’s time there was no internet and no need for that concept so he would not see the need for that word. Change to language is inevitable. It is curious that such an iconic writer would criticize the process of change in terms of language.

Orwell doesn’t address that the meaning of words meaning depending upon the context. Sure, words can be deceiving if individuals do not pay careful attention. Many politicians do employ misleading phraseology but to those seek the truth rather than the glossy surface the facts can be discerned. Even own words contradict themselves. Janis words are the epitome of double meaning. For example, the word “fast” can mean move quickly (fast car) or prevent from moving (held fast).  It is up to the individual to understand the truth.

One of Orwell’s points was that English has incorporated too many foreign words that are unnecessary. There is an element of truth that some writers are grandiose to a fault and that colloquial words are more effective. However more elegant words convey a sense of professionalism and sophistication that simple words cannot. When writing a college application I am not going to say “yeah, my buds and I just chillax by the pool.” Instead I might write “basking in the sun with some of my dearest friends, I expend the majority of my interval of complacency at the community pool.” Although large words may seem unnecessary, these multi-syllable words can be used to distinguish individuals from the academic masses.

Research Paper Topic

1.       My topic is on the involvement of the FDA in regulating the development of pharmaceutical drugs, in particular compounding pharmacies.  

2.       There is always a debate about how much the federal government should regulate businesses. The manufacturing and production of drugs is no different. Should the FDA regulate compounding pharmacies’ and pharmaceutical companies more or less? Especially with the recent outbreak of meningitis derived from a contaminated product produced at New England compounding pharmacy, there are concerns about the lack of FDA regulation.

3.       I can find references in the Napa City County Library and find numerous apt articles on the internet involving the recent meningitis outbreak and the role of the FDA in the approval a drugs.

4.       Everyone is concerned about their health and it is particularly disturbing when doctors and known medicines, which are entrusted to help individuals, are the cause of illnesses. People are continually trying to improve their health and minimize risks associated with ingesting unknown compounds.  

5.       The role of the FDA involvement in business is always questioned. It is an ongoing debate that was catalyzed by Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. The meningitis outbreak is relatively new so I doubt that many AP students have already written papers involving that particular event.

6.       Should I narrow my topic and just talk about compounding pharmacies’ regulations or expand my subject area so that my paper discusses pharmaceutical companies’ regulations?

A Hamburger Today

One of the most delectable blogs I found was A Hamburger Today, a blog that solely discusses the making of hamburgers. At first I was a little bit skeptical that I would enjoy this blog – I do not care the mashed mysterious meat of hamburger or hotdogs – but the pictures were phenomenal. Pictures of sizzling mushrooms toppings , a burger with a cheese stuffed pepper, and an elaborate machine comprise of the majority of the blog. A Hamburger Today also varies the quality of the subject, ranging from a gourmet organic burger to the average McDonald’s cheeseburger. The actual blog is an accumulation of reviews of restaurants that serve hamburger, which allows a huge geographical range. The setup of the blog also makes it extremely enjoyable. There is always a large picture that grabs the reader’s attention. Above the picture is a header that gives a few details, where the burger was made and the name of the restaurant that made it. If the reader wants to know more, there are a few sentences to the original review right below picture. To read the full review, the reader needs only to click on the header or the picture to read the full review. This is a great blog to read!

Personal Choice 2

On an overcast Thursday, I stepped out of the car and entered my Karate dojo hoping to earn my third stripe for green belt. I ignored the sprinkling rain and pervasive cloud cover, for it is always cloudy in Bellevue, Washington, and hurried into the building. As I warmed up with toe-touchers and pikes, a new student stepped on to the mat. He was very little, about four years old, and had a mop of brown hair that hung in his eyes. Deeming him too young to talk to and therefore unimportant, I ignored the little boy and went back to focusing on the warm-up. Little did I know that the little boy was Bill Gates’ son, Rory. I was shocked to learn that arguably the wealthiest man on earth had decided to send his only son to a dojo whose clientele composed of mainly middle class families. Gates could have bought the dojo without blinking but he decided to send Rory to class as an ordinary student. What is the thought processes behind this computer genius? How did he become the iconic figure for innovation and business?

While enrolled at prestigious preparatory school, Bill Gates encountered his first computer at the age of thirteen.  He was fascinated with intricate computations and puzzles associated with computer program. Gates spent the majority of his free time studying the source code of the CCC program – I honestly have no idea what that is but it is computer related. The expectations from his parents and a SAT score of 1590 out of 1600, Bill Gates attended Harvard with the original intent of becoming a lawyer like his father. However, during school he aimlessly studied subjects with no real intent of ever getting a law degree.  Gates eventually dropped out of school to start his own company with the help of one of his buddies, Paul Allen.

Gates and Allen developed a new computer thingamabob that made computers better. To those knowledgeable and interested in the intricacies of computer programming, this new innovation was incredibly exciting. Microsoft, Gate’s company, - I doubt that anybody did not know that already – partnered with IBM. Due to anti-trust laws, Microsoft was able to expand and become the prominent computer company of the day. Gate puts his new found wealth into many charities, especially his own philanthropic charity called the Gates Foundation.

Through unconventional methods Gates became the most successful, and wealthiest, man in the world. Gates is a counterexample of the stereotypical method to become successful: individuals need to earn a college degree and then work hard for the rest of their carrier to achieve prosperity. He dropped out of college to go off on a seemingly ill conceived endeavor and ended creating a revolutionary technology and company. Gates’ path to success highlights the dual nature of traditional schooling, it enabled his exploration into computers but stifled him form devoting the majority of his focus onto the interests he loved.  Like many other iconic figure’s actions, Bill Gate’s path to success highlights how true innovation comes not from rope memorization but through taking risks that are oftentimes rejected by the faint of heart

Girl Imitation

Link

Process Analysis

Link

Reponse to Mitford

Mitford Response 1:

Death is a very scary concept to humans. People have established explanations or euphemisms that try to lessen the permanent nature of it, whether it is through religion or simple phrases. Nobody wants to believe that in a single moment they could be gone from this earth wandering eternity alone. Diminishing the dramatic and frightening finality of death is natural. Embalming is a way for people to comfort themselves over the loss of a loved one and diminish the terror associated with their own death.

Throughout history and across cultures people have embalmed their dead to temporarily ward off the effects of decay in order to perform a good bye service. From the ancient Egyptians’ intricate procedures to the Inca’s value of mummification, cultures have established embalming methods to treat with their dead. The United States and Canada are no different in the fact that they must honor their dead in some ritual. For some reason or another, an open casket funeral that employs the use of embalming is the most common. The fact Europeans, Africans or Asians have another burial process, it does not matter if embalming is accepted in the US.

Death is not a pretty or elegant event, nor should embalming have to be. The grisly details, although disturbing in the telling, are necessary in order to ward off the appearance of the petrifying and ugly aspects of death. I did not need to know the exact steps in the embalming process, nor did I want to know. Sometimes details are better left unknown. For example, I committed an uncomfortable mistake by reading The Jungle byUpton Sinclair. I was nauseous for a couple of minutes but I didn’t have a sudden resolve to become a vegetarian. Embalming is disgusting but perhaps a necessary process.

Life, and death, can be unpleasant and people should not be deterred but uncomfortable details. Embalming is a gruesome amalgamation of euphemisms and processes that lessen the appearance of death. Since so few things are sugar coated in life, why not sugar coat death, the one thing that everybody fears.

Compare and Contrast Essay

Bellevue vs. Napa

General Statement Essay

My Essay

The Human Cost of an Iliterate Society Response

In The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society by Jonathan Kozol, the author uses repetition and short anecdotes throughout his essay to convey the disadvantages illiterates face in modern society. Kozol repeats ‘illiterates cannot” at least nine times in the essay, the majority at the beginning of the paragraph. It highlights the limitations of illiterate people have to circumvent in order to live a normal American life. Kozol also has numerous “illiterates do not” and “illiterates depend” to further emphasize the lack of freedom and dependency on other people’s trust and honest intentions.

Kozol also employs the use of anecdotes to emotionally appeal to the reader. From the woman who could not feed her family because she accidentally spent her money on a year’s worth of Crisco to the man who could not get home due to a combination of car troubles and his unable read the signs around him, illiterates are portrayed as those who are helpless and frozen by the fear of not knowing. He also uses his own personal dream to emphasize the emotional hardships these people face.

However the presentation of a problem without any inclination of a viable solution is distracting from Kozol’s purpose. While he is describing the hardships of illiterates, I was wondering why don’t they learn how to read or how come they were not taught to read. Why aren’t these people trying to better their lives by becoming literate? Also, the author’s diction implies that there is a substantial number of Americans who are currently illiterate. Our country has one of the highest literacy rates in the word, so it does not make any sense. The title and the introductory paragraphs also state that in order to have a “true democracy” everyone must be literate. The U.S. is not a true democracy; it is a republic. There is no society in the world that everyone will be literate. There are always one or two outliers. By not addressing these major topics, the emotional appeal is diminished. I would be much more sympathetic if there were less questionable implications.

Narrative Essay

My Essay

Personal Choice

Personal Choice Blog:

With college rapidly approaching, I am constantly thinking about the benefits and substantial costs of going to a university. There is always a debate raging in my head; is a degree worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and over four years without any work experience in my intended field? Most of the time I think that college is absolute necessity but I am curious to know who, throughout the entire scope of humanity, was successful by going through an unconventional academic process.

One of the most famous and influential – also my personal favorite – scientist throughout history was Isaac Newton.  Unlike most academics in the 1600s, Newton was born to a poor farming family in England. The combination of his overall poor farming skills, a hoard of physically capable siblings and his enthusiasm for education enabled his parents to send Newton to Cambridge with the intent to become a preacher. While at Cambridge, Newton mainly studied mathematics instead of the clergy, much to his parents’ disappointment. Strongly influenced by Euclid and by the Baconian and Cartesian philosophies, Newton was fascinated be the simple mechanisms of the world.

Disaster struck when Newton was forced to leave Cambridge due to the recent outbreak of the plague that swept across Europe. Newton went back to his family farm, unable to continue his formal education for over two years. However, it was during this leave from school that Newton formulated his groundbreaking new ideas. He created the basis for the modern sciences of mechanics, optics and calculus, which became the critical components of Newton’s iconic mathematics book The Principia.

From understanding a mundane aspect of life, gravity, to grasping the intangible, the nature of light, and continuing an age long subject, calculus, Newton derived these ideas while watching fruit fall from his family’s apple tree. He was able to calculate the circumference of the earth, the exact orbital of Hailey’s comet, and predict the upcoming solar eclipse without ever leaving his family farm. In collaboration with other renowned scientists such as Robert Hooke and Flamsteed, Newton made huge improvements in our understanding of the mechanics of the earth and, concomitantly, the astronomical interactions.

I find it surprising that Newton was enabled by the lack of traditional schooling, rather than a total emersion in an academic culture, to discover the mechanics, optics and calculus. Is a purely academic culture productive for scientific innovation or stifling due people’s fear of being wrong? Newton definitely took an unusual route to achieve academic fame with his interruption of school because of the dreaded plague. I wonder if it is helpful for modern college students to take a year or two off to pursue their own interests. Maybe one student will achieve their own Newtonian notions.

Greasy Lake

Kathryn Johnson

September 7, 2012

In T. C. Boyle’s short story Greasy Lake, the mock-serious tone points out the ridiculous nature of the boys’ attempts to be bad characters. At first glance, the author’s descriptions of the teenage boy’s cars, alcohol and actions seem to be questionable. However, it emphasizes that by trying too hard to appear dangerous characters, they end up looking like a silly wannabe bad boys. These ivy-league nerds who live in suburbia with their parents end up making fool of themselves because of their absurd attempts to be bad.

These teenage boys, in order to appear be bad characters, mention their alcohol consumption numerous times. However there is nothing rebellious about the fruity drinks of “gin and grape juice, Tango, Thunderbird and Bali Hai.” Even when they go up to Greasy Lake they only bring “a bottle of lemon-flavored gin.” By adding the fruity qualifiers to their descriptions of their drinks these teenagers dramatically diminish the rebellious aspects of their supposedly dangerous ventures.

Besides their alcohol consumption the description of the boy’s cars indicates the extent to which sheltered and dependent these teenagers were. The picture of the “robin‘s egg [color] of Tony’s car,” and their “parents’ whining station wagons” indicates a lack of danger and rebellion. The portrayal of the beat up car with, “no windshield, the headlights were staved in and the body looked as if it had been sledge-hammered for a quarter a shot at the county fair but the tires were inflated to regulation pressure,” ridiculous the boy’s attempt to fight off a true “bad greasy character.”

The teenagers’ attempts to appear dangerous characters further emphasize the ludicrous nature of their actions. From their “elaborate poses to show that [they] didn’t give a shit,” to allowing “his father to pay this tuition at Cornell” and claim that the narrator “hadn’t been involved in a fight since sixth grade,” or “touched the iron exactly twice,” these boys are sheltered ivy-league geeks. Not even their “torn-up leather jackets slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths” and wearing “mirror shades at breakfast and dinner in the shower, in closets and caves,” would convince anyone that they are bad boys. Digby’s anecdote of phys-ed martial arts is humorously contrasted with his inability to even punch a random biker, nevertheless a trained fighter.

However, these wannabe bad boys start to regret their attempts to be viewed as dangerous characters after they were obliterated by three ogre-like greasy characters. “A wedge of feldspar the size of a cue ball,” and a flailing tire iron was enough to convince Digby, Jeff and the narrator to abandon their humorously bad attempts to be greasy characters. These events go to show these geeks should stay content with their character instead of trying to appear cool without accepting the truly detrimental consequences.

Description Essay

My link for the Essay

The Sapling (Description for Field Trip)

Here is my link

Box Man Discussion

1.       I learned that the use of the words “good fortune” and “luck” were used to describe the Box Man despite his meager accommodations. It pointed out the seemingly contradictory scenario that this man could be both lucky and have “blistered legs.”

2.       I wished we talked more about the paragraph right after the thesis. It stated that throughout much of our lives we deny that we are solitary beings. I was curious about how that applied to the Box Man. Had he gone through all the phases described? If most people continually search to avoid feeling alone how come the Box Man had come to accept the nature of human solitude?

3.       In the discussion, I wished I had talked more about the two lonely women in comparison to the Box Man. We discussed how the Box Man was content because he had accepted solidarity but it would have been helpful for me to mention that the women were unhappy because of the discrepancy between their expectations of continual human interaction and the reality of human solitude.

Take Home Essay #1

Take Home Essay #1 I Am A ... Link
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M17ligh_EX0wGCtsjiSEKTaNAQS91A3qdtRmIg24NEQ/edit

Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman Long Form

Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman Long Form:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z-iHr151VSrwL5cj40QdeOu_vvjO4cr3z2li1nd6SYE/edit

Senior Project

For my senior project I was initially considering doing something involving soccer. However there were very few viable options; I could neither coach a soccer team nor learn a fundamentally new skill. I considered music or an interesting hobby. I already have taken years of violin lessons only to drop it because of my lack of free time. I also find little value in taking up a hobby that has no intrinsic value. Then I thought about learning a skill that would be helpful, such as computer programming. Computer programming is a necessary tool for all engineers – even chemical engineers. It might be helpful to know in advance how to program basic functions rather than have to learn on the spot. 

My brother introduced me to basic computer programming when he added his own program to my laptop. Whenever I opened up my laptop from sleep mode a huge picture of a clown would suddenly appear, which completely freaked me out. My brother, who is all too aware of my irrational dislike of clowns, had asked my aunt, a professional computer programmer, to teach him how to create a basic program that involved pictures of clowns. Despite my initial shock and annoyance directed at my brother, I started thinking about learning how to program.

Specifically, for my Senior Project I will be creating a rudimentary computer program, such as tic tack toe, using the computer programming language basic. It will be a small program but it is important to start with the fundamentals. Although I do not have a lot of knowledge in programming, I have multiple family members and friends of the family that can help me with my project.

About Me

Hello, my name is Kathryn.  My family includes my parents, my two younger siblings, Ashley and Cole, and Jazz, my adorable dog. Ashley, who is going to be a freshman at Napa this year, is often thought to be the oldest sibling because she is 4 inches taller than me – the age confusion situation vexes me to no end. Despite our little squabbles when she raids my closet, she is one of my best friends. My energetic 12 year old brother, Cole, spends every waking moment playing sports, when he is not shooting me with his vast collection of Nerf guns. That is saying a lot considering how much time our family devotes to playing sports. This summer, in the course of one week, our family was three different corners of the country because of sports: I was in Chicago for Nationals, my sister in Washington for a lacrosse tournament and my brother was in SoCal for a couple lacrosse games.

Unlike most people who attend Napa High, I was not born in California. Instead I was born thousands of miles away in Boston. I lived in upstate New York for a couple years and then moved to a small town outside of Seattle, Washington, called Bellevue. I moved down to Los Altos, CA when I was nine before finally coming to live in Napa. It was a huge cultural shock when I started school here with its small town atmosphere. It seemed so odd that everybody knew everyone and my friends’ parents all knew each other in high school. There was also a distinct difference in diversity compared to the other places I had lived. In Los Altos, one of my friends, Annika, was the closest thing to a modern day Indian princess. Whenever her father returned from business trips to India, he would buy her real diamond earrings and solid gold rings. I was the first person she had met with natural red hair – it took her a couple of weeks for her to fully comprehend that it naturally came out red.

My main focuses right now are on academics and soccer. I try to take as many AP classes as I can which takes up a huge amount of time. When I’m not doing schoolwork, eating, sleeping or hanging out with friends I am playing soccer. Whether I am juggling in my backyard, going to soccer practice or flying across the country to go to tournaments, I am constantly doing something involving soccer. Earlier this summer my team, Napa United, won State Cup and qualified to go to Nationals in Chicago. We are the first soccer team from Napa to ever win State Cup.

During this next year, I have to decide where I will attend college. However there are two critical components I have to consider: academics and collegiate soccer.  Some of the schools that I am interested in, such as Stanford and Cal, have such amazing soccer programs that a player needs to have national team experience to even be looked at. I have to consider the tradeoff: go to a school with a great chemical engineering program but not play soccer at the school level or go to a school with less prestigious academics and play collegiate soccer.  One thing I know for sure is that my college major is going to be chemical engineering – I enjoy solving logic problems and don’t mind math and science. 

Senior year will be fantastic and I will enjoy getting to know everyone better.