Reflection of NPR Field Trip

The NPR field trip was very fun. I got to meet Kenny “Baby Face” Edmonds as he was leaving the NPR building. That was a great start. The first place we went was the 5^th floor to see the satellites and the Green Roof. The NPR building is very environment friendly. The satellites are weather proof which means that they can withstand winter storms and thunderstorms. The second place we went was to the work quarters where people gather information to put on the website. That floor is also where they hold important interviews. This was interesting to me because there were so many people at work and our tour guide told us that some of those people work 24 hour shifts. When we went to the second floor we went to the Tiny Desk where they have small concerts. Bob Boylen gave us a nice lecture on doing what we want to do in life; he is a strong promoter of having a job that makes you happy. His tiny desk was filled with toys and other things he had collected over the years. There were also books and albums from some very important people. After we left Bob we went to meet with Tasneem (Digital Editor) and Alecia (Producer) to have a conversation about what the media includes and does not include about serious topics. The conversation was very interesting because the media does leave out a lot of information. We also discussed bias in the news also and how that can impact the story to favor one side over the other.  I really enjoyed the conversation and after we left I wanted to go back.  

Circus w/o borders

Our Circus without Borders lesson provided me with a lot of lessons that DC and the entire world can benefit from. There is a lot of misguided youth in the Washington DC area and other parts of the world that need to get involved in activities that can keep them out of trouble. The Circus took in troubled youths and taught them to believe in themselves and follow their dreams. Guillaume’s community was dealing with a lot of suicides so he created a program that implemented acrobatics to take the children’s mind off of negative things. Yamoussa and his friends used acrobatics and dance to escape the reality of poverty.  This pass time can also take the troubled youths away from their troubles and give them something to be happy about. The movie also showed acceptance to different cultures and encouraged the integration of different races. Men from Guinea and the Igloolik, Nunavut Community were able to join together and be successful. It also teaches children to accept themselves despite what others think of them. Guillaume was being bullied because he did not look like the rest of the Igoolik people. Giving back to the community is another lesson the Circus teaches us. Both Guillaume and Yamoussa go back home and perform shows for their friends and families. Guillaume started a program to give back to his youth. Yamoussa recruited some of his friends who are good in acrobatics to join the circus with him and experience different surroundings. Susan’s collaboration of the two very distinct cultures contributes to her interest in “telling positive stories.” Collaborating two groups of people who are very distant from each other and becoming successful is something that everyone wants to see. There are many stories in the news of different cultures going to war because of their differences or local gangs fighting because they want to be better than one another, but, May’s documentary shows a positive reflection of conjoining two different groups of people. Telling positive stories in the news is important because people need to here good things so they can have hope in humanity. 

Underdog- Pollution

An issue that is not getting enough attention is pollution. Pollution is the introduction of containment into the natural environment that causes adverse change. Pollution can take the form of water pollution, land pollution, air pollution, light pollution, noise pollution and thermal pollution. Pollution is caused by loitering; the vast releases of carbon dioxide from cars, and deadly emission of Green Houses from the burning of fossil fuels. These types of pollution change our environment and cause many issues. In the article “Smog in China closes schools and construction sites, cuts traffic in Beijing” by Katie Hunt she discusses how the pollution in Beijing has caused a thick layer of smog to form around the city of Beijing. The smog is so thick that it shut down the whole city because inhaling the films may lead to health damages. The smog is predicted to last for a week according to Beijing’s Bureau of Environmental Protection. Their embassy also stated that the air quality was absolutely horrific, ten times higher than recommended. The citizens of China’s capital have to wear face mask to help prevent the inhalation of the unhealthy films. If the air around Beijing is contaminated then the markets will have to shut down too because the vegetables will absorb the films. If people eat contaminated food, they’ll become sick and spread viruses. Not only does pollution affect this specific city, it affects the whole world because it is contributing to Global Warming. Global Warming is the vast heating of the earth’s climate over time. Global Warming is harmful because it’s melting ice caps in Antarctica and raising the sea level. We need to worry about saving the planet before it’s too late. To prevent further damage to our environment we need to take care of our planet by: recycling, buying hybrid cars reduce emission of fossil fuels by conserving electricity and many more other things.