https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq Made with a lightning strike of genius en-us 2017-11-17 12:45:46 UTC 2017-11-28 21:35:09 UTC hello@padlet.com hs1000380 https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208071703 Originally, I chose to listen to this Ted Talk because it sounded interesting. The content of the talk, however, was not what I had expected it to be. It was very humorous, and was not as educational as most Ted Talks are. It was about how James Veitch, the speaker, responded to all these spam emails, and had a very funny conversation with one who he convinced to use a code language involving the words "gummy bear," "creme egg," and other such things. It did not offer any great enlightenment, but it did challenge my thinking. James Veitch, the speaker, taught me that anything seemingly bad, like spam email, can be turned into something good.
https://www.ted.com/talks/james_veitch_this_is_what_happens_when_you_reply_to_spam_email]]> 2017-11-17 12:50:53 UTC https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208071703 hs1000380 https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208074354 I am a big fan of baseball, so it is no surprise that I read an article about the MVP awards for the 2017 MLB season. This article was about the players and dove into their career stories, which were very different. The National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, 6 foot 6 and 245 pounds of pure muscle, smashed 59 home runs, tied for the 9th most in a single season, ever. However, the American League MVP, Jose Altuve, had to go about things differently. Altuve is 5 foot 6 and 165 pounds, and does not have the raw strength or size to crush 59 home runs. But he used his amazing skill to get 204 total hits and steal 32 bases, as well as hitting a surprising 24 home runs and making great plays in the field. This article taught me that one small disadvantage will not stop you; if you put in the effort, you can succeed no matter what.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/262040670/giancarlo-stanton-jose-altuve-win-mvp-awards/]]> 2017-11-17 12:59:09 UTC https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208074354 hs1000380 https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208080182 This article has a catchy, funny name, which immediately attracted my attention while browsing through the topic of prison reform. However, it stands out, because it is so eye opening and leaves me on the edge. The article is a preview of a book by former Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith, Mr. Smith Goes to Prison: What My Years Behind Bars Taught Me About America's Prison Crisis. It states that Smith was put in prison for a year and a day for indirectly sponsoring an advertisement by a third party group that would support his campaign for Senator. Many people, including myself, agree that there is no reason U.S. tax dollars should have been spent on imprisoning this completely nonviolent offender, who committed such a small crime. My thinking was expanded, because previously I had thought that prison was a formidable place full of violent criminals, but in reality most of those incarcerated are there for nonviolent offenses, mostly drugs. I had already known that the U.S. had an incarceration problem, but the article exposed many fixable problems that exist in the prison system.

]]> 2017-11-17 13:15:08 UTC https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208080182 hs1000380 https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208910205 This Ted Talk immediately caught my attention on the list of most viewed, because models are portrayed as people who exist for beauty, and who are not very smart. However, Cameron Russell, who had been a model for 10 years, gave very interesting insights as to the very idea of beauty. For example, she said that the media had portrayed tall, slender figures with white skin as "beautiful" qualities. Therefore, there exists a bias within all of our minds that this is the ideal figure, which in turn excludes certain groups and causes discrimination. She also presented the idea that models are some of the most insecure people, not because they are worried about not being "beautiful," but that they are insecure about how their good looks might affect how people treat them. This speech was very insightful and interesting.
https://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_me_i_m_a_model]]> 2017-11-20 22:11:06 UTC https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208910205 hs1000380 https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208911751 I chose this article because I came across it during research for another class. It outraged me, because it exposes a clear and possibly racial bias within the government of New York and other similar cities. This article talks about how redlining, or the assignment of school districts into certain zones, is done purposefully to isolate racial groups, which in turn are biased by funding. School districts in predominantly black and hispanic communities receive little funding and have the worst trained teachers, whereas predominantly white schools receive much more funding and better trained teachers. My prior knowledge was definitely challenged, because I had liked to think that I was simply lucky to live in a place where the school receives a lot of funding and has great teachers, but I realize that I am the beneficiary of the redlining system, because our school is over 90% white, and race bias might have been a factor in the decision for funding, even if most of it comes from the fact that Westport is a very high-income area.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-education-inequality-persists--and-how-to-fix-it/2012/05/15/gIQAXEIeSU_blog.html?utm_term=.49f0e61952bd]]> 2017-11-20 22:19:15 UTC https://padlet.com/hs1000380/aohtd2dsgnqq/wish/208911751