Video on Progression of the world

I came across this video... its really interesting.

http://www.flixxy.com/technology-and-education-2008.htm

I really liked the cold hard facts they gave. I wish they told us "what it all means" at the end....

Tiananmen Square Massacre/Democracy

Today in my World Affairs Class, we watched a documentary about the Tiananmen Square Massacre.  The Tiananmen Square Massacre was a massacre that occurred in Beijing, China in 1989.  It was a major blemish on the chinese government, and a disgrace upon Chinese history.  A basic summary of what happened, to my understanding, is that after a certain Chinese political reformist leader died, there was a major uprising by the people.  They all came together in Tiananmen Square to protest against communism.  The communist party sent the military to empty out the square.  After a few days of failure, the army was told by the communist government to CLEAR THE SQUARE BY DAWN the next morning, but "try to avoid bloodshed." Obviously, the soldiers failed to avoid bloodshed.  First they killed tons of innocent students and citizens, then their parents the next morning when they came to retrieve their body.  The death toll was between 2,000 - 3,000, but the government wanted to cover it up, so they reported the toll as 241 deaths.

What I find unbelievable is that some of the communist leaders that issued the order to "clear the square by dawn" are still in power today.  Deng Xiaopeng, the leader of China at the time, lived the rest of his life without any prosecution.  This event can be called a small scale Holocaust, but all the bad guys got off without any punishment.  I find this absurd!  And it is all because of the fact that China's government is communist: no one can tell the government they are wrong, or impeach them.  Leaders in China and other communist countries can do whatever they please; they can consider themselves God, and no one will contradict them.  They say life's not fair, but whoever says that doesn't realize that life is VERY fair compared to life in other countries, especially the non-democratic ones.

I think Democracy is unarguably the best way to run a country for the country to prosper.  For instance, take India and Pakistan.  Two countries, born at the same time.  Now, sixty years later, one of them is on the verge of becoming a world power in a few years (India), while the other is on the brink of descending into a failed state (Pakistan).  Both countries have the same kind of people with the same religions, and both have the same natural resources.  The only difference between the two countries is that one is democratic (India), and the other is a dictatorship (Pakistan).  The point of this article is: Be glad we live in a democratic country.

How North Allegheny stands as a School System

Here are the AP exam achievements for NA in 2008.

AP Exam Chart:

Tennis Match

Today we had a tennis match against upper saint clair. we whitewashed them, but unfortunately I didnt make much of a difference :(. (Their team was small, and because I had messed up in the game at hampton on friday, I didnt get to play today.)

However, I used the time to practice with my doubles partner, and I can feel myself getting better; my stroke is more confident, im faster, im driving it deep every time, my spins are more defined, and I am more consistent at hitting. My only problem is serves: My first serve is almost always out, and my second is very weak.

This is essentially what is holding me back from being #1! It is so frustrating, but I am practicing all the time. Hopefully I will get better.

Wish me luck! :D

Snow day Powerpoint

People have been asking me to post the powerpoint presentation I made for the school district's superintendent about snow days last month. Unfortunately, I cannot post the presentation on this.

For those who do not know, I made a powerpoint and sent it to my superintendent in hope of getting a snow day the next day. Not only did we end up with a snow day the next day, she sent me a loooong reply! I was shocked, since I believed she would be too busy and would blow the presentation off. Here is her reply:

Dear Neel:

Thank you very much for the Powerpoint...I enjoyed it very much and  

thought you did a good job with it.  You made your points regarding  

snow days very clearly and I appreciate your point-of-view.

Decisions about snow days are not made easily and I have a team of  

staff members in the Transportation Dept. who drive out in the  

District to determine the road conditions.  My Director of Assets,  

Transportation and Technology stays in touch with the weather folks  

as well to determine how severe the weather will become and what the  

driving conditions are.  He then makes a recommendation to me based  

on the road conditions and the weather conditions and how safe it is  

for the students and the buses that will be on the road.  He tries  

to make that recommendation to me as early as possible and I know I  

will be hearing from him very early tomorrow morning.  Once I  

consider his recommendation, I have to make an informed decision and  

then our Director of Communications and Public Relations notifies  

the media if the decision is for a delayed opening or a closure.

I assure you, Neel, that Mr. Botti who is the Director of Assets,  

Transportation, and Technology, will make a recommendation to me  

based on the safety of the conditions on the road.  He takes his  

work seriously and takes responsibility for making this  

recommendation in the best way he can.

Perhaps I can meet you personally and talk with you at NAI about  

this issue (once the weather subsides!) or you can come to my office  

so we can talk some more about this snowy issue.  I appreciate all  

the time you put into creating the PowerPoint  about snow days and  

in presenting your rationale for more snow days.  I especially liked  

how you included some humor and some really good photographs to add  

to your message.

Thanks, again for contacting me and sending the presentation.

Patricia P. Green, Ph.D.

Superintendent of Schools

North Allegheny School District

Pittsburgh, PA 15237

It was amazing to see such a long reply! I really feel that I made a difference to her decision in having school off the next day for all 12 schools in the district!

Scheduling

Scheduling has begun, and I, like all ambitious students, am planning on killing myself for 11th and 12th grade courses. :D

I'm looking forward to it!

Here is a tentative schedule:

11th grade:

AP Chem

AP Physics

AP US History

Honors English 3

Honors Pre-Calculus

German 3

Phys Ed

12th grade:

AP Bio

AP Euro History

AP Calculus AB

Honors English 4

Honors Organic Chemistry

Honors Anatomy

Honors Argument

Phys Ed

These are full and rigorous schedules (to say the least) and I really hope I can handle them!

All that is still up in the air is AP Physics in 11th (and my 12th grade schedule is prone to change after 11th grade). I might want to take Honors instead of AP physics because:

a) I haven't taken any physics before this

b) I would be taking 2 AP sciences in one year, which would make up to three periods of science a day.

c) I don't even plan on going into Physics (I want to be a doctor!)

Arguments for taking AP Physics are rather obvious:

a) AP weight

b) There's always the chance I like physics and want to take up a physics based career after taking the course, in which case AP would be more beneficial than honors.

Suggestions?

*UPDATE: I do not like Physics. Chem is my favorite subject though!*

Welcome to my blog!

Hey everyone, today is my first day of blogging here! I am going to use this blog to write about my daily activities, things I see that I want to mention, and just general events.