Brown and White Online

On January 31, 2011February 1, 2011 By emmanuelnewsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Emmanuel Arthur’s Senior Project:

On February 18, my senior project begins. This is what Carl Beehler, my sponsor, wrote to Steve Compton. Honestly, I am excited that I get to utilize some of the knowledge I have acquired in Computer Science class, and this will probably give me a sense of whether I want to work in the field of programming as my future career.

Description: Implement online publishing platform for Brown and White

Sponsor: Carl Beehler/Tech Office

Outline:

Phase 1 (Dec-Jan):

Take self-study course “An introduction to open source” (provided by Tech Office)
Read additional provided materials on Apache web server
Do quick write-up explaining interactions between components of the LAMP platform (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP)

Phase 2 (Jan-March):

Evaluate open source web publishing platforms on site http://php.opensourcecms.com/.
Try out demos for 5 platforms including Joomla and Drupal with news article publishing in mind.
Present short paper on which platform seems best for Brown and White use.

Phase 3 (Project/Break)

Install and configure Content Management System on web server
Set up templates, etc. for Brown and White publishing
Create basic ‘how-to’ guide for Brown and White staff

Assistance:

Much of the above is self-study and/or self guided. Assistance will be provided as needed by Carl or his staff if questions arise.

Some of the resources required to do such a project are relatively complicated and can’t be completely learned in the time available. This will lead to a slight disconnect between the conceptual and practical parts of this project.

Resources such as the web server will be preconfigured for use in the project with an eye towards having the project approved as a production service on campus.

My semi-failure

On January 31, 2011January 31, 2011 By hannahrunningIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I’ve never really considered myself a last minute kind of person, but as far as Senior Projects go I think I may need to reevaluate that particular self image I’ve always supposedly adhered to. Up until a few days ago the plan was for me to organize and implement a 5k Run’Walk for charity. To my disappointment, I found that I was much less involved than I had originally intended. For as long as I could I stubbornly argued that I would be busy, definitely, for the 5 weeks total the seniors have off to go have an amazing life experience. But I knew, deep down (or maybe not so deep down at all) that this project was not turning out as I had originally planned.

My fix? Grow up, accept my semi-failure, and find another project.

Now I’m off to Washington, D.C. in just a few weeks. I supppose the blog name hannahrunning has become moot point, but honestly I’m excited to get out of West Chester for a couple of weeks. To be entirely honest I’m not 100% sure what I’m doing in D.C., but I know there is service involved, and a trip to the White House which I unfortunately will have to miss because of how late I signed up for the trip (I have yet to write a check or even tell T. Cindy where I’m going to be for the records).

All the same, I’m excited– it’s not every day when I get to visit the heart of America (or even leave West Chester for that matter).

It’s my hope that Washington D.C. will not only be the project that saves me from my previous project, but the real, substantial, exciting (and hopefully fun) Senior Project that I always wanted to have. I’m a clean slate. I’m a blank page. I’m all those lovely corny sayings people love to say when they’re about to start a new chapter.

Also, since I forgot to say earlier, my name is Hannah Trask.

3 Weeks Until Thailand!

On January 31, 2011February 4, 2011 By nataliethailandIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hello! I’m Natalie, and will be going to Thailand for my Senior Project with nine of my classmates. We leave for Thailand in about three weeks; the countdown is getting me through all my school work and stress. It seems so far away but I know I should be getting ready. My biggest concern right now is packing; I’m a little iffy about what/how much to bring considering I’m the world’s biggest over-packer and my summer wardrobe consists of sleeveless tanks and shorts. My renewed passport also hasn’t come in the mail yet, which gives me a minor anxiety attack every so often. Fingers crossed it will come in time.

I’m really looking forward to exploring Bangkok. I’ve never been to Asia and will admit I don’t quite know what to expect, but that is one of the aspects of this trip that excites me the most. I’m anxious to experience a culture so different from my own, and am fortunate to be doing it with some of my closest friends. I’m looking forward to working with the elephants as well; from what I’ve read in some of last year’s blogs it’s a really amazing experience. I know it will be pretty demanding work though, it’ll be interesting to see how well we all handle it.

I’ve always really loved traveling, especially to different countries because the cultural differences tend to be more extreme. I find it fascinating that so many people can live their lives in such a drastically different way than I do; believing in different things, eating different foods, and celebrating different traditions. I think traveling is a great way to expand your knowledge of the rest of the world because first hand experience is always better than something read in a travel magazine or text-book. I’m hoping this trip will open my eyes some to things I never knew before. Along with blogging, I’m hoping to document my trip with some pictures. Hopefully by some miracle I’ll pack light enough to have room for my cameras…yikes.

Stay posted!

Food and Film in Barcelona

On January 31, 2011January 31, 2011 By kendallbarcelonaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

What is better than food? I’d have to say not many things. That is why I am so excited for my trip to Barcelona in March. Even though I’ll be on “spring break” when most of my friends are on their Senior Projects, and away in Spain when most of them are around, it is worth it. I’ll be spending a week in Madrid and two in Barcelona on the coast of Spain, exploring the cuisine and culture of Catalonia. I am happy to be in another counrty without my family because I feel like it will feel a lot less like a vacation and I will actually get to know a country, rather than just scratching the tourist attracting surfaces. What’s more, I have many friends in Spain already that I’ve met at summer programs, that I haven’t been able to see in two years. Now I finally have a perfect opportunity to meet up and catch up.

My Senior Project is revolving around food specifically, and interviews that I plan on conducting with my new Flip Cam. I hope to upload most, if not all, of the videos onto wordpress so that everyone can see the food, the people, and the places that I am getting to experience. This is the longest I’ve been overseas without my family (I spent two weeks in Australia two years ago, and a week in London with my aunt this past summer), and I am a little anxious about missing a week of school, but since it’ll be the spring term when things begin to calm down for seniors, I think I’ll be ok.

Honestly, Barcelona was not my first choice for my Senior Project; I wanted to do a non-school led trip, and I wanted it to be somewhere I won’t have a chance to go to again anytime soon (my family is taking a trip to Spain and Morocco this summer). However, I have always wanted to go to Spain, and I am in Spanish 6 at school, so I felt like this would be a great opportunity, and one with relatively low stress compared to planning an entire trip for myself and figuring out where to stay and what to do.

So in a few weeks (longer than for most people) I’ll be off to Spain to eat my heart out and let Spain really get underneath my skin in a way other countries have not. What will I do in the meantime? Visit my friends at college, and prepare myself for three weeks of exploring, experiencing, and enjoying Spain.

Hasta luego, Kendall

Stay Tuned!

On January 21, 2011January 21, 2011 By Westtown SchoolIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Westtown students from the class of 2011 have nearly finished preparations for their Senior Projects. They will be in locations all over the globe, involved in diverse and challenging learning experiences. From language immersion to studying religious conflict to volunteering at a medical clinic, the projects represent the special interests and passions of our seniors.

This year we will be following the experiences of bloggers in Ghana, Thailand, Washington, DC, Germany, Israel/Palestine, New York, Florida, Spain and Pennsylvania, among other locations.

What will they discover about themselves and the world? What lessons will they learn? What will we learn from them? Stay tuned…!

A Long Time Coming…

On May 2, 2010 By benjaminholylandIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Well, it has been a really long time since I wrote… I was hoping I could post something after the fact, but one thing led to another and life as a Westtown student kept getting in the way. So where do I stand now? I think I will start by saying that this trip has been one of the most valuable experiences of my Westtown career. It is all well and good to learn about social injustice issues from the safety of a classroom, but to truly understand one has to be on the ground, feeling the experience. A quote that I love (and have no idea where it came from or if I am getting it perfectly correct) is: “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, let me do it and I will understand.” I feel like I now understand, on a level I never could have before.

The question that this begs, of course, is now that I have this experience and understanding, what do I do with it? How do I more forward and live my life in the light of this and what can I do for change?

One initiative that we learned about while there is called the BDS Movement (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions), which is aimed at gaining human rights for the Palestinians through the means of pressuring Israel through the only means we have: their wallets (for those interested in more information, their website: < http://www.bdsmovement.net/ >). To this end, and couple of friends of mine from the trip and I are beginning an attempt to bring this movement to Westtown. So what does that mean? We are still in the planning stages, but the end goal would involve convincing the school to examine its investment portfolio and divest from corporations who are supporting actions by the Israeli government that propagate the crisis (ie. Caterpillar, which is developing remote controlled bulldozers for the Israeli army’s housing demolitions). Will it work? I honestly don’t know. I don’t even know yet if there is anything offensive in the schools investment portfolio, but it is worth a try.

One of the ways I am trying to live my life is to serve as a representative of a more complete view of the problem than most Americans get via our wonderful news media (I’m not being sarcastic there… not at all…). An example of this is when a few weeks back a few members of our group gave a presentation to the school Board of Trustees where we shared some of our stories and answered questions (and which I was blessed to be a part of). Another example of how we should (and are) be living is when some other members (whom I was unfortunately not among) went to Wilmington Friends and spent the day talking to some of the classes there.

It may sound a little corny and clichéd, but awareness really is an invaluable thing. It is a crime when good people who know better keep silent, and therefore share I shall.

Assalamu alaikum.

Final Blog

On April 9, 2010 By torithailandIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hello All,

It has been about a month since I left Thailand. Not too much has changed in my life back home except that my tan has faded. I just finished reading my old blog posts and reminiscing about the Thailand sun. Below are some of the highlights of my thousands of pictures. The ones shown are mostly from Bangkok.

I hope you enjoyed looking through my pictures and finally seeing for yourselves the beauty that Thailand holds.

Thank you for reading!

-Tori

Pics of the Baby!!

On April 7, 2010April 8, 2010 By Jhewel TrinidadIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Hey,

I know it has been a while since I have blogged here, and that senior projects are over and have been over for about a month, but I finally have pictures of little Amelia. On my last day at the hospital, Nurse Emma had a special treat for me and allowed me to go with her to visit Amelia and her mother. The hospital usually does not do many house visits for babies who were born in the hospital, but seeing as Amelia was not scheduled for an appointment with her pediatrician for quite some time, and knowing that I would be leaving Trinidad soon, we were allowed a special exception. I was allowed to watch as the baby was weighed and all of her vital signs were checked, as well as her mother’s. Then, when I expressed my desire to have pictures of the baby, the mother said that, if we kept in touch, she would take some pictures and send them to me. After a month of waiting they are finally here and Amelia is just as beautiful as the day she was born. I did not get many because some of the files were unable to open on my computer, but I will be posting below the ones that I was able to open. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I did!!

The (almost) Finished Product

On April 6, 2010April 7, 2010 By alexwindowsofwesttownIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Even though the Senior Project time period is technically over, I’m writing this final post as both an update on the most recent progress on the physical product as well as a reflection on the whole project experience. First of all, I want to acknowledge how wonderful and supportive my “clients” have been throughout this whole project. From the very beginning when this project was merely an idea, T. Nathan was very enthusiastic about and full of ideas for the project. I am so lucky to have had a sponsor who was as invested in the project as I was, from start to finish. I also don’t know what I would do without the photographic advice from T. Tim, who helped me get the best out of some tricky photographs along the way.

Today (Monday, April 6), I met once again with T. Nathan and T. Lynette to go over the final production of the finished poster and the notecards. The finished products have taken a different form from the first draft, and I made quite a few design changes. Although I had some harsh criticism on the first version, I can learn from this experience by understanding how to take constructive criticism and use it to my benefit, and also by getting a taste of the real world in terms of criticism for my work (even though I don’t plan on going into the graphic design field). While Admissions liked both the notecard and the poster, they found that they could make more practical use out of the notecards and would rather have one poster to hang if/when they get printed. They are also helping me take my project further by connecting me with members of the Alumni Office and the School Store as they are more suited to printing and using/selling the poster as well as the notecards. For anyone who is interested in a poster or some notecards, keep your fingers crossed that we are able to produce them!

Alex 🙂

Remember Hiroshima. We want Peace.

On March 13, 2010March 13, 2010 By EffieEastAsiaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Wi-Fi has been broken at World Friendship Center. Sorry for the late post.

The day I spent at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was indeed a meaningful day in my life. The weather was awful, with pouring rain and unbearable coldness. On Wednesday at 9:30 in the morning, I entered one of the meeting rooms in the Peace Park Memorial to meet with Mrs. Kasaoka, 78 years old, a hibakusha survived the Atomic Bombing in Hiroshima, 1945.

There were about ten guests in the meeting room hearing Mrs.Kasaoka’s story, besides me, two were from Canada, and the rest were all Japanese. The story was being told with a translator standing aside translating after one or two sentences were finished telling by Mrs.Kasaoka in Japanese. Kasaoka’s story was extremely powerful. At some point I was almost in tears. When the bombing occurred, Kasaoka was only thirteen years old. She lost both of her parents on Aug 6th, 1945, leaving an irremovable mark in her memory of the war.

I am sure that stories alike Mrs.Kasaoka’s were millions out there, but what I got the most out of her story was the calmness on her face and her determination to promote peace in the world, not hatred or any negative feelings. When talking about WWII, Chinese people automatically express their hatred toward Japan. Note, it’s Japan, including both the government and the people, not only the army. But Chinese people never think that Japanese people, the ordinary civilians did nothing wrong, and they are also victims of the war. Before my visit to Peace Memorial Park, I was not sure about what kind of feelings that Japanese people have toward America, who dropped the atomic bombs. I was amazed by the theme of the park — peace, instead of blame or hatred.

Some quotes from Mrs.Kasaoka:

“I hated America, but gradually I grew out of those feelings. Now I hate the A-Bomb itself. ”

“The way to live is with love.”

“We always have fears (radiation). We should not have the 3rd A-Bomb. I’d like to convey that things like A-Bombing should not, and must not be repeated.”

: Peace Memorial in Rain

In war we are all victims. During my stay at Hiroshima, I had two personal interviews, in order to gain a board perspective of the Pacific War. One interview I had was with Barb Siney, from Ohio, the co-director of the World Friendship Center. She gave me a general perspective of American’s role in the Pacific War. The other interview I had was with another guest at WFC, who is from Thailand and is now a student at Tokyo Institute of Technology. She told me Thai people’s views and positions in WWII while under Japan’s occupation. I gained lot information through these interviews. When I finish organizing my notes, I will be able to write up a great research paper on this topic.

I don’t know how much of my goal — promoting peace–has been achieved. However, I think simply my presence in Hiroshima as a Chinese teenager already meant a lot. I appreciate this opportunity that enables me to look at a sensitive topic from a different angle. Although I only had a full day at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, what I saw and heard already makes my Senior Project extremely meaningful.

Now I am back in Tokyo and will return Beijing in three days.

More to come,

Effie