Eliza Meketon Public Feed

Eliza Meketon's Capstone

Posted by Eliza Meketon in Capstone on

Abstract

For my capstone project, I really wanted to create something that would have a lasting impact on the SLA@Beeber community, even after I have left it. So after a lot of intense trial and error, I decided that my final capstone project would be a mentorship program between the SLA@Beeber High School and SLA Middle School. This entailed several high school students ranging from freshmen all the way to seniors going every wednesday to the middle school which like our school is very new and currently only has one class of fifth graders. I not only created and organized this program throughout the year, but I also mentored one of the middle school students. This program started up in February and took place every wednesday. The mentors and mentees were able to create and sustain a supportive and trusting relationship with one another This helped the mentors later in the program when working on improving the mentees social and academic skills, which were in need of repair given their lack of experience with the SLA Model and its core values. The mentors were also asked to fill out a journal entry and questionnaire about what they did each session.The end product was a video compilation that includes interviews from the mentees and mentors, as well as pictures taken throughout the program. I have also created a guide book for anyone who would like to take this program over next year.

(This program also acted as mini course and internship.)


Core Values Utilized In My Senior

Capstone Project:

Inquiry:

-Does peer mediation cut back on student on student confrontation?

-How do students respond to student mentors rather than adult ones?

-Do students feel uncomfortable relaying their problems with authority figures?

-How much does student voice matter school authorities?

Research:

-Mediation and mentorship skills

-Ways to create a successful team and legacy program

Collaboration:

-Work with JT to see if our programs can cross paths at any point

-Work with Ms. Lawson to solve problems

-Teachers at SLA Middle School (Ms. Ironside)

-Get outside leaders of college or after school mentorship programs to teach our student mentors

Presentation:

-A physical and electronic instruction manual/guide book for how to successfully run the student mentorship/peer mediation program to represent my reflection for what worked and what didn’t work throughout the project.

-A reflective essay on my experiences throughout the year as well as a collection of organized notes taken every mentorship session to chart my progress throughout the year.

UPDATE

-Over the course of this capstone, I had come to realize that the best way to depict my project’s  successes as well as its defeats, was to create a video with testimonials from both mentors and mentees. This will replace the reflective essay and subsequent notes.

Reflection:

During the course of this capstone I realized that when you are starting a project like this with the intention of making it last after you are gone, there is going to be a lot of mistakes made. I for one can say that I probably did more things wrong than right in the very beginning. In the end though I think that both the mentees and mentors felt as though they got something significant out of the program and will treasure the experience for a very long time.



ElizaMeketonsCapstoneInstructionManual1
Annotative Bibliography:
AnnotativeBibliographyElizaMeketon

Tower Garden Photojournal

Posted by Eliza Meketon in Environmental Science · Aziz · E on
​Reflection: 
During our tower garden journey, we experience some ups and downs. For instance something that we noticed was that only the tomatoes and the lettuce seem to be the only plants making substantial progress. We also noticed that some of the plants were developing a reddish tone to some of our plants stems. I think another bump in the road was that we had trouble thinking of new things to observe because I think we weren't exactly sure how to truly observe. Everything just looked the same day after day. I think that we should have recorded new info once a week instead of everyday. It was great to see the plants grow from little seedlings to cool little plants. I think in retrospect, it might have been wise to not use artificial light, I think natural light would have helped the plants grow faster. I think all community centers, schools, and homeless shelters should grow food using tower gardens. This would really help in lower economic neighborhoods and create a more environmentally just world.  My conclusion is that the plants will continue to turn into fully grown veggies. 


Q2 Environmental Science Reflection & PSA By Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in Environmental Science · Aziz · E on
Please enjoy our air pollution PSA

Reflection

Our video was about bringing awareness of the rampant air pollution in one of Philadelphia’s poorest districts, the River Wards. We discovered that the River Wards has a shocking amount of people who have had to go to the hospital due to asthma related symptoms. We believe that the problem really stems from the fact that the River Wards was a very industrialized district back in the day and that the pollution caused from large factories has lingered and has caused many of its' residents ongoing health issues. The video really calls people to action, especially since it features a preview into the River Wards future, which is ultimately not a pretty sight. The fact of the matter is, air pollution has been a pepple in America’s shoe for quite sometime, not only that, but countries all over the world are starting to see the effects of reckless industrialization and air pollution.

I chose this particular topic because while we may not see the signs of the ways in which we currently pollute the earth, air pollution is relatively easy to see the effects of. As I said before, people are having to be hospitalized just for stepping outside. That is just not right in my opinion. If things don’t start to change, than the dystopian future we demonstrated in our PSA will become our very grim reality. The thing about air pollution is that due to the fact that much industrialism in America happened before I or any of my classmates were born. A whole generation would never have experienced a world without air pollution. Imagine how much longer our life spans might be if we severely regulated factories, automobiles, or anything else that produced larges amounts air pollution. I just wanted to show the world that we as a society need to step up and start thinking of solutions and do our part for our neighbors and the world as a whole.

I think I contributed to this project by helping create the script, helping edit the video once we shot it, as well as having a speaking role within the video. I think I did my fair share of work and I feel as though my team members would support that statement. I think that we as group in general worked really hard to create a top quality PSA and I am very proud of the work and effort that and  my team members put in it. I believe that I tend to try to be more of a leader, however I feel like I had a really amazing team and I always had someone to help me so I didn’t have the take all the responsibility of getting everything together which was really nice and I really appreciated my team members.

I think that I really used the class time efficiently and I got something done on the project each class. I think that I also made sure that we were getting things done in a timely manner and keeping everyone aware of the deadline. I think maybe I could have started working on the project a little earlier than we did, I think that maybe I should have worked on the script sooner. I also feel like I could have maybe worked a little harder to make sure everyone felt like they we being allowed to contribute. Sometimes i'm so focused on what I am doing I forgot to include other people.

I think the most meaningful part of the PSA was watching it slowly all come together. There was this great moment when we were editing and I saw all the content that we had and I just remembered how in the previous week we barely had anything. It is a pretty great feeling to see all your hard work on a platform. Sometimes with projects, it is just one and done, however this project might actually be shown to a larger audience if it gets picked for the film festival which is pretty amazing. When you're doing these types of projects, a lot of the time it just feels like it is just work for work's-sake, however air pollution is something that affects all of us and it is a very serious ongoing problem that most people just shrug off as another issue with no solution. However we wanted to open minds and allow people to come to the conclusion that silence in this case is deadly. It is time to speak up and take action


Standing With Standing Rock Blog Post: Created By Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in Environmental Science · Aziz · E on
How are people using social media as a way of fighting against the
North Dakota Access Pipeline?
People are promoting awareness, which in turn helps get others to join the cause and come and protest. Activist members are also using social media as a way to get viewers to write to their government officials, and then get them to lobby against the oil company so they can no longer carry out their plan to build a pipeline through sacred burial ground, while simultaneously polluting the Sioux Tribe's main source of water. Hashtags have played such an important role in launching this cause, mostly because social media directs people to places that show solidarity with Standing rock, such as buying things to protect the protesters from the bitter cold off an Amazon wish list made by the Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council, or donating to the Sioux fund for legal council. Even though I think social media has a lot of flaws, it has been very inspiring to be able to see how the community has been able to interact and enlighten one another on the injustices that have been committed by the oil companies from across the country. Lately we have been told to focus on are differences, but social media has allowed us to come together and show that we do not stand for injustice or the pollution of our basic human rights.

Hashtags that have been used during this environmental justice event

After doing some research some of the most common hashtags that has been used is #NoDAPL, #standingrock, #standingwithstandingrock, and #waterislife. While there are probably hundreds more, these seem to surface the most.

Are these methods truly effective?
Social media is constantly being updated and viewed by people across the globe and it’s users range from a wide spectrum of ages. No longer are teens and young adults the only slaves to social media. I think especially since our presidential nominees started using it as a way to connect to younger audiences, it has gotten older generations to join in on the virtual conversation. Meaning your grandmother is as avid a user as you are now. I think social media is such a great platform for activist groups because now they can communicate with a bigger audience and people can show support much easier than in previous years. For a long time signing some petition was thought to be the only way to show your support for something, but now it is so much deeper than that. Today, people have such a variety of options. They can donate money to support protesters, they can actually go out and protest, they can call write a letter to the president voicing concern and outrage over the pipeline, they can spread awareness by telling friends to go look up the issue, or they can tweet and get other people to join the movement, the options are endless, all these options make this form of promotion and campaigning so effective. People don’t like feeling like they are being forced to do something. When they are given the option to put in as little effort as possible, while feeling all the glory that being a “good” person comes with. I think this is evident by seeing just how many celebrities have joined the movement. Now I am not saying all of them are doing this for publicity, but it is definitely a perk. This is the invisible hand at its finest, i.e the way in which one's individual pursuit of self-interest can lead to good results for society as a whole.
How do you define environmental justice 
&
      what role does social media have in fighting against it                                                                                 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency “Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” There has been environmental injustice for as long as there has been people. In recent years however, there has been an explosion of environmental activism due to the ever growing popularity of social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Now people can just snap a picture of them holding a protest sign and people will understand the message they are trying to get across. Showing solidarity with a cause is just so much easier due to the introduction of hashtags. People can just type in the #standingwithstandingrock with a picture of a drop of oil and they have done their activists duty for the day. Also causes can go viral a whole lot easier than let's say fifty years ago. Back then if you wanted to get a cause off the ground and you wanted to organize a protest, the only way you could reach out to people is by word of mouth or by passing out flyers. Now you could just make a well worded post, and share it with family and friends, they then share it with their family and friends, and soon the cause has blown up everyone's feed. It is almost inescapable. Causes now have a following and communities dedicated to raising awareness. Before people could just throw away flyers or ignore the weirdos on the sidewalk yelling at them to save some endangered animal with a weird name. There is just too hefty of a price to pay if you don’t want to go on social media. You essentially have two choices, be bombarded with whatever people want you to be interested in or be completely in the dark on what is going on society and the thing people are most likely to be discussing at school or work the next day. While it may be annoying to have every little cause someone deems important constantly blowing up your feed, it is necessary to have people be so addicted to this staple in our current culture. Without it, people wouldn’t be given the opportunity to take a second, third, fourth, or fifth glance, at a cause because they dismissed the first time around. While this is not directly aimed at environmental justice, it has everything in the world to do with it. I am not going to lie, it is extremely hard to get people interested in something that may not directly have an effect on them, that is not a insulation on the lack of care people have for one another, but a comment on how people need a push when it comes to justice of any kind. We need to see other people getting involved in order to know it is the thing will make us more socially accepted in society, I think what it truly comes down to is we want to fit in, it is easier to see that all our friends have joined in with supporting a cause when all of them have the #NoDAPL as their profile picture rather than seeing the third person in a row throw out the Stand Rock flyer they just received.

How can we improve upon this strategy?


Frankly, I believe the number one problem with launching causes purely on social media, is that people look to improper sources for information. You could have a properly vetted source, someone who has been on the front-lines, is an organizer of events and protests, as well as done some personal research, and can be classified as an expert on the cause. Then you could have someone who just joined because yesterday, still has very little understanding of the deeper meaning behind the cause, is actually just doing it to get some pictures for Instagram, but takes great pictures, uses snappy phrases, and gets the group a lot followers on social media. Which person is worth more to the cause? Someone who knows all the facts and is truly dedicated to getting the cause off the ground, or someone who brings a lot of attention to the activist group, but under false pretenses, and incorrect facts? Social media has blurred the lines on what's ok and not ok to say, it is not only completely new, but pretty much unregulated territory. This makes it that much more difficult for people who are educated on the issues and are trying to deliver the facts for viewers trying to join the cause who are getting turned off by people spewing nothing but dishonesty and garbage.

            

                                    Summary and impression on the Democracy Now article


The article “Norway's Largest Bank Sells Assets in Dakota Access Pipeline Company” was about how a very important and large Norwegian bank is pulling 3.5 billion dollars worth of assets in the companies that are behind the North Dakota Access Pipeline. This comes as no surprise due to the the deadlines being missed by the Energy Transfer Partners and the new projected deadlines being nowhere near close to the original finish date. This has lead to some speculation on whether the oil companies will pull out on their contract with the pipeline companies.There is even talk of canceling the project entirely. I honestly believe this was all inevitable. You can’t have so much opposition to a project and not run into some snafus. With all the negative press the protesters have been getting, it is no wonder why being in cahoots with the pipeline company might not be the best image booster. With all the demonstrators doing whatever they can to delay the pipeline construction, it only makes sense that the builders would not meet deadlines.

As previously mentioned this is the invisible hand at it’s best. Companies/businesses are amoral, but this kind of works in society’s favor due to the fact that you only get people to invest or purchase your product is by getting them to like your company and think that your product is good. People invest/buy with their gut, brains are great but we are creatures that have had millions of years of evolution behind us, and the only way we have gotten to where we are today is because of instincts. They have allowed us to survive in all types of deadly situations. Even though we no longer have to fight off savage animals, instincts help us distinguish the beasts from the average joe. Companies understand that and even though installing a pipeline might make the company might sound like a smart investment in the future, it is costing them customers now. The payout isn’t worth the cost of losing so many customers. If they don’t see themselves getting out what they are putting in, it just doesn’t make the financial sense to continue with this money pit of a project.

                                                                                                                             

How America should react after the recent DAPL Divestment

&

As well as how America's people and government can work to

create an environmentally just society

I think the American people need to probe deeper into the situation going on and ask themselves if desecrating ancient burial grounds and possibly polluting an already marginalized group’s main water supply, is worth getting an outdated source of energy. Big surprise it is not! To be honest, if I have had no previous knowledge of this situation and someone handed me the story without mentioning to many specifics, I would instantly think this happened at the very most four decades ago, not in 2016! This is honestly disgusting and anyone who doesn't understand why, needs to retake some history classes because this exactly why we have them, to remind us of past events so we don’t repeat them.

Too many groups of people have been completely tossed aside by the American government especially Native Americans, who from day one have been massacred, robbed, and utterly deprived of human dignity and it absolutely needs to stop. Once you step foot onto American soil you deserve the rights that were fought and died for by our founding fathers, who understood what it felt like to be denied civil liberties by an oppressive government. I think our current government needs to update those rights to include environmentally centered ones that focus on laws that prevent things such as environmental racism. This would mean an update to the constitution and in turn amendments that would make it unconstitutional to commit environmental injustices. We really need the government to take environmental based crimes seriously, because the EPA and groups like the ACLU can only do so much. We need actual laws to come into play that specifically aimed at people getting taking advantage of by oil, lumber, energy, and other polluting companies. These heartless corporations look for the most vulnerable communities, usually targeting people from low income housing, only high school educated, or people of color, and they dig their teeth in. We need to let these companies know that every citizen deserves the right to clean air, water, and soil. Once these amendments become official, big corporations will have to think twice about dumping toxic sludge into a communities only water source or fracking for oil in your neighbor's backyard. The truth of the matter is we all should want to protect our planet and defend it against anyone who tries to poison it. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we can get back on track and try to restore all the damage that has been done. We need to stand together, because regardless of you are or where you come from, we all have the same home, and that is earth.

Please enjoy my North Dakota Access Pipeline PSA


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​                                      Sources

#nodapl Hashtag Analytics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from https://ritetag.com/hashtag-stats/nodapl

Amazon Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council Supply List. (2016, October 5). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=sr_1_1_acs_wl_2?cid=A1Z3AZARV3IRKL&ie=UTF8&qid=1480202484&sr=8-1-acs.



Dicker, R. (2016, September 8). A Lot of People Aren't Fans of This Pipeline in North Dakota. Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-08/dakota-access-pipeline-protest-spurs-multiple-hashtags-justice-league-support

Environmental Justice. (2016, November 3). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from hthttps://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice


Re: NoDAPL [Web log comment]. (2016). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from hthttps://twitter.com/NoDAPL

Norway's Largest Bank Sells Assets in Dakota Access Pipeline Company. (2016, NNovember 18). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from

https://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/18/headlines/norways_largest_bank_sells_assets_in_dakota_access_pipeline_compan


Popular Twitter hashtags for dapl. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from

https://ritetag.com/best-hashtags-for/dapl


Election Volunteering By Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in AMERICAN HISTORY - Hussey - E on

Election Volunteering Experience By Eliza Meketon

My time canvassing for Hillary Clinton was definitely an eventful time. When I first came to the canvassing coordinator’s house I was bombarded with Clinton propaganda and the enthusiastic face of a woman who was a little to high on Hillary. She was a very genious host and she got me prepared for the next three grueling hours. She gave me the script to read to Hillary supporters. She then proceeded to give me a list of the supporters names and addresses, as well as a map of the area. I then began to hyperventilate due to my utter lack of directional sense. Unfortunately this fact was made worse by me not having a car to take me from house to house and the weather being a humid 80 degrees. The locations of the houses ranged from Abbington, Stenton, Chestnut hill, Evergreen, Meade St, Bethlehem, and more. By the end I had knocked on 27 houses, however I only got to talk to 4 supporters. The first actual supporter I had met was incredibly nice. I stumbled on my speech I was supposed to give her, and asked if she was going to vote today, if she was supporting Hillary, and if she knew her polling system (essentially my job was to promote and remind Hillary supporters to vote.) She gave me advice on how to address people which was very helpful, and I then thanked her for her time. One very memorable moment was when a car of teenage boys pulled up next to me and asked who I was campaigning for. I then blabbed “Hillary Clinton” with a smile and a stutter. They nodded their heads and said “ok.” I had never really been someone to state out loud their political ideas for fear that if I said it to the wrong person I would be judged, harassed, or worse. With the hostile political atmosphere of our country, in which people are getting taunted, injured, or killed for showing off their political beliefs. Luckily for me Philadelphia is a pretty democratic city so the likelihood of being excessively hounded by opposite parties was not likely. However I still felt uncomfortable putting my beliefs on my body through buttons, or any sort of propaganda. I felt the need to tell people this is for a school project, due to the fact that I most likely would never have done this if it weren’t necessary. I respect other people’s opinions and ideas and by publicly advertising a politician, it feels like I’m telling those who disagree, are wrong for having their own opinion, even if I do happen disagree with it, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Overall it was an ok experience, but the heat mixed with the apathetic answers I received from the people may have tarnished my time canvassing. I think I can cross this off my list as possible job careers, but I am glad I did it. I think that everyone should try something that is a little out of their comfort zone every once in awhile. Some quick questions I have about elections are why do we have elections every four years instead of some other denomination? Also who  decided that the electoral college was the deciding factor for who becomes president? Why can’t the popular vote be the deciding factor for choosing the president?

My three pictures


Picture #1

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Picture description: This is a list of the names of documented Hillary supporters and their addresses. There were four different sections. One was why the person couldn’t talk with me, then if they did take a moment to talk to me, I then proceed to the next category. This category consisted of me asking about voting for Hillary Clinton, like if they were definitely voting for her or if they were unsure, and so on. The next two categories were if I wanted to try again and knock on the door of someone who wasn’t able to talk to me the first time, and then basically filling out the same info as I mentioned before.


Picture #2

Photo Description: This is a photo of me with my Hillary support button that I was given by my coordinator. It was really interesting walking around with a button that out right stated my political standing. Some people nodded their head when the saw the button and others showed suspicion or discomfort, but then again that could have been because I was wearing a wool sweater in 80 degree weather.







Photo #3

Photo Description: This is a very blurry photo of my canvassing organizer. She was incredibly nice and she even had cookies inscribed with Hillary’s name. She had signs, folders, everything Hillary you could think of was in this woman's house.


Artifacts Photos

Artifact #1

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Artifact description: This is an information leaflet telling people some more info about Hillary Clinton. It also tells people about Hillary. Also it tells people the time in which they can vote.

Artifact #2:

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Artifact Description: This is the speech that we were told to give to the supporters. It basically just tells people thanks for  being a supporter and when and where to vote. I was very bad at giving this speech because I stuttered every time and I didn’t know the appropriate amount of information to summarize.







Artifact #3:

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Artifact Description: This is the pin that I received for helping volunteer. It was a pretty big pin and kind of attracted some attention.

Quarter 4 Project -Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in ART ADV - Hertz - b2 on
​

​1) Describe your project.

I made a duct tape purse of one of my favorite cartoon characters named Nibbler from the show futurama. It is made just based on his face and everything is made out of duct tape.The purse strap is the only thing not entirely out of duct tape and is in fact an old jump rope covered in duct tape.


2) What did you learn while completing this project?                                                                      

 I learned that duct tape can be hard to predict how it will react and how flexible and adaptable it really is.              

3) What was the hardest part about completing this project? 

The hardest part of this project was figuring out how I was going to cut the pieces and make them into the shape that I wanted.

4) What was the most fun/exciting part?                                                          

  The most exciting part was when I finished the bag and got to see all the hard work that I did finally paid off. I really liked my final product.                          

5) If you were to do this project over again, what would you do differently?                                                      
I would definitely try to make sure that I did not waste as much duct tape as I did. I think maybe I should have made  more precise measurements when cutting the tape.   
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Eliza's Seven Spanish Projects

Posted by Eliza Meketon in SPANISH 2 - Moran - E on
The project Below is my Ser Y Estar project. This project just displayed the differences of Ser Y Estar and how they are both being used in a sentence. 
ser y estar
This  is the commercial and the powerpoint for our travel project. In this project we had to make up our own travel agency and pretend to walk some future customers through some travel packages. 
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This project was when we had to anaylyze poems written by famous spanish writers and poets. We had to write a little about the author and then we had to write our own poem and then a little aout ourselves in spanish. 
Copy of La Poesia y Mi Reflexión_Proyecto Por Eliza Meketon (5) (2)
This is our broadcast project. For this project we had to work with a partner to make a news broadcast. We needed to write the broadcast in spanish. We had to report on all the things that a regular newstation would report on. 
This was our Spanish eulogy. We had to eulogize someone that we care about that had passed away. We had to write a few sentences in spanish about who the person was. Then we had to write information about who they were and what they meant to us in english. 
SpanishEulogy
SugarSkullMaskEulogy
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This was when we had to talk about our family members and ourselves. The family members and teachers had to talk a little about themselves in spanish as well as ourselves. 
We had to create a childrens book with a partner. We had to write it in spanish and make pictures for the book. We had to make it creative and colorful. 
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Project:Unit 6 Are Women Free? By Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in WORLD HISTORY - Roy - D on
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My Artist Statemnt:


My philosophical question that I had the job of answering was determining whether women are free. With already preknown knowledge and additional research I have determined that the answer to that question is no, women are not free. When creating my artistic representation I had looked up some images. I had specifically looked for plastic surgery models and on the very first page of google images it was  pretty evident that majority of the plastic surgery models that were being used were of woman. Now at first this may seem far fetched however I was intrigued. I  did some additional research and according to statistics I found at The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2013, 91% of all cosmetic procedures were carried by women. While only 9% percent of cosmetic procedures were carried out by men. If this is not enough the number one cosmetic surgical procedures in 2013, was breast augmentations. Apparently 290,000 patients had gotten breast augmentations. These statistics were all too real for me. It made me question what beauty even was. So I decide to look it up. The first site that came up was for a makeup and cosmetic store. I have come to realize that the media, and society has pushed an image of what it means to be a woman , what it means to be beautiful has been shoved down womens throats since the beginning of time. The expectation to maintain an idealistic, beautiful, and attractive exterior and interior has been vocalized since man has learned to talk. It is clear that women can never truly escape the the grip of societies idea of perfection.


I have looked at  multiple ideas of famous philosophers regarding women and their purpose in the world. Philosophers such as the highly regarded Aristotle as well as the well recognized Plato. Each of these MEN have vastly different views on the role of women.  First, I looked at Aristotle’s view. He had determined that women’s role was to be the caretaker and the submissive position in a relationship between a man and wife. That women lack the courage to even be on a man’s level even in a biological way. He believed that men were the main stars in reproduction and that sperm gave the fetus it’s being. While Plato was more progressive for his time and believed that women should be in the “guardian class” and should have a role in society. He thought that women were capable of holding roles of authority and it was also said that he thought that to have a contributing position in society, you should be measured by your ability and and aptitude not by gender. However, no matter how forward thinking Plato’s ideas are about women, the fact that there is even a discussion about a woman’s capabilities without a woman's perspective even being reliable is proof that women are not free from criticism and the questioning of ability and intelligence.


When creating my art piece I thought about all the things I have seen and heard regarding what it means to be a woman. Whether it is specified to gender, beauty, or society. Then I thought, who determines what it means to even be a woman? Then I remembered a documentary I had watched. This documentary was comparing and contrasting three women. They were all different ages and at different stages in life. The documentary discussed about the role of sex and beauty in their lives. It talked about how the standards of beauty had been dramatically altered in the past couple centuries. It is also talked about what it meant to be a sexy and attractive woman in this day in age. How words had evolved to not only objectify, but also brainwash millions of women into thinking that perfection is achievable and that there is an answer to what is beautiful. In my art piece I strived to demonstrate the ways that women are impacted by words and institutions that affect even the deepest forms of alteration on one self. The woman I drew is supposed to represent a an average woman. The lines on her represent some of the hundreds of types of plastic surgery women can get on themselves such as breast augmentation, liposuction, facelift, and many more. Some of the lines that appear on her body are drawn to mark where a patient would undergo plastic surgery. On those lines I wrote words that could affect a woman to change her physical appearance. Her wrist is also shackled to a wall.  On her shackle it says the word beauty. This shows that women are being put into a metaphorical box when it comes to what makes them beautiful. The main reason I had decided to use the word beauty on the shackle was to demonstrate how that word can hold a woman back in life. Especially if the world finds flaws with a woman’s physical appearance. On her eyes is the word perfection. This represents how what she thinks no longer matters and that she is being blinded by what the world wants from her and her ideas and opinions no longer matter. She is no longer free from society, the world’s expectations, or even herself.


Eliza's art Project

Posted by Eliza Meketon in ART ADV - Hertz - b2 on

Art Elective Project Reflection

Please answer the questions below. Do not delete the prompts!



  1. Describe your project
    My project is a cloth purse painted water colors with an outline of a mustache and sunglasses.

  2. What knowledge did you already have about the project before you started?

    I knew how to paint a bag, I have done that with just cheap acrylic paint. I know how to use water color and the care that it takes to blend colors together.

  3. What new skill did you want to learn coming into the project?

    I learned what it is like to paint cloth with watercolor paint. I have never done that before because I never found a reason to.

  4. Did you accomplish this goal?
    I think that I did accomplish my goal and I am excited to give this as a gift to my sister. I think sje will really like. I am very excited and proud of the way that it looks and I hope she will like it as well.


  5. How do you know you accomplished the goal? If you didn’t accomplish the goal, why do you think that is?

    I know that I accomplished my goal because I feel proud of the result of the project. I like how it looks and I like that I feel proud of the result and can give it to someone to use out in the world.

  6. What other skill(s) did you learn along the way?

    I learned that you don’t always have to know where you are going with something when you are creating something new. I did not know that there would be an outline in the bag or a picture.

  7. What are you most proud of in this project?

    I am most proud of the pretty colors that were used and how colorful it looks. It has a rainbow feel which is cool.

  8. What would you do differently if you had to do the project over again?

I think I would make sure I did not get pain in the picture I was trying to make. I think that I would also try to erase more lines or make less mistakes.
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1428425603460.1

Watercolor purse research

Posted by Eliza Meketon in ART ADV - Hertz - b2 on
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1423229612284.3
For the research I took water, a sponge, water color paints, some fabric, and a paintbrush. I blended multiple colors to get the desired look that I wanted. I think that it turned out well and I think that this project will turn out well. I have a great idea on what to do for the image I will put on the canvas bag. I can see it maybe not turnung out as I want it to but I am ok no matter how it looks in the end. I think this will be a fun project all together. 

Rainbow Storm By Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in ART ADV - Hertz - b2 on
My art project consists of colorful wax blotches that outline  silhouette of someone holding umbrella in what I consider a rainbow storm. I knew that a lot of people have been doing this on pinterest and it looked fairly simple. I have also known the materials considering that I have used crayons a lot. I learned how to create wax art in which I have never done before. This project has opened me up to a whole new media.  I also learned how to incorporate two mediums into one piece of art. Painting and wax. I had a lot of fun doing this. I was able to learn many different things that I didn’t I thought I would burn my fingers but I only did that like once so everything turned out great. I know I accomplished my goal because I did everything I set out to do. I also felt proud and satisfied when I finished. If you are not happy with our project than you know you clearly did not accomplish the things you set out to accomplish. I learned to be pretty patient. I learned this because when you are melting crayons, sometimes they do not blend the way you want to, sometimes the colors spread to places you weren’t planning on going. This requires much patience and flexibility. I am just proud of my whole project. I worked really hard all class period on perfecting my piece. There was a lot waiting, and things slowly coming together. I just had to wait for everything to really start looking the way I wanted it to. It was just a lot of effort on my part and I am proud that I stuck it out. Something that I would do differently is I would maybe wear protective gloves so I wouldn’t get burned, be more efficient with clean up, and plan out where my colors are going to be.

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IMG_20150116_084749177

My Crayola DIY drip experience

Posted by Eliza Meketon on
Crayola
Crayola
Before this experience I have only seen examples of this art form on websites, random images, and other social media. I never realized how deviously difficult this art form can be. Your piece turning out they way you see fit has a lot to do with how  you position the crayons on the first place. There are multiple chances for someone to mess up their entire piece. Additionally you have to have the fear of dripping hot wax on yourself and then burning your finger. Overall it was a interesting learning experience. I am excited to get started. 

A Breath Of Fresh Air By Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in ART ADV - Hertz - b2 on
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34235686

Artist statement

Space, it is a wide endless wasteland. However even emptiness has beautiful secrets within it. That is exactly the message that I was trying to convey when creating my art piece. In my piece I really tried to focus on the movement and thickness of the paint lines. When first conceiving ideas, It was important to me to make the entire piece a focal point instead of just one particular part of the picture. That way It can be taken in for all it is. The painting was meant to have an abstract feel, lined with a sense of freeness. It was tough trying to figure what my painting should be, or even if should be a painting in the first place. To say the least it was a very strenuous and slow process. However once I decided what my piece should be it was engraved in my mind. Sometimes I can visualized an idea so well I can feel as though it is right in front of me, on the other hand, I can be so blocked that it seems as though any ideas I have immediately fall right out of my brain and boom, crash, splash onto the ground they go. This project piece was conjured in my mind relatively quickly. I put a lot of effort into placing things where they are and color schemes, and overall look, because of course I am a sort of perfectionist when it comes to art, and of course nothing ever seems finished. However once I stepped back and absorbed what I had created and then I smiled and was surely satisfied and proud of the work I had done.

Oral History Benchmark-Eliza Meketon

Posted by Eliza Meketon in African American History - Roy - X on

Abstract

In this interview, I talked to my father, Richard J. Meketon. Born in the early stages of the Civil Rights movement, he was able to discuss what it was like not only for him, a white Jewish male living in the relatively diverse Mount Airy section of Philadelphia. As well as being able to watch the community around him evolve into a multitude of culture and racial activism. However most importantly, the opportunity to have a front view into the world around him becoming an ever lasting footprint in racial equality. In our interview, Mr. Meketon remarked several instances in childhood and adolescence in which on a daily basis he was unknowingly watching racial activism and development and race equality. One instance in particular that really demonstrated the developing condition for struggling ethnicities was when he talked about when he was in elementary school. As young as he was, Mr. Meketon was still able to recognize the fact that society, education, politics, and many more institutions such as those were becoming more and more integrated. He talked about his experiences and observations with discrimination and other racial stereotypes. As well as growing up around Civil Rights culture such as white and black gangs and a understanding of who was at the top of the food chain and who just barely making it  on the bottom of the economic, political, and social scale. Mr. Meketon also talked about what it was like watching historical moments in history such as riots that included children of color getting savagely beaten and sprayed with a hose. He showed his empathy and childlike astonishment at the fact that, that could happen to children even younger than himself. One of the major key points of the interview was when Mr. Meketon referred back to his liberal household and his siblings who acted and promoted the Civil Rights movement through many of the movements ups such as Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the downs such as the devastating race riots. Richard Meketon still holds the things he saw and remembers to treat others with respect and dignity just as his parents did.



Research topic part 1 Birmingham Riots

In the interview, Mr. Meketon was very cantor about his experiences and opinions during many Civil Rights movements .  One of which was not only a significant part of the the movement, but was able to finally gain some attention to equality and justice for all such as the infamous Birmingham riots in which thousands of  were arrested and  were oppressed by police brutality.  During this time non violent demonstrators all over Birmingham, particularly children , were protesting the lack of equality. Martin Luther King was the head of this protest against desegregation and was able to inspired hundreds of thousand of African American men, women, and children. thousands of protesters were thrown in jail and were sprayed with forceful high pressured hoses that led many critically injured. A little more than a month after the beginning of the movement, the campaign got International and presidential attention. The campaign was a success and segregation was a thing of the pass in Birmingham, at least in a legal sense. However not that long after the campaign ended a bombing occurred at a famous African American church and took lives of four young and innocent African American children.  This description compares to my fathers experience because as a young child he found it horrifying that the “heros” that he looked up to because of their genuine and admirable fiscode were hurting and beating innocent people who were just trying to fight for their rights as human beings. I think that Mr. Meketon really felt as though there was injustice being done in Birmingham and that there was something that just wasn’t right and something had to be done.


Sources:

http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement-birmingham-campaign/#.U3_SZBVX-uY

http://crdl.usg.edu/events/birmingham_demonstrations/

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm




Research topic part 2 Martin Luther King


Another fascinating topic that came up in the interview was Civil Rights activist Such as Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was a prominent and powerful Civil Rights activist who lead the path against segregation and achieving racial equality.  Martin Luther King was the head of many Civil Rights Movements such as The “Childrens Crusade”, “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”, and “MArch on Washington” As well as being well known for his non violent approach to protesting and activism.  MArtin Luther King is most well known for his famous speech “I have a dream” in which he spoke of equality, desegregation, and hope. As a famous activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner, as well as SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). Sadly Martin Luther King was assassinated, however his legacy will forever be imprinted in the minds and hearts of millions.  As young child father saw the man on tv as someone of hope, vision, and cause. Like my father, the world embraced and saw Martin Luther King as a visionary and knew he was going to change the world. Even though not everyone saw his point of view, everyone was able see that he had left the country and the world in better shape than before. He will forever be remembered.


http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-dr-king

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

http://www.kinginstitute.info/


Transcription

EM=Eliza Meketon

RM=Richard Meketon



EM:State your name and date of birth please


RM: Richard J. Meketon, 1959


Em: Ok so I am going to ask you a few standard questions and then we are going to go into some deeper topics.


Ok so question number 1, what was like growing up in your neighborhood when you were younger?


RM: It was very nice, it was tree line street there were a lot of kids in the neighborhood.


EM:Was there a lot of diversity in your neighborhood and in your school?

Rm: Yes absolutely, I lived in the mount airy section of Philadelphia which was one of the most diverse parts of the country and it always been an integrated neighborhood and continued to be so.


EM: Now in your school did you ever notice segregation or discrimination going on?


RM: In elementary school, over the course of eight years, I did notice the nature of the school change.


EM: Can you talk about a certain situation in which you noticed something that hadn't been there before?


RM: Well when I was in second grade, the school was mostly white almost 70% white and 30% African American, by the time I was in 8th grade it was 30% white and 70% African American.


EM:As a little kid, did you notice a difference between you and other kids of diversity, or did you not care?


RM: Well in my family and my parents, almost taught me to ignore differences in color, but ah, we always had black people in and out of our house, ah to me, there was no black, Asian, white, there was no difference.You were a friend, or you weren’t a friend.


Em: Do ever recall an instance when someone you knew, or even yourself was not allowed to do something because of their race?


RM: Well as I got older in school, and we were playing more athletics, the school was changing from a predominately white school to a predominantly black school and as someone who was not the most athletically inclined, that I was being chosen for less and less sports, now whether, I was chosen for less and less sports because I wasn't athletically inclined ,or wasn't I chosen because I want African American , its hard to say. There were a lot of white boys who were athletically inclined, and not picked.


EM: Would you say that there were more stereotypes being progressed, or less stereotypes.


Rm: I really didn't believe any of the stereotypes I heard.


Em: so when you were younger, did you hear anything regarding Civil Rights?


RM: Well yes, in the city of Philadelphia, we knew of the Black panthers, we knew about gangs, and in the mount airy section where I lived, there were a couple of gangs. There were white gangs and black gangs,so you were aware of these things. You were aware of what jobs people had and that white people had more authority jobs and servant oriented jobs were more minority jobs.


Em: Now when you were growing up, did anyone ever tell what was right or wrong when it came to race?


RM: My parents.


Em: can you open up about that


Rm: There were some words you just weren't aloud to say, and we were an incredibly liberal household, some words you just weren't aloud to say such as the “N Word” you would get in trouble if you said it.


Em: So when you were growing up, were you ever able to hear and like listen to any of the Civil Rights Leaders?


RM: In Philadelphia…. yeah, that there were rallies in Philadelphia

many rallies. I do remember seeing the Reverend Martin Luther King on TV. I also remember seeing the horrible riots on in other cities, the police riots in the south where they shot water cannons in crowds of African Americans and stuck dogs on kids no older than me.


Em. Now when you saw that as a young child, did you think of it as another child getting attacked, or did you see as something else? going


Rm: I saw myself in that situation and the question I always asked was what did those people did wrong? NO one could tell me what those people did wrong to have fire hoses and dogs. I was disturbed in that I always admired firemen, firemen were heros to me, and I saw firemen shooting high powered hoses into crowds of children and adults that were doing nothing to hurt anybody.


Em: So, since this was worldwide, and it affected a lot of people, at school and home, was it ever major discussion, or was it just tucked away?


RM:As I said before, I came from an incredibly liberal household and all matters of discussion were at the dinner table. I had an older brother and a sister who were active in the civil Rights movement and anti war movement. My parents were very active in the neighborhood so conversations were abundant. I was a small child at the time, but I over heard and comprehended  what was happening in Philadelphia and in the country in general.


Em:When you were growing up, did you recognize that the time you ere in would be a famous part of history, or did you just see it as what it was?


RM: As I was growing up, later as I was growing up, when I was five or six, no, but when I was nine or ten absoultley.


Em: So you were able to recognize what you were apart of.


RM: When I was four years old, John F. Kennedy was murdered, when I was nine Bobby Kennedy was murdered, Martin Luther King was murdered. These were impressions that never left me, so yes I understood. I liked sports and I knew about Muhammad Ali, who basically refused to be drafted. I was aware of most of the items, but O was aware of the events.


Em: Thank you, this has been a very successful interview.


Rm: Thank you Mrs Meketon


Em: Thank you Mr. Meketon


RM: Thank you Ms: Meketon


Dads interview
Dads interview part 2

Eliza and Eva's Physics project

Posted by Eliza Meketon in Physics - Gray - D on

Eliza’s artist statement

My partner and I decided to make our sculpture a happy meal because I think right now it represents American culture. I think that Fast food is so normal and typical for our culture that it has become the new norm. We also designed it to show how much fast food has had an effect on the typical American diet. Essentially what I’m saying is that a Mcdonalds happy meal is just as or even a little more American than our flag because it not only represents our our economic, social, and domestic institution but has managed to change the way America thinks and eats food. We thought that we should shed some light(pun intended) on the ordinary yet extraordinary effects of medium fries and a large cheese burger has had on not only American culture but the entire world. This project says about how we are creative and how we put thought into our work instead of just thinking of the first thing that comes to our mind and that we are willing to go the extra mile to prove that we care about the work that we produce and that others see.


Eva’s artist statement

I personally have choose to do a hamburger and French Fries because I thought it was a unique idea and unusual. I wanted to do something that wasn't a clique or something that would have been expected of me to do. What this project says about me is that I am always trying to do something unusual and unique that will make people look twice. It shows me and partners ( Eliza ) creativity and mind set that allows us to create something that pushes us out of our comfort zone. Doing a project like this pushes me out of my boundaries and makes me really engage in the physics world and really get an understanding of what i'm doing and connect it to real life. It is very enriching to know that you are able to apply what you are learning into a creative and genuine idea that turns out to be a success.




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