SCORE #14

On Friday at the warehouse in Lynn, I worked on a couple of things. The first thing I did when I got there was look for rubber boots, which were for a costume designer working on a show. I looked through a couple of boxes that I took out and found some boots that seemed like they would work, as they had to be a specific size. In all I found about 3 pairs that worked and sent photos of them to the designer. After doing this, I continued sorting the pants that I started in on last week which is by size instead of era and style as they had previously been sorted. I worked on the pants for a while and then set the boots aside that the costume designer wanted so that they could be brought to the shop in Boston and shipped out to her. After doing the pants for a while, I was finished for the day and took off.

SCORE #13

On Wednesday at the warehouse I spent some time helping another dealer in the warehouse go through some bags of stuff that he had taken out of the basement of a store he used to own and brought it back to Lynn. We started in on the first bag and pulled out a lot of denim jackets and other denim. He hadn't priced anything that was in the bag for 10 years so we ripped off all the tags while taking everything out so it could be re-priced. A lot of the things in the bags he decided to leave out for people who would be coming through this month. The second bag of clothes had a lot of sports type things, like jackets and sweats. These items also needed to be re-priced so we removed the tags from all of these. After taking things out and going through them, I did some sorting and organizing in another part of the warehouse, as well as a bit of cleaning. After I had done that I was all done for the day and took off.

SCORE Paper Final Draft

The job of investigating a person’s death has been around since 1194, although the motive for doing so started out much differently. The first coroners, or “crowners” as they were called, worked for King Richard I of England.¹ The purpose of investigating peoples’ deaths was to collect taxes and property that might otherwise have been lost. Doctors and medical knowledge were not used to determine death; the “crowners” and gravediggers just used common sense. It was not until the 1900’s that forensics became a legitimate science, and even so there is currently no national system of death investigation in the US; every state has its own procedures. While interest in forensic science has always been fairly low, advances in technology such as the modern computer and medical imaging machines, as well the large number of crime shows and novels that have been released have lead to forensic science being put in the spotlight. Because of this, the field of forensic science has grown and developed significantly in the past decade not only through advances in medical technology and techniques, but also through interest garnered by the media.

            There are hundreds of ways for a person to die and even more factors involved in determining for how long a person has been dead. The first recorded handbook for forensic investigators was written by a Chinese man called Sung Tz’u, more than 700 years ago. The handbook detailed post-mortem examinations and included descriptions of tests that should be performed in the hours following a person’s death, as well as insights into the changes a body goes through as decomposition sets in. Despite the fact that this handbook was written almost three-quarters of a millennium ago, not much more information has been gathered on the subject until the founding the “Body Farm.”

            In 1981, Forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass founded the Body Farm out of a need to learn more about the different factors that influence a body’s rate of decomposition, such as temperature, climate, moisture level, or if the body is indoors or outdoors. There were also some fundamental questions that had never been answered before, such as how long it takes for a corpse to become a skeleton. Stationed at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Bass and some of his graduate students developed an acre of land to become the first outdoor laboratory on human decomposition. Dr. Bass said the goal was to “establish a research facility unlike any other in the world…[where] scientists and graduate students would observe the process [and] document variables…and chart the timing of human decomposition” (Jefferson and Bass 95). The bodies at the Body Farm have all been donated by families of the deceased and have provided crucial information.

One of the most important methods to determine time of death is to look at insect activity, or lack of it. Before the Body Farm, not much was known about insect activity. Graduate students conducted extensive research to determine the circumstances of insect activity, and even to create a time frame for how long it took insects to arrive at a body after death. Students found that aside from flies, yellow jackets and wasps showed up minutes to hours after death, especially if the body was out in the open. As it was discovered, insect activity on a body does not happen randomly but can be tracked, documented and used forensically. Insect activity can determine time of death remarkably precisely and has been extremely useful in solving crimes, once the research was gathered at the Body Farm. Forensic entomology is the study of insects in relation to cases where foul play is suspected. These scientists look at the number of insects as well as the species and are able to pinpoint almost exactly when a person died. Not only are adult insects important, their offspring are too: insects such as flies will lay eggs almost immediately after they have discovered a food source. If a body is found with larvae on it, entomologists are able to work backward using the developmental stage of the larvae or their casings to see when the eggs were first laid. Research at the Body Farm lead to the creation of a timetable that illustrates how long after death it takes for various species of insects to arrive at the scene and lay their eggs. Insect research has yielded much valuable informstion, which can be used to prove time of death and can provide incontestable evidence in a courtroom. Discovering time of death is a crucial component in solving a crime, but the findings might not hold up in court unless they can be scientifically proven. Dr. Bass and his colleagues gathered an enormous amount of observational data, but they needed a way to present the data that was more precise and less open to interpretation.

Arpad Vass, a Ph.D. candidate at the time he met Dr. Bass, had an idea about a method to gather empirical data from a body to determine time of death. When a body begins to decompose it produces a puddle of greasy compounds. This compound is actually composed of volatile fatty acids created by the breakdown of fat and DNA.² After months of testing, Arpad discovered that the chemical composition of this puddle differed depending on time since death. By analyzing the puddles and determining the ratio of fatty acids while adjusting for average daily temperature, Arpad was able to create an equation that could easily calculate time since death. Dr. Bass has been using this equation ever since, and this discovery has made a great impact in evidence presentation in a courtroom.

While the Body Farm has provided valuable insight into how a body decomposes and providing tools to find time of death, it does not offer much help in determining cause of death. That is where the traditional autopsy comes in. There is a defined procedure as to how an autopsy should be conducted, with steps that must be followed and samples that must be taken, however, because there is no national autopsy standard outside of the basic procedure, coroners and medical examiners from different states may have different techniques.¹ These varying techniques may miss important information and lead to botched autopsies, which can in turn mean the difference between a killer being jailed or walking.

One of the most famous botched autopsies was the one performed on President Kennedy following his assassination. Because of the chaos surrounding the shooting, certain protocols were not followed. According to forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, the CIA who were conducting the investigation “were unaware that there were two kinds of autopsies, the usual hospital one and the forensic one [and they] did not know the difference between an entrance wound and an exit wound” (Baden 8). Also, so many different people examined the body that certain notes and pieces of evidence got lost. Dr. Baden and his associates examined the angles of the gunshot wounds as well as all of the surrounding evidence and determined that there was only one shooter. They said, “forensically, we had proved it beyond a doubt” (Baden 19). Despite their systematic explanation of their findings, conspiracy theorists continue to believe in a second shooter. If there had been a more organized autopsy conducted, evidence might not have been lost and a more definitive conclusion might have been drawn.

The Kennedy assassination and subsequent autopsy may be one of the most widely publicized, but it is not rare for autopsies to mistake cause of death; this is where the virtual autopsy can help. Using MRI machines and CT scans, every detail of a body from the outer surface to oxygen pockets in the tissue can be detected. The technology is currently in use in select forensic labs in Europe, but once it has been further developed it may eventually replace the traditional autopsy. According to Michael Thali, the director of Zurich’s Institute of Forensic Technology, “there will be no such thing as the perfect murder any more because the virtual autopsy allows you to find every piece of evidence”.⁴ The virtual autopsy scans the body and scientists are able to review the images in search of cause of death, identifying features, and pieces of evidence. The images themselves can be manipulated and examined from different angles, allowing for a more complete and thorough examination. Similarly, scientists are able to choose which layers of the body they would like to examine. For example, forensic anthropologists may choose to view only the bone structure while other scientists may want to focus on the muscular system. The virtual autopsy can also reveal evidence never before seen in the form of gas pockets in the tissue. For instance, there is a small bone in the neck above the Adam’s apple called the hyoid bone that is extremely fragile. If a person were to have their airway cut off during strangulation, the hyoid bone is likely to fracture. In most cases, a fractured hyoid bone is 99.9% indicative of strangulation.² However, in younger people, the hyoid bone is much more flexible and may resist fracturing even if extreme pressure is applied. In both cases, when the airway is cut off, the oxygen from the lungs has nowhere to go and is forced out into the surrounding tissue of the neck, resulting in pockets of oxygen and other gases. The virtual autopsy is able to create images of these gas pockets and prove strangulation as a cause of death, even if the hyoid bone is intact. Evidence such as this would not be visible in a traditional examination and may lead to the killer’s capture. Another benefit of the virtual autopsy is that the body remains intact for further scans, and it is also more respectful for the deceased and any family. The groundbreaking technology is considered by many to be the greatest advancement in forensic medicine in the past century.

            Technology that isn’t considered strictly medical may also serve to ameliorate forensic techniques. According to Dr. Maria Burgess, advances in the satellite imaging capabilities of Google Earth are currently being used to monitor vegetation cover. Dr. Burgess says, “Google Earth is extremely useful in environmental science. There is an incredible amount of technology available for free”.³ Not only can Google Earth be used for vegetation, it may also be modified to be used in crime scene analysis or for searching large areas of land. Satellite photos may show areas of extreme vegetative growth, indicating the presence of an unnatural source of nourishment for the plants, possibly in the form of a decomposing body hidden nearby. Improving and repurposing technology such as Google Earth could significantly add to the capabilities of forensic science and crime scene investigation.

            Forensic laboratories themselves are demonstrating an emerging trend of more open and accessible workspaces complete with high tech equipment. New forensic devices will become more available and their size will diminish due to microchip technology. Efforts are being made to design a more efficient lab environment to speed investigation times. Marybeth Murphy, P.A (ASCP) is a Pathologist’s Assistant at Beverly Hospital, Beverly MA. Mrs. Murphy explains that she “[processes] human tissue samples in the pathology lab for microscopic review and diagnosis by a pathologist”. She goes on to say that her job “requires a constant proofreading of reports and…an eye for detail”.¹⁰ Lab environments such as this would benefit from renovations and the implementation of designs to aid concentration and work productivity, such as increased levels of daylight and collaboration between scientists. Dr. Bass discusses his workspace in his memoir, detailing the dingy conditions of his lab in an unused building beneath the stands at the University of Tennessee. He says that the unfurnished and dank offices quickly grew to include 150 rooms from the original 8 as the program expansws, although now they are “even older and more run-down today than they were” (Bass and Jefferson, 56). While Dr. Bass and his colleagues are able to cope and do good work even though their workspace is lacking, renovations and increased funding to crime labs would help with investigator productivity and may even allow smaller and more rural labs to get access to the equipment they need in order to solve crimes, as so many labs are understaffed and underequipped.

            Even though the body of the victim plays a large role in solving a crime, the actual crime scene itself can provide valuable insight into what happened. Evidence of the crime such as blood spatter can reveal crucial information as to the nature of the crime: the distance of the killer to the victim, the type of weapon used, even the position the killer and the victim were in during the crime. All of these factors can help investigators find evidence and solve the crime.

            Blood spatter analysis is the scientific study of patterns in blood caused by injuries from gunshot wounds, knives, or any other sort of weapon. The actual spatter pattern can tell investigators the distance of the killer from the victim, his position in relation to the victim, as well as what type of weapon or weapons were used in the attack. Current methods of blood spatter analysis involve taking photographs of the scene and physically drawing arrows to show directionality of the attack, or similar findings. String can also be used to find the origin of the blood by tracing bloodstains back to a common source. The shape of the blood droplet is also used to determine what sort of weapon was used. For example, a fine misting of blood indicates a gunshot wound while spatter indicates a blow such as one sustained from a baseball bat. A knife has a very thin edge so it produces characteristic blood droplets. The droplets themselves have a thick portion and then a very thin line leading away, pointing to the direction the blood was going. Analysis of this direction can allow investigators to recreate a crime step by step.

To the untrained eye, blood spatter may seem random but it actually forms patterns. Drops of blood would be from an open wound, spurts come from a severed artery, and pools come from a body draining of blood.

 No matter how carefully trained a forensic analyst may be, there is always a possibility that the evidence can be misread, especially if the crime scene is compromised in some way. Perhaps the most notorious example is the OJ Simpson murder trial where photos show evidence being moved and police footprints contaminating the scene. The National Academy of Sciences says that the biggest risk to a crime scene is “a lack of standard forensic practices”.⁸ Because of this, there is a much greater risk of crime scene contamination, which could compromise an entire case.

This where a new laser scanning system comes in. Using special laser technology currently being developed at North Carolina State University, a scanning computer is placed in the crime scene where it scans every visible inch of the room using an invisible infrared laser. The images it creates can be used in crime scene reconstructions without the risk of any contamination from investigators. Once the data is collected, it is sent to video game engineers at the university who then create a 3D model of the room, overlaying high-resolution photographs taken at the crime scene onto the digital model. Once this is complete, investigators can view the scene from any angle.

            Not only is this digital version useful in preventing the contamination of evidence, it can also be used to check eyewitness accounts. For example, a fake crime scene was set up in order to test the capabilities of the scanner and the digital software back at the university. The “eyewitness” reported receiving word of intruders at his rental property. When he went to investigate, the witness said he saw a man escaping out of the kitchen window while the he stood in the doorway of the house, and then he looked down to see a body. Using the digital model, the investigators placed themselves in the location where the witness said he was and found that from their position, it was impossible to see to the kitchen window, therefore the witness must have been farther inside the house and much closer to the body then he reported. The digital clone of the room can also be manipulated. In this case, the investigators said the door from the kitchen to the living room was open when they arrived. They closed the door in the digital model and found that the blood spatter on it was consistent with it being closed when the crime occurred, meaning that the scene had been tampered with before the police arrived, and implicated the witness. While this is just a simulated crime scene and no murder took place, the technology will be used in future crime scenes and may lead to more effective investigations.

            One of the most iconic images in forensic science is the fingerprint. Fingerprinting has been in use for over a hundred years, and the idea that every fingerprint is unique is a fundamental concept, however fingerprints may not be as unique as previously thought. A fingerprint is made up of sweat and oil from the fingertip, which leaves a characteristic imprint on the surfaces it touches. These fingerprints have identifying features that are examined and run through a database of fingerprints in order to find a match. For forensic fingerprint analysts to declare fingerprints a match, they need to have at least 12 corresponding points. However, certain materials such as plastic and metal are easy to wipe clean of fingerprints, and still other materials may only yield partial prints. This may lead to false matches being made, incriminating innocent people. Even if investigators are able to get a full set of prints, there is the matter of actually being able to analyze them. In the past, several different methods of analysis were used. One way was to spray superglue on the fingerprint. The glue particles would stick to the ridges and whorls of the fingerprint and then harden, producing a fingerprint that could be more easily preserved and analyzed. A downside of this method is that the glue is not able to capture miniscule details of the fingerprint; certain features would be obscured and this could lead to a false match.

            In order to combat this risk, more of a fingerprint’s unique characteristics must be exposed. Scientist Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia at Penn State University uses a high tech material called CTF, or columnar thin film, which, when applied to a fly’s cornea as a test, conformed to every peak and valley of the eye.⁴ The material uses microscopic glass bristles that attach themselves to minute details. A layer 200 times thinner than a piece of paper creates a precise form of whatever it is applied to. This technology can be used on fingerprints in order to preserve the tiny details that can separate two fingerprints from each other. To the naked eye, the fingerprint treated with CTF shows ridgelines that would be missing on a superglue fingerprint. When examined under a microscope, exponentially more ridgelines and details are visible. The CTF is currently under review in the field and when it is perfected, it will revolutionize forensic fingerprint analysis.

            All of the techniques and technologies outlined are all very useful in solving crimes, but they are meaningless unless enough forensic specialists are available to use them. Interest in forensic science has traditionally been low, but according to the Forensic Science Colleges’ Forensic Science Job Outlook, “interest in forensic science jobs has grown tremendously in the past decade, and it is not likely to decrease any time soon”.¹¹ Currently, forensic science is one of the fastest growing areas of employment in the US, and has demonstrated a growth rate of over 20% in the past few years. One of the most contributing factors to this sudden interest in forensics is the plethora of crime shows and novels that glamorize the jobs. TV shows such as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, “Bones”, and “Criminal Minds” are immensely popular in the US and are being credited with the increase in the interest toward forensic science. While these shows are extremely popular, others say that the sudden interest can be attributed to advancements made in medicine, science and technology.

            The benefit of these crime shows is that they spark an interest in careers in forensic sciences and there is a quantifiable increase in the number of forensic investigators being trained. However, the technology and techniques shown on the TV shows present unrealistic expectations of what it is like to work in forensics. For example, much of forensic anthropology, which is the study of bones and the skeleton in a legal setting, is the examination of remains with rotting flesh still attached. Viewers of these TV shows do not want to be disgusted by what they are seeing, so the shows give a glamorized interpretation of what is done in the lab. Similarly, most crimes are not solved in one day as depicted in TV shows, but rather take weeks to years with a lot of paperwork and dead ends. According to DNA specialist Dan Krane, “real analysts do their work in the lab—they don’t venture onto a crime scene”. This is a different picture than what is presented on TV, where the analysts are shown to be collecting evidence themselves and then testifying in court. While the technology presented in the shows is usually authentic, it is often portrayed as been more foolproof than it actually is, or delivering results more quickly than is physically possible in reality.

            The problem with these TV shows is not only that they give prospective forensic analysts the wrong idea of what occurs on the job, it may make others believe that when they watch enough of these TV shows they know as much as the experts do. This emerging phenomenon is called the “CSI Effect”. In a paper published in the National Institute of Justice Journal, the issue of juries being negatively influenced by crime shows is discussed. According to the paper, “many attorneys, judges, and journalists have claimed that watching television programs like CSI has caused jurors to wrongfully acquit guilty defendants when no scientific evidence has been presented”.⁶ Jurors believe that courtroom proceedings should progress in the same fashion as what is presented on TV.

In order to provide empirical data to support the occurrence of the CSI Effect, 1000 jurors were surveyed prior to participation in court proceedings. According to the survey, 36% of the jurors expected to see fingerprint evidence in every criminal case and 46% expected to see some kind of scientific evidence in every case.⁶ The good news about this study is that of the jurors surveyed compared to a control group of jurors who did not watch crime shows, although the crime show viewers had higher expectations for scientific evidence, whether or not they watched the crime shows had little bearing on their willingness to convict the defendant. This means that even though the jurors who regularly watch crime shows expect to see more scientific evidence, they are not more or less likely to convict a defendant based on this. If anything, some speculate that crime shows allow the jury to be more critical of the evidence presented which may be beneficial to the case. Dr. Bass says, “even though TV sometimes creates unrealistic expectations about the swiftness and certainty of murder investigations…[they] do get a lot dead right: Crime scene investigation is absolutely crucial to solving a crime” (Bass and Jefferson, 73). An educated jury would be a valuable asset to a court proceeding, and even if entertainment media frequently depicts a glamorized version of this scientific field, any increase in interest could prove to be highly beneficial in procuring convictions.

            Ever since the founding of forensics as a legitimate science, there has been slow growth in the field. It is not an easy job to identify remains and gather enough evidence for a conviction, and results are not guaranteed. Sometimes there is just not enough information to catch a criminal, or even to identify the victim at all. Medical technology is always advancing and becoming more precise and efficient and it seems natural to repurpose some of this technology to help arrest criminals. Positive portrayal of forensic scientists in popular TV shows has helped to create an interest in the field and with more scientists being trained and working in the labs, funding to outfit these labs with state of the art materials and equipment follows. Because of both of these factors, the field of forensic science has grown incredibly in the past decade,¹¹ and in the coming years it may become advanced enough to completely eradicate the notion of a perfect murder.

           

                                                                            Works Cited

¹Baden, Michael. Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner. 1989. New

York: Ballantine Books, 2005. Print.

²Bass, Bill, and Jon Jefferson. Death’s Acre. 2003. New York: Berkley Publishing Group,

2004. Print.

³Burgess, Maria. Personal interview. 22 May 22, 2013

⁴“Forensics on Trial.” Nova. PBS. WGBH, Boston. 17 Oct. 2012. Television.

⁵Genge, N. E. The Forensic Casebook. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002. Print.

⁶Thomas, Andrew P. “The CSI Effect: Fact or Fiction.” The Yale Law Journal.

115 YALE L.J. POCKET PART 70 (2006). Web. 14. Mar. 2013.

⁷Maples, William R. Dead Men Do Tell Tales. New York: Broadway, 1995. Print.

 ⁸Meyer, H. et al. “Unusual blood spatter patterns on the firearm and hand: A backspatter

analysis to reconstruct the position and orientation of a firearm.” Forensic Science

International 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

⁹Mount, Michael. “Forensic Science Laboratory 2030: Physical Environment.” Forensic

Magazine 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

¹⁰Murphy, Marybeth. Personal interview. 9 May 2013

¹¹Paton, Graeme. “CSI Fuels Forensic Science Degree Rise.” Daily Telegraph 16 Oct.

2009. Web. 8 May 2013.

Last Bog!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy last day of SCORE! I am so happy it is over and I am so ready to graduate. For the first part of my day, I went around the school and collected compost. Like I said before, it is my least favorite part of Green Team but it has to be done and I thought of it as sort of a parting gift. After I went around and collected the disgusting and leaky compost, I went back to the Green Team room and organized papers. There was a big box of papers and I put them into three different piles. I put all the papers that have been printed on both sides in the first pile. Those papers cannot be further used so they go straight to the recycling bin. The second pile had paper that had stuff printed on just one side. That pile is then stacked into a tight pile and put in the library to be used as printer paper. The last pile was for papers that were crumbled, ripped, or had staples.  That paper can be used as scratch paper so I put it in a pile for Mr. Magers that he ends up using for his classes. I know this is really interesting stuff. After I organized the papers, I worked on my works cited page. For some reason my works cited page is always so difficult for me but the OWL Purdue website made it so much easier to understand. After I worked on my works cited page I organized the Green  Team room a little bit but then realized there was no use because there are constantly like 10 boys in there so it was not even worth it.

Week 6 Post 3

Today is our last day of SCORE and it was a bittersweet experience for me. It was bitter because I have fallen in love with the kids and don’t want to leave yet, I feel like I have so much more work to do here with these kids, but it is sweet because I was able to become really good friends with the staff and the students. I feel like I can walk away from Manchester Essex High with closure as well as knowing where I want to go in the next few years of my life because of this internship opportunity.

Today I am working in a classroom on the second floor purple wing where the fresh kids are. I have been in that room a few times already and really enjoy it because the kids are so cute. I am not sure yet who I am supposed to be following in that class, but hopefully it is Raul – he and I have become pretty good friends in the short time I have spent with him.

Yesterday the girl I was supposed to follow was out so I just hung out with the classroom as a whole. I think the staff is starting to trust me more because they let me be alone with the kids. I am able to take some of them on walks, to the bathroom, and other places as well. Yesterday I took a girl to do her job which happened to be washing dishes. I really enjoyed my internship as a whole and do not want to leave.

Week 6 blog 2

Last blog post, here we go. These past six weeks have definitely been interesting, but in a good way. This is a super bittersweet feeling, writing this blog. Today was a really relaxed day, which was nice because the kids weren't as crazy today as they were yesterday. Hallelujah for Mr. Stefanek's return. honestly that man needs a raise or something. Throughout my time in the classroom it honestly makes me realize how under appreciated teachers actually are. They are shaping the future and the next generation and get almost little to no credit. On a lighter note, I refuse to end my last blog in a sad tone, so i'm going to talk about some of the amazing kids i've gotten to work with and i'm going to use names because these kids honestly made my score project so much more enjoyable. I loved working with every single student, but these students are some that I became really close to. 

I'm going to start with Paul. He was certainly one of my favorites. He's so funny and sweet and he just was one of the best parts of my day. Then there was Alice and Emily, who were the first two students who even thought to acknowledge me as an actual person rather then the teachers assistant in the back of the room which was nice. Next was Will and Brandon who are probably two of the funniest people i've ever met, and i loved being able to work with them.

I've become so close to each of the students within the 7th grade class. not just the ones above and I'm going to miss seeing them everyday, and I hope they have an awesome rest of the year and an awesome high school career, and i hope they just keep rocking.

PEACE OUT S.C.O.R.E.

Blog for Monday

This Monday was a great start to the website. With the theme picked and the organization and experimenting behind me I was able to really jump into esthetical part of the website. It was time to make this thing look both pretty and full of Gardner Project spirit. Although the website it prominently black and white, because that what we loved about it when we picked the theme, we added a few pops of color in certain areas so that it would seem upbeat yet still sleek. Purple was our color of choice. We added small accents of purple. We then designed a logo that incorporated a tree. Representing the strong roots but branches to reach out to people in all directions and also in a way a “tree of life”. Once we designed a logo, with Ms. Epp’s wonderful help again, we then were able to put in on our website. I was very pleased with the logo because I felt as though it really represented this project perfectly. Monday also consisted of things like creating a Google account for the Gardner Project so that we were able to have a separate email and a Google calendar that will be able to hold all upcoming events, that will show up on the website. Monday was a really busy day but got us excited to finish so that our website would be fully complete. Although Monday was busy and successful yesterday and today were the days that really brought everything together. 

Blog for Friday

It is now Wednesday but I will be blogging about Friday because I forgot to do that last week. As you may have noticed me journals have become very repetitive for the simply reason being that the last two weeks have been solely focused on getting The Gardner Project website up and running. Although you may think this is an easy task, like I thought at the beginning, you would be quickly mistaken. Wordpress can either be complicated of simple depending on the theme that is chosen. After having switched themes, or templates if you will, we finally chose our lasting template, which is called “Backstreet”. This template is very clean lined because it is designed to be mainly in back and white, which Mr. Wallimann loved. Friday consisted of getting the third theme that we were trying, to work for us. As I clicked millions of bottoms and put in a bunch of “fillers” to see where everything ended up after I posted things I finally got the hang on it and Mr. Wallimann finally seemed content with this theme. Relieved, I kept playing around with the theme and seeing how to get everything organized in a way that would work for us. Friday pretty much consisted of getting used to another theme and trying to figure out all the little details to things. It also consisted of more meeting with Ms. Epp, which I was starting to feel bad for because I didn’t want to use her time. 

Wednesday

Today in the Green Team I applied for a workshop called the New England Environmental Education Conference and Sustainable School Summit. The conference takes place at Salve Regina University during the first weekend of November. Mr. Magers wants to do a presentation explaining the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability programs in schools. Though he is a perfect fit for this conference, an application must be filled out and it is not guaranteed that he will be able to do a presentation. I filled out the application to the best of my ability and explained that his overall goal is to invoke other schools and organizations to start up their own Green Scholars programs. Within the application, I also explained how his presentation will show how to approach starting up these programs. In order for a successful Green Scholars program, it is necessary that there is a strong connection with the community and it is important that community partners are established. He also intends on explaining the benefits of Green Scholars programs in schools and how having an advisor makes it possible to define goals and projects. After I filled out this application, I filled up the jugs of water in the storage room. It took me so long to fill them up but I am happy I did it so tomorrow when I need to water the plants I will be all good to go. I love watering plants because it gives me a chance to walk around and it makes me feel better knowing that they are getting the water they need so they will not die.

Emily: Week 6 Post 2

                Yesterday I worked in my brother’s classroom which was a lot of fun. I worked mostly with a girl named Ayden, she is adorable. I helped her with her morning work, which she is one hundred percent capable of doing she just needs to be reminded to do it. After morning work the kids went to yoga, but I just watched. It is so neat to see my brother in school because he acts so differently than when he is at home. I never knew he was so interested in doing yoga. Out of all the kids in his class he was the most focused on it. Of course it wasn’t like intense yoga, but it is till more than what most kids will do in this school. The two paraprofessionals and I took 3 of the kids on a walk during the day because it was so nice out. I have noticed that the staff tries to keep a one to one or one two student teacher ratio and if there is more than one kid two staff members are needed just in case something happens whether it is medical or behavioral related. I have also noticed that with the kids who have a harder time with behavior the staff takes a walkie-talkie with them.

                Today I am with a girl named Chelsea, I have been with her before she is adorable and all the kids in the class are so nice, so it should be a great day.

Week 6 blog 1

The last week is so bittersweet. Today there is a substitute so i'm really excited to be more hands on then usual. There were a lot of issues with some of the students goofing off, but once they were seperated everything went smoothly. It's really fun to compare the students behaviors to when there is a sab and when Mr. Stefanek is here because it is completley different. Some students were amazing today adn toher were just hard to control. I have a lot of respect for substitutes because I know how 7th graders think whent here is a sub. They think that they don't need to do work and they can goof off the whole entire class, which isn't the case. I'm excited to see how the rest of the day goes and I hope it goes better rather then worse and there are no repeats like there were second block. It really stinks to seperate kids but when they aren't getting any work done while sitting next to eachother then it's the only option.

Week 6 Post 1

This week is rather different for me. Because it is my last week I got to choose what I wanted to do. I told my supervisor that I wanted to follow the kids around instead of the therapist. Yesterday I was in a class with five kids. I worked mostly with two of them. It was interesting because I did not pick who I wanted to work with the kids picked me. It was really nice to click with some of the kids. They all wanted to hold my hand when we went on a walk and wanted me to help them with their class work. If I was not helping them they had to come show me when they were done. Today I am following my brother in his class which should be interesting for a few reasons. He always gives me dirty looks when I see him in school. It’s also very different today because all of my brother’s teachers are like family friends now; they come to our house and everything. I also know all of the kids in his class and they know me so I feel more comfortable in that class than other classes. It is always an adventure when I am in that class. The last few times I was there we worked on building an ice cream truck for an art show. It was so big, one of the girls in the class was able to go inside it. It was pretty funny.

SCORE #12

On Friday I drove out to the Brimfield, MA to a huge antiques show which happens every year. The textile show happens on the Monday before the show which I had gone to, but Brimfield is the regular antiques show so it has dealers selling everything. I left around 7 and got out there by about 9. There was a lot of traffic once I got to Brimfield, so it took a while to get to a parking spot. The show is essentially dealers on either side of a main street, which are part of antique stores and auction houses. I parked down the street and then began making my way down the main street going into the different fields. Some fields open on different days, but since I was there on Friday most of the fields were open. I tried to get to the more well known fields, where I saw a ton of different dealers and different things. Some dealers specialized in certain things, like paper or rugs, while others had a mix of things. Overall I saw some really incredible items of all different areas. I was only there for 1/2 a day so i'm sure there was a ton of pieces that I didn't have a chance to see. After i'd been there for a few hours I started to make my way back to the car and then decided to take off and drive back.

SCORE #11

On Tuesday in Lynn, it was a pretty busy day, with a few groups of designers coming in. The first people that came in were from Polo, who were looking for denim. After the Polo people left, I started in on a project which was taking all of the pants and re-organizing them. The pants had previously been sorted by style, and fabric. I began to sort them by size first, then by style and fabric. The pants take up a couple of racks of space and are tightly packed, so I took out all of the 30" waist pants which gave me more room to begin sorting everything that was already on the racks. Sorting the pants by size instead of style can be more helpful to people working on movies or doing retail because the sizes are obviously easy to find, whereas designers would have an easier time if the pants were organized by style and fabric. After I got a lot of the pants sorted some designers from Fossil came in and got some things, and after that some retail people came in for a bit. After everyone left I had sorted a lot of the pants and the day was about over.

SCORE #10

On Monday I drove out to Sturbridge, MA to go the Vintage Clothing and Textile Show. I left at about 7 and got out to Sturbridge by about 9 because of traffic. Upon my arrival I got in line and waited for the show to open at 9:30. The line was pretty large, and primarily filled with many people like designers, dealers, and collectors who go out to the show to buy. A lot of the dealers who showed pieces were people specializing in Victorian clothing, lace, and antique women's clothing which was what the show used to be primarily composed of until more dealers began to go to. I saw a lot of unbelievable pieces and a lot of well known dealers were at the show. As far as the men's clothing went there were a good amount of pieces in all categories, as well as accessories. I also had the opportunity to see a variety of textiles and other textile related goods like fabrics and rugs. The main room that the show was in was primarily people selling clothing whereas other rooms were more textile oriented. After a couple hours I got back in the car and drove back to Lynn to the warehouse and then was done for the day.

Happy Monday

Today I started my day ready to write a grant for the Green Team. I went through the excel list of grants that I composed and then started further researching them so that I could pick one to work on. After reading through a lot of the grants, I realized that I just do not know enough about grants to write one in such a short amount of time. I got wicked stressed since there isn’t even a week left and I knew that it could potentially be bad because I didn’t want to start it and not be able to finish it, especially knowing that it was the first grant I would have ever written. I explained this to Mr. Magers that this job might not be for me and I am thankful that he is very understanding because he told me that I could work on other things instead. After that conversation I felt bad so I went around and collected the compost from around the school. Composting is probably the most disgusting task there is in the Green Team, so it is definitely not something I would like to do again because old dripping food is not something I am very excited about. After I collected compost I went around and collected teracycle. Teracycle is still gross but still far less disgusting than composting. It took me about two hours to collect all the compost and teracycle from all the rooms in the school building. I just finished that and next I am going to order three plaques for certificates that Mr. Magers and other green scholars have won. I am trying to find a bamboo plaque because that is the most environmentally sustainable and this is the Green Team so it makes sense!

Blog #15

Today was another quiet day working with Dr. Burgess. I usually switch off helping her test drive labs one day and then helping with paperwork the next day. Since I worked on the gel electrophoresis lab on Thursday, I helped out by grading tests and labs today. I don’t grade open response answers too often because for one thing, I don’t grade tests that often, and secondly if a teacher asks me or a small group of people to grade tests, we are usually given multiple choice tests to grade because the answers are much more definitive. It was hard grading the short answers on some of the tests because I was never sure how much credit to give an answer. If it didn’t seem 100% correct, I didn’t know if I should give half-credit or only take off a point so I had to confer with Dr. Burgess a lot. Grading the labs was slightly easier but I still have a greater understanding of how much time goes into grading tests and don’t mind as much if the tests take a little longer to get back. Since next week is the last week of S.C.O.R.E, Dr. Burgess and I will mostly be working on tying up loose ends of labs we started but never finished, last minute paperwork and grading, and small projects around the lab such as inventory of supplies or consolidation of materials. I liked working at school because since I had three different internships, it was nice to be in a teaching environment and learn more about anatomy than what was covered in class, which supplemented what I learned at the medical buildings. 

Blog #14

Yesterday I spent the day working with Dr. Burgess to prepare a gel electrophoresis lab for her classes. Electrophoresis is the use of electricity to separate macromolecules such as DNA and RNA by size. Using a special plastic box attached to a power source, a current is run through a wire which sends electrical signals through a matrix. The macromolecules which have been placed on the matrix will begin to move across the field at different speeds depending on their size. Dr. Burgess and I made a bunch of practice matrices using Jell-O instead of the usual agar base, so we had to boil water on a hotplate and then make add the powder. I also had to figure out the volume of the clear box with and without the special plate for the matrix so that we know how much buffer to put in the box and remain consistent. The Jell-O took a long time to make because it wouldn’t dissolve properly. After it was finally ready we had to measure out 25mL of the liquid Jell-O and pour into onto the plates, being careful to avoid making bubbles which would make it harder for the molecules to move across the matrix. We didn’t get to finish the lab because the Jell-O had to stay in the fridge over night in order to firm up, but we finished all the math, set-up, and inventory so the lab should be ready to go for next years’ classes. 

Blog #13

On Monday I spent 3 hours making photocopies of the anatomy lab book and then scanning them into Dr. Burgess so she would have a database of online copies of labs for future classes. Because that was the only thing I did that day, I will talk a little bit about the goals of my S.C.O.R.E project in general. A couple of years ago I was interested in forensic anthropology, which is the study of bone structure in humans applied to a legal setting. It’s sort of like a medical examiner except the remains have little tissue left. The more research I did the more I realized that I would be very lucky to find any kind of steady employment so I looked into being a medical examiner instead. Medical examiners go through medical school and are forensic pathologists, and what appeals to me about this profession is that there is a lot less pressure to save a life, and there is no physical pain involved. I am also entertaining the idea of becoming a surgeon, and although I’m not sure which field I would prefer, I am very certain that I would like to do something medical, as opposed to working in a lab. The two internships I completed showed me aspects of a normal practice and field (such as oncology) and while I don’t think I want to become an oncologist, it was very interesting being behind the scenes and working with the doctors to diagnose and create a treatment plan for patients.

Week 5 Post 3

Yesterday was a crazy, but fun day because one therapist had three kids out so I didn’t get to spend much time with her. The only time I could spend with her was a half hour session which turned into only fifteen minutes because we couldn’t find each other. I also got to have a session with a boy who is graduating next week. He was really cute. We did the supply orders for each room and then delivered them. I also got to work with my brother again in the clerical room where he did his favorite activity; cutting paper. After that I ran around doing errands for the woman who runs the vocational unit. I helped set up for an art project as well as get the kids set up for their clerical, prime products, and recycling activities. After that another occupational therapist had me go outside and take pictures of the building for her. The last thing I did yesterday was go to a yoga class with one of the rooms. It was really cool to see them get so excited about this class. It was also extremely uplifting to see the kids respect me as a “teacher” even after just being in their class for couple days. I was able to direct them and get an immediate response out of them. I told one of the boys my name once and now every time I see him he says, “Hi Emily!” If we were allowed to have favorites he would be one of mine.