Hi, everyone. There is a big issue in Lawrence,Kansas about people who are homeless in Lawrence Kansas. The homeless in Lawrence are unable to find places to live. Even though there is a homeless shelter. They end living on streets, people's cars, people's garages, and other places. So, I decided to make a video about this issue and be a news reporter to get peoples opinions, and find solutions to this problem. I also, interviewed a homeless man to see what he thinks about it. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Mohammed AL-Abdulla

4/23/12

                                The success as well as the future plans of Dr smith

Doing an interview with doctor smith was really interesting. I asked her about her life and background. Moreover, I asked her about the things that she does for Avila University as well as her future goals and plans.

 First I asked her about her life background. According to Dr. Lisle Smith she did well in school because she had to plus she wanted to go to college. After high school she had to start thinking about how she could afford to pay for college since she came from a poor family.  Her mom worked hard to give her money to go to college plus her mom also went to college when Dr smith was doing college. When she went to college she took her studies seriously. When she was either a freshman or a sophomore she realized that she wanted to be a professor so she needed to learn how to perform as well as look for many scholarships that would pay for her to go to school. Dr. Smith said that the most important thing that she did in her life was to sign up for the speech and debate team in high school. It was because of that that she learned how to speak publicly, make a good argument, think critically, think on her feet, and be entertaining. Also, in those three to four years she traveled the country to compete nationally in debate and speech.

The second thing I asked her about in the interview was what things she does that make her successful at Avila University. According to Dr smith when she first started to teach she taught at bigger Universities, which helped her in knowing how to deal with the students. For example, she let her students do their stuff by themselves. Also, according to Dr smith, she gave her students lots of work to do even though her students didn’t like it. At the end of the day all that work, if done well, will make them not only better in school but also in their lives.

The last thing I asked Dr smith about in the interview was her future goals and plans. The future goals she mentioned were that she was hoping that her book would be published in a year or a year and a half and that she hopefully would be able to build up the women’s program at Avila University. 

Mohammed Al-Abdulla

Rokos life

                          Roko was born and rise in Japan. She grew up in countryside south of Japan. Also, she was there until high school. After that she came to Kansas to study English in central Christian college in Kansas for two years. After that she transferred to university of Kansas and she started to study applied behavior science over there. Right now she works as a pre schoolteacher. Also, another work she does is that she works with people with disabilities. 

Her life in Japan was interesting. She had one sister. Also, she said that her sister was six years older than her so she couldn’t hangout with her only after she became older. Also, she said that in Japan her life was different than the United States. For example, she said that in Japan the society was big. Plus she can’t say what ever she wanted or do what ever she wanted in Japan because the rules there were very strict. She said that in the United States she could say and do any thing she wanted to do.

She liked to do lots of things. For example, she liked to take pictures. Also, she liked to make albums and script books for her pictures. Also, the most important thing that she liked to do was that she focused on socializing. So, she went to events, she did volunteering, she did events, for the applied English center, and she met with lots of people. Also, she loved to know about different cultures.

Her future plan was that she wanted to work with kids, especially the one with disabilities. Also, she had some experiences that would help her achieve her future plans or goals. For example, in the beginning she worked as a part time in the cafeteria. It was in the kitchen area. After that she did a student aid job.

In the end she wanted to talk about why she came to the United States. She said that she wanted to be a flight tended when she was a teenager. So, she wanted to study aboard about English. So, she went to a lecture about study abroad in America. She said that when she was there was a lady who told about the American life style. After that she decided to come to the United States. Also, the lady helped her in doing the paper work, visa, and health insurance. Also, she came with her to Kansas. Also, the lady checks on her every year. So, that’s why she came to the United States.

 

According to Kathryn  cruzen a Senior student at Avila University and   Danne winter a junior  student at Avila are that they like to set next to eachother when they study as well as when they do their homework.

Mohammed AL-Abdulla

2/4/12

                                                             Seth Brooks life

Seth was a native of Lawrence Kansas. He was born in nineteen ninety-two and he has lived in Lawrence all his life. His mom and dad are from California. His dad wanted to go to school here. There are six kids in his family. According to Seth his life has changed even though he has lived in Lawrence all his life. For example he was a home-schooler until he came to the University of Kansas. In his life as a home-schooler his mom taught him and he also taught himself a lot of the time. He had a friend who lived close to him growing up that was also home-schooled. They would do their homework fast so that they could hangout together riding bikes, trading basketball cards and playing a lot of videogames.

Seth said that there were always lots of people around his house. He has two brothers and three sisters as well as his parents and lots of friends that came to visit a lot. Seth likes to be around people. As he became older his subjects in school started to become harder. He also started to take classes in groups. For example, he used to take speech class. In the beginning he hated it but after a while he came to love it.  In addition, he learned from a certain guy many different things. After that he came to be in more classes in groups with home-schoolers. For example, according to Seth they started to learn with each other about literature and economics. Also, according to Seth, when he was doing speeches he met lots of people from different states such as Nebraska and Minnesota since he traveled for tournaments. Seth said that he went to nationals last year.

According to Seth one of the big things was that he was like some of the other people in the United States in growing up as a church kid. he always went to church and helped out with the youth. Plus he worked in a coffee shop. When he finished high school he decided that he did not want to leave Lawrence, he likes the veriety of the weather and he isn’t in a hurry to get his own house. Here in Lawrence he had lots of options like Johnson County College and the University of Kansas. So, he went to University of Kansas. When he thought about what he liked to do he decided to do public speaking and communications. Right now he works in a coffee shop downtown where he has met lots of teachers and professors from the University of Kansas.

 His future plans involve figuring out if he wants to study abroad. Four of the members of his family speak fluent Spanish and he loves to learn and have conversations in Spanish. He thinks he may want to go to Spain or Costa Rica to learn Spanish better.

Mohammed AL-Abdulla

4/2/12

                                      Ballard community center

Yesterday at Signs of Life there was artwork from five-year-old children presented by the Ballard community building. There were two Women who represented the Ballard community center and the artwork that the five-year-old children do there at Signs of Life. Their names are Becky and Hannah.

According to Becky and Hannah they create the programming reporting with the CCO. Becky and Hannah were proud of everything they did.

According to Becky her favorite project that was done by the five year old children was story night. The way the five-year-old children did the drawing was using both paint and flower. They mixed them with each other to give the paint a different consistency, which made the art beautiful.

According to Hannah her favorite project that the five-year old children did was the cup cake project.  The way the five-year-old children made it was by using real cup cake papers. Then they used the paint on top of them and they used real sprinkles to put them on. Hannah said the children had much fun doing the project. Also, Hannah said she loved the way the children spend time in creation.

According to Hannah and Becky the project was different than art sales. For example, all the art will go back to the children after they are done showing it to people. Instead of selling the artwork they put a donations box out so people can give money to the Ballard community to support the children in the future.

Mohammed AL-Abdulla

2/4/12

                                                 Signs of Life

According to Seth and Anne, Signs of Life has three parts. The first part is that there is a bookstore in Signs of Life. The bookstore sells different kinds of books. For example, biography books, fictional books and theology books. The second aspect is that there is an art gallery in Sign of Life. The art gallery has drawings from local artists and people go there to look at the art. The third aspect is that they use the art gallery for weddings and other events. On Mondays they use the floor for tango dances. There is also a coffee shop inside Sign of life.

According to Seth and Anne what makes Sign of Life more unique than other coffee shops is that they are in a very old location. Plus it has an antique setting. Also, according to Seth and Anne, it is unique because they have a coffee shop, book store, and an art gallery and the seating is in all sorts different areas. They also have a conference room in the back of the bookstore where people can go to study, or people can go in a more secluded area with art and sun shining in. They can also study in the main entrance where they can see people coming in.

According to Seth and Anne the members who work in the coffee section in Signs of Life always say that they are different from Star Bucks because even though they have good coffee they focus on different things. For example, in Star Bucks they like to make the coffee really consistently and fast. Signs of Life, according to Seth, seek uniqueness since they are a local business. Also, they want to be unique in the kind of coffee they make but at the same time they want to make a really good quality coffee. The workers learn each step in how to make the coffee unlike at Star Bucks where you only push a button to make the coffee. Also, according to Seth and Anne, Star Bucks only has paper cups, but at Signs of Life they have an Italian style, the Maseiato cups and mugs to put the coffee in. They can also make art on top of the coffee, for example they can draw you a tree or a leaf on top of the foam. the employees who work in the coffee section at Signs of Life know the providers of the coffee and they go and practice with them. When they go to practice as well as learn from them they improve their levels in making coffee.