The JR Factor
Journalism Rocks Magazine
Summer 2017
College For Kids Founder Helen Sinclair PG 4
Self Driving Cars PG 5
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Exotic Pets Should we own them? PG 9
Photo by Mary Saunders
Table of Contents Page 3 | Staff and Mission Statement By Madeleine Reno Page 4 | Self Driving Cars By Josh Dimalanta Page 5 | Self Driving Cars: Rebuttal By Alex Yang Page 6 | Helen Sinclair By Samuel Chen and Ava Wehrmeister Page 7 | Helen Sinclair cont. Page 8 | Exotic Animals Argument By Evalyn Soungpanya Page 9 | Braille at DVC By Mary Saunders Page 10 | Digital Filmmaking By Alex Yang Page 11 | Crime Scene Investigation By Samuel Chen
Letter from the Editor By Samuel Chen
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When I first started the Journalism Rocks class, I was happy and more than a bit nervous. The class was at first a bit awkward as no one really knew anyone else, but we quickly got to know each other. Now I can call everyone here, not as classmates, but part of an amazing magazine production team. During my time in the class I learned lots about the ins and outs of journalism. One great thing about the class was the personal interaction between the staff members. Very early on, we got to know about each other when we created our opinion pieces, and enjoyed digesting and discussing the articles (See why self-driving cars are essential to the future, Pg. 5). As editor I am very proud of how hard our team worked to create this publication.[Type here]
The JR Factor College for Kids | Journalism Rocks Magazine
Editor in Chief
Samuel Chen
Director of Photography Mary Saunders Photographers Madeleine Reno Mary Saunders Josh Dimalanta Ava Wehrmeister Alex Yang
Graphic Designers Madeleine Reno Mary Saunders Josh Dimalanta Ava Wehrmeister Alex Yang Writers Madeleine Reno Mary Saunders Ava Wehrmeister Alex Yang Samuel Chen
Managing Editor Alex Yang Director of Graphic Designing Madeleine Reno Advisor Charleen Earley
The JR Factor Mission Statement
Here at College 4 Kids we strive for truth, accuracy, and honesty. We at the JR Factor follow Voltaire’s saying: “Writing is the painting of the voice.” Summer 2017
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Are Self-Driving Cars Good Idea? By Josh Dimalanta
Do you think that making self-driving cars a reality is a good idea?
The technology in the cars system could fail at any given moment, and if one single failure happens, it could result in a major accident. That would result in many deaths and injuries in a single year. Many people would trust that the car is completely safe and ignore the whole idea of wearing a seatbelt.
Although self-driving cars could eliminate traffic by anticipating traffic conditions and redirecting a faster route by a car to car technology, they could break before a life threatening accident occurs. I believe that they are not a good idea because the price would be super expensive, which means not many people would be able to afford them.
Not wearing seatbelts goes back to the fact of many injuries and deaths in a year. Cars don’t have eyes, which means they wouldn’t know when the traffic light turns red, yellow or green and they couldn’t see any road signs or junk that is left on the road.
In order for them to be truly effective in eliminating traffic, everyone would have to have one with the car-to-car technology. Many people and even machines are needed to install and assemble the car. The GPS would probably be the most important factor in the car, because it directs you to your desired destination.
The car can’t sense poor weather conditions whatsoever and slip out, crash into piles of snow, or even go straight into a tornado without the person inside to control it.
Photo by Alex Yang My dad’s Tesla Model X (pictured above) was released in 2016, has partial self-driving capabilities.
The GPS could have an error and lead you to a completely random location.
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That is why I believe self-driving cars are a bad idea.
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Summer 2017
Why self-driving cars are critical for the future
Photo by Alex Yang My dad’s Tesla Model X has partial self-driving capabilities. Newer Teslas have Autopilot 1.0 which is the self-driving feature.
By Alex Yang Many people think that self-driving cars are dangerous, but in reality, they're more reliable than humans. Sure, they're not flawless, but they will make the roads a safer place overall.
According to the YouTube channel, Life Noggin, about 1.2 million people die per year due to car accidents and around 94% of them are caused by human error. Selfdriving cars would not eradicate all accidents, but would drastically decrease these numbers. People who couldn't drive before would also be able to drive. The blind, handicapped, mentally impaired, elderly and other people who cannot drive could use the technology to be free to travel, something that they might not have experienced before. Self-driving cars also would make life easier. The capability would allow the main passenger to do other things such as using a mobile device, eating and sleeping. This feature would help people with long commutes stay entertained rather than be bored for hours, although self-driving cars could limit traffic.
Self-driving cars could be programmed to accelerate simultaneously, reducing traffic at intersections. Of course, accidents could still happen, so there would have to be emergency services. The Tesla Model S and Model X, both of which have partial self-driving capabilities, still have steering wheels and the cars will remind you to keep your eyes on the road while in “autopilot” mode. There was an incident where a Tesla on “autopilot” mode crashed into a truck killing the driver, but the driver was watching “Harry Potter” and not paying attention to the road. New self-driving cars will not need the main passenger to focus on the road though, since they will have full autonomy, something Teslas do not have yet. As long as trustworthy companies build reliable cars and program strong software, self-driving cars should and will take over the roads.
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Summer 2017
Helen Sinclair helps students find their talents through College 4 Kids summer program By Samuel Chen and Ava Wehrmeister Photo by Mary Sanders Helen Sinclair is the creator of the popular kid’s summer camp, College 4 Kids, at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, CA. She told us, “What happened was that the admins of C4K (College 4 Kids) wanted an outreach program where both students and parents alike could learn about the campus and choose DVC (Diablo Valley College) as their college.” “The lady that was originally going to run the camp said she was too busy and it was too close to summer to run the camp, and they had nobody to organize the camp, so they asked me. It was very successful, and was even more successful the next summer,” said Helen. It wasn’t easy to run C4K, though. She recalls it being hard to get any rooms. Sometimes, they couldn’t even have all the classes they wanted due to the lack of rooms. “We couldn’t sign up for rooms until the summer school got all the rooms they needed. And every bad thing that happened was blamed on C4K!” said Helen. “Once, there was a fire in the boys’ bathroom at 7 a.m.,” added Helen. “They called me and told me my students set a fire in the bathroom. None of my students were even there, not even me!” Today College 4 Kids offers a diverse option of classes for people to take, covering topics like cartooning, mental math, digital citizenship, yoga,
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and chemistry 101. Over the course of her 30 plus years in doing College 4 Kids, Helen had to spend time writing up rationales for each new additional class. “So we just grew and grew,” Helen added. Perhaps it was her persistence in running the camp that allowed it to be so well known. “People in the community got to the point where they knew about College 4 Kids,” she added. “I didn’t even have to advertise in the paper.” Helen has been given appreciation certificates and has been written up in the local papers many times. “We’ve just gotten a lot of free publicity because we have a good program,” said Helen. Amazingly College 4 Kids isn’t just attended by the local kids here. Sinclair explains excitingly about how there are many kids far and wide who also attend. “People would tell their friends and they’d stay with friends here if their parents wouldn't bring them,” said Helen “It just got bigger and bigger and bigger and they were coming from all over.” College 4 Kids, according to Helen, has even gotten kids from the United Kingdom and Korea
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enrolled because they heard of College 4 Kids from relatives and wanted to come. Sinclair recalls the days when students would have to line up outside her office to sign up for the classes. “Sometimes lines would be clear out the door and around the building!” laughs Helen. College 4 Kids has certainly grown. Currently the program has over 1,507 students on the Pleasant Hill campus and 436 students on the San Ramon Campus. There are 53 individual courses taught at the DVC, which is the host for College 4 Kids, which translates to about 180 separate sections. In College 4 Kids, students from grades 4 to 9 participate in a plethora of interesting activities, where they can find something interesting or unique that they can excel in. Helen is proud to have made a major contribution to its success. “I particularly had a lot of empathy for students who had difficulty in certain subjects. They needed the extra help, they needed the extra encouragement, and with my own children, I wanted them to work up to their potential,” said Helen. “Everyone doesn't have the same talents, so don't be envious of other people that can do a lot of things better than you can, because there are things that you can do that are a lot better than anyone else. You just have to find your own talents.
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Photo by Mary Saunders Helen Sinclair enjoys a laugh during her interview. .
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W hy You Shouldn’t Own M ost Exotic Animals owners cannot supply. So it’s best to not own them as private pets. Tigers and bears are predators, including most big cats and other massive mammals and reptiles, they live in a Photo by Mary Saunders specific habitat like a Although this isn’t an exotic animal, it is a bonus to have a forest or the Savannah. domesticated animal because they won’t have the wild instinct to attack or run away. They need plenty of By Evalyn Soungpanya Exotic animal, a rare or unusual animal. Some people call them pets, such as like tigers and bears, boa constrictors, and chinchillas. Take Gallegos or bush babies, small nocturnal primates native to continental Africa, for example. They are rather cute, but they need their own separate habitat of an open-branched area that most Summer 2017 [Type here] [Type here] [Type here]
space to move and a territory and bigger mammals and reptiles, such as lions and crocodiles, have abilities to cause death if you do not treat them with the proper care and are not careful. You shouldn’t own any big animals such as wild cats and mammals, as they can be unpredictable and aren’t used to an enclosed space in a backyard or cage. And as they grow older, they will need more
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space as some grow bigger and would need more food as well. Smaller exotics, like chinchillas and bearded dragons are easy to keep and maintain as you could keep a smaller and more affordable pet that is common to get, at pet shops. Most exotic animals should belong in zoos if they are disabled, an endangered species, or being researched anyway. So you shouldn’t own them privately, as there are zoos and rehabilitation centers, rescues, and sanctuaries that could need help in caring for exotic animals. If you want to be in touch with exotic animals and see one up close, I suggest that you could volunteer at the areas I mentioned. You shouldn’t own exotic animals, but you can help by volunteering, or working with them.
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Exploring Braille at DVC through Rose Desmond By Mary Saunders Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you were blind? How could you learn? How would you read? At Diablo Valley College (DVC), there is a class that teaches people who are blind or have low vision. This class, run by Rose Desmond, uses a lot of new technology to give students with sight disabilities the best opportunities possible. Rose is the Alternate Media Specialist at DVC. She does not teach braille to students, but she teaches students who have sight disabilities.
Photo by Mary Saunders Rose Desmond is hard at work in her office printing braille. She uses a special computer program to change regular typing into printable braille.
“DVC has about 30 low vision students, four blind students and 30 deaf students,” said Rose. If a student does not know braille, Rose recommends the Braille Institute in Fremont.
Some technology this class uses includes is a guillotine, a braille printer, Kurzweil
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300, Jaws, and Zoom text. This technology is very useful to students with sight disabilities. A guillotine cuts binding off notebooks to make braille books. It can cut up to six inches of paper. “This guillotine was purchased 10 years ago and it cost$ 8,000 dollars,” said Rose. A braille printer is just what it sounds like. You can type what you want written on a special computer application and then print it on a special printer. Braille is a type of embossed writing. It is written with a series of dots for each number or letter. Once printed, the braille pages can be put into a book form. Jaws is a computer application that reads everything on the computer screen. Every time you switch pages, it will read you everything it says. You can change the font, font size, voice and highlight with Kurzweil 300. Zoom Text can enlarge the font, zoom in and out and can change the font’s color.
Summer 2017
The fun in filmmaking By Alex Yang Photo by Mary Saunders One of the classes offered at DVC’s College 4 Kids is Digital Filmmaking. Taught by Jacob Lloveras, the students in the class have the chance to create a short film. Emma Zweidinger, 12, is a student in Digital Filmmaking. Ever since she was young, she loved filmmaking and signed up for the class to get better at it. Emma made random skits and is currently making an action and comedy film. She might consider pursuing a career in filmmaking in the future. Although Emma says that digital filmmaking is fun, the class requires hard work. “In Digital Filmmaking, you need patience,” says Zweidinger. Besides patience, she says she has learned how to film screenplays at different angles and has developed more teamwork skills. The teacher of the class, Jacob Lloveras, has been making films since sixth grade, but digital filmmaking wasn’t around then. “I remember making films all the way back to around 2004. Back then, there really wasn't such a thing as digital video - it was all on cassette,” says Lloveras. Summer 2017
Lloveras became heavily interested in filmmaking around late-elementary school when YouTube stars such as Smosh, Happy Slip, Kids edit a short film in Digital Filmmaking NigaHiga, and Wong Fu first classroom taught by Jacob Lloveras. became popular. His first experience with filmmaking was filming videos on a laptop webcam and then uploading them to YouTube. They were about how he became double-jointed. Eventually, his content and style evolved as he learned from his past mistakes. “Along with personal projects, such as my first feature titled "The Weeaboo" and working for the local television station, I've also done freelance work too,” says Lloveras. Lloveras started teaching recently, starting with Freshi Media in October. At Freshi Media, he teaches programming, animation, and stop motion. Hollis Bronfman, a College for Kids veteran, joined the class so she could make better school projects, but her favorite part is acting in her film. She wishes to become an actor in the future. “You really have a chance to act,” says Hollis.
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Students investigate simulated crime scenes at DVC By
Alan Ruck, 13, also was interviewed about the class. He came with his younger brother Andrew, to learn more about what crime scene investigators do. “You got to be patient to process evidence and to go to different crime scene,” said Alan. Both Mikayla and Alan are interested in fields that use crime scene investigatorrelated skills. The teacher of the CSI class's name is Julie Jaecksch, and she has quite the interesting background. Before working at DVC, she worked at the Oakland Police Department for over 25 years from 1990-2015. Jaecksch earned a Bachelor's Degree in law enforcement from the University of Maryland, and a Masters Degree in forensic sciences from The George Washington University.
Photo by Mary Saunders A CSI student gently carries a shoe print mold, and places it lightly on the ground in the sun to dry.
Jaecksch also gives advice for aspiring crime scene investigators.
Samuel Chen At DVC there is a class that teaches something called CSI. CSI stands for Crime Scene Investigator. It seems like a pretty popular class, based on the number of students inside. Students in the class dusted for fingerprints, made shoe casts, made handprints, and cast each other's fingerprints. According to Mikayla VanAntwerp, she would like to pursue in a CSI related job and finds the class interesting. She would like to learn more about shoe prints and studying fingerprints while learning how to become a proper crime scene investigator. “You have to be patient and aware for important details, also you can’t contaminate evidence,” said Mikayla.
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“Always remain objective about the work, listen closely to what you are told, understand that the evidence tells a story at the crime scene, and that writing a thorough, detailed and accurate report will help the attorneys, jurors and judge understand the crime scene and what the CSI did there to know how important the evidence is,” she said. Currently Jaecksch co-teaches a CSI class for college students at DVC. She started teaching at DVC January of 2016. Her co-teacher handles the lab portion while she teaches the two lectures each week, and helps in the lab if needed. She teaches the dangers and unusualities of the job.
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Summer 2017
College 4 Kids 2018 Subscribe to CommunityEd@dvc.edu for a brochure about College 4 Kids 2018 and new classes such as robotics, underwater robotics, digital animation, sculpture, comic book creation, stop-motion animation, TV broadcasting, astronomy, graphic design and printmaking.
Photo by Mary Saunders Students in Julie Jaecksh’s new CSI class (pictured above) reviewed fundamental CSI skills including photography, notetaking, dusting for fingerprints, crime scene sketches and evidence collection and including items for DNA analysis. Her students worked in small groups to process simulated crime scenes and tried to solve the case. Her class took place in a campus crime lab and offered a hands-on experience in the world of CSI. [Type here] [Type here] [Type here]