Mapping America

Today at The Hillwood Herald we visited Mapping America: Every City, Every block. That's where we enter an address and then the site shows us that street, city, state, etc. The site also shows us the population of the area, and it reveals rivers, lakes and other forms of water. You can even type in a word like feather or glasses and the site would show you a place called feather lane or street.

I had looked up "kitty" and a city called Kitty showed up! I enjoyed searching the city because cats are my favorite animals. This website is educational as well because you can learn the populations of many different areas and the ethnicities of them.

The census helps us because we will be able to know what our population is and how many seats will have to be provided at the Congress by each state. That, in turn, affects things like funding for education and social services -- elements of our life in San Francisco!

Obama Tells the State of the Union

On January 25th, Obama held a speech, the State of the Union, which started with the topic of jobs. Obama said, "But this shouldn't discourage us. It should challenge us." We have the best colleges and universities in America, worldwide.

Obama asked three main questions: "What do you think of the idea?" What idea, you might ask? The idea Obama is hinting at is the rights of one's rights in America. I, Angela, think that the idea is correct: All people have rights of their own and choices of their own. I, Camryn, agree with Angela. I think everyone should go by their own opinion. Everyone should have equal rights.

The next question Obama asks, is, "What do you want to change about the world?" Camryn thinks that we should be focused on being more green. I'm about to move to Arkansas, where hardly no one recycles. I think that that should change because Earth is our home, and we're killing it. I, Angela, agree with Camryn's thoughts that we should go green. In one-hundred years from now, do you think our planet will be filled with plants and trees if we keep treating it like this? If we want it to stay with plants and animals, we should stop using fuels that harm the earth.

The last question Obama asks is, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" When I, Camryn, grows up, I want to be a paleontologist. I want to be a paleontologist because I am I am interested in the study of plant and animal fossils. I, Angela, want to be an animal cop because some animals are treated horribly by people and I don't see why they deserve it. I want to help animals who are in need and were treated with cruelty.

Can you answer these questions yourself? You can go see the excerpts at the White House Website.

Article by Camryn and Angela

Design for Giving: San Francisco, America

Though San Francisco is a pretty cool place, there are still some things about this city that bother me. I think that there are some things that San Francisco can improve upon.

Take for example, litter on the streets. It just bothers me when people dump their garbage on the walkways. I wish people would just respect the city more. I want to volunteer to help clear up littered streets.

Another thing that bothers me is poverty and gangs. One of my best friends lives in a hotel where she's afraid to leave the room, scared to even go to the restroom. She hears gunshots at night. I think there should be more programs that crack down on gangs and drug dealing.

As for America, well, everyone knows this country is not as discriminatory as many other countries and that we have plenty of freedom. Everyone knows that we Americans are spoiled with so much freedom, but still, everyone knows America isn't perfect. Some of its problems include: greenhouse gases, clean-up from Hurricane Katrina, the recovering economy, difference in pay between men and women, racism, sexism, and the war. America is working on reducing its amount of greenhouse gases, but there are still plenty of people who disbelieve its existence.

Though Hurricane Katrina happened over 4 years ago, there's still plenty to clean up and reconstruct. I hope the government would pay more attention to this major problem. The economy is recovering slowly, but there isn't really much we can do about that. America should also make it illegal pay men and women differently. Racism is still a big problem, but as time goes on, I believe that it will slowly diminish. As for the war between America and Afghanistan. It bothers me to know civilians are being killed by the dozens each day, but as for a solution, I'm not sure if I can say much...

Some things require action to be fixed, and some things just need time to heal.

by: Brigette W.