This is a report on the Dangers of Drugs in the book That was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton

Feb 17, 2015

The Dangers of Drugs in “That was Then, This is Now”

The year is 1971. Drugs have taken over America. SE Hinton’s coming of age novel, That was Then, This is Now warns teenagers about the dangers of drugs. The protagonist, Bryon Douglas has to learn whether to make the easy choice or the right choice. Bryon and Mark are best friends. But when Mark exhibits poor judgment, their friendship falters and Bryon must make the most important decision of his life. Bryon learns about the dangers of drugs through choices made by Mark, his adopted brother and M&M, his 13-year old friend.

Mark helps Bryon learn about the dangers of drugs. “M&M was in the hospital and maybe he was messed up for life and Mark was selling stuff that made him this way” (146). In this scene, Bryon sees the atrocities that drugs caused M&M. Bryon links it to Mark, because now he realizes who supplied all this hurt. Another quote is, “I thought about the blond, dead-looking chick and about M&M screaming about spiders, and Cathy half hysterical with grief” (146). As Bryon looks back at all of the horrible circumstances at the hippie house, he decides whether to forgive and forget or to remove one source of drugs. Bryon felt “ ‘Don’t drag me into this’ I thought, ‘Don’t make me blind just because you are’”. In this scene, Bryon decides not to forgive Mark for selling drugs and not to succumb to Mark’s plea for forgiveness. He also resolves to hate drugs because of the damage they caused to everybody he knows. Bryon learns about the dangers of drugs from the perpetrator. Now, let’s look at drugs from a victim’s perspective.

Bryon learns about the dangers of drugs, by the way M&M acts after taking them. “I went into my stomach. I went into my stomach and those spiders came out. I never knew that there were spiders in my stomach” (139). In this quote Bryon can see how M&M’s brain functionality has deteriorated, based on his crazy talk. He realizes what the drug, LSD, can do to a small, but smart 13-year-old. “ ‘Where am I?’ he was screaming in terror, ‘Why don’t I know where I am?’, ‘I was just sick, I didn't know how Cathy was managing’ “ (141). Bryon is sick when he discovers that M&M’s faculties have all but deteriorated. He also realizes the Carlson family’s perspective and M&M’s condition. “His old expression of complete trust and intent interest was entirely gone” (154). This scene happens when Bryon and M&M meet in a drugstore, later in the book. He contemplates the change in M&M, both physically and emotionally, after the drugs. From M&M, Bryon learns about the dangers of drugs through the deterioration of one’s mind.

In That was Then, This is Now, Bryon learns about the dangers of drugs through his abhorrent experiences with Mark and M&M. Mark was the drug dealer, who gets apprehended and M&M is the innocent boy who gets caught up in drugs. SE Hinton’s message about the dangers of drugs warns teenagers across America. Her message shows the dire consequences of making the wrong choices.

A little history on the instrument I play

History of the Baritone

The history of the baritone started in 1790, when a man named Ernst Chladni created an instrument composed of glass tubes of different pitches, and named it the euphoniun. It was the basis for the modern brass instruments name. Then, the first brass instrument was created in 1815 by Heinrick Stolzel and Friedrick Blushmel At this period, the shape of the baritone is slowly molding to the modern designs. In 1823, William Wieprecht, a German musician uses a similar instrument to the baritone called the Tenor Bass Horn.

As you can see, the tenor bass horn (pictured to the right) looks very similar to the modern baritone pictured below it. William Wieprecht used the tenor bass horns in his ensembles in which he used to perform in front of the king of Prussia. In the 1830s, different manufacturers in Germany and Austria experiment with brass instruments of the tenor/baritone range. The prototypes developed in these factories led to the modern design of the baritone today. Then, in 1838, Carl Mortix creates the Tenor Tuba, with the same bell and mouthpiece positions as the modern baritones:

The Tenor Tuba had 4 keys, whereas the baritone only had 3.

The baritone also had saxophone influence; Adolph Sax, creator of saxophones made a batch of valved brass instruments called Saxhorns.

The Bb baritone saxhorn could relate to the modern baritone.

Finally, after almost 20 years of development, The Sommer of Weimar created the first euphonium. The greek derivative of the “baritone” means “great-voiced”, whereas a baritone counterpart, the euphonium means “well-sounding”.

As the invention of the euphonium travels around the globe, the french army was required to have 2 baritones in cavalry bands. The euphoniums’ first formal performance was with the The Royal Artillery Staff Band of Woolwich.

The baritone gets its first improvement in 1859, with Phasey, professor of Euphonium and Baritone at Kneller Hall in England. He expanded the bore, or conical hole in the bell. He did this again in 1870.

The baritone changes in its form to an over the shoulder type, and starts being seen in America. This kind of baritone pictured left below, was used in the civil war. The silver baritone to the right is an alternative model called the tear drop.

In 1870, the japanese used 2 euphoniums in their bands. In the from the late 1880s to 1903, another version of the euphonium, called the double belled euphonium, is used in many songs. The double belled euphonium, pictured in the commercial to the right, was an attempt to combine the trombone and the baritone.

After the euphonium, the baritones took over, as they started appearing, mostly in Mahler’s Seventh Symphony in 1908. In 1921, concert bands had too many brass instruments, so baritones were limited to just brass bands.

In 1950, the english started to perform in just low brass ensembles. In 1964, the last double-belled euphoniums were issued, putting a stop to the trombone-baritone combinations.

In 1968, R.Winston Morris creates an internationally recognized euphonium-tuba ensemble at the Tennessee Technological University, much like the one pictured below. The 1970 is viewed as the Euphonium renaissance, as the Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association (T.U.B.A.) has completely re-developed the styles for the brass.

Finally, in the 1990s, after 200 years, from when Ernst Chladni created the glass tube instrument, the first modern baritone is complete.

The modern baritone supports the range shown below. It has 3 valves.

The baritone and the euphonium have very little differences. THey have the same pitch, notes, and fingering. The euphonium has a fixed upright beland valves facing up. The baritone has a bell front bell, and valves facing forward.

Bibliography

1. http://www3.nd.edu/~baritone/history.html    
2. http://abbakiwi.tripod.com/id12.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone_horn
4. http://www.fortpointbrassband.org/instruments.html     (for images)
5. http://www.usna.edu/USNABand/groups/be.html           (for images)

The French & Indian War and the Pontiac War

As some people may know, I am a huge history fan: This is a Report on a few native american wars.

The French & Indian War

The French & Indian War was a major war that led up to the American Revolutionary War. The French & Indian War lasted from 1756 to 1763, for seven years. It was nicknamed the Seven Years War. The Countries that participated in the French & Indian War were Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden. Prussia was a country in Europe at that time.

France was claiming land near Western Canada. Sweden was pushed out of the system by Britain. Soon France and Britain's interests met and caused disputes around Ohio and Canada. The British Troops outnumbered French troops because Britain had their own militias and made their own food while the French had to rely on the fur trade and food from France, but France had the help of Native Americans, who thought the British would take their land.

In the early 1750's France had set up numerous forts around the Ohio Territory. One of the forts was Fort Duquesne. Colonel George Washington was ordered to capture Fort Duquesne with 150 militiamen. They fought, but their was more French Soldiers than the 150 militiamen. While fighting to capture the fort, George Washington's forces made a makeshift fort called Fort Necessity. French forces surrounded the fort and made Washington  go back to Virginia with a letter saying that Ohio Territory was France's Territory.

Britain responded on impulse, they sent General Edward Braddock with George Washington and marched to Fort Duquesne. Disaster struck. The French and Indians were hiding behind rocks and trees, shooting. This attack was successful, but Braddock got shot during the battle. Back in England, a new prime minister, William Pitt, took power. His strategy to win the war was to capture Canada.

France and Britain were fighting now in Canada. The main battle ground was

Lake Champlain. In 1757, France captured British Fort William Henry. Looking for revenge, the English army captured French island fortress in Louisbourg, French Fort Frontenac, Fort Niagara, and Quebec. The Battle of Quebec was a gain and a loss for Britain: they won Quebec but lost their beloved general, James Wolfe. Wolfe’s assistant, Jeffrey Amherst continued the attacks on Montreal, the last French garrison. These frays continued for a few years and finally, the Treaty of Paris was signed, making France give up all land in Canada. Even though the British won the war, they faced a huge debt for all the soldiers.

Pontiac’s War

The Pontiac War was a war between a group of Native American tribes mainly from the Great Lakes Region and the British. The Native Americans ambushed a number of British forts and settlements. It lasted from 1763 to 1765.

In 1759, a group of Native Americans from the tribes Ottawa, Huron, and Potawatomi found a group of English Rangers in present-day Michigan. The Ottawa Tribes leader, Pontiac interrogated the rangers about why they were trespassing on Native Americans Territory. The Rangers said they were here only to remove the French. After the rangers gave Pontiac wampum (beads), Pontiac smoked with them. Pontiac then agreed to be under the English crown, but he said that if he would be tricked, he would shut down all routes to the west of the Appalachian mountains.

When the French & Indian War ended in 1760, the Indian Territories had a sudden influx of English people. The Native Americans realized that when they had an alliance with France, France sent supplies and weapons, while now, the English were not giving them

anything. The Native Americans soon also found out that they were not welcome into British Forts and intermarriage was discouraged. The Native Americans took these actions as an open insult to them and a breach of protocol.

In 1762, the Native American Delaware Prophet Neolin had a vision where he met the Master of Life. The Master of Life told him: “The land on which you are, I have made for you, not for others. Wherefore do you suffer the whites to dwell upon your lands? Drive them away; wage war against them; I love them not; they know me not; they are my enemies; they are your brothers' enemies. Send them back to the land I have made for them.” Neolin wrote this down on deerskin. Neolin's theory was one of the building blocks for the Pan-Indian movement. One of Neolin's followers was Chief Pontiac. Neolin's message became Anti- European, but Pontiac got the message as Anti- British.

In 1763, Neolin, in present- day Michigan, urged the Three Fires Confederacy- Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi to expel the British. In acknowledgement, Pontiac led three tribes, Shawnee, Delaware, and Ojibwa to oppose the British. Pontiac said to his men, "It is important for us, my brothers, that we exterminate from our land this nation which only seeks to kills us."  Pontiac and his allies gained control of nine of the eleven British forts in the Ohio Valley.

In attempt to calm down the Native Americans, the British issued the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade any settling of colonists west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Pontiac War ended because the British turned the tables and made it biological warfare, and caused a smallpox epidemic by infecting two clothes during a peace negotiation.

In 1764, Pontiac sent a wampum belt for peace, but the British simply chopped up the belt. This angered the natives but there was nothing they could do. At the end of the Pontiac War, the British asked for all the English captives to be returned to them. They got the captives back. In 1775, the war was over and Britain asked for Pontiac to carry the peace message to all the other tribes.

Annotated Bibliography MLA Format

Secondary Source #1

"The French and Indian War (1754-1763)." Www.kidport.com. Kidport.com, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/frenchindian/frenindwar.htm>

This website helped me understand why the French & Indian War happened and what happened before and after it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secondary Source #2

"The French and Indian War Part 1: The Colonies in America." The French and Indian War Part 1: The Colonies in America. Social Studies For Kids, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

<http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/frenchandindianwar1.htm>

This website was telling me information that was in an easy to understanding way. Other websites were not so easy to read and understand, so I got the context of the French & Indian War after I read this website.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Primary Source #3

Ojibwa. "Pontiac's War." Www.nativeamericannetroots.net. N.p., 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/906/pontiacs-war>.

This website was a journal from a Native American during the Pontiac War, so it was

primary source. It was written so I could visualize what was happening in Pontiac’s War.     

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secondary Source #4

Drake, Frances F. "Pontiac's War." Www.warpaths2peacepipes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-stories/pontiacs-war.htm>.

This was written for kids, so it was easy to understand for me.

.

My Sacremento Field Trip in 5th Grade

Recently, at school I went to Sacramento as a field trip. I went there with my class, my teacher, and chaperones. We went on a bus service called Sierra Pacific. We went there on

May 31st, 2012. We started from Goldenview elementary. We also had a tour guide with us all day. While getting to Sacramento Our teacher played the movie:

How to eat Fried Worms

Our first stop was Old Sacramento, where we studied the place where gold miners dug for gold. Also we saw a paddle wheel boat, that was used to take people up to the gold mines, and take people from the mines to San Francisco.

We walked from the port in Old Sacramento to the Railroad Museum, still in Old Sacramento. We learned about The big 4 and Theodore Judah. We saw many different trains and what they did to the history of California.

Our next stop was the original Wells Fargo bank, where we learned about the difference between Pyrite and Gold. We got to see lead blocks covered with gold coating. We also saw a stage coach model and a lot of facts with it.

We did shopping in Old Sacramento for a little while. I bought a sour apple bubble gum.

Our last stop was Sutter's Fort. We learned about John Augustus Sutter and what he did to California. We saw how they made flour, how the made shelves, and we saw a real live cannon! The only problem was, the fort was easy to breach.

From Sutter’s fort, we dropped off our tour guide and started the long journey home. In the middle of the way home, while we were watching  Diary of a wimpy kid, our bus broke down. We had to wait in the bus for 45 minutes, until another bus came. The new bus didn't

have any TVs so we had to do something else. Our teacher says we were very good during the breakdown, so tomorrow we get a prize.

Hey Viewers! I have just started this blog based on previous content I wrote. Don't pay attention to the dates, just read the content! Thanks!

Curiosity Has Landed on the Moon!

Recently I just heard that on August 5th, Curiosity, a space rover just landed on Mars! I just watched a video on it, called  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=146903741

It is really interesting how they get it to land on mars. Even at the speed of light, It still takes 14 minutes for light to get there. That’s how far away mars is from us.

First, they send the rover in space with a rocket. the rocket deploys the rover near the atmosphere of mars. The rover starts going down into Mars. The rover is now looking like this:The rover has a special heat shield on it that keeps the rover from burning up in the massive amount of heat and friction. When the rocket drops it off, the rover starts going to mars at 1000 miles per hour. At that rate you can travel from San Francisco to New york in just 3 hours! But 1000 mph is way to fast for landing . So they use a giant supersonic parachute:

{insert supersonic parachute image}

But the parachute only slows it down to 200 mph. Still too much speed for landing! so now what does Nasa do? They use rockets. The rockets takes the space rover about 20 meters up from the ground. If the rockets touch the ground, they will create a huge dust storm that will damage the rover. so the rocket part launches a 20 meter  rope and gently puts the curiosity on the ground. This is called the skycrane maneuver.>>>>>>

                 

In Conclusion, this is probably going to be a success mission and going to be one that the world will  remember.

I visited the Exploratorium in San Franciso musuem at The Palace of Fine Arts to see the model of the Curiosity...

Volcanoes National Park

While I was in Hawaii for my summer vacation, went to Volcanoes National Park. I did 4 things there.

1. Go down a lava tube

2. We saw the Kilauea Cauldron

3. We went to the museum to study the history of the volcanoes

4. I hiked down a tropical rainforest that was awesome

In the lava tube, I Walked down a lava rock tunnel for about 10 minutes. =The tunnel was man made but it went right through a lot of igneous rock. DON'T TAKE ANY ROCKS FROM THE TUNNEL! In Hawaii, there is a myth saying that if you take a rock, the goddess Pele, The Volcano Goddess will be mad at you. She will bring you bad luck until you return it in the exact same place you found it.The park has a warning saying; High amounts of dangerous sulfur may be present in the park. Even though it has that warning, you should not miss the exciting sight of bubbling, lava.

I also saw the Kilauea Cauldron. It was a gigantic volcano. You should go see it. I could see the bubbling red liquid that was lavaI could almost feel the 2,000 degrees fahrenheit. It was like a steam room except hotter.

I also went to see the museum at the park. I learned about volcanoes, How they are formed, and what they do to modern Hawaii. Did you know that The Big Island’s Eastern side is growing?!

The next thing I did was hike down a rainforest and see many cool things such as bamboo shoots and many varieties of fern.

There is a new island being born to Hawaii. It is called Loihi. It will breach out of the ocean and become an island 100,000,000 years from now. I won't get to see it! The new island is being formed from a volcano that erupts a lot.

Overall, my Volcano experience was very fun And I hope to go to Hawaii again.   

The U.S.S Hornet

Recently, I went to Alameda and visited the U.S.S Hornet. The U.S.S Hornet CV-12 is a United States Navy aircraft carrier of the Essex class. It started in 1941. It served in the two most important mission of 1900’s which are the landing of Apollo 11 and WW2. It served in the WW2, Korean War, and Vietnam War, Operation Magic Carpet.

When we went there, The First thing I saw was a gigantic helicopter.”Cool!” I exclaimed. We saw this video about safety and then we went on a tour of the engine room of the Hornet. I saw Shirley, or the giant engine in the room. We learned many stories on the tour. The tour lasted 1 hour, so after the tour, it was 1:30.

It was lunch time  right now and we were all famished, so we were forced to go to the

U.S.S Hornet. Most of the items on the menu were containing meat, so we had to eat the Veggie Burger. We gave the counter our order and sat on the table. All the table had pigeons on them + their poop. When we received our order, it was just two buns and a veg burger. We also bought a nacho box for $4.30. When we got it, it was HUGE!! When we opened the box, the nachos looked terrible. I slowly picked up a chip. It glared at me with it’s huge cheesy eyes. I was starting to have second thoughts. . . I put the chip in my mouth. BLECHHHHH!!!!! It tasted HORRIBLE. I wish it was a tasty type that you get in Regal Cinemas when your watching a movie. I totally regret eating that nacho. When everybody else ate another nacho, we decided to just throw it out.

Around this time it was 3 o'clock. Just in time for our flight simulator tickets we bought at the front desk. We went in to the flight simulator with a great expectation that we would control a plane and try to shoot down Iraqi planes simulating Operation Desert Storm. It was so disappointing, that it felt you are in a plane and the computer is shooting down other planes without and controls. The visual effects were terrible. We regret buying the two simulator tickets.

The next thing we did was going on a flight deck tour. It showed the island picture of island or tower of the aircraft carrier. I had to climb up 5 flights of stairs + a not working escalator  to  get up there. I also got to sit in the captain’s chair, but it wasn’t very comfortable. I can’t imagine how the captain sat for hours in this chair directing the ship. I also went to the admiral’s room- the admiral is a navy officer who directs a group of ships. I learned about the navigation system of during WW2.

Overall, I liked the part when I was on the flight deck, where the aircraft take off and land. I saw many aircraft, and I want to be a pilot when I grow up, so I have a natural interest to it. My least favorite part was the cafeteria food. That food was the worst food I’ve ever tasted. Well, the veggie burgers were pretty good, but the nachos- too much. I would recommend this journey through the 40,000 tons of history in the Hornet. In spite of the bad food it is a great experience.

Snorkeling in the deep . . .

Oh no! I coming back to California from Hawaii! I recently went to Hawaii for my summer vacation. I only stayed at Hawaii for 6 days! Can you believe that? Only 6 Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But, I still did a lot of interesting things in Hawaii. One of the most interesting things was I went to snorkel in Kealakekua Bay, at the Big Island. We took a boat ride from Keauhou on the Fairwind Snorkeling company’s boat, the FairWind. It was 45 minutes on the boat before I started to snorkel.

The fairwind had a 13 foot high dive into the water and 2 water slides that slide you down until you drop 8 feet into the water.I went on one of the water slides. It was extremely It is almost very, very dense. The water was turquoise in color. I could see the bottom of the ocean floor. The coral and fish that I saw were very colorful and were very awesome to see.

When I went to snorkel, I saw many cool things such as coral and many fish. I even saw a baby shark! I felt very refreshed after I went to snorkel because the water was very cold.

Overall, I think the snorkeling experience was very interesting and very fun. Maybe you should try it to!!