Throughout the process of finding information and ways to stop the bill S.3804 Combating Online Infringement and Copyrights act. (COICA) A lot of worry was spread through the people, but due to the late introduction to the bill, It didn’t have enough time to get signed as It was introduced in the 111^th congress, It is now the 112^th congress which means the current bills slates were wiped clean to be introduced in the new congress. However I am unsure that with the new senators and house members, and the change of Majority in the house switching over to Republicans, I am not sure if this will affect the outcome of the bill if it is reintroduced.

I have a good feeling that it will be because something like this is introduced every year or so, it is only a matter of time before serious consideration is put on hand towards the future of this bill and change the balance if it will be passed or not.

We have to be smarter and more informed about the things that will drastically shape the way we see and do things in our daily lives, the Internet isn’t just the internet anymore, it’s a part of people, and taking away the freedom of the internet is taking away the freedom of the people. Information has been exploited since the beginning of man, It is only when somebody exploits them does it become a problem and they feel the need to pursue the cause.

We have nothing  to worry about as of now, we just have to sit and wait to see if a senator will put this bill back up on the ballad. We should though, be more preapred when this bill comes back up, because we know the possible dangers of this bill and how to possibly stop it, that's what we need to do, as soon as it is introduced we need to imemdiatly contact our senators and demand that they negate this bill and hope forever that this idea of limitation and control over the internet will be dismissed.

For the past two quarters, I have been lobbying for a greener Philadelphia. It began with a seed being planted, if you'll pardon the pun-- the tree that had stood outside of my house since my childhood was cut down. Although it was already dead and slowly falling apart, it was the only tree on my entire block. I wanted to be able to go outside and see something organic. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently not, because soon after that tree was taken away, another was planted in its place. A live one, this time. I wanted more of these trees, so I decided to do something about it.

My lobbying research eventually lead me to Greenworks Philadelphia, a project lead by Mayor Michael Nutter calling for an exponential growth in urban trees over the next 5 years. I expanded my topic to include other green aspects of Philadelphia-- carbon footprints, natural energy supplements, etc.

I have created 4 blog posts total. Each of them serve to educate, explain, or notify the public as to the environmental situation in Philadelphia.

My final blog post is in the form of a flow chart. Through answering a few yes and no questions, it allows citizens of Philadelphia to figure out the way they can best help to green Philadelphia.

​Click here to see my (somewhat interactive) "How YOU Can Help Green Philadelphia," flowchart.

The earth, much like the human body, will only tolerate so much abuse before it gives in and dies. We will not be able to continue living here if we do not preform some much needed maintenance. Even though I am done lobbying,  I hope to continue being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

This is my letter to Senator Scott Brown (R-MA). He is against the DREAM Act because he feels as if it is a "backdoor amnesty." With my letter I am hoping to convince him to vote for the DREAM Act. Though many students and people have tried to convince him and fail, giving up is not an option. 

Dear Senator Brown,
            My name is Caroline AbdulBaki and I am a senior at Science Leadership Academy.  This year, applying to colleges is an incredibly huge part of my life and filing for financial aid. While fighting to accomplish this overwhelming process,  I tend to ask my friends to see the kinds of steps they are taking. All or most of them would say their process is complicated, easy, and or done, but not all of them mean it. Some of my friends would not be applying to colleges or for financial aid because they are illegal immigrants. They know that financial aid will not be given at any cost, and in some situations, they are declined from going to any college.
            The DREAM Act gives these hard working students an opportunity to be leveled as an incredible student. These students that you are now depriving from college have been attending your school districts since Pre-school. They should not be punished for a mistake their parents committed and the child takes all the sufferings. . These children may not be American on paper, but they are at heart. I understand the pros and cons of the DREAM Act, however “the children are our future” should be a huge reason why you should vote for the DREAM Act. These children work hard to receive an education and achieve in life in order to help make OUR country a better place to live. It is important for those who help represent the country their entire lives to be given a chance.  They work hard to accomplish DREAMS they have had for a long time but not to be crushed by a system that limits their education. If you are not a favor of the wordingm try to change it, make it reasonable but I ask you to not take this opportunity away from these earning children.
            Take a minute and put yourself in their shoes. Put your children in their shoes imagine if they were to suffer from a mistake that you had made in your past. It is a frustrating proccess that any parent or child would be willing to fight.  We want to legalizing immigrants and why not help those who deserve it. Take a second Mr. Brown and truly think about these children by helping to make the right choice for these children.

Sincerely,
Caroline AbdulBaki

 

For this last blog post, I was thinking about writing a letter to the department of transportation on a federal level. I wanted to bring up key facts as to why more regulations of new cars should be published for the safety of drivers. Beside new cars, foreign cars are also a danger, and in this letter I explain why and how we can improve

Dear Mr. LaHood or Office of Transportation,

Over the past couple of years, car accidents has become top news over the country. After the Toyota fiasco, I believe now is the time to change our judgments as to which car companies should have more regulations and more time before being sent into the market. In February 2010, the gas and brake pedals of the new Toyota's Prius Hybrid malfunction. Recalling around 300 thousand cars back, American began to recover from this chaos of "runaway cars" and being uncontrolled by a 90mph car. Also in March '10, Nissans' manufacturers in the brake pedals and fuel meters have failed to make efficient parts and the company announced withdraw of 540 thousand cars from markets around the world.

With each new car in the market, there's always a slight chance of putting drivers in harm. Though most car accidents are from unsafe driving, cars can be another dangerous factor. To prevent other incidents to happen, we should improve the regulations of checkups for new and foreign cars. Companies should be more responsible with mishaps. Added regulations should help shape America's future of safe driving.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/08/toyota-recall-prius-hybri_n_453188.html
http://www.cargurus.com/blog/2010/03/09/green-update%E2%80%93the-runaway-prius-and-some-thoughts-on-evs
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5335476-technical-problems-in-the-car-nissan

Here is the letter i wrote first to the organization and it sums up what i want to be doing and how i further want to help.  

Dear Pro life,     
    I am doing a project in school about how/ and who can reduce the # of abortions each year, all over. There are some people with in the state of PA that would like to see this happen as well and can spread that news to higher powered authorities in the state and all over. Abortion is something that i see as a major crime, and should be treated as a crime.
    I have been researching about the effects that it has on specific people, and why. also i have been really looking into who is for and against it so i can know who will  help and who will not. There are a couple of senators that are really into not having the government support anything that has to do with abortion and taking a life. Even the President of the United States is for not having the govt. pay for any kind of abortion related activity within the US, and that can be a major changing factor for winning this battle sometime in the future. There is a lot to be thinking about in that there are a lot of factors that only one can seem capable of completing. There are things that I as a young adult can only complete in this challenge.     I need to know what i can be doing, and even if i can be doing anything to further help the organization of pro-life, to thence and further produce a positive effect on the people who are trying.

-Graham Davis

For my final blog post, I wanted to actually contact my representative Dwight Evans. I wanted to see what his plans are to reduce violence in Philly and introduce some of my plans to him. I also wanted to attend one of his events/ try to help him with his attempts to solve the issue. To start this process I wrote and sent an e-mail to him with my ideas:
My ideas included:

•Interventions for teens to educate them about violence and create a way for them to feel safe when they feel in danger of uncomfortable.
•Creating more after school programs for teens rather than just younger children.
•Create another organization similar to Work Ready but make it more accessible so teens can have more job opportunities.

My email was sent but I didn't receive a response. Dwight Evans didn't have any  scheduled events that I was be able to attend before the due date of this assignment.

Here is a photo of the letter that I emailed him: Please Zoom in.

​I just sent a letter to my district representative, Larry Farnese, requesting to meet with him to discuss education policy. I don't think I'm in any position to lobby for my cause just yet, but I hope to learn a lot about city politics and what it's like to be a representative. I plan on asking him what he thinks of Ackerman's Imagine 2014 plan. I also plan on finding out what he does as part of the state senate education committee. How does he influence political decision making? How does he serve my district? I'm also interested in his opinions about education - how does he feel about magnet and charter schools? And, with regard to my lobbying cause, what does he think of the SDP curriculum? I'm hoping he will also be able to direct me to other authorities involved with education who might be willing to speak with me.

For this blog post, I have decided that I will write a letter to the former House of Rep. Nick Lampson. Nick Lampson introduced The Securing Adolescents from Exploitation-Online Act of 2007 (SAFE Act). The states that anyone that offers open Wi-Fi Internet Connection to the public, that obtains actual knowledge of any facts or circumstances in relati9on to illegal visual media such as child pornography transferred over that connection must register a report of their knowledge  to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

 

Child pornography on the internet has been somewhat ignored by the public. Unless one’s child or relative in involved in child pornography then it’s not really a big topic to people. The whole purpose of me doing a series of blog post about this topic was to raise awareness about the situation and plan an action to take against it. Even though the Nick Lampson is a former House of Rep. I’m sure that he still can have a major influence on this situations being as though he introduced the SAFE Act.

 

My previous blog posts have given information about important officials, authors and everyday people who support this issue that I could contact. Me being a lobbyist, I have to put my best foot forward in emailing and phoning this people so we can spread the words about the negative impact child pornography has on our children and our society. The United States needs stricter laws for this type of things. Laws that would make people think twice about anything that deals with child pornography.

 

The SAFE Act is definitely something that as a Nation we can build off of. I take pride in making it that child pornography is no longer a lingering problem that is under the radar. As I come in contact with officials and others, I will make it my business that I can help create if not join organizations that are opposed to child pornography and that has the same mindset as me.

 

I am willing to do whatever to see that child pornography on the internet is no longer an issue that no one pays attention too. If I am not able to come in contact with Nick Lampson, then I will try and reach The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and the authors of the “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protections. Both of these resources have given me information that would come a long way in me becoming a more persuasive lobbyist to stop child pornography on the internet. Letters will be written, phones calls will be made. Lets bring forth change.

 

Future Plans:

• Send letter to Nick Lampson or other resources
• Create groups and organizations
• Join groups and organizations
• Call The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
• Send letter to the authors of “Guidelines for Policy Makers on Child Online Protection”