If...

If  we did not put our soldiers’ lives at stake,

They would be safe, and our hearts would not ache.

If we would have used words instead of guns,

We could have saved our country’s sons.

If now we understand that war is not the key,

We can start our call for humanity.

If  we understood that keeping animals in captivity is bad,

We would not have to see them miserable and sad.

If we hadn’t just closed our eyes,

We would realize that captive animals painfully die.

If now we all can be true animal lovers,

We can do something so animals won’t suffer.

If  we could understand that domestic violence leaves much more than bruises,

We could stop people from being so abusive.

If we would have dialed 911 in time,

We could have stopped a heinous crime.

If now we all take a stand,

We can stop domestic violence from plaguing our land.

If  we realize that drugs are not a solution to depression,

We can stop them from becoming an obsession.

If we can stand-up to the peer pressure for smoking weed,

We can stop drugs from being a need.

If now we can become the support system for everyone,

We can stop drugs from killing us one-by-one.

If  stereotypes weren’t perpetuated by society,

Everyone could have their own personality.

If we didn’t have certain expectations,

Everyone could have different aspirations.

If now we don’t judge or categorize,

Stereotypes will diminish, and we won’t have to live by lies.

If  there were no radicals to begin with,

Then terrorism would just be a myth.

If we would have sorted things out orally,

We could all live morally.

If now we forgive and forget,

We can live without a threat.

If  we are all together to end this disgrace,

We can, and will make the world a better place,

For birds, animals and the entire human race.

Be Strong, Be Courageous, Be Pink

As I always say, “There is no such thing as too much pink.”

I have a pink room, pink clothes, pink supplies, pink everything, and this is the way it has been since the beginning of time, and it fits right in with my personality.

Pink, as I’m sure you’re aware, is a combination of red and white. It contains the action and energy of the color red, while also having the purity and maturity of the color white. It is a perfect blend between both colors, and represents me as a human being very well. When I am more proactive, a darker shade of pink would portray me better, and when I am calm, a lighter shade would describe me.

Pink is a delicate color that represents sweetness and femininity. Pink denotes friendship, harmony, and approach-ability. This represents me well, because often my friends find me easy to talk to when seeking comfort, and will almost never find me tangled up in drama.  Pink is also the color of universal love of oneself and of others. People who like pink are sensitive to the needs of others, along with being accepted and loved as their own greatest need. This might explain why I enjoy seeing people happy, especially when I am the reason for it; and also equally like when I’m showered with love.

Color pink takes its name from the flower Dianthus, which is commonly known as carnation, or pink. Even though pink got its name from “the pink” flower, it is often associated with other pink flowers like pink roses, lily, pink tulips and the Japanese cherry blossom. Whichever the flower is, they all spread fragrance and makes this world a beautiful place.

Pink is often used to stereotype girls as being soft and feminine. Yes, I am caring; I am sweet; I am sassy; I am lively; I am confident; I represent beauty and grace with inner strength and power, and I am every bit proud of being a girl.

Quoting Miley Cyrus, “Pink is not a color, it’s an attitude!”

AR-Zoo, the future of zoos!

I am sure we have all been to a zoo before and have enjoyed the experience. Most people go to zoos for entertainment, spending time with family, connecting with nature, and education. Growing up, I have been to the Happy Hollow Zoo, the Oakland Zoo, and the San Diego Zoo several times. I was always excited to see the monkeys jump from branch to branch, see the lion roar, or the cheetah run in circles. In fact, I would run over and press my nose to the glass cage for a better view. But, little did I know, that this pacing was due to a mental illness.

Captive animals live a very harsh life at zoos. Zoo confinement causes elephants to develop painful arthritis because there is not enough room for them to walk and stretch their muscles. Tigers and lions have around 18,000 times less space in zoos than they would in the wild and polar bears have one million times less space. That’s like a human being spending their lifetime in a bathtub! Everything would be so cramped!

For these reasons, some animals even risk their lives in desperate attempts to free themselves. At the Dallas Zoo, a gorilla was shot to death, while trying to escape. There is also a recent case of shooting the gorilla named Harambe at Cincinnati Zoo.

One possible solution for zoo captivity is an Augmented Reality Zoo. These AR-Zoos will be a combination of real animals, animatronics and holograms. Domesticated and endangered species will be the real animals in their natural habitat. Other wild animals, that we only see from far away in a normal zoo, will be replaced with real looking, life size animatronics. And, videos of animals from the wild will be projected as 3D holograms. This will keep the benefits of zoos intact while addressing the disadvantages of zoo confinement.

I am Aarushi Wadhwa, and this is the solution my team and I are proposing. We are team AR-Zoo, a Lego robotics team that consists of five 7th graders from Moreland and Cupertino schools. Driven by our passion for STEM and solving real-world problems, we are proposing this futuristic idea that will help get animals back into the wild where they belong, and at the same time giving the same fascinating zoo experience to humans.

We participated in First Lego League (FLL) Robotics tournament, which is an international competition organized by “FIRST” (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization. This year's theme is Animal Allies, in which each team builds a robot to complete a certain set of missions, and to recommend a solution to make interactions between humans and animals better. We chose to address the problem of animal captivity, and our solution is AR-Zoo. In November, we took part in the qualifying tournament at NASA Ames Research Center and came 1st in the project area and in the top 5 in the robotics mission category. In January, we participated at the NorCal FLL Peninsula Champ regional robotics competition at Burlingame High School and received the “Coolest Project” and “Teamwork Award”. For the robotics mission category, we tied at 12th place.

We have shared this innovative solution with industry experts including Dr. Robert Visser (Applied Materials), Dr. Wendy Holforty (NASA), Dr. Mehmet Tek (Amazon), and animatronics experts at PETA, who all agree that an Augmented Reality Zoo is definitely the step forward.

In partnership with PETA, our team has recently showcased their life-size, charismatic, animatronics elephant, Ellie, at the West Valley Branch Library. Ellie interacted with the attendees about the tough lives of animals in confinement, and ways to help captive animals. Kids and parents, alike, were excited to see Ellie move and talk to them. This event was attended by approximately 75 people, making it a great success.

We have started an online petition about ending zoo captivity and instead use hi-tech solutions like an Augmented Reality Zoo. This is getting international endorsement, and has already received 650+ supporters, making it well on its way to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Care department.

Online petition to end zoo captivity

We had the honor to receive the prestigious “Hero to Animals” Award from PETA, the world’s largest animal rights organization, for our innovative solution to stop animal captivity. Also, I had the opportunity to visit the PETA office and demonstrate our homemade hologram projector and have received very positive reviews.

Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any way.

Next time, when I go to a zoo, and press my nose to the glass cage, I would like to see a robotics cheetah walking around, and in my heart I will be happy that the real one is running around freely in the wild.

Cross Hatching

Hatching comes from the French word “hachure” meaning series of short parallel lines. It is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines. When lines are placed at an angle to one another, it is called cross-hatching.

Hatching and crosshatching are some of the most valuable tools for generating value and texture in a drawing. These techniques use simple lines in various arrangements and densities to create a solid sense of atmospheric perspective and contour. The representation of light utilizes the white or openness of the page, while shadow is created by a density of crossed lines.

Artists use the technique, varying the length, angle, closeness and other qualities of the lines to emphasize forms and to create the illusion of volume.

If you examine the value scale below, you can see how the left side uses a simple pattern of parallel lines spaced widely apart to represent light. The right side uses several layers of crisscrossing lines to create a feeling of shadow.

There are 6 basic forms of hatching and cross-hatching.

1) Parallel hatching- can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines.

2) Contour hatching - follow the lines of the subject.

3) Cross-hatching - two layers of contour or parallel hatches, one on top of the other.

4) Fine cross-hatching - several layers of contour or parallel hatches, each on top of the other.

5) “Basket” or “woven” hatching - short sets of parallel hatches going one way, and another set of parallel hatches going almost perpendicular to the first set of hatches.

6) “Tick” hatching - small contour lines piled on top of one another, not necessarily crossing.

Some of the famous cross-hatching artists include Rembrandt van Rijn, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Edward Linley Sambourne.

#BreakStereotype

Stereotype
A common belief that isn't necessarily true

Stereotype
An unfair statement that makes one feel deprived

Stereotype
A comment that is given when a boy wears pink or a girl wears blue

Stereotype
A ten letter word that means so much more

Stereotype
A thing that nobody should believe

Stereotype
A comment that makes one feel obese

Stereotype
is broken when a girl shoots a hoop

Stereotype
is broken when a boy is in a kitchen cooking a soup

Stereotype
is broken when a girl chooses a STEM career

Stereotype
It is hard to bust, but we must persevere

Stereotype
A belief that should be broken now
Today is your day to turn a frown upside down