Miami Beach WiFi

A citywide free WiFi network was installed in early 2010 due to a contract between the City of Miami Beach and IBM and is currently available for all residents of city, as well as visitors and businesses.

The goal of the initiative, Wireless Miami Beach, is “to provide basic access to the internet for residents, visitors and businesses to enhance communications by providing the access in almost all (95%) of outdoor areas throught the City,” states the Miami Beach websites. Access also includes city parks and most beach areas. Areas with limited access include Fisher Islands, Mount Sinai Hospital area and third floor or higher levels in multi story buildings, as it was only made to reach 2^nd floor stories. In response to the limited high rise accessibility, the City offers a 25 percent discount for hotels, apartments and condominiums that will use IBM to increase WiFi signal.  

 Wifi network will deliver a minimum of 1 megabit per second and speed and accessibility is limited to where Wifi equipment is mounted throughout the City. [Insert quote from Miami beach resident who complained about limited amout of signals around city]

 

ad contract.work.work.work

ADVERTISEMENT CONTRACT

New Ad Contract

Updated Ad Contract!

Poll Results

Poll Results!

 

The poll results are attached in this word document, tied with their corresponding questions.

Poll Questions

If you need help this weekend:
(305) 926-0032 or alessiapizzorni@gmail.com

POLL QUESTIONS:
o Do you dress up for Halloween?
o Do you buy or make your costumes?
o How much money do you spend on costumes?
o Do you usually have problems finding an ideal location for costume shopping?
o Do you need help in an area of school? If so, do you know of tutors available to you?
o Are you taking the SAT? If so, do you need extra practice to get prepared for the test?
o If you were guaranteed an increase in your grade in the subject you need help in, would you be interested in being tutored?
o Are you interested in learning how to act or dance?
o Do you know any acting schools targeted towards you?
o Do you like bowling?
o When you go bowling, how many people do you go with? How much money, on average, do you spend?
o Would you go bowling more often if there was a promotion for such?
o Have you bought items from American apparel for school uniform? Would you if you knew they sold uniform items?
o How often do you shop on Lincoln Road?
o How many people do you go with when you shop?
o How much money, on average, do you spend on clothing, accessories, etc?
o Do you like donuts?
o How often do you eat donuts?
o How often do you eat pizza?
o How much money, on average, do you spend on food a week?
o How many people do you go out with when you eat?
o Would you be willing to try out new places if advertised in the Beachcomber?
o Do you want a credit card?
o Do you know of places to obtain a credit card?
o Would you trust the Beachcomber (the school’s newspaper) with advice on where to shop?
o Would you be interested in joining a gym?
o How often do you drink coffee?
 Do you enjoy bowling? (and how often?)
 Do you enjoy playing sports? (and how often?)
 Do you enjoy shopping? (and how often?)
 Do you enjoy eating out? (and how often?)
 Do you like getting bad grades?
 Do you like Asian cuisine?
 What are your favorite types of resteraunts to eat at:
o Indian/Middle Eastern
o Italian
o Asian
o Mexican/Latin
o Burger Joints

 Are you doing badly in any classes?
 How often are you on Lincoln Road?
 How often do you work out?
 Do you share the Beachcomber with others after reading it?
 How much money do you spend a week?
 How often do you eat burgers?
 Did you know about Blissberry before the ad came out in the Beachcomber? Do you know about Blissberry now?
 Did you use the coupon at Blissberry?
 How often did you go to Blissberry during the promotion?
 When you go out, how many people do you usually go out with?
 Do you usually learn about businesses through advertisements?
 When you go down Lincoln road, do you usually go down the side roads?
 If there was a coupon in the newspaper, would you be willing to try it out?
 Are you planning on staying in Miami Beach for the next four years?

New Instructions!

Instructions for Creating a Blogroll EDITED

 

Weblog Setup Instructions EDIT

Intention for 2009-2010

letter of intent

 Job Descriptions

Goals and Objectives for 2009

letter of intent

Letter of intent

 

June 1, 2009

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

                It is my intent to become Publisher and Business Manager of The Beachcomber for the 2009-2010 school year. As a journalist and editor of the newspaper for two years I have gained invaluable experience and insight as to how things are done, necessary steps to get those 8 pages of glory to print, and all the different components that go into a newspapers publication. This past year has presented some difficulties in regards to funds and allocated ads. For this very reason, it has come to the attention of the editorial board, as well as our advisor that we need a dedicated team to raise money, obtain ads, and instill some public relations aspects into our newspaper team.

                What can I do better and differently than others? Attached, you can find a proposed business team outline as well as some goals and objectives of the business team. As a member of Future Business Leaders for four years, I feel that I truly have a deep understanding of the business world and its operations. Last summer, to further my knowledge and expand my horizons of business, I took a four-week long International Business class at Brown University taught by Professor Micha who was also worked on John McCain’s campaign for the 2008 elections. He showed us more about the business world than any regular high school student can possibly know and I still enjoy reading our case studies and books from time to time to further the things we learned.

                Years ago, my sister and I started a business venture selling lemonade, baked goods, and even kosher items (due to the population and majority of our market) and were able to make more than $300 in one afternoon to support the cause to find a cure for breast cancer.  We were featured in the Neighbors section of The Miami Herald for our efforts. But as anyone in business goes, the market is measured solely by output, and our recognition was partly due to the fact that a 13 and 11 year old were able to raise $300 due to publicized advertisements, phone calls, and determination.

                I truly feel that I could do the best job for the newspaper as Publisher and Business Manager by raising the necessary funds, obtaining ads, creating a strong basis for future business endeavors and creating public relations connections. I have a personal relation with the president of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and feel that under my lead, the business side of The Beachcomber will not only grow and thrive, but set a foundation for future years, and an opportunity for the paper to print without worrying about funds, but rather the sole content aspect.

                I appreciate the consideration for the position and look forward to working as Publisher.

               

 

                                Alessia Pizzorni 

                                (305) 926-0032

about those five W’s…

i’ve got my phone on me.

 

A big step was taken in mid-April for Miami Beach Senior High School when it became one of the six schools in the county to be selected in the primary steps of becoming a Magnet School. The public high school was chosen due to due to its low enrollment, potential for success and geographic magnet school void. The future magnet program will be sponsored by MDCPS in the grant-writing process to receive money from the United States Department of Education. Assuming all goes according to plan; MBSH will become a magnet school by 2011 and will start gearing up in the following months. The USDOE initiative to assist traditional high schools in becoming Magnet Schools provides a three year funding cycle to eligible school districts. Their goals include: reducing minority isolation, improving academic achievements of students, and sustaining a magnet program at a high performance level even after the three year government funding cycle. “Of course no one can say for certain,” Andy Weiss, lead teacher of Scholars Academy expressed, “but the district has gotten the grant every time it’s applied since 1991 so I’d say there’s a very high chance that Beach will get the grant.” The underrepresented population at Miami Beach Senior High School is currently the white, non-Hispanic students, making up 19.5% of the school, with Hispanic making up about 72% of the school population. “The active goal of the grant is to decrease minority isolation, which means for our school, increasing the white population” says Principal Rosann Sidener, “Our hope is to get the school a little more balanced. Upon the school’s construction completion, there will be a holding capacity of 2,844 students, approximately 800 students more than the current attendance at Beach High. The current 71% utilization requires an increase in the number of students. “When the school is finished with construction it will seat an additional 800 kids,” Sidener explained, “and we need to fill the 800 seats.” By attracting students from outside the current attendance boundaries, it is the hope of MBSH that school will not only fulfill its required capacity but also fulfill the Magnet school purpose and obligation as well. Popular current Magnet programs include New World School of the Arts and Design and Architectural Senior High. “Sometimes, if a kid gets into MAST or DASH and the Scholars Academy, they’ll come here,” explains Weiss, “but many times, they’ll choose to go to DASH or New World.” The federal government will allot up to $12 million dollars for transitioning magnet schools within Miami Dade County. The funds will then be divided between Emerson, and R.R. Morton Elementary schools; Homestead Middle School; and Hialeah Gardens, Miami Beach and Miami Northwestern Senior High schools. The Magnet Schools Assistance Program will help fund the transformation of Miami Beach Senior High School into an academy-based institution. “We’re not going to change our [current] academies,” says Sidener, “but we may expand some of the ones we already have.” In addition to the primary Global Studies and Global Citizenship magnet school theme, the school will be divided into eight academies; Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, Academy of Information Technology, Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, Academy of Digital Media, Academy of Marine and Environmental Science, Academy of Entrepreneurship, Academy of World Languages, and the Scholars Academy which will soon incorporate the International Baccalaureate program. “Just because you’re a magnet doesn’t mean like “boom” it changes the school,” says Sidener, “kids win more awards, kids go to better colleges, kids come home and talk about cool things that are happening in their classes. That’s how it changes.”

Plagiarism

Teachers at Miami Beach Senior High School have recently started to incorporate the TurnItIn.com plagiarism detection service into their classes to deter students from using unauthorized work as their own. Plagiarism programs, such as “Turn it in .com”, require students to upload assignments for classes thruogh the website which will automatically verify the authenticity of the student’s work. Once an analysis is completed, the program generates a report that categorizes the plagiarism percentage of the report/essay by sources. The website has access to all online sources, publications, and reports, as well as papers by other students who have at one point in time, uploaded to Turnitin.com. Patricia Gregory, AOHT department leader and math teacher finds plagiarism to be dishonest as well as despicable, all the more fueled by the fact that almost every single one of her students has plagiarized at least once this school year. Chemistry teacher Carlos Rodriguez believes that plagiarism is always a problem for teachers because “students are taking someone else’s work and claiming it as their own. That’s the same as stealing.” Gregory supports the new plagiarism program and her claim that a majority of students have plagiarized is supported by 45% of student’s admission to cheating in an anonymous poll. “It’s pretty easy to detect,” Julie Klein, English teacher, said about plagiarized and copied work, “I don’t think I need TurnItIn.com to figure out that something’s been plagiarized.” The penalty for plagiarizing is dependent on the individual teacher involved. Some teachers give warnings for a first offense, others immediately fail the student, and other teachers have found innovative, yet effective ways to deter cheaters. Klein doesn’t call homes, but rather publicly humiliates the student. “After publicly calling them out and saying ‘oh, you’re not smart enough to do your own work so you copied from him?” Klein remarked, “well his answer was also incorrect, so not only are you a plagiarist, but you’re also stupid.’ And that totally does the trick. “ The University of North Carolina defines plagiarism as “the deliberate or reckless representation of another’s words, thoughts, or ideas as one’s own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise,” and explains that it’s always best to cite when a student is in doubt. It points out that by improving note taking skills, and improving time management, students will be less likely to plagiarize and clearly and effectively transcend their own ideas. “In my class, you get an F for the nine weeks,” said Eduardo Devarona. He believes a stricter penalty will prevent students from cheating because it will cause students to seriously reconsider the choices they make. The Council of Writing Program Administrators outlines five different reasons why students may resort to plagiarism: • Students may fear failure or fear taking risks in their own work. • Students may have poor time-management skills or they may plan poorly for the time and effort required for research-based writing, and believe they have no choice but to plagia¬rize. • Students may view the course, the assignment, the conventions of academic documenta¬tion, or the consequences of cheating as unimportant. • Teachers may present students with assignments so generic or unparticularized that stu¬dents may believe they are justified in looking for canned responses. • Instructors and institutions may fail to report cheating when it does occur, or may not enforce appropriate penalties. Cheating of all kinds has been a persistent problem for educators since the beginning of time. Students who panic and are left with no other outlet to complete their work generally turn to plagiarism and sell other peoples work as their own. “I don’t really think it’s someone’s first instinct to plagiarize,” Klein expressed, “I think it’s just something they do out of desperation.”