Homeless Student Is Intel Talent Search Semifinalist 464
An anonymous reader writes "Samantha Garvey, a senior at Brentwood High School, has managed to become one of the remaining 300 semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search this year. Her research focused on mussels and on her discovery that they change the thickness of their shells if a predator such as crabs are introduced. Why is Garvey's achievement so impressive? Because she and her entire family are homeless, and rely on a local homeless shelter. Such a situation would stop many students from being able to focus on studying, let alone a research project, but Garvey has instead used her situation as motivation."
Succeeding in a public school, yet! (Score:5, Insightful)
Well done of her to rise up and be counted. Amazingly, despite everything thrown at her by people who would go so far as to condemn her for the social and financial position of her family, she's using it as self-motivation. Has to be cruel to be homeless and one of the National School Lunch Program kids in a world where many children go out of their way (starving effectively) to hide the shame of their family's misfortune.
Any candidates for public office feel like giving her parents some employment or shall we go the usual route, use her as an example the American Dream isn't dead, yet, and then abandon them for the next popular thing on the campaign trail?
How is this even... (Score:5, Insightful)
America (I'm addressing you as a whole).
How is it that you allow young people, let alone whole families, to be homeless, to live in "shelters".
WTF is wrong with you people?!
You are supposedly the most powerful nation on earth, the wealthiest, the nation that is spoken to exude opportunity and success from every pore.
And you have whole families, school children, living in homeless shelters.
I don't care how they came to be in the situation, it doesn't matter how that happened, what matters is resolving it, providing the social, housing, and financial support to ensure that every body can call somewhere home.
For every one remarkable individual like this who manages to overcome the adversity, I hate to think how many are dragged down by the circumstance.
Re:How is this even... (Score:5, Insightful)
Income inequality is just envy. - Mitt Romney
Re:How is this even... (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, puh-f'in-leeze. As if there aren't homeless on the streets, probably more, in every other OECD country.
Re:How is this even... (Score:4, Insightful)
A triumph for her... (Score:2, Insightful)
... and an abysmal failure by our society.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
You're modded funny, but it's a serious matter. Remember this next time you decide that the poor and homeless are just bums who got where they are because of their own failings. The fact is any one of us could be there and might one day end up there through no fault of our own. It is by far more likely than it is for us to join the rich crowd.
I hope this helps lift her and her family out of their situation.
Re:How is this even... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yea, that's telling 'em. America, the great and power, is just as powerless as everyone else to resolve a social problem that may be unsolvable. Of course, America isn't really interested in solving that social problem. I don't mean this as a slander or an insult. It's precisely the belief in a sort of Social Darwinism that has made the US such a great power (it also helps that it has a lot of natural resources and a climate that readily allows for most of their extraction, a relatively large amount of space which keeps down the cost of living in most the country, and an effective imperialist agenda not unlike many other empires of the past which might have more to do with it) that keeps a lot of social reform discussion from even coming up; I mean, why fight against a gifted horse just to help a few people? Then there is...
Hunger is everywhere. Vaccinatable childhood diseases are everywhere. A need for high-speed travel for the movement of both goods and people exists everywhere. The desire for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness exists everywhere. I guess we can't actually do anything about any of the above then, though. I mean, the US has problems...like homelessness..so we can't actually discuss working to fix homelessness. That's some master deflection; how about at least trying in the slightest to offer a few valid ideas on why homelessness can't be eradication entirely? That'd probably be an actually valid argument. Of course, that still leaves the potential of homeless almost being entirely eradicated (ie, that the few special cases that show homelessness is inherently inevitable doesn't explain not dealing with homelessness for the vast majority of the homeless).
Re:How is this even... (Score:4, Insightful)
what matters is resolving it, providing the social, housing, and financial support to ensure that every body can call somewhere home.
What do you think homeless shelters are for?
Re:How is this even... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most western nations will provide at least a flat to their poor. The only homeless they have are people whose psychiatric problems cause them to refuse the help. The U.S. really is dead last amongst the 1st world.
Re:How is this even... (Score:5, Insightful)
Long and the short of it is that we've allowed a new, hereditary aristocracy to persuade us that our best interests are aligned with theirs.
Oh, they're smarter in many ways than the nobility of the past. They know how to blend in just a bit better, while still flaunting their wealth. They've bent the principles of equality and the perception thereof, and corrupted the American Dream, locking everyone else out, but allowing them to still dream the dream.
This new aristocracy has their fiefdoms in the corporations; they own our government lock, stock and barrel; they keep us at war.
They own the majority of the media and the mediums, and what they don't have yet, they're working diligently to take. And what information and knowledge there is, they ensure not only control of, but fight to make you pay for.
And they've persuaded too many people of this nation that caring for the sick and the elderly is somehow evil; that educating the next generation is a waste of money; that governments are not, in fact, created by men to secure the fundamental rights as described by Jefferson. In fact, they've gone so far as to persuade many of the citizenry that any sort of organization that builds out the infrastructure, education and welfare of the people simply for the sake of doing so is fundamentally evil. They've even gone so far as to pervert Christianity to be a worship of wealth [wikipedia.org].
And at the same time, we're provided with an ample supply of soma [wikipedia.org] in the form of so-called reality television, video games, professional sports circuses and other thought destroying noise.
That's what's happened to us, and that is why we allow this.
And those who have made issue of it are called dirty, unwashed lazy hippies, or seekers of entitlement - an incredibly ironic term, given that it comes from the rights of the nobility - those with title. They've lumped the terms "fascism", "communism", and "socialism" all into one inclusive bucket, not realizing the extremely significant differences between them, nor that our nation has become ruled by the corporations, nor that a certain amount of socialism is required for a society of the size and with the population density that ours has.
That's what's wrong with my people.
Re:How is this even... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Exception or the rule? (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but I seriously doubt that. A very large percentage of the homeless population are there because they have mental disorders. I'm pretty sure that there's a much larger proportion of people with an IQ of 80 than those who have an IQ of 120
I doubt it (Score:3, Insightful)
I seriously doubt that crabs change the thickness of their shells in the presence of predators. Rather, I bet the predators change the kind of shell that is dominant in the population of crabs.
It is likely the case that the predators are more easily able to eat the crabs with thinner shells, thereby increasing the percentage of crabs with thicker shells in the remaining population, and those remaining crabs with thicker shells produce offspring that also have the same kind of shells (or perhaps even thicker shells in a few cases).
Evolution, folks. Variation. Selection.
Re:How is this even... (Score:4, Insightful)
You mean, psychiatric patients for which there is inadequate support? Yes. I've seen a lot of those on the streets in America.
Or individuals who have suffered abuse in the poorly regulated and underfunded state welfare system? Yes, lots of those too.
But you're right... they prefer it like that. I assume you've spoken to them too?
Re:I really hate this article (Score:3, Insightful)
Your logic is flawed, too. By no means is "becoming rich" guaranteed by "striving".
I think sjames' post takes this concept to it's logical conclusion, which is even if you work very, very hard, you are still more likely to end up homeless than one of the super rich elite these days (although he also implies that both of these results are unlikely, just one more so than the other).
And by the way, I'm now fuckin depressed by you both.
Re:How is this even... (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words, yet another medical bankruptcy & destitution, which is almost uniquely American in developed nations.
Re:I doubt it (Score:4, Insightful)
I highly doubt that she would have gotten to the semifinals with research that essentially states "thinner shells are easier to crack."
Unfortunately, I'm not finding any of the original data, so I cannot verify this.
Re:Ok then let's hear it (Score:3, Insightful)
The fix is socialism... But it is a tabu among most US citizens who are brainwashed to believe socialism is here to take your wealthy and forces you under government control where you can not choose who is your doctor or where your kid goes school....
In social society, people take care of each other. They give what they can not use or dont need, to those who have needs. They do what they can with their powers to help others. It is not just you give money or you say "here is your apartment, live there". But that you organize a sponsor who supports you on the beginning. It is that you are teached and helped by people who have experience and wisdom to guide you trough hard times.
It is that when you get sick or accident happens, many others will take small part of your work and carry it trough the time until you have recovered and you return.
Socialism is about teamwork and caring others. It is about to help everyone to be independent and strong person where you don't have needs to harm anyone else.
But people who are independent, strong and work together can not be controlled. They can not be brainwashed, you can not terrorize them to accept greedy people demands and be exposed to such people suggestions.
So the sociopaths who does anything to come politicians or leaders, makes sure that there is no teamwork, independency, smart people, freedom of speech and thinking. They demand competition, they want people to fight, they want people to follow the show on TV while mens behind the curtains does all the planning for them, just to protect small group of greedy sociopaths who wants to control others.
Terrorism is act of terror what a national leaders use to control own people and drive their own (terrorists) needs over their own people. The terrorists is not the one who lives in other country or who builds bombs... The terrorists is the person who works in government or big corporation and use terror and other similar tactics (like FUD).
In US, 1% of people has over 90% of wealth. While 99% needs to live with under 10% of wealth... It simply should not be possible, but it is because greedy people demands and controls that there is competition on markets, that there is competition on schools, that there is competition among people and they make everything with their power so people would not start work together and discuss freely and change opinions freely and that they would take part to topics what greedy people want them to forget or ignore.
It is easy to think about itself that you are great person if you give now and then few dollars to red cross or some other charity. But it is just lying to itself.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, occasionally you'll find a sad story wherever you look, but a vast majority of homeless people are homeless people because they fucked up their shit.
What about their kids?
Re:Ok then let's hear it (Score:4, Insightful)
All this tells me is you've never been outside the US or done any real research. Why? Because there's homeless everywhere. Norway has homeless people. Not speaking in abstract here, I've been there (I have family there).
So, care to try again?
Re:I doubt it (Score:4, Insightful)
I'll take her research over your gut feeling any day. If she's a finalist, then I certainly hope that she already controlled for such an effect.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
So much for "There but for the grace of God go I" (or whatever method of expressing empathy you care for).
Nope - these days, it's all about lazy, entitlement seeking, dirty, smelly, socialist, thieving, parasitic trash sucking the life out of the economy.
At least - right up to the point at which BigCorp your work for outsources your job and you can't even pay the mortgage on your rather modest home or feed the kids... suddenly, maybe, it occurs then that perhaps some of these folks just maybe weren't just lazy scum.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
He could just be an upper-middle class young adult who still believes that if he works hard enough, he'll one day get to join the 1%. Just wait until he or someone he cares about gets sick and loses their home, or until Bain Capital or similar buys out his business and decides his job could be better done by a coworker working unpaid overtime, or until his life savings get wiped out by some Wall Streeters run amok and leave him with nothing to retire on.
Sadly, for some people it takes experiencing bad luck themselves to realize that the poor aren't poor out of laziness.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:4, Insightful)
There are still too many scamming the system
Who cares? I'd rather ignore the occasional bit of fraud (even if it were as high as 10%) than to inadvertently prevent someone or some family from getting desperately needed help.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:2, Insightful)
No one ever said becoming rich was guaranteed. Is that the problem you hippies have, you thought that was promised somewhere? Nope. Sometimes people strive, but they suck, and things don't work out. Sometimes, people strike it rich without doing anything. Sometimes, for no reason, people get struck down. That's what happens in a probabilistic universe, and no one has ever worked out how to stop that on a large scale.
Generally speaking, though, you get out what you put in. That's not a flaw of the system just because you've decided you want the high life for middling input.
I suspect people like you, always whining about the "super rich elite," will never get anywhere, because that whining is taking up the energy you could direct into something productive. I've never cried about what other people have, I just worked to put together the things I want. I worked harder than the guy next to me, and it paid off consistently. You don't have to do that, in fact, I welcome you not to. I don't mind not having the competition.
That's not to say some people get things they shouldn't get, but that's not a flaw of "the system," that's a flaw of humanity. Everything would be perfect if we had perfect people, of course, which will never, ever happen, no matter how much you hippies whine about it.
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
So we must allow the 1% to continue robbing us until we are literally starving to death. Only then can we raise a (feeble, emaciated) fist against them.
Has it occurred to you that the longer we wait to solve the erosion of the middle class, the harder it will be?
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's turn your question around.
What meritous work do the 1% do to deserve the rapidly increasing and disproportionate chunk of the wealth that they get?
Re:I really hate this article (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're rich enough, it doesn't matter how badly you fail, you'll be propped up and given every opportunity to fix things.
What do they call a rich family that fails badly enough a few times?
Poor
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
What about them? I think that homeless shelters are a Good Thing, and certainly so in the case of helping kids who had no choice about the situation they were born into. But let's be real--the kids have the same genetics as their parents. If the parents were losers then odds are the kids are too.
Translation: "Are there no prisons? Are there no poor houses?"
Re:I really hate this article (Score:5, Insightful)
I have mixed feelings about stories like this. While I hope that she is able to do something special and help her family, if she does, that only sends the message that any poor person can do so, and that they don't means they are lazy. You find one example of a person who clawed their way out of poverty and all of a sudden the countless others unable to do so are simply lazy.
Like those you can already see in this thread...