20% Project: February 28, 2014

     Today my partner and I reached a dead end, and we have decided to shift our project idea from suicide prevention to bullying prevention intertwined with suicide awareness. We have decided to make this decision because we do not think that suicide itself is an issue in Powell High School, but bullying definitely is (we see it every day). we plan on emphasizing the consequences of bullying and explaining the connection between bullying andnsuicidal thoughts. So today I am starting over in a way and gathering research about bullying.

20% Project: February 21, 2014

     Today I plan on preparing for interviews. First of all, I need to arrange an interview for the school counselors and the principal. I would like to talk to them about how many truly serious situations they have had with students in terms of them feeling the need to take their own life, feeling bullied, or feeling extremely depressed. To prepare for these interviews, I am going to try and come up with questions I can ask them that won't be directly asking for confidential information, but at least give me an idea on what I have to work with. In these interviews, I plan on discussing the plans for my project and see the probability on the school taking my survey.

20% Project: February 16, 2014

     This week, my goal was to start putting a survey together that the entire school could take. The survey will be anonymous, and it will only be fifteen questions or less. I looked at a suicide survey posted by Survey Monkey, and found a few useful questions that I may want to include on the survey. I am hoping to get the survey finished by Friday. Below are a 5 of the questions that will be on the survey:

1. Are you currently suicidal?
2. Have you ever been suicidal?
3. Out of the 500 students in Powell High School, how many do you think are suicidal?
4. Do you consider yourself popular?
5. Do you think teen suicide is preventable?

     Questions 2 and 3 will have alternate answers (e.g. If you answered yes, please check all reasons that apply to you). All of the questions that will be asked on the survey will have a purpose in my research. While I was searching for questions, I came across a statistic that said Wyoming is one of the states that holds the most "death by suicides", and Park County is ranked 6th in the state. I was extremely surprised when I saw this, and I plan on doing some more research on this and try and find out if it is really true, and if it is, I want to know why Wyoming is has such a heavy number.

Raising The Minimum Wage

     I personally believe that the minimum wage should be raised from $7.25 to $10.10. It will give the states an economic boost, improve small businesses, and potentially increase jobs.
     In 2012, the Census Bureau found that approximately 66% of minimum wage workers are employees of large businesses (businesses with over 100 employees). This includes stores such as Walmart or fast food chains such as McDonalds that can afford higher wages. Also, the Harvard Business Review did a study and found that major retailers can actually benefit for higher sales by investing in their employees. For example, Trader Joe's pays their employees between $40,000 and $60,000 per year which is more than twice that of their competitors, and their sales are three times higher than the average U.S. supermarket.
     The Econonomic Policy Institute found that the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 will generate $30 billion in economic activity and support the creation of 140,000 jobs.
     Also, The National Federation of Independent Businesses did a study and found that most small business owners suffer from low sales, which can make minimum wage an issue. However, if employees are payed higher amounts, more goods will be bought and this can help boost the economy (especially for these small businesses).

Studies were found on www.raisetheminimumwage.com