Warrensville Heights Tiger Tects Team Make ACE History

Warrensville Heights Tiger Tects Team Make ACE History
By Marissa Valentine

The Warrensville Heights Tiger Tects made history on May 12 at the ACE Mentor Program Championship. In the ACE Mentorship Program’s 33-year history, no school had won the championship two years in a row.
Founded in 1994, the ACE Mentor Program of America, through its award-winning afterschool program, introduces students to science, technology, engineering, and math learning initiatives, with a specific focus on architecture, construction, and engineering. Through hands-on instruction and mentorship from industry professionals, students in ACE are introduced to career opportunities via project-based learning.
The Tiger Tects’ award-winning project focuses on the revitalization of E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home, one of the oldest Black-owned funeral homes in Cleveland and the United States. The students’ design honors the institution’s history while creating spaces intended to offer comfort, dignity, and peace to families navigating loss. Their model expanded and modernized office spaces while introducing new gathering areas where families could come together, reflect, and support one another through life’s most difficult moments.
“As a district, we maintain our ethos, which is to elevate, innovate, and inspire our scholars to the point where excellence is more than an expectation– it is the norm,” said Aaron Eatman, Warrensville Heights High School ACE student adviser. The Director of Community Impact led this year’s championship team, Ms. Audrey Davis from the AKA Team, alongside Warrensville Heights High School’s other student adviser, Mrs.Victoria Irving. Mentors from Robert P. Madison International, Whiting-Turner, Warrensville Heights Community & Economic Development, and other organizations challenged students to review structural constraints and reimagine how a community business could thrive with support.

About Warrensville Heights City School District
Warrensville Heights City School District is a public school district dedicated to inspiring students to excel academically and lead with purpose, through innovative opportunities and strong community partnerships.

Journalist Biography
Marissa is a United States Navy Veteran with 14 years of journalism experience. She holds a Master’s in Marriage and Family

A Brief Introduction To The World of ChatGPT

By Lily Stuart

Since its release a mere four months ago, ChatGPT, a new and abundantly powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tool, has altered the world as we know it. The program has sent labor markets into a spiral, sparked worry among educators, and is being utilized by dozens of companies. But what is ChatGPT and how is it being used? Here’s what you need to know:

The Name

ChatGPT is in its fourth iteration of the software, dubbed ChatGPT-4. The “Chat” is self-explanatory, but the GPT stands for “generative pre-trained transformer.”

What does it do?

Photo: Matheus Bertelli

Put simply, the software analyzes vast amounts of information from across the internet and then utilizes this input to generate human-sounding text and answer questions. This means it can write essays, provide answers to questions, or summarize material. ChatGPT-4 also has the ability to analyze pictures through “multimodal technology.”

What are its flaws?

ChatGPT is only as good as the information that it is fed. Therefore, its results are often biased and sometimes flat-out incorrect. It also struggles to stay up to date on current events and their repercussions. That being said, strides with each iteration of the tool have been made to make its data more accurate. ChatGPT-4 is said to be “40% more likely” to produce factual responses than its predecessors.

Teachers and professors largely resent its creation, however. Fears of student plagiarism in the classroom through the utilization of AI programs existed prior to ChatGPT, but are certainly amplified now. Other software is being developed to detect the use of the tool in higher education and high schools alike.

Who is using it?

At the moment, investment companies like Morgan Stanley are using the AI tool to organize wealth management data. Social media companies, like Snapchat, have introduced Chatbot services that allow users to ask prompts ranging from dinner recipes to plans for a weekend trip. In the future, it will likely be added to Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.

Has the Internet Made Life Better or Worse?

By Kayla Blake and Jeremiah Al-Jeleel

Technology and the internet have helped our society in unimaginable ways. Innovation has made life exponentially easier for us. For example, we now have information at our fingertips and can learn virtually anything a lot easier.

However, as with everything else in life, the internet can have its drawbacks. For example, social media can spread misinformation, which can be dangerous. But the question many of us have is: overall, do the internet and technology have a more positive or negative effect?

First, it depends on who you ask. If you were to ask someone older who grew up without the internet, they could be biased against it. This is mostly because they grew up not having to rely on technology. On the other hand, if you were to ask someone younger, they would be more likely to say good things about the internet and social media. This is because they grew up with the internet and many can’t imagine living without it. There are multiple aspects to consider. Almost nothing in life is black or white—the internet has many pros and cons.

Before technology, people had to communicate the old fashioned way. This meant that if you wanted to get in contact with someone, you would have to talk directly to them in person or write them a letter. Once the letter arrives, one had to wait for a response. Thanks to modern technology, people can communicate much faster. Instead of having to mail a letter, one can simply call or text the person they want to contact. Technology also has a large range. One can get in contact with almost anyone they please, almost anywhere in the world.

Another pro would be how social media has allowed people to swap information and communicate from all over the world. For example, if someone posts a clip explaining how to do a task, such as fixing a sink, the video could be seen by anyone. That means one could learn how to fix something quickly and with no cost. These apps give anyone the ability to comment and react to events that happen. If the information in the clip is false, it provides the chance to speak out against it.

A con of social media is how it can spread insecurity. For example, one of the biggest problems teens have with it is unrealistic body types or lifestyles. Social media often shows things that are synthetic or unnatural rather than more realistic images. For example, people might show all of the good parts of their lives through social media, which might make others feel not as accomplished. What they don’t know is that person is likely leaving out the unfortunate parts of their life. Additionally, someone might appear to have a “perfect” body, but this can be due to filters, photoshopping, or using particular angles. However, people might still feel like their body is not good enough, which causes a lot of self-doubt in our society. According to the Mental Health Foundation, ~~over 35% of teenagers feel “upset” with the way their body looks.~~ Thirty-five per cent of teenagers worried about their body image often or every day, and 37 per cent of teenagers felt upset and ashamed about their body image.

Another con of the internet is the spread of misinformation. Even though it can be used to spread important news, it can also be used to spread fake news. According to Statista, around 80% of people have seen false information on the Covid Pandemic. Misinformation can be very harmful to society and push nonfactual narratives. The worst part about it is that anyone can make these posts with misinformation and even get millions of views or likes in the process. This can cause confusion and hysteria. Fortunately, even though this is a problem social media does have apps to report these sorts of things.

Overall, the internet has its good and bad parts. However, this is the case with anything. It is very important that we work to make the internet a safer space so that we are able to appreciate its benefits even more.

How to Scan a QR Code

Staff Writer

How does a QR code work? Most Smart phones have a QR code reader installed and all you need to do is open your camera app. If you don’t have a QR code reader installed, you will need to install one. Once you have a QR Code reader installed on your smartphone, you’re ready to scan your first QR Code. Doing so is very easy. Just follow these simple steps.

Open the QR Code reader on your phone.
Hold your device over a QR Code so that it’s clearly visible within your smartphone’s screen.
- Two things can happen when you correctly hold your smartphone over a QR Code.
- The phone automatically scans the code.
- On some readers, you have to press a button to snap a picture, not unlike the button on your smartphone camera.
If necessary, press the button.

Presto! Your smartphone reads the code and navigates to the intended destination, which doesn’t happen instantly. It may take a few seconds on most devices.

You will begin to see QR codes all over the place. They are used to educate, inform, explain, and for many other reasons. Watch for them and have your QR Code reader handy! Once you get the hang of it, QR Codes will save you a lot of time and effort.

How To Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages

Federal Trade Commission

If you have a cell phone, you probably use it dozens of times a day to text people you know. But have you ever gotten a text message from an unknown sender? It could be a scammer trying to steal your personal information.

Find out what you can do about unwanted text messages and how to report them.

Scammers send fake text messages to trick you into giving them your personal information – things like your password, account number, or Social Security number. If they get that information, they could gain access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or, they could sell your information to other scammers.

The scammers use a variety of ever-changing stories to try to rope you in. They may promise free prizes, gift cards or coupons, offer you a low or no interest credit card, or promise to help you pay off your student loans.

Scammers also send fake messages that say they have some information about your account or a transaction. The scammers may say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity on your account, claim there’s a problem with your payment information, send you a fake invoice and tell you to contact them if you didn’t authorize the purchase, or
send you a fake package delivery notification.

The messages might ask you to give some personal information — like how much money you make, how much you owe, or your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number — to claim your gift or pursue the offer. Or they may tell you to click on a link to learn more about the issue. Some links may take you to a spoofed website that looks real but isn’t. If you log in, the scammers can then steal your username and password. Other messages may install harmful malware on your phone that steals your personal information without you realizing it.

What To Do About Spam Text Messages

If you get a text message that you weren’t expecting and it asks you to give some personal information, don’t click on any links. Legitimate companies won’t ask for information about your account by text. If you think the message might be real, contact the company using a phone number or website you know is real, not the information in the text message. There are many ways you can filter unwanted text messages or stop them before they reach you.

On your phone

Your phone may have an option to filter and block messages from unknown senders or spam. Here’s how to filter and block messages on an iPhone and how to block a phone number on an Android phone.

Through your wireless provider

Your wireless provider may have a tool or service that lets you block calls and text messages. Check ctia.org, a website for the wireless industry, to learn about the options from different providers.

With a call-blocking App

Some call-blocking apps also let you block unwanted text messages. Go to ctia.org for a list of call-blocking apps for Android, BlackBerry, Apple, and Windows phones.

You can also search for apps online. Check out the features, user ratings, and expert reviews.

How To Report Spam Text Messages

If you get an unwanted text message, there are three ways to report it:

Report it on the messaging app you use. Look for the option to report junk or spam.
Copy the message and forward it to 7726 (SPAM)
Report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
The National Do Not Call Registry https://www.donotcall.gov/

National Do Not Call Registry

The National Do Not Call Registry was created to stop unwanted sales calls. It’s free to register your home or cell phone number. If you’ve already added your phone number to the Do Not Call Registry and are still getting a lot of unwanted calls, odds are the calls are from scammers. Read about blocking unwanted calls to find out what to do about them. If you answer one of these calls, hang up and report the call to the FTC.

How do I add my number to the Registry?

Go to DoNotCall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236) from the phone you want to register. It’s free.

If you register your number at DoNotCall.gov, you’ll get an email with a link you need to click on within 72 hours to complete your registration.

How long will it take for sales calls to stop?

Your phone number should show up on the Registry the next day, but it can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop. You can check whether your number is on the Registry at DoNotCall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the number you want to verify.

Will my registration expire?

No, your registration will never expire. The FTC will only remove your number from the Registry if it’s disconnected and reassigned, or if you ask to remove it.

Can I add my cell phone number to the Do Not Call Registry?

Yes.

What about robocalls?

If a robocall — a call that plays a recorded message — is selling something, it’s illegal unless the company trying to sell you something got written permission, directly from you, to call you that way.

So if you haven’t given the company permission, and the robocall isn’t purely informational — like your cable company confirming a service appointment — there’s a good chance it’s a scam. At the very least, it’s from a company you don’t want to do business with.

If you get an illegal robocall, hang up. Don’t press buttons to be taken off a call list or to talk to a live person. It might lead to more unwanted calls. Instead, report it to the FTC.

Learn more about robocalls at https://ftc.gov/robocalls

What’s the penalty for companies that illegally call numbers on the Registry?

Companies that illegally call numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry or place an illegal robocall can currently be fined up to $43,792 per call.

The number from my caller ID was faked. Why should I report it?

Technology has made it easy for scammers to fake or “spoof” caller ID information, so the number you’re reporting might not be the caller’s real number. But sometimes, the FTC and other law enforcement agencies can still trace the call based on the information you give. Your report also helps because the FTC analyzes report data and trends to identify illegal callers based on calling patterns. It also uses additional information you report, like any number you’re told to call back, to track down scammers. Learn more about common phone scams.

To get fewer unwanted calls, look into call-blocking and call-labeling solutions.

Our Over-Dependence on Electronics

EDITORIAL:
By Melvin Twigg Mason

For such a well-connected world, it amazes me how greatly DIS-connected we truly are!

“Why is it so important to have your cell phone in your hands at all times?” I asked this of my teen-aged nieces and nephews recently. They told me it’s to stay connected to what’s going on with their friends during the day. They post pictures, portray their emotions of the moment, share a joke or the latest gossip; all in the name of “connectedness.”

Yet if I asked them when was the last time they actually, physically talked with these friends or spent time with them outside of school, they’d probably say “last week” or “I don’t know”(IDK). I dare you to try to take their cell phone, iPad, or other “connecting” devices from them in order try some other form of keeping in touch, say. . .a house visit. You’d have better luck separating a mama bear from her cubs!

For all of their “connectedness,” our recent generations seem to be extremely distant from reality. Heads bowed (to the technology god), deep into some connect-the-jewels, or worse yet sending sexting (sex) messages or playing gaming programs with friends or strangers.

Rather than pursuing their dreams in real life, they’re living out the fantasy of looking better than their peers or blowing away their rivals. After all, it’s nothing personal, right? Pursuing a dream has a great sense of accomplishment. Similar to the exhilaration you feel at the end of winning a video game round. But much more rewarding.

Whatever happened to actually calling someone and talking to them on a phone. Better yet a sit-down talk with someone maybe an acquaintance, a friend, or a family member in person, face to face?

What is Artificial Intelligence and why used it to look at public records?

By Lucia Walinchus

This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join the free mailing list for Eye on Ohio as this helps provide more public-service reporting.

Meredith Broussard notes in her book, “Artificial Unintelligence,” that “AI” is a bit of a misnomer. True artificial intelligence means computers have finally achieved consciousness. Scientists are a long way away – if that is even possible.

Why then has “artificial intelligence” become ubiquitous? Major companies and the state of Ohio refer to AI as vital to speech recognition, self-driving cars and web searches. It’s essentially become shorthand for various machine-learning methods to solve a problem which a human can’t easily solve.

For example: a programmer has to code image-recognition software to identify dogs in pictures. How can the programmer explain to a computer what a dog is? Chihuahuas are dogs, and so are Great Danes. But not wolves, which look a lot like dogs, or foxes.

The programmer instead could use thousands of pictures of animals hand-labeled “dogs” and “foxes” and have an AI algorithm learn which are which. The computer compares patterns of each animal’s eyes, nose and snout to see which sizes and shapes are a “dog.” The code tells the computer to decide a shape, such as a dog ear, is more likely a dog.

As François Chollet and J.J. Allaire wrote in their book, Deep Learning with R, from a geometric standpoint, the computer is trying to see how to fold a piece of paper so that the maximum number of data points can be included.

Counterintuitively though, extremely high accuracy is not an end goal because of “overfitting.” A model that follows data too closely might not be good at making predictions in new data it hasn’t seen before. If your dog dataset has too few Chihuahuas and not enough Great Danes, you might miss bigger dogs later.

Machine learning is powerful because it flips the script on computer programming: instead of telling the machine what’s important, programmers study the data points that influence various outcomes to see what’s important. Then they test for better outcomes.

For the past year, Eye on Ohio has been working on an AI project to see how cities and land banks choose to take over decrepit properties. This effort involved hundreds public-records act requests, 5,225 lines of code and countless hours of planning, researching, programming, writing, fact-checking and editing.

Countless articles chronicle rising housing prices. Eye on Ohio wanted to look at the opposite end of the spectrum: What happens to the worst housing? How does that impact people who are struggling?

In Ohio, the county keeps delinquent property lists showing which owners did not pay taxes the previous year – and how much they owe. An auditor’s website lets anyone see property value and payment history.

Most delinquent taxpayers eventually pay back their taxes. But Eye on Ohio started here for several reasons.

First, it would be impractical to study every property in a county to see which might be eligible for a land bank. The delinquent-taxpayer list is a public record which represents virtually all decrepit properties in a county.

Second, delinquent property owners are the biggest funders of land banks in the first place. County Treasurers and Prosecutors split 5 percent of delinquent tax revenue between them in a delinquent tax and assessment collection fund (DTAC.) When a county establishes a land bank, they use those funds. County commissioners can authorize up to 5 percent more.

When a taxpayer becomes delinquent, the Treasurer usually will set up a payment plan. If that fails, the government will sell their tax lien to a third party. But sometimes not even that is successful, particularly for abandoned properties where it can be difficult to first find an owner’s heirs or successors in interest.

Land banks get properties in a variety of ways. Someone can give them a parcel outright or deed property in lieu of foreclosure. But usually, they remediate properties that are way behind on their taxes in the first place.

The thrust of the project is: Of all delinquent properties in a county, which ones go to the land bank? Each has a policy that essentially says, “We try to do the best we can with our limited budget.” What exactly does that mean, mathematically?

Land banks are a great but very limited program. How do officials choose which of the relatively small number of properties they will foreclose upon or demolish?

During the height of the mortgage crisis, many counties got federal funds to supplement their budgets. That money is now largely gone. How will land banks treat rusting properties with a smaller budget?