I was wondering how to split the screen so I can have two different views all the time and, as well, how to import .jpg s to model off of. Can anybody help me?
See the importing reference foo thread a few posts down from yours.
Also, you can split and join views by (right?) clicking on the edges and seams of them.
Splitting the screen is covered in the wiki article below.
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/PartI/Interface/Window_system