Carve or DIE!

This unit in Rapid Prototyping, our class learned about 2.5D shapes, calculating the distance of a #D shape. The mass is how many atoms are an object. Density is how close the molecules are in an object and the volume of a rectangular prism is l*w*h. For the Field Experience, we went out to Harold Washington Library, to the program YOUMedia. We got a tour around the place and their Maker Lab. The purpose of this Action Project is to create 2 prototypes of a plaque regarding one of the school's core values, APGAA. This project made me think more about designing and how much technology has helped designers create their own ideas. I would like to use a program like Easel and hopefully will carve more in the future!

 

Protoyping The Goals of the Nation

This unit in Rapid Prototyping, we learned about networks, traversable and shapes. Networks are a system of lines and vertices, if a shape is traversable, this means that it is traceable without lifting a writing device. To determine whether a shape is traversable they must either have 2 odd and the rest even or all vertices are even. The class visited Mhub, where they talked to the co-founder of Mhub and looked around the department, where they showed the CNC room and Workshop room. The purpose of this Action Project was to create a mini-poster of SDG goal by hand and by using a cameo-cutter. This AP was simple yet fun to complete, I liked using Silhouette STudio to cameo print my mini-poster. Below is my AP: Prototyping the Goals of the Nation

Investing in My Future

Walking the Streets of Underground rap

This unit in Journalism, the Senior class focused on the sound aspect of telling a story. We learned that sound is as important as the visuals of a story, for an FE a sound engineer named Luke came in to teach us what sound is and about the music theory. The purpose of this Action Project is to pick someone who has impacted people through their voice and develop a story from there in the form of a podcast. I chose to focus on Daniel Dumile(MF DOOM) an underground rap artist that started in the early 90's. I wanted to focus on MF DOOM while also exploring the idea of hip-hop and underground rap. I started my podcast with a story of how I began listening to MF DOOM, then I dive deeper into how hip hop has changed and with that change came (MF DOOM).The message I wanted the viewer to understand is that some artist will stay underground others will go on to become mainstream and just because an artist decides to make music for their specific audience that comes from the heart doesn't mean that they aren't as good as the next artist. This AP was a challenging one for me, I had never done a podcast and I don't consider myself to have a voice for the podcast. Despite these flaws, I created a story that I felt passionate about and wanted to give 110% to this AP.

Below is my podcast:

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00 0: 10 0: 33 1:02 1:03 1: 42 2:03 2:18 2:25 2:26 2: 35 2:38 2:40 2:41 2:43 2:47 2:48 2:50 2:57 3:04 3:46 3:48 3:56 3:59 4:22 4:27 4:45 4:53 5:33 5:34 5:35 5:37	Laylah cue Dooms Day Fades out Laylah Laylah Laylah Laylah Laylah Alex Laylah Alex Laylah Alex Laylah Alex Laylah Alex Laylah Alex Laylah Manny Laylah Manny Laylah Manny Laylah Manny Laylah Manny Laylah Laylah	LWhen I was younger my dad drove my siblings and I to school every day. He would always go to Pandora and play a certain radio station, the usual would either be some 80’s funky music or some old school rap. I remember one early morning, my dad turned on his phone, hooked it to the aux cord and began playing one of my favorite rappers today. I was captivated by the sample of Sade’s song, Kiss of Life and then even more intrigued by the beautiful flow of poetic words. Later that day,  I searched for the song, typing in every keyword I could remember, and finally, I found my hidden gem, MF DOOM. Daniel Dumile aka Mf DOOM, Metal Face, Madvillain, Dangerdoom or Jj Doom is an England native that birthed his underground rap career in New York City during the 90’s. In 1988, he formed a group called KMD with his younger brother Subroc and was shortly then signed by Elektra Records. After their debut in 1993, Subroc was murdered and KMD was shortly dropped from Elektra Records.  Subsequently, after the death of Dumile’s brother, Dumile retreated from the rap scene, but in 1994 after 2 years of sleeping on the benches of Manhattan  Dumile re-emerged himself in the scene and started his lifelong passion for comic books and sci-fi through rap. Dumile began freestyling at open-mic events in Manhattan anonymously while wearing a mask that was similar to Marvel Comics supervillain, Doctor Doom. This created his new identity alias: MF Doom, Ever since then, MF DOOM has never shown his face in interviews or shows without his mask. In 1999, MF DOOM released his first full and most famous album Operation: Doomsday. I have been listening to MF DOOM Madvillain, Danger Doom and Viktor Vaughn for years after my discovery, but have never heard his music on mainstream radio. Personally, I thought that Dumile was a great artist whose lyrics deserved to touch the hearts of many, but I guess others thought differently. I decided to go around my school and ask few of my classmates whether they listen to MF DOOM or not. Here's what they said. Hi, can you state your name, age, and Occupation? My name is Alexandria, I'm 17 and I'm a high school student. Ok, and do you listen to MF DOOM? No Do you know who he is? He’s a rapper..? Yes, do you often listen to underground rap artist? Yes, I guess you could say so. If so, who? Xxx Tentacion… I listen to Trippie Red, those people basically. Do you prefer your underground rap artist to become more mainstream, if so why or why not? I wouldn't just because I feel when you do become more mainstream your work as far as an artist becomes worse and you try to, I guess peer pressure yourself into doing what other artist are doing. Like talk about girls and crap and like big a****. Like basic stuff like you see all the rappers do. Like  DJ Khaled or whatever, he’s not even a rapper, roast…. ahahaha. He’s not a rapper but he has videos or whatever with like girls and stuff like that. What’s your name, age, and occupation? I’m Manny, I'm 17 and I'm a musician I guess you could say. Do you listen to MF DOOM? Uh, yeah,a lot actually. I mean, I used to listen to him a lot more, I listened to him a lot when I was a kid and I was really really studying rap, trying to figure it out, I guess… I don’t know. He’s always been one of the most influential people in my eyes and when it comes to the rap genre. So, do you consider MF DOOM to be an underground rap artist? Uh,  I feel like the term underground is kind of irrelevant now that the internet exists, because it’s kind of hard to be underground. I mean, compared to mainstream, like really mainstream artist, yeah he’s defiantly an underground guy because he doesn’t like the spotlight. Mhm, do you prefer artist to be considered, “ underground”  or mainstream and why? Uh, I honestly, when if I really like an artist, I prefer they don't get too big because you can’t get really big without changing your original sound. The mainstream has a certain pattern and mainstream artist fit into it, I guess,  and it’s hard to say that, but at the same time, it’s not because you can change the mainstream. But what you do has been something that completely appeals to everybody to be able to change the mainstream. MF DOOM doesn’t have something that will appeal to everybody. He has something that appeals to people that really like lyrics and really like the essence of what hip-hop is. Thank you! You’re welcome. Bye! I can’t help but wonder if MF Doom were to be signed to a or become more famous if his music sound would change and become mainstream. As much as I”d like for my favorite artist to become more famous, staying an underground artist is what keeps them unique.

Planning My Future

For this unit in Economics: Risking Value, the senior class explored the world of economics; we learned about the market, stocks, supply and demand, opportunity cost, interest rates and much more! or an FE, we went to Capital One Cafe near our school. I really liked the cafe ambiance of the bank; it made banks seem less intimidating. The purpose of this AP is to choose a career that you plan to do in the future and have two options of how you will get there. I really liked this AP because it is relevant to my situation as a senior about to graduate. It made me realize what options are realistic and which are not.

Below is my Project:

Introduction to Economics AP, LD,2017,Soundcloud

Script:

Hi, I’m LD and a senior at GCE Lab School currently taking a class called Economics: Risking Value. I’ll be graduating this year and after high school, I’d like to become an entrepreneur in New York City. After New York, I would like to expand my business in Japan. I want to build my own film production business as an outlet for young teens to produce their own work. It will become a means for young teens to voice their opinion on mainstream media. In order to do this, I must attend college.

I chose my top 2 college choices: NYU Stern and Parsons School of Design.

They are both in the heart of New York City, which is where I’d like to be. Both schools have entrepreneurship majors as well as film programs. The main difference between the two colleges is that NYU is a pretty large school that cost a lot of money while Parsons is smaller and cost almost a third less NYU. Throughout this AP, I am weighing options to decide which college is better for me.

During the process of this AP, I wanted to interview my dad who has created his own IT business with his close friends. I look up to my dad because he has been through a lot during his life while trying to build his own business. While interviewing him about college and how I should go about my own business he said,”You should go to a college that best fits your interests, get in where you fit in, you will be amazed as to where life gets you, so never give up on what you want to do, even if you have to make some sacrifices for it.”

Total Cost of Parsons School of Design,LD,Google Sheets.2017

Total Cost of NYU,LD, Google Sheets, 2017

Looking at the calculations, the total cost of NYU is $911,702 and the total cost of Parsons is $347,303. The annualized increase rate is 5%, causing the price to increase every year. This shows that money today is worth more than money tomorrow because I didn’t have enough money to pay the full amount, every year I would have to pay an interest. Going to NYU would take 20 years if I paid 58% of my salary going toward the loans and 25% of every check going to my loan for Parsons School of Design for 19 years.

By referring to my Current vs. Future Market that shows the current market for being a film producer/director, you can tell that the supply and demand for the job are increasing. A market is when both parties are selling and buying. The seller's objective is to sell goods and services at the best price. The buyers objective is to acquire goods and services at the best price possible. Supply is the total amount of goods or services while demand is the consumers want to buy a good or service for a certain price. The number of people in the field in 2014 is 122,600 and n 2026, the number of people in this field is predicted to increase by 11,100. My salary as a director/producer as well as a small business owner will increase also. 

 Current vs. Future Market, LD, Google Drawings,2017

Throughout the project, I made a few assumptions to predict the future.These assumptions allow me to create a model; if assumptions are done incorrectly they can lead you down a wrong path of false numbers and calculations. A few assumptions I made were: the tuition cost of both colleges assuming that I didn’t receive any financial aid or scholarships, how much money I would be making as an entrepreneur for the first few years and the annual salary raise( how much my salary raise would increase every year). If I did receive a scholarship, then this calculation would differ and I wouldn’t end up paying the full amount. Assumptions are important because they allow us to accurately predict the future.

So, is NYU and Parsons a better for me? My final decision is Parsons School of Design. I think it is an overall better choice financially and realistically. I would only have to pay 28% of my salary of $171000 for 19 years, if I decided to go to NYU I would have to pay much more and for a longer time. Although the programs may not be as great as NYU, I can still work toward my business. I will spend 4 years at Parsons and after graduate with a BBA.

Sources:

“College.” Flickr, Yahoo!, www.flickr.com/photos/76657755@N04/7027599019//?rb=1.

“Entrepreneur.” Sokanu, www.sokanu.com/careers/entrepreneur/salary/New York/.

“Future Success.” NYU Stern, www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/undergraduate/future-success.

“Registrar.” Tuition and Fees 2016-2017 | The New School in New York City, www.newschool.edu/registrar/tuition-and-fees-2016-2017/.

“Registrar.” Tuition and Fees 2017-2018 | The New School in New York City, www.newschool.edu/registrar/tuition-and-fees/.

Summary.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/producers-and-directors.htm

Living In The Matrix

This unit in Journalism, we learned about the power of the media. The stories we hear on the news and online effect how we view a group of people or an idea. In class, we looked at how 2 different people were portrayed in the news. Both people were affected by Hurricane Katrina and were trying to scavenge food. The white lady in the photo was portrayed as finding the food while the black man supposedly looted a grocery store. For an FE, a lady that our teacher, Sharon, knew came in to talk to us about photography. We got to take pictures of our classmates while trying to convey an emotion or story connected to the photo. This helped in my AP, it made me think about angles, purpose, and colors. The purpose of this Action project was to tell a story with 2 images. I decided to focus on technology and social media because everyone has felt connected as well as disconnected with technology.

Below is my story: Living In The Matrix

I was on the train heading towards Harold Washington College to attend my Art Appreciation class. It was a day like any other, except today I had left my phone charger at home. The night before I had been up all night on my phone scrolling through my Instagram and Snapchat feed...tap, scroll, tap scroll… I usually do this every night until my phone runs out of battery. After my phone dies the rest of the night is a blur, my eyes usually start to feel heavy and I fall into the black abyss of slumber. Heading to Harold Washington, I was left without a phone to distract me from my boredom and lonesome. I began to look around, studying everyone in the train cart. I realized that almost every person had a device in their hands or headphones in their ears. It reminded me of that movie, The Matrix, the one where everyone is living in a computer simulation. The whole world is being controlled and enslaved by the artificial intelligence. I had been able to unplug myself from the stimulation that I had been enslaved for almost all my teen years. I became free from the Matrix, I became The One. I was able to unplug myself from the artificial facade of social media, I snapped back into reality. It allowed me to notice the small things in life like the clouds, flowers, and the different ways people walked that I’d been missing out on by looking down at my phone.

I wanted to explore the how technology(mostly social media) has affected our perception of life. To dive deeper into this topic, I borrowed Harold Washington’s camera to capture moments of people being plugged. I stopped and interviewed a few people to get into the minds of a technology slave. The first person I interviewed was a woman who preferred to stay anonymous. She was an older woman that had lots to say about this subject. She sparked my interest. When I had walked out of a 7/11 after getting a cold beverage the way the sun was hitting her dark skin captured my eye. The anonymous lady didn’t have any device out which made her a bit more approachable. When talking to her she said,” Teens put anything out on Snapshot and Instagram now, they don’t know that people are constantly watching them. You know the saying what stays in Vegas stays in Vegas, well it doesn’t apply to being online or posting videos and photos. A stripper went in for a job interview, she used to post all that stuff online and when she went in for the job they told her no because she would post all that stuff. I try to tell my son to stay away from all that crap.” She describes social media as being some sort of dark rabbit hole, If you aren’t cautious of what you are showing the world, it can cause you lots of trouble in the long run.

Unknown, LD,2017

When I finished talking to the anonymous older woman, I spotted a grey-haired lady waiting for the signal to change to stop from the walk, her name was Emily. Emily’s grey hair and monochrome black outfit made me want to talk to her, we began talking about the truth of social media. “Social media has allowed for people to create a fake image of themselves that reflects their personality in the real world. My perception has changed by realizing that people put on an act for social media.” When Emily said this I began to think about the images I put out into the artificial world we call the social network. Subconsciously, I upload photos and videos that I want others to see so that they develop an artificial opinion about who I am.

Emily, LD,2017

The beauty of living in a world similar to The Matrix is that you have a choice; you can either stay plugged or unplug yourself from the cycle. Unplugging yourself from social media is taking the red pill, allowing yourself to see reality as it is. Choosing to stay plugged is downing the blue pill and being happy in the artificial world coded in technology.

Choose wisely.

A Justified Case

This unit in Policy we learned about specific cases, their rulings and how it relates to policy. Our class mostly focused on the Brown v. Board case that desegregated schools during the 50's. The final rulings were unanimous and the judges ruled that "separate but equal" was unconstitutional. Fortunately, my class had the opportunity to see a case happen at the Criminal Justice Courthouse. After the case was finished, we even had the chance to talk to the Judge. It was an unforgettable opportunity! The purpose of this Action Project was to choose a case that we found interesting and decide whether the final ruling was justified or not. I decided to take on the Tinker v. Des Moines case and explore the effects it's had on society.

Below is my paper:

Mary Beth Tinker and John Tinker, (1954), SCOTUSblog.com

The Tinker v. Des Moines case was one that challenged the rights of freedom of expression and speech. John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker, and their friend Chris Eckhardt decided to plan a silent protest by wearing black armbands to school to protests against the Vietnam War. On December 14, 1965, the principal of the Des Moines schools districts decided to create a policy stating if students were wearing the black armband they would be asked to remove it, students who violated that would be suspended because it would be “disruptive”. 2 days later John, Mary, and Chris decided that they wanted to exercise their 1st and 14th amendments rights by wearing black armbands. During their suspension, the parents of the children sued the school for the violation of their free speech. This case was so important at the time because the students were challenging such a conflicting war during school ground and because students were politically expressing themselves-something school officials weren’t comfortable with. The Supreme Court ruling was justified by stating that this suspension was unconstitutional because it limited the young protesters rights.

Mary Beth Tinker, the plaintiff of Tinker v. Des Moines argued that her suspension due to their silent protest was a violation of her 1st and 14th amendment rights. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the defendant of the case argued that the protest disrupted students during class. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 stating that the first amendment applied to every situation and that school official couldn’t censor speech unless it disrupted the class. Wearing a black armband wasn’t disruptive, therefore the court held that the first amendment protected the student's rights. Justice Abe Fortas wrote the majority opinions: “ It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”The ruling of Tinker v Des Moines is just, the first amendment states:”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...” The first amendment plays a big factor in the Tinker v Des Moines case, without the first amendment Mary, John and Chris would have been suspended without any justifications.

The ruling of this case affected how our school system is run today; it may have given students freedom, but it also set some limitations on freedom and expression. There has been a numerous of cases that challenge the freedom of expression school groundsnd, for example, the Layshock v. Hermitage case. A student in the Hermitage district was suspended for using vulgar language about her principal on Facebook. Although the words used were offensive and vulgar, the court ruled in favor of the student claiming that punishing students off school ground violates the first amendment(Prezi.com). Because of the Tinker rulings, students have been expressing themselves more freely through their attire. Most schools now allow nose rings and dyed hair but disallow offensive attire such as a t-shirt with a Confederate flag. June of 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that schools can limit student speech that advocates illegal drug use. Concerning a case when Joseph Fedrick, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School who was suspended for having a banner that said,” Bong Hits 4 Jesus” around school grounds(New York Times). The Tinker v. Des Moines brought a term called, in loco parentis, which means in place for parents in Latin. In loco parentis means that school officials can act as your parents on school ground by disciplining the student if it is disruptive.

The Tinker v. Des Moines case allowed students to express themselves, whether it be a political movement or as small as an article of clothing. It allowed for the constitution to override what the school officials deemed to be disruptive to the class. The ruling gave power to the 3 students voice for the protest against the Vietnam War and allowed them to make a change in the world.

Citations:

The New York Times. The New York Times. Web. 28 May 2017.

Constitute. Web. 28 May 2017.

Johnson, John W. The Struggle for Student Rights: Tinker v. Des Moines and the 1960s. Lawrence, Kan.: U of Kansas, 1997. Print.

Leski, Joanna. "How Did the Tinker vs. Des Moines Decision Affect Student Speech?" Prezi.com. 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 May 2017.

"Tinker v. Des Moines - Landmark Supreme Court Ruling on Behalf of Student Expression." American Civil Liberties Union. Web. 28 May 2017.

Building A Better City

This unit in urban planning the junior class learned about urban planning and the history of it. I learned that urban planning is the development of an area that includes the community, nature, infrastructure housing, and services. For a Field Experience, my class got the opportunity to look at the urban planning around Wrigley Field. Our tour guide, James, showed us examples of good urban planning and bad urban planning. This FE helped me plan out what I wanted to do for my Action Project. For our last Action Project, we had to select any area around the world and redesign it. I chose to redesign my neighborhood, Bronzeville, as I wanted to fix the area up in a way I thought was the most efficient.

Below is my Slideshow:

Brown = Houses

Green = Park

Red = Mall

Orange = Gas Station

Purple = Trader Joe's

Scale = 14ft/2mm

'     

The Unjustified War

This unit in Policy we learned about wars, war policies and the soldiers who fought in them. Specifically, we focused on the Vietnam War and the Korean War. Throughout the unit I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a collection of stories about the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. The chapters we read focused on the specifics of war and the effect it had on the soldiers. Occasionally we would have discussions and got to share our thoughts with one another. As a class, we visited the National Veteran Museum where we visually got to understand war and inside the minds of the veterans.  A tour guide showed us the Things They Carried exhibit,  where I got to put the war in my own reality(it was quite eye-opening). For this Action Project, we had to choose a war that we've been learning about in or out of class. Then we had to choose whether America's involvement/entry in it was justified or not through the policies and actions throughout it. I choose to write a paper about Vietnam War because  I feel strongly about it being unjustified and I believe it was morally wrong.

Below is my paper, enjoy!

Vietnam War, Britannica, 1955

The Vietnam War was a brutal, costly and strung out war that lasted 20 years. The US involvement in the Vietnam war was unjustified and morally wrong. The US had no real concrete reason as to join, other than the fear of the domino theory. That fear got enhanced by violence which led to more violence. Vietnam War destroyed lives(mentally and physically), took away people's homes and destroyed Vietnam's natural resources. Although we may have won the fight, we lost within our morals.
The Vietnam War officially began on November 30, 1955, it all started with Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader in North Vietnam who founded the Indochinese Communist Party. He wanted to unite Vietnam under communism so he declared war in 1959 (Olson,6). South Vietnam was opposed to this idea and wanted independence from communism, in order to do so they got help from anti-communist countries such as the United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, and the Kingdom of Laos. The anti-communist fought against North Vietnam, who was allied with Soviet Union, North Korea, Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge.The war was fought in four different locations: North Vietnam, South Vietnam , Laos, and Cambodia. America spent roughly $780 billion on bombs during the Vietnam War. US troops would use a burning chemical called Napalm. Napalm was a mixture of plastic polystyrene, benzene and gasoline that creates a jelly substance that burns up to 1,500 Fahrenheit to 2,200. It would usually be used on buildings (vietnamawbb.weebly.com) . Another tactic used by US ground troops were Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide that would destroy plants and agriculture. Agent Orange was later deemed a violation of the Geneva Contract and using any other herbicides during war. The Vietnam War was fought to stop the spread of communism of Southeast Asia, the immediate causes of it was: the communists attacking the capital of Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin incident.The underlying causes was to stop communism for the sake of capitalism. In order for capitalism to thrive in the U.S there must be other countries to build the market.The domino theory (the concern that communism would spread across the world) opposed to what capitalism wanted- free market and the ability to become rich.

The presidency in America throughout the war had no conclusion as how to deal with the it knowing that we were already in a sticky situation. The Vietnam War lasted for such a long time that 4 presidents served over the course of the 20 years: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. As the years progressed, America got more immersed in the war, something we did not expect or want to happen. Dwight Eisenhower didn’t want to get involved with the war. During the President’s News Conference of 1955 Eisenhower stated: “I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved now in an all-out war in any of those regions.”(Presidency.ucsb.edu)JFk tripled the military in Vietnam thinking that it would be best for America and Southeast Asia. Lyndon B Johnson was appointed president in 1963 during the Vietnam War after the assassination of JFK. After assuming the position of Kennedy, LBJ had to take part in the crisis that was happening in Vietnam. His primary goal was to put an end with the involvement of the war , but instead he ended up deploying more soldiers. After two U.S warships radioed that North Vietnam had fired onto their surface, President Johnson requested permission from US congress to increase our military in Indochina. August of 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that would further any military actions that Johnson saw fit to retaliate and maintain peace in Southeast Asia. This led to more violence, making the US more involved in the war than we ever were.

In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. Congress proposed and passed the War Powers Resolution due to the negative and messy aftermath of the war. Congress wanted to ensure that there was an agreement between both legislative and the executive branch. It states that the President must notify Congress within 48 hours of sending armed forces into military action. The War Powers Act was passed by the House of Rep and Senate but was vetoed by President Nixon.

President Nixon vetoed the War Powers Act believing that it took away the rights of the President as the Commander in chief.“(The war resolution act) would attempt to take away, by a mere legislative act, authorities which the President has properly exercised under the Constitution for almost 200 years. …The only way in which the constitutional powers of a branch of the Government can be altered is by amending the Constitution.”(Presidency.ucsb.edu) Nixon began bombing Cambodia in secret without consenting with Congress or announcing to the public. People began to lose trust in the government because of this and that feeling of distrust intensified when the Pentagon Papers(a compilation of papers that revealed secret information about America’s involvement in Indochina) became public in 1971(Billofrightsinstitute.org). I believe that the War Powers Act is legal in every aspect. The role of Congress to is to declare war; the war powers resolution act assures that the President doesn’t declare or make any decisions along those lines. Stated in Article 1 section 8, Congress has the power to “...To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”(Loc.gov) Thus meaning that Congress and only Congress can declare war, but some may argue that the President as commander in chief has the right to send armed forces to the military. This blurs the role of the legislative and executive branch that eventually leads to conflict.The effects of the war powers resolution of 1973 were that it led to confliction between the executive and legislative branches.

America’s involvement in the Vietnam War was unjust, chaotic and immoral.We fought for free market-capitalism and to stop the spread of communism. America spent over $780 billion over the course of 20 years on bombs, weapons, and equipment. $780 billion wasted on killing people-- some even innocent--, destroying the lives of veterans that we as a country don’t acknowledge and ruining the land of Vietnam. Next time you hear about the Vietnam War, do not parade what seems to be a win on our part but recognize our losses.

Citations:

Dwight D. Eisenhower: The President's News Conference - February 9, 1955." The American Presidency Project. Web. 22 May 2017.

Napalm, Agent Orange - The Vietnam War. Web. 22 May 2017.

Nixon and the War Powers Resolution." Bill of Rights Institute. Web. 22 May 2017.

Olson, James Stuart, and Randy Roberts. Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-2010. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014. Print.

"Richard Nixon: Veto of the War Powers Resolution - October 24, 1973." The American Presidency Project. Web. 22 May 2017. 

"War Powers." War Powers | Law Library of Congress | Library of Congress. Web. 22 May 2017.

Saving Energy

This unit for Urban Planning, we learned about electricity, the flow of electrons and how to make a successful circuit. I learned about AC and DC: AC is alternating current that was founded by Nikola Tesla, it's usually used for long distances. DC is direct current and used for modern electronics with computer chips and anything powered by batteries For our FE we went to Robot City, an organization that teaches the youth how to build robots. We built a speaker from a circuit, it was a bit confusing but overall it was fun building it and looking at the robots they've built. The purpose of this Action Project was to build an energy efficient circuit that would represent household items. This action project was fairly easy and simple. Below is my slideshow, enjoy!

              

Dear Sophia King...

This term in Policy, I learned about the policies we have here in America. A policy is a set of principles that is adopted by the government in order to maintain a civilized society. My class went to the Chicago City Council for an FE thinking that we would hear the council discuss hate crimes. Unfortunately, that discussion was postponed and instead praised officers and schools. The purpose of this AP was to write a letter either proposing or supporting a policy to someone belonging to the Legislative Branch. I chose to write to my Alderman, Sophia King, supporting the Municipal ID cards. Below is my letter to her:

ID Card, 2017, LD

Chicago Municipal ID Card
Sophia King
435 E. 35th St.
Chicago, IL 60616

Dear Sophia King,

I believe that every human deserves to be granted the same services and quality of life despite where they come from or their background. I applaud you for voting for the Municipal ID card. As I’ve been learning about policy, I wanted to get in contact with my Alderman about the importance of having the Chicago ID cards. I believe the Chicago Municipal ID should be available to all residents of Chicago. It will allow for people who’ve suffered from domestic violence, immigrants, homeless people, and LGBTQ who have been living in Chicago to take part in services.

As a high school student, I've rubbed shoulders with a variety of people from different backgrounds. Some of my peer's families quality of life is limited because their parents sacrificed their lives to seek what we call “the American Dream”; wishing for a brighter tomorrow for the next generation. I’ve heard stories about how tough life was back at home for them, success is as important to them as it is for everyone else.City Clerk, Anna Valencia pointed out that,”there are a lot of different people that will benefit from this program, including returning citizens, seniors, LGBTQ, domestic violence survivors, homeless, young people and, of course, undocumented.” Anna Valencia was elected City Clerk in November of 2016 and has been working towards having the Municipal ID cards.

Sophia, imagine yourself undocumented, scared that at any moment you could be ripped from what you call home and brought back to what you purposely left behind. Everyone should have a chance at life and this theirs. The ID secures the future of the next generation and beyond. Rahm Emanuel being highly supportive of the ID says that ”we are helping people, but we are also creating a line of protection”. With the dangers that come with being undocumented, they are risking their lives and have to live in the dark.

During the debate to see who was in favor of this proposal, 4 out of 48 Alderman voted against the ID Card. Your colleague, Alderman Anthony Beale of the 9th ward criticized the ID card saying that the federal or state government should be dealing with this issue instead of the city. The ninth ward is in a majority African-American neighborhood, where most immigrants aren’t residing, but just because it doesn’t affect the people in your ward doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect others. There are around 511,000 immigrants in the state of Illinois, 183,000 of those immigrants are living in Chicago. By pushing the problem onto federal or state government is disregarding the problem, if you have the power to help others then you should contribute to the cause, which in this case is allowing for immigrants, homeless people, and LGBTQ to have an ID card.

With the hatred spewing from our own president, it’s important to acknowledge the people whose rights are being taken and ignored. As someone in power such as yourself, it’s important to remind people around us that we all deserve a chance at life no matter your background.

Trussful Bridge

This term in Urban Planning, we learned about the process of building a city; I learned more about why things are placed where they are. We also went in depth about Newton's Laws of Motion and how they connect to bridges. Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction, this means that a bridge's downward force is reacting with the normal force of the earth and the bridge's support. My favorite FE was when we walked from Michigan to Hubbard St. and looked at the different types of bridges around the city. The purpose of this AP was to create a truss bridge given 60 popsicles that would uphold at least 10 pounds. Surprisingly, our bridge held 10 pounds only weighing 60.4 grams! I didn't expect to hold that much because the base wasn't as supportive.

                               

The Magic of Life

This elective term, I've been taking a course called M.A.G.I.C, which stands for Mentoring, Achievement of Goals and Inspiring Champions. During this course, I've been learning about people who inspire us, why they inspire us and why they are seen as successful. I chose to research and study Martin Scorsese, Martin is one of the most famous directors and producers ever. I chose him because I look up to him for inspiration for my films since I want to become a director or editor, I often remind myself of his path of success. During this course, Adam brought in a numerous of people ranging from mentors to a soccer coach, my favorite speaker was Amara. Amara was such a down to earth and was genuine with every answer, even though she was my favorite, I feel like I got a piece of new information from every speaker that will stay with me.  The purpose of this action project is to reflect on this course, by looking at your inspiration, mentors and your goals in life.

Citations: 

"Martin Scorsese Timeline." Martin Scorsese Timeline. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

"Martin Scorsese." Box Office Mojo. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Learning Japanese!

This winter, I spent  most of my time out of school trying to improve my Japanese. After school, I would take the train up north to the Korean Center, where I would begin learning and exploring Japanese and its culture for 3 hours and 30 minutes once a week. I've always wanted to go to Japan and a step closer to one day living in Japan would be to learn it's language. I grew up watching anime and seeing my older sisters learning new languages inspired me to find my own love for Japan.  In class I learned beginner Japanese, not only that, I also learned more about Japanese culture from my  Sensei (teacher in Japanese) Kim.  Kim taught me the sentence structure of Japanese and how to have a basic conversation in Japan. This summer I hope to travel to Japan with Greenheart Travel, with the skill I've obtained throughout my Japanese course, I will be able to indulge myself in Japan's culture single-handedly.

(LD),2017.Travel and See the World

The Fault in The Presidental Cabinet

This unit in Argument, we learned about making a synthesis. A synthesis is a conclusion that resolves 2 opposing parties by finding a middle ground between their argument. For the final Ap in this unit, I had to chose a role in the Presidential Cabinet and appoint a person that would better fit that role. This AP was fun and only took a few days to finish considering the amount of days left in the term. I am most proud of completing it within those days. Below is my final AP, enjoy!

The New and Improved Contact... THE TIMETACT

This unit for LST,my class explored time, if time is even real, how to view time and how to measure time. I learned that one of the first ways people used to measure time was the sundial. The sundial measures time with the sun and casts a shadow from a stick. Whichever angle that shadow is casting, you add an hour for every 15 degrees. For our field experience, my class went to the Planetarium to get a better understanding of light and how the universe displays that. The purpose of this Action Project is to create a unique time telling device that is inspired from the ones we looked at in class.

My idea for a new time-telling device is contact lenses that display time 24/7. The time will be embedded during the process of getting your prescription at the eye doctor. It will be a contact where the time will be displayed inside the prescription. The units will be second, minutes and hours, just like any other modern clock, but it will not be a clock more just a display for time. The contact that tells time is related to light because it attaches to the eye. In order for the eye to work, the pupil lets light in and when a contact is put on top of the eye light is going through contact and then the eye.The contact is effective because you will always be able to keep track of time, there is no way right now to always be on track of time 24/7.It prevents people from being late because the person will know always know what time it is.

TimeTact Video,(LD),2017,Wevideo

TimeTac sketches,(LD)2017,Google Drawing

Citations:Missing Train,(LD),2017,Hilarousgifs

Alarm clock,(LD),2017, Mrwgifs

Viceland,(LD),2017,Giphy

California,(LD),2017,WIfflegif

Honey BooBoo,(LD),2017,Tenor

Contacts,(LD),2017,WIfflegif

Clock,(LD),2017,Best animations

Tokyo,(LD),2017,Dfiles

Africa,(LD),2017,Tumblr

New York,(LD),2017,Dfiles

Winnie the pooh,(LD),2017,Wifflegif

Southpark,(LD),2017,Giphy

Odd Future,(LD),2017,Giphy

Tv static,(LD),2017,Giphy

Leonardo Da Vinci,(LD),2017, leonardodavinci.net

Leonardo contact lens,(LD)2017, Pintrest

Men of vision,(LD),2017,College Optometrists

Rene descartes,(LD),2017,Wikipedia

Rene descartes eye diagram, (LD),2017, Theopticalvisionsite

Contact Lens,(LD),2017,andy-historyblogspot.com

Amending the Code

This unit in Argument, we studied the constitution and contradiction within it. Analyzing my rights as a U.S citizen, I learned that the framers(writers of the constitution) has contradicted and excluded people and laws that shouldn't be ignored. To learn more about the constitution and argument, my class visited the Chicago Courthouse. My class sat in for a trial about mal practice, this was one of the most exciting FE's I've been on. Watching the trial made me wonder how to set an argument effectively.The purpose of this AP is to amend a rule that is contradictory, unjust , has a logical flaw or needs to specified. in the GCE Code of Conduct. Through reading the Code of Conduct, I found that the rule truancy needs to be specified, read below to know more about the changes I've done to this rule.

The rule in GCE's Code of Conduct I've decided to amend is truancy. The code of conduct states:Truancy is considered tardiness or absence(s) without a valid excuse. A student out of school without a valid excuse is considered truant. Truant students must arrange with their teachers to make up missed work. Parents will be notified of excessive tardiness or absence. While reading this rule, I began to question,what does valid mean?, I knew I had to amend this rule because I've been in many situations like this. The Truancy rule leaves too much room for interpretation and power to the staff member, because a student doesn’t have a “valid reason” to the next person doesn’t mean it’s not valid for them.

Truancy Sing Post,(LD),2015,Texascourt.gov

I began to think about what the framers of the Code of Conduct were thinking, and to get into their head, I created a syllogism.The logic for this rule is to make sure students don’t skip school because they simply don’t feel like going to school.

GCE’s Syllogism:
P1: Students are required to attend school .

P2: There must be a valid reason for missing(unspecified).

P3: Whether the reason for absence is valid or not is up to the teacher.

P4: A Truant is someone who misses school without a valid reason.

C: A student who misses school without a valid excuse is a Truant.

A situation that has happened to me several times and any student that has a lot of siblings, is getting to school on time. The issue is that everyone has to be at school on the same time at different places. Having all my siblings run on different schedules means that someone might be late. For example, If I were to miss school or be tardy because my siblings decided to go slower that day, then my teacher or head of school would think this reason was invalid. They would question me and suggest that I need to get up earlier or take the train. If a certain student didn’t have access to the train or only have one parent that can drive them school, such as myself, have no power whether they get to school early or not. This rule needs to amended because it makes a student’s reason for being absent or tardy invalid, it leaves the decision to the teacher without a further conversation.

My Syllogism

P1: Students are required to attend school

P2: If the student is absent or tardy their reason can be justified through a discussion with teacher or head of school

P3: There must be a conversation to discuss whether their reason for absence/tardy is justified.

P4: A Truant is someone who misses school without a valid reason

C: A student who is a absent or tardy must talk to the head of school or teacher to justify their reason of absence/tardiness. That will determine whether they are a truant or not, whether they are or not, they must email teacher for missed work. Excessive tardiness or absence will result in a discussion that will involve parents.

By changing the world valid to the word justifiable allows the absent or tardy student to fully explain why they missed school to their teacher. The world valid is more of a one sided conversation that lets the teacher to make their choice, this could be because of a bias or not. The world justifiable allows there to be more communication and will lead to a more respectable community.

A reason for absence is not day or night.This means that the reason for a person’s absence should not be wrong or right, but more so a choice that they must justify to their teacher. The student should have the right to miss if they can justify their actions to their teacher. Students should know that they must email their teachers to make up their missed work.If this rule were to amended, there would be more communication to solve issues rather than letting a staff member decide whether the issue is justified or not. I would be more open to discuss issues, rather there being a miscommunication and leaving with hard feelings toward someone and vice versa. As a whole, this rule is beneficial to my school life because it leaves everyone with a voice.My co-signer/peer that supported my argument for amending this rule is AL. She said, student's excuses are different than others depending on who they are and what they find important enough to miss or be tardy.For example she always has family matter and another student could live very far."

The 9th amendment relates most to my argument, the ninth amendment states that there are rights of citizens that may not be written in the constitution, but this doesn’t mean that they can be violated.This relates to my argument, the students of GCE can be seen as the citizens as mentioned in the constitution. The rule of truancy, gives the person in power(staff member/teacher) to decide whether the reason of absence is valid or not. But, it states,” A student out of school without a valid excuse is considered truant.” This sentence in the rule gives the students rights that they may not know or is not explicitly written. As a whole, I think that the Code of Conduct is written intentionally to be vague to give students rights that may not have been written or thought of. 

My amendment demonstrates true citizenship, it allows every student and teacher to have equal rights.Students and teachers will have equal rights because the teacher won’t be deciding whether the excuse is valid or not,instead, it would be discussed. It would let the student tell their side of the story and the teacher saying what they think. Together, they would decide if the students reason is justified or not. If the rule isn’t amended, it’s possible that the teacher/ staff member can take advantage of the student because of a bias by letting them decide whether their reason is invalid.

Evidence

P1: Leaves room for interpretations and biases towards student.

P2: Change word from valid to justifiable for better communication and understanding for both parties.

P3: Relates to the 9th amendment by having rights that are not specified that need to be.

Tuning my Diddley Bow

Diddley Bow,(LD),2017

This unit in Light, Sound and Time, we studied and explored what sound is. Sound are the vibrations traveling through mediums then into our ears. We dove deeper into frequency and wavelengths and how the pitch of a sound affects the wavelength and frequency. I also learned that the speed of sound is 343 meters per second and travels differently depending on the density of the object. My class visited the Chicago Hearing Society, an organization that helps people hard of hearing or deaf for one of our Field Experiences. We listened and asked questions to some of the volunteers that were deaf, I learned how to say thank you and you’re welcome in American Sign Language (ASL).

For this Action Project, we had to create a Diddley bow, something similar to a guitar. We had to create it with wooden sticks, tin cans, nails and batteries. This project was fun and interesting to do, to know more about it keep reading below.

Diddley Bow Diagram, (LD),2017,Befunky

To create the Diddley bow I had to gather, nails, strings, a tin can, a wooden stick, and a glue stick. Then I created a hole at the back of the tin can, then put the tin can down sideways on the wooden stick. To stabilize the tin can, I nailed two nails front and back, then I inserted a string through the tin can tying it from the front nail. Then I nailed a nail in the back of the tin can, pulled the strings as tight as possible around that nail and then inserted the glue stick for tension. Finally, I plucked the string and it created a guitar-like note. The Diddley bow and guitar make sound similarly, first one has to pluck a string then the vibration travels through the body then into the tin can, amplifying the sound, allowing people to hear the note. The thickness of the string is 1.3cm and length is 12cm.

Math:

Tin Can,LD,Google Drawing, 2017

Frequency and Wavelengths,( LD),Google Drawing, 2017

This diagram explains the vibration, frequencies and wavelengths of my Diddley Bow at certain points of the string. Frequency is the number of complete cycles per second, in the case it is vibrations per second, and is measured in hertz. Wavelength is the distance from one peak to the next and can be thought of as one complete wave cycle.

     Trapezoid,(LD),Google Drawing,2017       

                                                 Recording of my Diddley Bow: