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.