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

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