Overcoming The Wave Of Mediums

For the second unit of If These Walls Could Talk, we studied different types of media used from the 1920s to the present, such as wheatpasting, block-printing, acrylic media, and many more. This was something I really enjoyed because I got to work with a lot of different types of art media and technique that I never have before. We looked at different murals that used these mediums such as work done by Banksy who is known for spray paint murals, or JR who uses different media in each of the countries he visits. For our action project, we were assigned to work in a group to create one image, and then each member of the group chose a media to work with. Afterwards we had to each chose two sections of the finalized sketch, to create material swatches using each of our chosen material. At some points, my medium was difficult to use because it’s pieces are bulky and they were difficult to get in the small spots that had more details, but I managed to overcome that struggle to create a really cool image. I’m really excited for the next unit, to see the bigger, final version our our mural.

AG
Overcoming The Wave
12/2015
12” x 5” and 12” x 4”

Coarse Pumice Gel Mixed with Acrylic Paint on Canvas Paper
In our image you see a small boat, with four people inside, rowing towards a big wave. This is supposed to symbolize GCE’s mission to reinvent education and the school going against the traditional education system. The people inside the boat represent our community, because we are the ones who actually make this vision possible and make it happen. They represent both the students and the staff. The wave represents the traditional education system we are working to change and improve.

BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Sketch . 12/2015

We didn’t come to create this image right away, however, it was a long process that didn’t just take one day. We started by looking at all our group members' sketches from the first Unit, in order to figure out the best elements from each image. We started out with MF’s Japanese wave because we really liked the details and how is looked. We also really liked LL’s layering, the simple message behind NVA's cellphone image, the detailed banner from BKJ's sketch, and the use of silhouettes from my sketch. We then tried to think oh how we could put these all to use into one image. We brought our images together, and decided on a silhouette of a person, pushing the wave over a symbol, we hadn’t yet decided on, that would represents traditional education, and a banner at the bottom that holds a sort of caption. We researched the meaning of the Japanese wave and found that it meant strength, which we thought is symbolic of GCE. After talking to our teacher, we decided to simplify the image and to switch our symbols so that instead, traditional education is the wave, and the thing it is above GCE. We decided the perfect thing to put in was a little boat with four people, swimming towards the wave. This was to represent GCE and their fight to go against standardized education and reinvent the system, and like I stated earlier, the people represent the GCE community that makes the idea of our school happen and come to life. We also decided to make the boat out of a banner, and write inside of it the title- “Overcoming The Wave”. This mural is both a revolt mural against the education system in America, but also a tribute mural to our school for all that they do for us and make happen. We recognize the battle they fight and appreciate all the work that is done to help make all this possible, and we want others to realize and appreciate this as well.

For my material, I chose to use coarse pumice gel mixed with acrylic paint. I chose this because when experimenting with many media in class, this was my favorite one. I enjoyed working with it, and even more so, the way it looked when it dried. Aside from just enjoying this medium, I also just thought it would look really cool for the foamy part of the wave. It makes that part of the wave seem to come out, and the crunchy part is almost like the bubbles that create the foam. I had a vision in my mind of the final mural, and that is what I saw for that part of the image. In the end I think my image was pretty cool because of the way it created the three-dimensional look I was going for, and it was really interesting to look at. However, I didn’t think this would work for the entire image, when everything has that “pop” it takes the attention away from from all the important elements in the image. That’s why it’s important to only have it for part of the image.

    

          AG . First Swatch. 12/2015                AG . Second Swatch. 12/2015                 AG . Close Up Of Swatch. 12/2015

In the end, we really like the way everyone’s swatches looked and wanted to use each of the media that were chosen by the members of the group. We decided for the majority of the wave we would use both the semi-gloss soft gel, as well as regular gloss soft gel. For the foamy part of the wave my medium- coarse pumice gel. We decided the sky would look best in just acrylic paint, that the boat would be spraypainted, and the people be as well, but with stencils, not free handed. We think using all these different media will help draw attention to the key elements. Our boat will be a glittery gold that will really stand out and show that the symbol for GCE is the most important part of our mural.

BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Collaboration One . 12/2015

BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Collaboration Two . 12/2015

Walking With The Dead

For our first unit of If These Walls Could Talk, we learned about the history of murals. We looked at art during different periods in time, from Prehistory to the Italian Renaissance. We examined all their different techniques and styles of art. We were then assigned to design our own murals that fit the needs of a community of our choice. I really enjoyed the things we learned in this unit, because it was interesting to see how art evolved over time.

AG

"Walking With The Dead"
11/2015 

 11”14” 

 Printed Images, Glue, Paper

Today, we know Lincoln Park as home to a zoo, a conservatory, stores, restaurants, schools, and homes. But before that, Lincoln had had a vast history. It was first established in 1824, back when the area was primarily forest in which the US Army built a small post. In 1837, Chicago became established as a city with today’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as its northern boundary. Over time more settlers came, and the area began to transform into more of how the neighborhood is today.

Lincoln Park has changed a lot throughout the years and holds many memories and secrets. But what’s the biggest secret? Very few people know this, including Lincoln Park’s own residents, but during the mid-19th century, this area was a cemetery where more than 35,000 people were buried. What’s more, is that while many bodies were exhumed and relocated to other cemeteries, about 12,000 bodies still remain. That’s right, under all these homes and schools there are dead bodies buried.

This is why I decided to create this mural as both a tribute to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, and as something that will bring awareness, since most of the residents don’t even know about the cemetery they live over. I find it sad that people who lived in Lincoln Park have just been built over and forgotten about. No one deserves that, and this mural is to honor them and the lives they lived.

This mural is not only to honor and bring awareness to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, but also to bring the community together. Right now, Lincoln Park’s community is pretty torn. For example in the election for Alderman, the votes were split almost exactly 50/50. This means the community has very strong opposing sides, so this mural is supposed to remind them to step back and remember that we are all the same and to help them come together. As grim as it in, in the end we will all die and be buried in the same Earth together. Just like the people before us who were buried in Lincoln Park. So, instead of arguing and being against each other, they should spend time together and live their lives to the fullest.

I chose to mimic the style of Prehistoric cave paintings in my mural because a lot of Prehistoric art dealt with the the spiritual world. People from Prehistory believed that spirits and live people were basically the same and could still communicate. While I’m not so sure about the bodies buried in Lincoln Park communicating with the current residents, I do think that the people who have passed are the same as the people who are alive. I also mimicked the colors used at that time, or rather the lack of colors- my mural is only black and white to make it more simple and to show, even more so, how we are all the same.

Money, Money, Money, Must Be Funny, In The Rich Man's World

For our second unit of Economics, Wealth and Wages, we looked into how wealth is accumulated and how it is distributed. We gained knowledge on how to invest our money and increase our money as much as possible, and we were assigned to put this knowledge into use for our Action Project by making a portfolio. This project was challenging because it required a lot of planning and calculating but I really enjoyed it and plan to use some of these skills in real life.

For this project, we received a scenario where 18 years ago, our “guardian angel” set up a college savings plan for us with an initial investment of $8,500. They then would continue to add $50 each month ($600 yearly). After 18 years, at an average annual interest rate of 7%, compounded annually, the plan is now worth $50,556.80. We then had to decide what we do with the money after cashing it out and depositing the money in a brokerage account to invest on our own.

My investment philosophy is to invest when a stock is lower than the annual stock rate, for example when Disney’s stock dropped in July of 2015, and cash out when it’s really high up, but also to wait a long amount of time, because the more years you wait the more likely you are to profit. I also don't care for big fluctuations and prefer stability in my investments, the more fluctuations the less likely I am to invest.

According to a risk assessment quiz I took, by Rutgers, I have an average tolerance for risk. I agree with that result. While, I am willing to take some risks, they aren’t usually aren’t very large risks. If I don’t feel it is almost certain that I will profit, I am not willing to invest my money. I’m more willing to invest in something that I will make less of a profit on it it’s less risky, than to invest in something that I would make a much larger profit on but that has high risk.

AG Screenshot Risk Assessment 2015

I chose three investment goals I have over different periods of time. 1 year, 5 years, and 25 years.

1-year goal: Own a used car - Jeep ($6,500)
5-year goal: Rent an apartment for one year without having to work ($12,000)
25-year goal: Pay off all my student loans ($120,000) Own a house ($400,000)

When choosing which companies to invest in I looked at how well they have done over the course of 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and since the company first started. I also paid attention to fluctuations and how big they were. If a company’s stocks would change constantly, I automatically crossed them off my list. If they were a sure and steady company for years and continued to have a steady increase the past year, I took a closer look at them. This way I could be almost positive that I would make a large profit and I knew that they would be the least risky. I also was only willing to invest in companies that don’t do anything that harms animals, people, or the environment. I decided that when it comes to money, I think the most important thing to look at is what will make money, not what is the nicest or friendliest, but I also have morals and harming others isn’t acceptable to me.

The two companies I chose were the Walt Disney Company and Amazon. The reason I chose these two companies is because I felt could invest in them both no matter what time horizon, since they both have had a steady increase over the years and I think they’re a safe bet no matter what time frame you choose.

• Walt Disney Company has a great competitive advantage over other companies in the entertainment industry. They have one of the largest shares in animation, television, film, theme park, and merchandising industries and over 10 years of a steady growth. They also offer dividends, $0.66/share biannually, but what’s more impressive is their steady growth, with an ROI of over 200% in just the past 5 years. They are constantly releasing new movies, TV shows, merchandise, and attractions. 

Disney Stock Price. 2015. Via Google

• Similarly to Walt Disney Company, Amazon has a competitive advantage over other companies in their industry. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States. They are not likely to fail because of how many different things they offer, such as entertainment or retail. There is almost nothing you can’t find on Amazon and they find you the cheapest prices which is something consumers love, so I doubt they would drop in the market anytime soon. While Amazon itself hasn’t profited that much, people who invest in them have because of their good business model that customers like so much. Like Disney, they have had a steady growth over the years and also have an ROI of over 200% which is incredible. 

Amazon Stock Price. 2015. Via Google

I then organized my investments into three portfolios, one for each goal.

Portfolio I- 1 Year Goal

$3,954.24

      4 shares of Amazon @ $563.91 ($2,255.64 total) (57.0% of portfolio)

      15 shares of Disney @ $113.24 ($1,698.60 total) (43.0% of portfolio)

This grouping of Amazon and Disney has an expected ROI of 64.4%. After one year, I should have enough money for the car I want- $6,500.

Portfolio II- 5 Year Goal

$2,033.74

      2 shares of Amazon @ $563.91 ($1,127.82 total) (55.5% of portfolio)

      8 shares of Disney @ $113.24 ($905.92 total) (44.5% of portfolio)

This grouping of Amazon and Disney has an expected ROI of 490%. After 5 years I should be able to have enough money to pay rent for an apartment for an entire year without having to work- $12,000.

Portfolio III- 25 Year Goal

$44,980.21

      39 shares of Amazon @ $563.91 ($21,992.49 total) (48.9% of portfolio)

      203 shares of Disney @ $113.24 ($22,987.72 total) (51.1% of portfolio)

This grouping of Amazon and Disney has an expected ROI of 1056.06%. After 25 years I should have enough money to pay off my student loans- $120,000 and own a house- $400,000.

Total Investment Portfolios Value- $50,968.19 (This is $411.39 over how much my guardian angel gave me to invest but I have my own $411.39 to invest already saved so it’s ok👍)

If you look at my Stock Sector, you see that I have chosen two companies that are very different and would branch into two very different sectors. A sector is a type of business that a company deals with, basically the category or industry, for example Disney’s Stock Sector is entertainment. The reason I chose entertainment and retail was because, while I doubt either of these sectors would fail anytime soon; if they were to for some reason, some of my money would still be safe in another stock so my loss won’t be as detrimental.

With each portfolio I tried to put in as close to a 50/50 balance in each company as I could, so that if one were to fail I would still have half of my money. I put the majority of the money I’m investing into my 25 year goal, since that is where I need the most amount of money.

Financial Advisor Nathan Aldinger came to speak to our class and a big part of what he does and what he talks about it financial planning. He also talked about how things happen a lot that you just can’t account for with the government, banks, and just money in general. You can never really plan something because you don’t know what might happen. So I think it’s important to keep that in mind while investing, because even if everything were to go perfectly in the stock market for me, I never know if something like what happened in Greece will happen in America, where I won’t be able to get my money out of the banks. I think it’s important to have another back up plan with the money I make on my own, not from my guardian angel.

Three assumptions I made while doing this project were that:

• These companies will continue to flourish and their stocks will continue to rise at a steady rate.
• That nothing major will happen with American money or the value of the dollar or my bank (Chase)
• That Disney’s recent drop is just an anomaly and won’t happen multiple times.

If this scenario were in real life I would definitely choose to actually do this project and put in it the stocks the way I did. The only thing I would change is the time horizon, because I would rather focus on my long term goals rather than my long term goals, so I would most likely just cash out the majority of the stocks after 25 years if not longer.

Works Cited

• Amazon.com. (2015, October 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:35, October 16, 2015
• Douglas Satterfield. "Core Values: Amazon.com." Theleadermaker.com. N.p., 15 June 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2015
• Investopedia. "Who Are Amazon's (AMZN) Main Competitors?"Investopedia.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2015
• Peter Roff. "The Man, the Medium and Message." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 06 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2015 
• Rutgers. Investment Risk Tolerance Quiz. 2015. NA
• "Company Overview | The Walt Disney Company." Company Overview | The Walt Disney Company. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 
• "Why The Walt Disney Co Is Investing In This Startup." The Motley Fool. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 
• "Potential Competitive Advantage over the past 10 Years." Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) Economic Moat. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 
• "Spider-Man Arrives at Disneyland Park November 16 in the New Super Hero HQ." Disney Parks Blog RSS. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 
• "Growing Dividends Are Great News for Investors in The Walt Disney Company -- The Motley Fool." The Motley Fool. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 
• "Walt Disney Co." Google Search: NYSE:DIS Quotes & News. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 
• "Amazon Never Makes Money But No One Cares (AMZN,AAPL,WAG,AZO)." Investopedia. 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. 

Childhood Taken Over By Technology...Or Is There Some Hope?

For our final unit in Journalism, Text, we learned about written journalism and how it has been used to connect us to here and now. We studied essential skills, values, and concepts of written journalism in our century, and we learned about spot stories, in which all of the information is gathered “on the spot”. For our Action Project, we were assigned to cover our own spot stories at an event that we each chose to attend. This was a unit I enjoyed because I’m someone who loves to write, and I liked being able to improve upon my writing skills.

Childhood Taken Over By Technology...Or Is There Some Hope?

AG Technology Taking Over 2015

“Give that back! Why would you take that away from him?” a father yelled at his 9 year old daughter for taking away an iPhone from her 3 year old brother. Meanwhile, the small boy is screaming and crying off to the the side. This familial moment, which nowadays seems to happen all too often, is a prime example of what I worry about most when I think about today’s youth (by which I mean younger than me).

To clarify, I’m referring specifically about young children in this generation, children whose lives will be changed forever because they will never have the opportunity for a childhood that isn’t taken over technology. People my age are already technology obsessed - I’m not any different - but at least when we were younger we had childhoods where we actually played, childhoods where we still played outdoors, and with each other, with actual toys, not all-tech all of the time. Today’s youth have childhoods that don’t involve these things, but instead are corrupted by technology, disconnection, less socialization, and what I consider to be a much duller experience of being a kid.

On October 18th, I had an opportunity to witness both phenomena in action at this year’s annual Fall Harvest Festival at Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois. I was there volunteering for community service hours and had been assigned to supervise the Arts and Crafts section of the festival. The event was comprised of many different sections and opportunities for creativity and okay: the farm contained a large field with a farmhouse, a historic center, many different educational exhibits, and there were other fun, hands on activities such as wagon rides, apple cider making, animal petting, pumpkin picking, tours, and a lot more. Being in the crafts section, I got the opportunity to witness a variety of “interesting” artistic talents in my young “students” that day, but my mind also kept returning to our glaring difference in childhood experiences - tech or no/less tech.

This isn’t a concern to me alone. Fellow twitter users will recognize the trending hashtag “#TodaysKidsWillNeverKnow” where people nostalgically share the different games, books, or experiences in general that this and future generations of children don’t and won’t ever know because of how overcome they gave been by technology. Everything is just at their fingertips, and it’s there without any waiting. It’s amazing that technology has gotten so advanced, but what ever happened to jump rope, freeze tag, passing notes in class, mash, mood rings, Twister, the Barbie Cash Register or Hot Wheels? Do kids even still want treehouses? The most my generation had, technology-wise, when we were growing up were Gameboys, slow internet that would take 15 minutes (if you were lucky) to start up, flip phones that you had to record your ringtones on, cableless TV, and CDs. Movies weren’t “instantly streamed”-- you went to Blockbuster to rent them with your family and then you would spend some time rewinding the tapes to the beginning before returning them to the store. You couldn’t look up the definition of everything on Google in a couple of seconds -- you had to flip through the dictionary. You didn’t just take a million pictures on your phone -- you had a disposable camera, where every picture was taken with precision and care because there was no redo or delete button. And then went and developed the film -- it didn’t just upload quickly to your computer. But “Today’s Kids Will Never Know” and that’s just downright sad.

What I witnessed at the Fall Harvest Festival, however, was a relief to anyone who worries that technology is taking over today’s children. Kids were actually playing with toys, each other, animals, and the outdoors. They weren’t all sitting with tablets and cell phones and Gameboys. In fact, aside from the one incident I overheard with the child crying over the iPhone being taken away, I didn’t see any kids playing with any tech, which made me feel extremely relieved. One of my fellow volunteers said “I’m surprised we had this many kids coming in; I thought most kids nowadays just play on their phones.” The children and parents in my section were genuinely excited about the crafts we had set out to make. We created apples out of yarn and leaves out of paper, which might not sound like the most exciting things to do, but the kids actually enjoyed it, their little smiles along with exclamations of oohs and aahs, were proof that this was certainly a highlight of their day. We helped children of all ages - some of them so young that they even struggled to loop yarn around cardboard - who stuck with the crafting and did their best. An excited parent exclaimed, “It’s really nice to get to see the kids play with things hands-on for a change.” Whether her comment and this whole experience confirms my worries or proves them wrong, it was nice to get to spend a day with children, playing and creating, just like I once did.

Self Defense 101

For my third period elective of the Fall Term, I chose to take Self Defense. In this class we learned many different techniques to defend ourselves and about personal safety.  For our Action Project we were assigned to make a video showing at least one of the things we learned in this class. I really enjoyed this class and liked getting to learn techniques to defend myself; I honestly feel safer walking down the street thanks to this class. Sometimes the maneuvers were challenging, but I was able to get past every challenge and successfully master the moves.

REY of Light

For our second unit of Journalism, Sound, we studied radio and how it is used to connect people. We listened to many podcasts and studied many different voices. For our Action Project we were assigned to choose who we considered to be the “voice of the century” and make a podcast about them, including an interview and soundbites. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed the project because we got to do it on someone meaningful to us, and I really enjoyed getting to discuss Lana Del Rey and her art.

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00 0:02 0:26 0:46 2:49 2:53 2:56 3:04 3:08 3:14 3:17 3:19 3:20 3:25 3:28 3:35 4:01 4:31	[soundbite] [AG] [music fades in] [old music fades out, new music fades in] [soundbite] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [snippet of Lana Del Rey’s song “Brooklyn Baby” fades in] [AG with music fading in in the background] [soundbite] THE END	Elizabeth Grant, more well known as Lana Del Rey, was born June 21, 1985 in New York state. She began songwriting when she was 18 and released her first album in 2005 under the name May Jailer. Later she signed her first record deal and released her debut studio album- Lana Del Ray AKA. Lizzy Grant, ray spelled with an a not an e like currently, under the name Lizzy Grant, but it got very little attention. She then changed her stage name to Lana Del Rey, rey with an e, and released Born to Die, which became a major hit, 5th best-selling album worldwide in 2012. Later she released two more albums, Ultraviolence, and more recently Honeymoon. In between all those albums she also released many hit singles. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Lana Del Rey about how people consider her to be “not authentic”, and she is often criticised for many reasons. However, people need to realize, that all celebrities have a persona, that doesn’t make them fake or “not authentic”, it just makes them a celebrity. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Lana Del Rey and what kind of person she is, but the rumors about her are just that- rumors. For instance, people think that her father paid money to get her where she is today just because of how wealthy he is, but that’s completely false. 5 Points Records label boss David Nichtern said “Her father never had anything to do financially with supporting her creativity.” Her music is good, and people realized that which is why she’s gotten where she is, it has nothing to do with money. People also think that she slept with many people in the industry to get her higher up, but again this is completely fake. Lana Del Rey is brutally honest and even said herself, “You know, I have slept with a lot of guys in the industry, but none of them helped me get my record deals.” She owns her actions and does it with no shame, which just goes to show how not fake she is, and it also confronts another issue of people calling her anti-feminist. But how can someone who completely owns something like that be anti-feminist? Her music strives to show women's’ points of views on many things, and explains what goes in their minds, not to make an excuse or encourage it, but just to make the world understand, and to show women going through these situations that others feel the same way and that they aren’t alone, but I don’t think that’s anti-feminist at all, I think it’s just honest. The things Lana Del Rey sings about are critical for this century because she brings to light issues that most people don’t really address, like domestic violence. She also confronts death and what comes after. Her music is so hypnotic it captivates people and her lyrics force you to listen and pay attention. I interviewed the person who first introduced me to Lana Del Rey to discuss her music and why she thinks it’s important. Why do you like Lana Del Rey's music? I think she inspires a lot of people, um, especially young women; she serves as a role model for me, and my other young women as well. Why do you think she's important for out generation? Um, I believe that she inspires a lot of people to be their true selves. Which of her songs has the deepest meaning to you? Um, "DarkParadise". Why? It reminds me of the dark times and being able to get through them. What made you play me her music for the first time? I thought you would enjoy her music as much as I did, and I thought her music would help you go through hard times like I did. Lana Del Rey’s music is so important in our generation, because it is so honest. Her music tells the truth about our time period and it helps others know that they aren’t alone. Time Magazine described her song Brooklyn Baby as “by far the most millennial song ever written”. I think her music is something that everyone could relate to if they just listened to her words, and I think it is something important for everyone to listen to, so they can know what they’re feeling is normal and okay. Because that’s what her music does for me.

Works Cited:

• 50 Geeky Facts About Lana Del Rey | NME.COM. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• Harris, P. (2012, January 21). Lana Del Rey: The strange story of the star who rewrote her past. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• Lana Del Rey. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• REVIEW: Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence Is the Album We Need Right Now. (2014, June 17). Retrieved October 14, 2015.

Planning Ahead

Our first STEAM class as seniors in Economics. The unit this course starts with is Utility and Value which mainly looked at how and why people made decisions, and the economic value behind these decisions. For our action project, we were assigned to chose two post-high school paths leading to our careers. I personally, want to be a lawyer, so both my path required college and a further education. This action project was a lot of work and quite time consuming, but I'm so glad we got to do it because not only was it interesting, but it gave me a sense of what kind of money I'll be paying for college and how long I'll be paying it.

Circle of Life

Our first humanities class for our senior year is Journalism. Journalism is about observing, analyzing, and reporting current events through different media. Our first unit is about journalism through images, also known as photojournalism. In this unit we learned about photography skills and how photographs are an essential part of journalism. For our first action project, we were given the task of interviewing someone who we believe has an interesting view of the world, and what they believe the meaning of life is.

For my action project, I chose to interview a friend who is very close to me. I’ve known him for only a year but he’s already become a very influential person in my life, and I believe I already have pretty good sense of what kind of a person he is. JM is almost 18 years old, going to the top ranked school in Illinois, and one of the brightest people I know. He enjoys bike riding and being out with friends; he also mentors underprivileged kids three days a week. I chose him for my interview due to how much he has already experienced in his life. Growing up in Colombia, I know he’s witnessed many deaths and has dealt with many hardships, and has to have a different perspective of the world than most people our age, even those who’ve lived in Chicago.

In our interview, conducted on September 15th at my house, JM told me he believed that the meaning of life is “to leave something behind that others will experience and learn from, while at the same time, having experiences that will you with pleasure,” part of what shaped his view on life, surprisingly had little to do with his childhood and Colombia, but instead came from a book his father gave him during a rough patch in his life. The book, Amador, is a Spanish book written by Fernando Savater as a sort of guide for his son. It is about the ethics of life and the questions his son should ask to lead a good life. This book, which my interviewee read last year, inspired him to change his views on what was worth shaping his life toward, and it enlightened him with topics and perspectives he had not previously considered.

JM personally, has yet to demonstrate the first part of what he believes the meaning of life is- leaving something behind for others to experience and learn from; however, he explained to me, how his parents have done this for him. He stated “My parents were the first ones to get an education in our family and to strive for a stabilized financial situation. The trials and tribulations that I experienced in life are not something I want my children to have to experience as well.” He has, however, demonstrated the second part of his meaning in life- filling your life with experiences that fill you with pleasure, and this is something I’ve personally witnessed many times. For the past two summers I would constantly see him doing things that I know he finds fun. Even before I knew him, when I would just see him around, he always had a smile on his face whether he was somewhere lively like a music festival, or just somewhere more ordinary like a park, showing how he strives to find something positive in everything he does, in order to fill his life with pleasure like he stated.

When I asked JM to describe what image he thinks would represent his meaning of life- he said a circle, a fun, adventurous, colorful circle, not a regular one. The circle represents his belief that life goes on, but it’s not just ordinary because so much happens - good or bad - in life. That’s how I came up with my idea for the subject of photograph.

AG Circle of Life (2015)

The photo I chose to include with this piece is of a circle made of flowers because I thought it was a good representation of how JM described his image of the meaning of life. I chose flowers of all things because plants are actually life - they’re organisms and they help sustain life- and they are all different and unique, just life each individual and his/her experiences; but at the same time they are all in the same circle of life together. I chose to center the circle instead of using the rule of thirds because it’s just one shape and I thought it was more aesthetically pleasing that way. I used a pretty low aperture (f/2.2) to allow more light in so that the image would be brighter because I wanted to show life in a more bright and positive light. My shutter speed was pre-set, but it must have been short since I took a picture of something that was still and it wasn’t blurry. Furthermore, I set the focus directly the circle since it’s the subject and most important part of the image, and there wasn’t much else I wanted the viewer to see.

This action project was one I especially enjoyed, because not only did it allow me to become closer to someone in my life, and see their view of things even more, but it also allowed me to improve in a field that I find very enjoyable- photography. I’ve always had in interest in photography, but never felt as though I knew enough about camera’s and the science behind picture taking, so I never really pursued my interest in it. Now, however, I have almost a second opportunity too, and maybe it’s something that can bring more pleasure to my life.

Judging

In our third unit of Policy, Judge, we learned about the Judicial branch and how it works. We got to look at different cases and different types of courts, such as the supreme court. I'm most proud of helping plan for an FE guest, my aunt, so the class could learn about Guantanamo Bay; it was really interesting and I enjoyed learning about it. For our action project we had to make a presentation about a supreme court case that we chose. I chose Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954).

Perfecting A Neighborhood

The third unit of Urban Planning, Flow, is about what a city needs to function and what makes a city ideal. We learned about how different cities evolved, and what makes “good” or “bad” urban planning. This action project is asking us to select a block that needs improvement, analyze the location, and then make improvements and build a 3D model of it. I’m most proud of how much I learned in this unit because it was a lot of information and the test was difficult, but I still did well on it.

The area I selected is around Division & Halsted. The neighborhood in general is really nice but the block I chose is basically just a bunch of empty lots with electric stuff. It's strengths are that is has a lot of room to work with and you wouldn’t have to tear down a bunch of stuff. It's main weakness is that it’s next to a river which might smell,driving people away, and it could be dangerous. The space would be better if it had nice park, like for kids with swings and stuff, as well as bike paths.

The area I chose is a quadrilateral shape, specifically a trapezoid. The southern side is 525.82 ft, the eastern side is 984.97 ft, the northern side is 753.25 ft, and the western side is 1350.87 ft. To find the area I multiplied the height, 535 ft, by the two bases divided by two:
Area = (535 x [984.97 + 1350.87 /2] ) = 624,837.2 squared ft

AG Labeled Map (2015)

5 physical alterations/redesigned sections that I improved in this space are:

1. Bike paths - because it is safer and more convenient for bikers to have their own space 
2. Turn the open green space into a park - because it gives the space a purpose and puts it to good use, also it is good for the community 
3. Add a fence alongside the river - for safety 
4. Add a library, soccer field, basketball court, and tennis court where parking lots are - because again it gives the space a purpose and it is good for the community 
5. Adding solar panels to all the buildings in the area - because it is good for the environment and our planet

AG Sketch (2015)

The Conrad Sulzer Regional Library & Wells Park inspired my design because the area has a library right next to a baseball field. They also have tennis courts and a playground like I do. I chose this space as my inspiration because I went there when I was younger and it always gave me a strong sense of community, and I think that's something every neighborhood should have. Another area that inspired me is the area I live in in Poland, Gdynia, because of the way their streets are. The driving cars are in the middle, and then there are parked cars, and then there are bikes and pedestrians on the side walk. This inspired me to do something very similar, but with separate space for bikers and pedestrians, because I believe that is safer and less confusing.

My area related to transportation because I added bike lanes and made the different parts of the street more distinct and safe. It relates to housing because I added houses in part of my area, and there are houses in the blocks next to my area. It relates to infrastructures because there are two bridges right next to my area. And it relates to services because there are many electric things; however, I am removing them. I think, if possible, they should be moved somewhere indoors because they are very unappealing to look at.

Two of the volumes of buildings I designed are:
(Library) Rectangular prism with a rectangular pyramid on top = (l*w*h) + (l*w*h/3) = (475.27' * 140.67' * 46.5') + (475.27' * 140.67' * 22.98' / 3) = 3,108,814.74' + 512,118.73' = 3,620,933.47' cubed
(House) Rectangular prism with a rectangular pyramid on top = (l*w*h) + (l*w*h/3) = (20.69' * 60.23' * 22.86') + (20.69' * 60.23' * 11.18' / 3) = 28,487.19' + 4,644.02' = 33,131.21' cubed

The most difficult problem I encountered was with using the sketchup app because it was very complicated and difficult to use, however, I overcame this when I got help from a former GCE student. Once he taught me how to use the app it became easy to use. This speed-bump taught me that it’s okay to ask others for help and it tends to be to your advantage when you do. If I were to redo this project I would probably chose a space that was a simpler shape, such as a rectangle, because my sides were all at angle which made the project much more difficult.

Nein Hitler

For our second Unit of Policy, we learned about the purpose and power of the executive branch. We also learned about policies that the executive branch has created and carried out in the past. For our Action Project, we were assigned to research a specific war and a policy during that war in order to determine whether or not our involvement in the war was just. I'm proud of being able to write this in the formal essay structure provided because I'm someone who likes to write more than just five paragraphs.

"The Remilitarisation of the Rhineland." The Remilitarisation of the Rhineland. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.

World War II (WWII), was the second global war that took place between September 1, 1939 and September 2, 1945. This involved almost the entire world, from the US, Great Britain and its allies to Germany, Italy and other dictatorships. Most battles occurred in Europe, South-East Asia, and North Africa. Many war strategies were used such as air, ground, naval, chemical and atomic warfare. The immediate cause of this war was the Remilitarization of the Rhineland, but the underlying cause was a lot of Germany being upset after losing WWI and wanting a redo to show their power, and to restore how the country was before.

The United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, about two years after it started. At the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President, but by the end of the war the President was Harry S. Truman. Congress allowed Roosevelt to send the troops which he did due to the Pearl Harbor bombing -- a surprise military strike by Japan against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt had issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War to take any measures necessary, he convinced Congress to let him do this by saying he was doing this in order to aid other countries who needed help, and to help stop communism.

This war was unjust for Germany to start in the first place because it was really illogical and the country had no justifiable or logical reason to begin such a war. Hitler’s reasons were all so absurd; he claimed that there was a superior race based on looks and culture which is just racist and quite ignorant. All he wanted was power which is not a reason to kill so many people. However, it was just for the US and other countries to enter the war because they were just trying to stop Hitler, protect innocent lives, and basically stop genocide.

During this war, Hitler executed the Remilitarization of the Rhineland -- several areas of Western Germany. Doing this means he made it possible for Germany to pursue a policy of aggression in Eastern Europe that the demilitarized status of the Rhineland had blocked until then. This was significant because it violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties, marking the first time since the end of World War I that German troops had been in this region. This changed the balance of power in Europe from France towards Germany. Hitler’s policy was extremely unjust and illegal because of it violating the Treaty of Versailles. This caused the start of the war, it angered other countries, and also caused Hitler's self-confidence to surge to new heights.

All in all, Germany should not have started this war because nothing good came from it. Invading and remilitarizing Rhineland broke a treaty Germany had made only 20 years ago, and started a second war involving the entire world. They caused millions of deaths of not just soldiers, but innocents, all in order to try and gain power. In the end, nothing good came of this, and Germany ended up back where they started but with much more hatred from the rest of the world.

Work Cited

• "Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation." Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation. Web. 13 May 2015.
• "Remilitarization of the Rhineland." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation. Web. 13 May 2015. 

Circuit Circus

Our second Urban Planning unit is called Power, it is about powering cities and electricity. We learned about different parts of a circuit and how electricity works. Our action project is to design our own efficient electrical plan and to build a circuit with five resistors and two switches. I’m most proud of actually making the circuit work, because it was difficult and there were a lot of wires, but we finally made it work.

AG Circuit (2015)

AG Diagram (2015)

The LED light represents an LED lamp which saves about 16% of the energy that a regular lamp would use. The transformer represents a solar generator which creates 300 Joules per second. The speaker represents a hand-crank radio which saves 100% of the energy that a regular radio would use because you would crank it yourself, therefore it doesn't use any energy. The resistor represents an energy efficient washer which saves 50% of the energy that a regular washing machine would use. The second resistor represents an energy efficient dryer which saves 15% of the energy that a regular dryer would use.

MV Cover (2015)

Our circuit uses a total of 6 Volts
An example of Ohm’s Law would be if the speaker had a current of 3 amps, then the resistance is 2 Ohms because:
6V = 3A * x Ohms
x Ohms = 6V / 3A
x = 2 Ohms


There are two types of currents: AC which is an alternating current, and DC which is a direct current. Our circuit is DC because batteries are always DC. 


The circuit board had many options and we came up with our design by simply choosing the options we liked the most. We used the transformer because it distributes energy, the speaker because the sound was fun to mess around with, and the LED light because we wanted to be able to see something happen. Then we added the two resistors, which take up energy, at the end because we needed to have five total. The design changed a lot over time, especially towards the end where we tried to make it work with two different switches.

During the process of building our circuit we encountered a few problems, such as figuring out where to connect the wires in a way to make it all work. But we just remained persistent, kept trying different things, and followed the instructions. Doing that allows you to solve any problem however difficult it may be, so eventually we figured out the wiring and built our amazing circuit.

Work Cited

• Ballad, Tricia, and Demand Media. "How Much Do Energy Efficient Bulbs Save?" Home Guides. Web. 10 May 2015. 
• "Clothes Dryers." Consumer Energy Center -. Web. 10 May 2015.
• "Clothes Washers." Consumer Energy Center -. Web. 10 May 2015.  
• "Goal Zero Yeti 400 300-Watt Solar Powered Generator-23000 - The Home Depot." The Home Depot. Web. 10 May 2015. 
• "Watts to Joules Calculator." Watts to Joules (J) Conversion Calculator. Web. 10 May 2015.   

Dear Honorable Mayor

In our first unit of Policy, we learned about the purpose and the power of the Legislative Branch of government. We learned about how the branch works, how it exercises power, and we discussed specific studies from history about how the legislative branch had exercised its power. For our first action project, we were instructed to write a letter to a legislator and introduce an issue that you would like them to fix, as well as the solution to how to fix it. My letter read as following:

"Aleksandra Gorman
GCE Lab School
1535 N. Dayton
Chicago, IL 60642

April 21, 2015

The Honorable Mayor Rahm Emanuel
121 N LaSalle Street
Chicago City Hall 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602

Dear Mayor Emanuel:

The people of Chicago need your help. I am writing to you today on behalf of the many Chicago citizens who are currently being victimized at the hands of police. Chicago’s police department gets away with too much misconduct and brutality. Misconduct refers to inappropriate or illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. In Chicago, the majority of complaints against officers are never taken to trial, and officers are simply let off the hook. Brutality complaints filed against the Chicago Police Department are 94% less likely to be sustained than elsewhere. In 2010, 6,613 sworn law enforcement officers were involved in police misconduct. Between 2002 and 2004, 10,149 complaints of brutality were made accusing the Chicago Police Department, but only 19 of these complaints led to any suspensions. 85% of the officers weren’t even interviewed about the complaints that were made about them. This shows, not only that complaints against our police force are rising, but that nothing is being done to follow through on these complaints.

I propose to end this injustice through a citywide ordinance that requires cameras on the police officers’ vests. The city of Rialto, California did this and complaints went down 88%, while the use of force by officers decreased 60%. If this worked so well in Rialto, what’s to stop it from doing the same in Chicago? I believe you owe it to the people to fight to pass this law in our city. Chicago police have a history of lying about their mistreatment of civilians. If they were to have cameras showing their interactions with civilians, they wouldn’t be able to lie or hide any information regarding daily interactions with the public because there would be hardcore proof. Instead of innocent individuals being wrongfully imprisoned or brutalized because the police lied about what really happened, we will have evidence of it.

The police department's abuse of power has touched me personally in multiple ways. Two of the biggest things that have happened to me involving the police were extremely traumatizing. First, when I was six years old, my parents were unjustly arrested by a verbally and physically abusive officer. I saw the officer threaten my parents and heard him curse excessively, then proceed to push my father again the back of the car and handcuff him, just because my father had gotten out of the car to say he was my mother’s lawyer. I heard him accuse my mother of driving drunk even after she passed all the tests he gave her. Luckily, this officer was recorded by the camera in his car; however, this was obviously from a distance so it was difficult to see certain things, not to mention he turned it off at one point, which was against the law. If it weren’t for this recording, however, my parents might not have been able to prove the injustice done to them.

The other incident with police didn’t happen to me directly, and unfortunately there were no cameras to catch the action, allowing the officer involved to be let off the hook. My good friend Dominique Franklin Jr., “Damo”, 23, was a victim of police brutality. He was a good person, who unfortunately did made a mistake, just like everyone does. He did not come from a wealthy family, and didn’t always have the money to afford what he needed. So one day, he went into a Walgreens and yes, he made the mistake of stealing something. However, was taking away a few dollars from a big company worth his life? I don’t believe so. When the police found Damo, they handled the situation by tasing him, not once, but twice in what was clearly an unsafe area, causing him to fall against a pole, and be knocked unconscious. For around 15 or 20 minutes, no medical attention was provided for him, while the police just stood idly by. Damo ended up in a coma, costing this young man his life two weeks later. This was a clear case of police misconduct, which is why Damo’s father decided to press charges against the Chicago Police Department. He said he is suing to “try and ensure that what happened to his child, doesn’t happen to anyone else.” However, there were no cameras, which means there was no proof of the officer being at fault, resulting in him being let off the hook, like many other officers in the same position. If there were cameras on police vests, there would be a good view of what is happening, and people would not be able to be robbed of their justice.

When Chicago police officers were sued for torturing two prisoners, Ronald Kitchen and Marvin Reeves, who claimed that over 120 men were brutalized, you, our Mayor of Chicago, responded by saying, “I’m sorry this happened. Now let’s move on.” I’m sorry, but this isn’t some small, unimportant issue to be dismissed in such a manner. This isn’t something for us to just move on from. This is a matter of torture and the abuse of power, and the people of Chicago will simply not “move on”.

I understand that cameras on police vests would cost money, however, I also know that you are planning on having a stadium built for DePaul University. Personally, I think police misconduct is a lot more important than sports. People’s lives are being taken away, which is a much more pressing issue than having a new sports stadium. So, if you have the money for that, I’m sure you can find the money for these cameras as well. Furthermore, I can understand how officers might consider cameras to be an invasion of privacy, which is why I think they should only be on when they are in action. They don’t need to have the camera on at all times, but if they are making an arrest, or pulling someone over, or in general interacting with civilians, they should have their cameras on so there is proof of everything that happens. This could be the solution to so many issues with our law enforcement, and I truly believe it would make a huge difference. This would not only make officers think twice before not behaving properly, but it will also show the truth about incidents, not allowing either party to be wrongfully convicted.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. I hope you take my request into consideration.

Sincerely,
Aleksandra Gorman"

Rally at the Department of Justice by Rick Reinhard (1990) 

Work Cited

• Balko, Radley. "U.S. Cities Pay out Millions to Settle Police Lawsuits." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.<http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/01/u-s-cities-pay-out-millions-to-settle-police-lawsuits/>. 
• Dantes, Edmond. "Police Brutality Statistics | Cop Block." Cop Block RSS. 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.<http://www.copblock.org/2841/police-brutality-statistics/> . 
• Erbentraut, Joseph. "Report: Chicago Police Are Getting Away With Brutality, And Most Of It Is Against Minorities." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/chicago-police-brutality-report-united-nations-_n_6030664.html>. 
• Gorner, Jeremy. "How Bad Is the Chicago Police Department's Aggravated Assault Problem?" How Bad Is the Chicago Police Department's Aggravated Assault Problem? Governing, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.<http://www.governing.com/news/headlines/how-bad-is-the-chicago-policy-departments-.html>. 
• Kaste, Martin. "Police Departments Issuing Body Cameras Discover Drawbacks." NPR. NPR, 22 Jan. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.<http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/01/22/379095338/how-police-body-camera-videos-are-perceived-can-be-complicated>. 
• Packman, David. "2010 NPMSRP Police Misconduct Statistical Report -Draft-." PoliceMisconductnet. CATO Institute, 5 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.policemisconduct.net/2010-npmsrp-police-misconduct-statistical-report/>. 
• "Police Misconduct." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_misconduct>