1857

Policy was my last humanities class as a Junior at GCE Lab School. The last unit was called Judge, in which we learned about the purpose and powers of the judicial branch, and how those powers have been executed throughout history. I learned so much throughout this course; the concepts I learned really changed my view on how society works. Learning about the different branches, of ablement American politics works made me feel like our country is still a very racist country. America needs to change; we need to stop electing people who have racist mindsets, and start electing those who that truly want to change America to become a better place for all people. The last Action Project in the course was to document a historical Supreme Court or international tribunal ruling and analyze how it has affected society since. The case I chose was Dred Scott vs Sanford (1857), I chose this case because it’s very important in US history in terms of race relations and citizenship. I’m glad I picked this case; I learned a lot from it. What I’m proud of is how I’m developing as a writer and researcher, and I’m excited to see myself continue to grow.

  

The New Damen Silos

The third unit in Urban Planning was called Flow, the title of this unit is really about everything we learned throughout this term. We learned about different cities, their history, and where they came from. We also dived deeper into urban planning and learned about how we can change a city to make it better. The last Action Project asked us to pick a city and use everything we have learned about urban planning to improve a space that we have chosen. What I struggled with was building my 3D model. It was a challenge but I pushed myself to get it done. What I’m proud of is how my project came together. I think my idea is cool, I really liked working on this project, even though it was really stressful at times. I enjoyed taking this course, I learned a lot about my city, and about Urban Planning.

3D Model of Redesigned Damen Silos Created by JV, 2016*

Chinatown is an area in Chicago that shows the culture of Chinese people. The area has many shops and restaurants that are Chinese. This area is very touristy, has venues that host many concerts, has pretty good transportation, many buses in this area, two redline stops, the highway, and the river is nearby. I would say this area in Chicago makes a good amount of money, but where is it all going? The strengths this area are the culture, and the architectural design is very nice. The shops and restaurants in Chinatown are another big strength, whereas some weaknesses are segregation, and it has lots of abandoned buildings that could be used for something useful. Lots of factories are around that area, not many parks are nearby, and the area has a lot of pollution. The space needs more parks, it also needs something new and exciting that really stands out but also incorporates Chinese culture.

2D model Before Created JV, 2016*

The High Line Park in New York City inspired me, because they transformed an area that contained industrial and toxic waste, infrastructure no longer in use, into an elevated park that has lots of greenery. Gas Works Park in Seattle Washington is another project that inspired me and was built on the location of a former coal gasification plant in 1965. The abandoned plant was converted into a picnic shelter complete with tables and fire grills, while a former exhauster-compressor building was turned into an open-air play barn that houses a maze. This inspired me to change the Damen Silos into an indoor park. The changes that I will make to the Damen silos will really improve the Chinatown area. I will leave the original structure of the building, but I will repaint it, adding more colors, like red, gold, and bronze, to bring life to the building. There is so much graffiti all over the Damen Silos but I will leave some of it to represent Chicago street art. There are underground tunnels in the building, and these will become an underground slide park. I will add some Chinese art designs into the building so that way the indoor park mixes into the culture of Chinatown. I will also add a huge stage almost like a theater on the first floor so that way concerts can be held there, bringing in money for the area and city.

2D model After Created by JV, 2016.

I calculated the area of two rectangular prisms put together, and a cylinder. The height of a silo which is the cylinder is 87 ft. The base of the triangle the main building is 693 ft and the height is 722 ft. The equation for the area of the whole space was ½ x 693 x 722= 250,173 ft^2. The equation for the volume of a cylinder is 𝝿 x radius2 x height which was 3.14 X 10^2 x 87= 27,331.85 cubic ft. Since its diameter is 20, its radius would be 10. To find the volume of an irregularly shaped building, I multiplied the length, width and height of the rectangular prisms which was 28 x 28 x 25=19,600 and 75 x 50 x 25= 93, 750. Then I added both measurements and got 113,350 cubic ft. Over all I did enjoy working on this project, it was really stressful and I feel like the timing was a bit rushed. What I would do differently is really take my time with the prep work, so that way towards the end of the project everything would go much smoother.

                                             3D Model of Redesigned Damen Silos Created by JV, 2016*

 

UNFAIR

The second unit in my Policy class was called Execute, and we learned about the purpose and powers the executive branch has and how those powers have been executed throughout history. The second Action Project asked us to pick a war and take a position on whether the U.S. involvement in that war was justified or not. What I struggled with was timing with this project. I felt like this essay was really rushed, and required a lot of research. I struggled with the research; it was hard finding certain information about World War II, but I pushed myself not to give up. What I am most proud of is my writing and how I’m developing as a writer. Overall, I enjoyed writing this essay because it pushed me a lot. I just wish I had more time to complete it. I found out more information about World War II that was really interesting to learn about. Hope you guys enjoy! 

Rosenthal, Joe. Flag raising on Iwo Jima. 1945. Web. May 2016. 

World War II took place across the globe with most of the combat occurring in Europe, East Asia, islands in the Pacific Ocean, Madagascar, and the Aleutian Islands. Countries such as Poland, China, Russia, and Germany were the main countries that suffered the most during this war. World War II began September 1, 1939 with the rise of Adolf Hitler and his followers in Germany. Adolf Hitler had two main goals, which was the forcible acquisition of Lebensraum, for the German people, the second was the Final Solution . The United States did not join the war, however, until after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The immediate causes of World War II for America were Japan’s attacks and more calls for this country to help end the holocaust. The underlying causes were defeating the dictatorship of Hitler, his growing empire, and the power of Nazism (the U.S. is pro-democracy) The U.S., finally helped intervene in the holocaust. The first concentration camp the U.S. freed was on April 4, 1945 but was slow to act; it took the U.S. years to help Jews and other victims. Hitler had taken over large parts of Europe and was advancing, had even bombed England! The U.S. had to act to protect itself and allies from his onward march and the U.S. joined WWII on December 7, 1941 after President Franklin Roosevelt persuaded Congress that the nation needed to fight. President Roosevelt worked hard to prepare Americans for the conflict. In November 1939, he persuaded Congress to repeal the arms and trade provisions of the Neutrality Law so that arms could be sold to France and Britain, U.S. allies After the fall of France to the Nazis in the spring of June 1940, President Roosevelt pushed for a major military buildup and began providing aid in the form of Lend-Lease to Britain. America, he declared, became "the great arsenal of democracy" by helping his allies fight back against Hitler.

One major tactic during World War II was technology and advanced military weapons. America began to produce hundreds of thousands of tanks, airplanes, and ships for itself and its allies to have Allied success. The U.S. was dominating the skies with planes like the P-51 Mustang fighter and the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. At the same time, the Nazis were experimenting with jet aircraft, while the Japanese were working on intercontinental bombers. Many policies were made during this war, President Roosevelt proposed the Good Neighbor Policy, and it went through. The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States towards Latin America. The policy's main principle, was motivated by economics. By 1933, the world was in the depths of the worst economic depression in history, known as the Great Depression. The Good Neighbor Policy allowed the U.S. to revise trade relations with major Latin American nations. The Good Neighbor Policy would not only help the U.S. replace its Axis-Power economic trade with that of the largest and wealthiest Latin American countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, but it would also bring those countries into a military alliance with the United States. This policy did not have consequences during this war but later on in other wars it did. World War II was definitely a unfair war, millions of innocent lives were taken. The U.S. could've acted quicker, but it took years because of equipment issues. I hope America has learned from all War mistakes and realizes that war isn't the answer. 

Citations: 

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs. millercenter.org. William E. Leuchtenburg. Web. 14 May, 2016. 

WWII Military tactics. www.quora.com. N.P.2014. Web. 12 May, 2016. 

World War II. history.com. N.P. N.D. Web 11 May, 2016. 

Better Ways To Save $

The second unit in Urban Planning was called Power, in this unit I learned about the fundamentals of magnets, static electricity, and current electricity. I also learned about circuits, voltage, amps, and resistance. For the second Action Project we were paired up again and were asked to design our own efficient electrical plan. We had to design an energy-efficient house, by creating a model circuit using two switches, at least 5 resistors, and at least one parallel branch. What I am most proud of is how easy and smooth this project went. I had a great partner to work with, we worked really well together.