The Homeless In AMERICA

For the third unit of this course "Rhetoric" the assigned project was to choose a important social issue to you and design a art piece, poem or audio/video to present your social issue. The purpose of this action project was to show your artwork and change people's minds of how important the issue you chose is to you. The topic I chose was the homeless in America, because homeless are the most stereotyped human beings in the America's. I want to be able to change the way people think about the homeless, because if I was in their shoes I would want some support or someone to help me, notice me. I am proud of the topic I chose and being able to express the way I feel and helping out the homeless to get the real meaning of what homeless people are and what they go through every single day, where we tend to ignore because our minds are too caught in the fact that each homeless person in America is a drug addict, has domestic violence records, financial issues and are too lazy to get a job. Here is my art piece that I hope will change the way you think about the homeless here in America.

JR (2015). "The Homeless In America Board"

 I am JR and the topic I chose was "The Homeless In America" The reason for choosing this topic is for the way the homeless were stereotyped on websites like Huffington Post and the main stream media. As I read on a website, a statement came up and triggered me to think about the homeless differently. The statement was " Admit it: when you think of a homeless person, a certain stereotype comes to mind. A middle-aged to older man who's addicted to drugs and too lazy to get a job. You think it's their own fault that they're living on the streets." I totally agree with this statement because I have thought like that about homeless people whenever i'm outside. This is the reason why I chose this topic. Homeless people go through so much and I just want to put their mindsets out there so people know that they are not homeless because of what we immediately think when the word homeless comes to our mind. I want to be able to present my artwork and make a change in America.

 The art piece that I created was a cardboard poster with a quote, question, a mirror and facts and take one cards and a suggestion box for the homeless people. The reason why I chose to present my art piece on a cardboard poster was because the majority of homeless people write on card board to speak to people around them instead of going to each person asking for help or money. Some people are not always interested in speaking with homeless people. Some people find it very awkward and weird. The quote is to inspire people who read the quote and to give them a inspiration to change and think of homeless people differently. The mirror is to look at yourself and picture yourself in their shoes. Looking at yourself is to imagine yourself in their same situation and not judge no matter how bad their situation can be at the moment. The about me cards are to take with you and know more about the person and the homeless.

 The question is to make you think deeply, change your mind about the homeless being stereotyped and helping them how they should be helped no matter their situation. The colors that I used are Black, Red and Green. Each one of these colors represent a topic Black is the most written color on a cardboard poster when I see homeless people with their posters. The quote is written in black to make it stand out. The Red is the question of how deep it can be to a person and painful, showing a little bit of pathos. The green is support/ help / important. I have done research on just homeless and the rate of how many people become and actually move on with their lives. It just frightens me to know that young teenagers are also becoming homeless. Like, I definitely don’t want to end up in a situation like that at all. This makes me want to help out more.

Young people often become homeless due to family conflict, including divorce, neglect, or abuse. A large majority of young people experience short-term homelessness, returning back home or to family/friends. The medium that I chose to grab the audience's attention for the social issue. I picked a cardboard poster which resembles everything about what homeless feels like and what we should do to help change that. What inspired me the most was Marvin Gaye and his song “Inner City Blues” which he depict on the ghettos, economic, about the America.

 “The United States government acknowledges four categories of people who qualify as legally homeless:
(1) those who are currently homeless
(2) those who will become homeless in the future
(3) certain youths and families with children who suffer from home instability caused by a hardship.
(4) those who suffer from home instability caused by domestic violence.”

 These are facts that I would like you to know about the homeless in America.

•  "On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness — meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.
•  "Of that number, 216,197 are people in families, and 362,163 are individuals." 
•  “About 15 percent of the homeless population – 84,291 - are considered "chronically homeless” individuals, and about 9 percent of homeless people- 49,933 - are veterans.”

Citations:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/uloop/what-homelessness-is-real_b_8094190.html

http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/the-state-of-homelessness-in-america-2015

http://kylyssa.hubpages.com/hub/homelessness-myths-misconceptions

The Simple Bike

In the second unit of Design & Engineering I learned about different types of bikes and how they are used differently by everyone. I also learned about the different ways they work and how they are designed. What I am most proud of is learning how bikes are properly used and how they should be used to be as safe as possible. I learned that bikes are also good for our health, that it’s good to ride your bike at least 20 minutes a day to prevent you from getting diseases and all these types of health issues. The purpose of this assignment is to redesign a bike for someone specifically chosen for my partner and I to create a better bike for her lifestyle. The most challenging thing was building the bike the way we sketched it and thought it should be.

The bike that my partner and I created for our given person was simple. We got a young 15 year old girl named Malia that lives in the Logan Square area. She rides her bike to school and back on the 606 trail. Her commute there is 5 miles and on her way home from school she stops at the grocery store. My partner and I decided to build her bike simple and not so heavy. Since she will be carrying groceries on her handles, we thought we could add a basket that is attachable and removable. The handles are removable and can be used as a lock so that way she doesn’t have to worry about digging in her bag for her lock and locking her bike. We created a comfortable heating seat that will support her back and also in the winter keep her warm.

What I learned from existing bikes is that they all have their ways of functioning whether it’s a more comfortable seat, better grippable handles, nice smooth wheels, low or high frames and how fast or slow the bike rides. The person whom I interviewed, Pedro Illas said “Bikes are better for the environment, and are easier to commute around the city.” This made me want to create a more simpler bike to keep Malia from struggling when she has lots of weight on her bike while riding and also when locking her bike while she shops. The reason to believe is that, the bike is perfectly made just for Malia and her commute to school and back. We added some small things to her bike which were the basket for the groceries, comfortable seat and supporter in the back, the chain guard and fender above the wheel, and the handle lock so she can lock the bike at school and won’t have to carry anything extra. We tried to keep the bike simple and with not so much stuff that will take up her time to ride her bike.

These are the added parts to Malia’s Bike:

-The seat is comfortable and also supports your back, you can also insert heat pads during the winter time while she rides to school. This will make her back less cold and will support her as well.

-The fender will block everything from coming up and ruining her clothes. The fender also has pockets that you can add a bottle or books for school. I added a chain guard also by the pedals just in case grease gets on her pants.

-The basket in the front of the bike which is removable, foldable and stretchy.

-The handle bars are removable also and can be used to lock your bike.


JR & VG (2015). "The Convenience Bike"

The kinetic energy is when Malia is riding her bike to school on the 606 trail. The potential energy is when Malia will be going down the ramp of the 606 trail she will have lots of force. The diameter of the bikes wheel is 28 inches, The circumference is 87.92 inches, how I found this was that I plugged in 3.14 which is pi and times it by the diameter which is 28 inches, my answer is 87.92 inches. The average speed to school is 5 miles = 26,400. On her way to school her bike wheel rotate 3,603.27. The scale that was used for the bike is in inches and the wheel is 2 inches diameter wheels. The driver gears 12, 16 teeth. Driver gears 24,36, 48 teeth. All ratios 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 3:2, 9:4.


JR & VG (2015). "Malia riding her bike"

Knives In Self Defense

For my third period class "Self Defense" I learned different martial arts techniques of fighting which were boxing, muythai, knife, sticks and hammer grip. I chose to do knives, because it was the most one I think I was good at and made me feel cool. The knife technique is very easy is block, attack and run. If that doesn't work you disarm and twist the arm in and do an x with your arms and eject the knife with your wrist bone. The most challenging thing was learning each one of these types of ways of fighting. It was always a struggle for me because I am very short and couldn't reach my partner as much but I always did it. The most thing I am proud of is knowing all these different ways of fighting and that now I can walk outside my neighborhood confident that I can defend myself and not get harm in any type of way. This helped me learned a lot and helped me realize a lot of things.

Boogie's Ladder

For this course "Rhetoric" we were assigned to choose a celebrity and annotate a song or speech they have done or said. I chose "Boogie" because he's still in the process of being famous, I thought I might just shout him out in my Prezi. The most thing that I am proud of is learning about Boogie and his background and how he grew up to be a great rapper. The most challenging thing about this action project was trying to annotate the lyrics to his song further, it's a really sad and deep song I like it. I recommend you listen to the song! and look at my Prezi.