What Do I Believe and Why?
TIB Essay: Tuned for Tunes
“A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.” You have probably heard that saying before. I, however, choose to apply this to music. “A bad day learning an instrument is better than a good day at work.” No matter how good your day at work was, you will always be happier doing something you really love and enjoy doing. For me, that is playing and listening to music.
When I was 10, I got my first iPod. I had always really enjoyed music, but this really was life changing. I listened to music a decent amount before, but when I got this, simple, pocket sized device, I was listening to music as much as possible. I started with a very limited supply of music, but I slowly built it up with music that was something I specifically enjoyed, not just the CD’s my dad had. This was when music started to really become my own, it was MY music, not just music I liked. As the years went by, I found new bands, and new styles of rock. My favorite thing to listen to (or play) is when a power chord is palm muted, and played repetitively in a song with a slower tempo, but with a tricky, and fast strumming pattern. The best thing to go along with that guitar is an in-sync kick (or bass) drum. It just seems to add a whole new dimension to the song. Any time that I am not motivated to get something done, I listen to music. Any time I am down, what do I do? Listen to music. I really think that life would be very dull without it.
Later, at the age of 12, I was at one of my friend’s house. They had a piano, and I decided to go and try to teach myself something from the beginner’s book they had held onto all those years. I had played in band, so I knew had to read the notes, so I just started playing. When my mom came to pick me up, and I showed her what I had learned. She immediately put me into piano lessons, and that is where I developed my appreciation and love for musical instruments. After about two years, I quit taking lessons, because I didn’t like being told to practice. It went from something I loved, to something I had to do, and I didn’t like that. However, the few years I spent playing piano built up a good musical base for me. From there I was able to pick up the instruments I play now quite easily, as well as to make my own medley of movie themes and play them on the piano! I taught myself guitar and drums, and those are the instruments that I enjoy the most. Playing the guitar has brought me so much joy and happiness. Although I started off with playing things that were unrecognizable, it was something I enjoyed, so I did it. The more I played and played, the better I got. I never knew it, but I was practicing. Now, I enjoy it more, because I can learn just about any song I put my mind to. The ability to just, walk out to the garage, and to make music, is really something that I will never take for granted. There is just something about being able to pick up a piece of wood with some strings, and turn it into something awesome, and that brings me a boatload of happiness.
Music truly improves the quality of life. It can turn your mood around, and if you play an instrument, give you something you truly enjoy doing. When you do something on your own will, and do it a lot, that is a clear sign that you love it. For me, that applies to just about anything music. You don’t have to make music to gain from it; you can just sit back and listen. Music really does improve the quality of life that I live. I would much rather play or listen to music than just about anything.
Project Reflection
This assignment was to choose one of your core beliefs and write about it in an essay, similar to the popular "This I Believe". In the first week, we looked at examples of popular essays on the "This I Believe" website, and this included annotating them. Then we choose one that was of interest to us, and then annotated that. Then we started to brainstorm ideas of things that we wanted to do for our essay. I decided to write my essay on how music makes my life much happier. We talked about many things, but some key things that we needed to include in our essays were our own personal voice, communal relevance, and narrative coherence.
It took me a long time to come up with something to do with this essay. Once I did however, everything rolled really smoothly. The problem with selecting my topic was that I didn't want to do something really shallow, but I didn't want to go too deep for my first project of the year. So, I decided that music was a great idea for an essay, since I have a lot of experience with music and musical instruments. I also really do care about music, so the whole essay was really easy to write, and flowed really well once I got started. I started writing out an essay of pure commentary, since that is the hardest part of this essay for me. So the next step was to incorporate stories in with the commentary. Once I had my two, small length (but good enough) stories, I added my plentiful commentary and had my essay!
I am pretty proud of my essay! I think I did a good job with my sentence flow, and I was also happy with my commentary. I applied the stories to my point very well, and really showed something that I believed. “A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.” You have probably heard that saying before. I, however, choose to apply this to music. “A bad day learning an instrument is better than a good day at work.” I think this was a very strong option for an introduction to my essay. My grammar was very good as well, so overall I think I have a very good essay. I don't think it would be easy to improve upon it.
I think that there were a few things that could have been improved upon in my essay. I don't know how communally relevant my essay was. Some people may not feel the some connection to music as I do, making it hard for them to relate. However, with the topic I chose, I don't think it would be easy to make it much more communally relevant. I think my story telling could be a little bit improved as well. I think that I could work on really telling the story, and using more physical senses. For example, what I saw, the things I smelled, and in this case, what I heard.
I think that writing this essay showed me a few things but not a whole lot. I learned that good storytelling can make a huge difference in an essay. I also learned that it is important to include a lot of facts in essays, not just how I feel about things. Doing this will help my writings be more credible. I didn't learn much about me as a person however. I think that as a community, listening or playing music is a good way to vent feelings. If more people vented that way, we might not have as much violence in our community.
"The Morality of Politics and Justice"
GMOs: A Land of Confusion
Dalton Millonzi
“Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?” (Phil Collins). These musical lyrics produced by Phil Collins and his band have a good relation to the controversy over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food. GMOs are common in our society, and yet, many people don’t know what they are, and if they are harmful. Unless otherwise labeled, most food on the shelf of you local grocery store contains some form of genetically altered materials. However, there is no law requiring these foods to be labeled. Hence, everyone is in a cloud of confusion, not knowing if we are putting potentially harmful substances in our bodies.
Although genetically modified crops have the potential to secure our growing world’s supply of food, the people’s right to know what they are consuming, and the potential risks of eating foods that contain GMOs, should come first.
Monsanto is the primary company genetically altering foodstuffs. According to Monsanto, “...Agriculture should be improved for the same basic reasons that medicine, engineering, architecture and computers should be improved: because human innovation is at the center of human progress.” Monsanto is a group that genetically alters plants and other agriculture to make farms more productive, for example, creating larger crops. They do this by altering the genes of crops from their original state.
Monsanto is credited with solving Hawaii’s papaya crisis. According to Andrew Hashimoto, it was In the 1940’s, that the “Papaya Ringspot Virus” or PRSV, was discovered inside papayas on O’ahu, and these trees were removed. However, by 1994 almost half of the papaya producing farms in Puna were infected with PRSV. This was a huge hit on the economy of the area. Between 1992 and 1998, the production of papayas on Hawaii’s big island shrunk by 50%. Scientists thought that if the papaya made one of the proteins in this virus, it might be immune to it. They produced the “rainbow papaya” with this technique, which was confirmed to be free of PRSV.
However, are these foods containing GMOs safe for human consumption? Food allergies in the United States are seeing an increase over the past 10 years, primarily among young children. The first GM foods were introduced in the early 1990’s. In the period of time between 1997 and 2011, food allergies have become much more common in young children. In this time frame, the number of children under 18 with a food allergy raised by 50% according to studies conducted by the Food Allergy Research & Education program! Today, about 70% of all food on shelves in the United States contain GMOs.
Children born between 1997 and 2011 have likely been born and raised on genetically altered foods. As I stated before, during this time period, food intolerances have seen a rapid increase during this period as well. There seems to be a correlation here. Children born since genetically altered foods were introduced and became common, are 50% more likely to develop food intolerances than children raised before GMOs. While there is yet to be a confirmed correlation between food allergies and GMOs, the trend is strong enough to call for further investigation and caution.
There are obviously some risks in genetically altering our food. Not enough time has passed since GMOs were introduced to tell if they have any long term effects. Sadly, that means that you and I are the ones testing if GM foods have a harmful long term effect. As if this were not troubling enough, many people are unaware that they are eating foods that have been genetically modified. This is because it is not a legal requirement to label food products that have been genetically modified.
As mentioned above, about 70% of food items contain some form of GMOs. Hardly of these products in the United States are labeled as genetically altered. Hence, the people of the U.S. are “kept in the dark” so to speak. A large majority have no idea what the potential dangers are in eating these foods. A poll by ABC News entitled “Skepticism of Genetically Modified Foods” found that 93% of people think that should require GM foods to be labeled. Of those people, 57% of them would be less likely to buy a food product if it was labeled genetically altered.
In 2012, Monsanto had $13.5 billion dollars in net sales. Are they really producing these foods to help the world, or are they driven by the money in the business? Monsanto claims to be benefiting the world, and helping everyone. However, do people who want to help others sue countless hardworking farmers for “patent infringement”? Deontologists believe that people need to be treated as ends, not means to an end. So, is Monsanto truly helping people if they are casting aside the possible risks of damaging society health in order to make money? Monsanto should not be treating U.S.citizens as lab rats in order to make money. “Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.” - Immanuel Kant
Genetically altering foods has the capability to be a force for good in the world. However, studies questioning the safety of genetically altered foods often contradict each other. Can these foods really be accepted as safe if so many studies say otherwise? Ultimately, until these GM foods are proven 100% safe, there needs to be a law requiring such products to be labeled as such. This allows everyone to choose if they want to risk consuming these foods. Are you willing to possibly be long term data that shows GMOs as harmful?
Works Cited
Branum;“Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalization”
AM, L. S.. N.p.. Web. 9 Oct 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db10.htm>.
Kuzmick, Mary;"Superfood or Frankenfood? The latest research on GMOs."
Seattle Pi. Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science at Bastyr University, 7 Oct 2013. Web. 9 Oct 2013.
<http://blog.seattlepi.com/naturalmedicine/2013/10/07/superfood-or-frankenfood-the-latest-research-on-gmos/>.
“Monsanto Company Financial Highlights”
http://www.monsanto.com/investors/Pages/financial-highlights.aspx
Mashimoto, Andrew;“How UH Helped Save Hawaii’s Papayas”
. n.d., n. pag. <http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Oct/17/op/op08p.html>.
“Facts and Statistics”
Food Allergy Research & Education ; N.p.. Web. 9 Oct 2013. <http://www.foodallergy.org/facts-and-stats>.
Visual Piece
TIB Essay: Tuned for Tunes
“A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.” You have probably heard that saying before. I, however, choose to apply this to music. “A bad day learning an instrument is better than a good day at work.” No matter how good your day at work was, you will always be happier doing something you really love and enjoy doing. For me, that is playing and listening to music.
When I was 10, I got my first iPod. I had always really enjoyed music, but this really was life changing. I listened to music a decent amount before, but when I got this, simple, pocket sized device, I was listening to music as much as possible. I started with a very limited supply of music, but I slowly built it up with music that was something I specifically enjoyed, not just the CD’s my dad had. This was when music started to really become my own, it was MY music, not just music I liked. As the years went by, I found new bands, and new styles of rock. My favorite thing to listen to (or play) is when a power chord is palm muted, and played repetitively in a song with a slower tempo, but with a tricky, and fast strumming pattern. The best thing to go along with that guitar is an in-sync kick (or bass) drum. It just seems to add a whole new dimension to the song. Any time that I am not motivated to get something done, I listen to music. Any time I am down, what do I do? Listen to music. I really think that life would be very dull without it.
Later, at the age of 12, I was at one of my friend’s house. They had a piano, and I decided to go and try to teach myself something from the beginner’s book they had held onto all those years. I had played in band, so I knew had to read the notes, so I just started playing. When my mom came to pick me up, and I showed her what I had learned. She immediately put me into piano lessons, and that is where I developed my appreciation and love for musical instruments. After about two years, I quit taking lessons, because I didn’t like being told to practice. It went from something I loved, to something I had to do, and I didn’t like that. However, the few years I spent playing piano built up a good musical base for me. From there I was able to pick up the instruments I play now quite easily, as well as to make my own medley of movie themes and play them on the piano! I taught myself guitar and drums, and those are the instruments that I enjoy the most. Playing the guitar has brought me so much joy and happiness. Although I started off with playing things that were unrecognizable, it was something I enjoyed, so I did it. The more I played and played, the better I got. I never knew it, but I was practicing. Now, I enjoy it more, because I can learn just about any song I put my mind to. The ability to just, walk out to the garage, and to make music, is really something that I will never take for granted. There is just something about being able to pick up a piece of wood with some strings, and turn it into something awesome, and that brings me a boatload of happiness.
Music truly improves the quality of life. It can turn your mood around, and if you play an instrument, give you something you truly enjoy doing. When you do something on your own will, and do it a lot, that is a clear sign that you love it. For me, that applies to just about anything music. You don’t have to make music to gain from it; you can just sit back and listen. Music really does improve the quality of life that I live. I would much rather play or listen to music than just about anything.
Project Reflection
This assignment was to choose one of your core beliefs and write about it in an essay, similar to the popular "This I Believe". In the first week, we looked at examples of popular essays on the "This I Believe" website, and this included annotating them. Then we choose one that was of interest to us, and then annotated that. Then we started to brainstorm ideas of things that we wanted to do for our essay. I decided to write my essay on how music makes my life much happier. We talked about many things, but some key things that we needed to include in our essays were our own personal voice, communal relevance, and narrative coherence.
It took me a long time to come up with something to do with this essay. Once I did however, everything rolled really smoothly. The problem with selecting my topic was that I didn't want to do something really shallow, but I didn't want to go too deep for my first project of the year. So, I decided that music was a great idea for an essay, since I have a lot of experience with music and musical instruments. I also really do care about music, so the whole essay was really easy to write, and flowed really well once I got started. I started writing out an essay of pure commentary, since that is the hardest part of this essay for me. So the next step was to incorporate stories in with the commentary. Once I had my two, small length (but good enough) stories, I added my plentiful commentary and had my essay!
I am pretty proud of my essay! I think I did a good job with my sentence flow, and I was also happy with my commentary. I applied the stories to my point very well, and really showed something that I believed. “A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.” You have probably heard that saying before. I, however, choose to apply this to music. “A bad day learning an instrument is better than a good day at work.” I think this was a very strong option for an introduction to my essay. My grammar was very good as well, so overall I think I have a very good essay. I don't think it would be easy to improve upon it.
I think that there were a few things that could have been improved upon in my essay. I don't know how communally relevant my essay was. Some people may not feel the some connection to music as I do, making it hard for them to relate. However, with the topic I chose, I don't think it would be easy to make it much more communally relevant. I think my story telling could be a little bit improved as well. I think that I could work on really telling the story, and using more physical senses. For example, what I saw, the things I smelled, and in this case, what I heard.
I think that writing this essay showed me a few things but not a whole lot. I learned that good storytelling can make a huge difference in an essay. I also learned that it is important to include a lot of facts in essays, not just how I feel about things. Doing this will help my writings be more credible. I didn't learn much about me as a person however. I think that as a community, listening or playing music is a good way to vent feelings. If more people vented that way, we might not have as much violence in our community.
"The Morality of Politics and Justice"
GMOs: A Land of Confusion
Dalton Millonzi
“Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?” (Phil Collins). These musical lyrics produced by Phil Collins and his band have a good relation to the controversy over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food. GMOs are common in our society, and yet, many people don’t know what they are, and if they are harmful. Unless otherwise labeled, most food on the shelf of you local grocery store contains some form of genetically altered materials. However, there is no law requiring these foods to be labeled. Hence, everyone is in a cloud of confusion, not knowing if we are putting potentially harmful substances in our bodies.
Although genetically modified crops have the potential to secure our growing world’s supply of food, the people’s right to know what they are consuming, and the potential risks of eating foods that contain GMOs, should come first.
Monsanto is the primary company genetically altering foodstuffs. According to Monsanto, “...Agriculture should be improved for the same basic reasons that medicine, engineering, architecture and computers should be improved: because human innovation is at the center of human progress.” Monsanto is a group that genetically alters plants and other agriculture to make farms more productive, for example, creating larger crops. They do this by altering the genes of crops from their original state.
Monsanto is credited with solving Hawaii’s papaya crisis. According to Andrew Hashimoto, it was In the 1940’s, that the “Papaya Ringspot Virus” or PRSV, was discovered inside papayas on O’ahu, and these trees were removed. However, by 1994 almost half of the papaya producing farms in Puna were infected with PRSV. This was a huge hit on the economy of the area. Between 1992 and 1998, the production of papayas on Hawaii’s big island shrunk by 50%. Scientists thought that if the papaya made one of the proteins in this virus, it might be immune to it. They produced the “rainbow papaya” with this technique, which was confirmed to be free of PRSV.
However, are these foods containing GMOs safe for human consumption? Food allergies in the United States are seeing an increase over the past 10 years, primarily among young children. The first GM foods were introduced in the early 1990’s. In the period of time between 1997 and 2011, food allergies have become much more common in young children. In this time frame, the number of children under 18 with a food allergy raised by 50% according to studies conducted by the Food Allergy Research & Education program! Today, about 70% of all food on shelves in the United States contain GMOs.
Children born between 1997 and 2011 have likely been born and raised on genetically altered foods. As I stated before, during this time period, food intolerances have seen a rapid increase during this period as well. There seems to be a correlation here. Children born since genetically altered foods were introduced and became common, are 50% more likely to develop food intolerances than children raised before GMOs. While there is yet to be a confirmed correlation between food allergies and GMOs, the trend is strong enough to call for further investigation and caution.
There are obviously some risks in genetically altering our food. Not enough time has passed since GMOs were introduced to tell if they have any long term effects. Sadly, that means that you and I are the ones testing if GM foods have a harmful long term effect. As if this were not troubling enough, many people are unaware that they are eating foods that have been genetically modified. This is because it is not a legal requirement to label food products that have been genetically modified.
As mentioned above, about 70% of food items contain some form of GMOs. Hardly of these products in the United States are labeled as genetically altered. Hence, the people of the U.S. are “kept in the dark” so to speak. A large majority have no idea what the potential dangers are in eating these foods. A poll by ABC News entitled “Skepticism of Genetically Modified Foods” found that 93% of people think that should require GM foods to be labeled. Of those people, 57% of them would be less likely to buy a food product if it was labeled genetically altered.
In 2012, Monsanto had $13.5 billion dollars in net sales. Are they really producing these foods to help the world, or are they driven by the money in the business? Monsanto claims to be benefiting the world, and helping everyone. However, do people who want to help others sue countless hardworking farmers for “patent infringement”? Deontologists believe that people need to be treated as ends, not means to an end. So, is Monsanto truly helping people if they are casting aside the possible risks of damaging society health in order to make money? Monsanto should not be treating U.S.citizens as lab rats in order to make money. “Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.” - Immanuel Kant
Genetically altering foods has the capability to be a force for good in the world. However, studies questioning the safety of genetically altered foods often contradict each other. Can these foods really be accepted as safe if so many studies say otherwise? Ultimately, until these GM foods are proven 100% safe, there needs to be a law requiring such products to be labeled as such. This allows everyone to choose if they want to risk consuming these foods. Are you willing to possibly be long term data that shows GMOs as harmful?
Works Cited
Branum;“Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalization”
AM, L. S.. N.p.. Web. 9 Oct 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db10.htm>.
Kuzmick, Mary;"Superfood or Frankenfood? The latest research on GMOs."
Seattle Pi. Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science at Bastyr University, 7 Oct 2013. Web. 9 Oct 2013.
<http://blog.seattlepi.com/naturalmedicine/2013/10/07/superfood-or-frankenfood-the-latest-research-on-gmos/>.
“Monsanto Company Financial Highlights”
http://www.monsanto.com/investors/Pages/financial-highlights.aspx
Mashimoto, Andrew;“How UH Helped Save Hawaii’s Papayas”
. n.d., n. pag. <http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Oct/17/op/op08p.html>.
“Facts and Statistics”
Food Allergy Research & Education ; N.p.. Web. 9 Oct 2013. <http://www.foodallergy.org/facts-and-stats>.
Visual Piece
Artist Statement:Artist Statement
My issue is on GMO labeling. I think that GMOs should be labeled so that everyone knows what it is they are putting into their bodies. That way, if GMOs are proven harmful, it is your fault because you knew you were eating them.
My visual shows how common GMOs are. My statistic saying 80% of foods have GMOs is really a shock, and my logos of common food shows it is in some of the most common American products.
My poster is rhetorical because it has a quote from Jeremy Bentham (ethos) and the above mentioned statistic (logos.)
The tone of my poster is almost a creepy thing. GMOs are sneaky, and we don’t know if they are safe or not. So, I used lots of dark colors.
I chose to arrange my pictures in the way I did because it shows that these companies make up GMOs basically. So I really emphasized that most foods we eat contain GMOs. It really is a scary thought, considering we don’t know if they are safe or not.
I refined my poster by using more accurate statistics and a very good quote. I really think I did a strong job on my final poster, and it was very effective. I really enjoyed this projects.
Project Reflection
This project involved knowing about a few main philosophies to start, primarily Liberterianism, Deontology, Rawls Theory, and Utilitarianism. Once we understood all of these, we started to develop our own issue, and take a side on it. I chose to talk about GMOs for my project. I researched multiple points of views, and chose my side on this issue. Then, we had to write an essay and create a visual piece using rhetoric showing our side on the issue. Then we went to a local coffee shop, and conversed with fellow community members. This assignment was pretty cool!
This project really showed me to do my own research on anything in life, and come to my own resolution. This really applies to issues today, when there are so many different angles at which you can approach something. This also showed me why it is so hard to get something finalized and a law, even when it may seem obvious to you. There are many different ways to look at justice, so that causes issues at times when trying to pass laws. Learning about rhetoric will be a very useful tool in life, especially for marketing purposes. There are many ways to appeal to people, but the primary ways are Pathos, Ethos, and Logos. Pathos appeals to emotions, Logos to reason, and Ethos plays the role of credibility. If you can effectively use these, you will very likely sway people into your viewpoint.
I think that my project was very strong, and I have very strong public speaking skills, so I think I did good at the exhibition as well. I think the strongest part of my essay was my use of logos, a lot of statistics. I am swayed mostly by logos, so I included a lot of this in my essay, as it appealed mostly to reason. For example, I did my own research and I came to this conclusion: " Children born between 1997 and 2011 have likely been born and raised on genetically altered foods. As I stated before, during this time period, food intolerances have seen a rapid increase during this period as well. There seems to be a correlation here. Children born since genetically altered foods were introduced and became common, are 50% more likely to develop food intolerances than children raised before GMOs. While there is yet to be a confirmed correlation between food allergies and GMOs, the trend is strong enough to call for further investigation and caution." This was a very strong piece of logos, and I came to my own conclusion based on my own research. I feel like my essay was lacking a little bit of Pathos however. I didn't appeal to the emotions very often in my essay, so I feel like I could improve on that.
If I had another whole week to work on this project I would make a few more changes. I would make sure to include more Pathos, because my essay was lacking some of that. I would also make sure to cite more of my sources in text. This helps my essay seem more credible, and shows where I got my information. I would probably make my visual piece a little less blurry if I had more time. It seems like some of my pictures got distorted with all of the re-sizing. Other than that, I don't know how I would change my visual. I feel like I had a strong project that I am confident in, and I don't what else I could have done to improve it any further.
Korematsu v. U.S.
Fletcher Bowron Testimony (1944)
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Fletcher%20Bowron/
“My name is Fletcher Bowron. I am 57 years old. When the United States entered World War One, I enlisted in the army, so I have seen combat myself. From the time of about 1925 to 1926, I served as the executive secretary to Friend Richardson, who was the current governor of California at the time. Afterwards, I served as a supreme court judge in Los Angeles until 1938. At this time, I went into a recall election against Mayor Frank Shaw, who everyone knew had a corrupt administration. I ended up winning this election. Later, in 1941, it was time for the municipal election. I did campaign in Little Tokyo. There, I met John Aiso. He made it his goal to attract Japanese American votes for me. I ended up winning this election with about 55% of the vote. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, I immediately tried to reassure everyone that there was no threat of an attack on Southern California coasts. I did this over the radio, which was a great for getting the word out there. Soon after, I was elected to incarcerate the Japanese people in the area, and move them inland. They were put there to help with the war effort, such as raising food. After reading all of the newspaper articles about spotted Japanese submarines in the area, specifically around the area of Terminal Island, where there was a very large population of Japanese Americans, I felt this was necessary. By the end of February 1942, all of the people of Japanese ancestry were given a 48 hour notice to leave the island. I also forced all Japanese American workers in the L.A. area to take a leave of absence. You see, I didn’t trust the Japanese. I felt even if a Japanese American hadn’t committed an act of sabotage, doesn’t mean that they were not planning on doing so. I pushed very hard towards the mass removal of people of Japanese descent on my weekly radio show, because i felt that this was a necessary precaution. For example, a lot of young Japanese people were sent back to Japan to receive their education. It was very possible that the Japanese brainwashed the students into thinking that the U.S. was the enemy. However, I did know that this would be hard to swing because of my knowledge of the constitution and my time as a judge. So, I proposed a constitutional amendment that changed rights of people who had dual citizenship with a country that the United States was at war with. They did not have the rights of a U.S. citizen during this time. When Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, I started suggesting locations for these detention centers. I protested the site at which Manzanar was to be built, because it would take water away from the people in the L.A. area. However, no one cared, and they put Manzanar in the Owens Valley anyways. When the Japanese were allowed back into California, I was VERY against this, and adamantly opposed it. This is because I thought that there would be an outbreak of violence upon their return, and we did not have housing or police protection for the Japanese. I think that they should all have their citizenship revoked. I do not think there is ever going to be a Japanese American. They are all Japanese, wherever born, and they cannot be Americans. They should not be allowed back into California, or anywhere else.”
Henry Stimson Bio (1944)
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Henry%20Stimson/
“My name is Henry Lewis Stimson and I am 77 years old. I am an American statesman, a lawyer, and a Republican politician and spokesperson when it comes to foreign policy. I previously worked as Secretary of War under William Howard Taft, and as a Governor-General in the Philippines. I was soon after reappointed as the Secretary of War under Roosevelt, a short time before the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor… I felt terrible. I felt like we were in war, and there was nothing I could do about except help the U.S. win. As the Secretary of War. My main responsibilities are being responsible for all of the affairs of the military and navy. It was also my duty to help decide what was to happen to the Japanese Americans on the west coast. I had to preside over the disagreement between the Justice and War departments when it came to these Japanese Americans. The Justice department was strongly against removing these Japanese from the west coast. I was presiding over the military leaders that adamantly wanted to remove these Japanese. I was against this movement at first, but the more I talked to military advisors, who really felt is was a military necessity. I choose to believe them, and felt that this action was necessary. There was much evidence that was later proved wrong that the Japanese had submarines off the coast. At the time I felt that this was convincing evidence of the possibility of attack. When and General Francis Biddle and I received the letter from Leland Ford to move all of the Japanese to inland camps, that is what we did. In my autobiography, I talked about the probability of Japanese raids on the west coast, which seemed very high considering all of the reports of Japanese submarines in the area.. Since there was a lot of important military targets on that coast, I felt that extra protection was necessary, and I also said that is would be quite impossible to be sure that the raiders would not receive important help from individuals of Japanese origin. I felt like this is the right move, and I refuse to feel bad about using force for a cause as important as this problem was. So yes, I feel like these people of Japanese descent could be a threat to the national security of the United States of America. I agreed to let the interns at the camps go in 1944, as long as they could not leave until after the elections of 1944.
Class B: Fletcher Bowron (Age 57) Direct Examination
Dalton and Riley
Evidence:
Pulled from the final report quotes
Fletcher Bowron X Examination
Evidence
Densho Website Encyclopedia (when Bowron proposed a constitutional amendment to make it easier to move the Japanese Americans)
Radio Show Racism
Henry Stimson Direct Examination
what was your role:
secretary of war
What role did you have in Executive Order 9066?
As the secretary of war, I felt it was very important to move these Japanese people out of the west coast area, in the interest of national security. Any one of them could have been conspiring with the Japanese to destroy the war effort.
what information were you told regarding the Japanese?
I was told that there was significant grouping by the Japanese citizens around valuable assets to war efforts. These groupings could not have been coincidental.
So, this order was specifically calculated to cover as little area as possible?
Yes it was, we didn’t just go and move the Japanese people out of New York. We only did so where we felt it was necessary targets to hold.
So those targets were the bare essentials?
Yes they were
And the Japanese Americans were a threat?
Possibly. And in war, you never take chances, or people die. Something Biddle never understood. We moved these people as a precaution, and to save the lives of American citizens.
Henry Stimson X Examination
Evidence
Reflection
This project was put in place so that we could better understand both the supreme court system, as well as just your ordinary court. The supreme court case that we did a Mock Trial on was the case of Korematsu v. The U.S.. We were divided up into teams, and then into specific roles. I had the role of prosecution witness. I had to take on the role of Henry Stimson and Fletcher Bowron. This required me doing a lot of research on each individual person to give a strong representation of him, as well as to make a strong case for our team.
This project also had a lot of teamwork involved with it. Since we were literally divided into prosecution and defense teams, it took a lot cooperation between teammates. The direct examination questions above are scripts of what my general testimony would be. This was done with the lawyer assigned to my witness, so that I could know exactly what I needed to say to best help our team. Our team overcame a lot of issues, primarily that we were on the team that has the odds stacked highly against its favor. I think that, even though we didn’t win, we still gave a strong representation of our team, and performed well.
There were a few revision processes that I had to do in order to perform well at the mock trial. For example, Fletcher Bowron was one of the people I had to portray, and there was a lot of quotes that show his racism against the Japanese. I had to find a way to tailor my testimony in a way that would not give the other team many opportunities to make my testimony seem worthless. I also had to prepare a lot about what I had to say to keep my testimony strong under the trial of cross examination. I was constantly rewording phrases to improve my testimony.
This project was overall very fun. It was awesome to learn about the court systems in such a hands on way. It was a great way to learn these concepts. The only thing that I suggest for anyone going into this project is to be very prepared for the trial. It was hard for me to perform well since I had not gone over my testimony very much. Overall, I felt like I did well and learned a lot with this project.
Happiness and Meaning
Essential Questions:
a. What is the purpose of your existence?
b. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
c. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
d. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Link to project description: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlccFFuTE85UVhyckk/edit
Project Reflection:
In doing this project, I didn’t gain many new insights. I actually confirmed what I had already believed to be true: the key to being happy is getting back up when I fall. Things are not always going to go my way, and I can’t let that keep me down. For me, music is one of the main ways I get back up in the end. Whether it is me playing music and letting feelings out that way, or just listening to music, it really helps me pick myself back up and rebound. We watched the documentary, “Happy” we learned that a lot of our happiness comes, not from position or circumstances, but by our actions and choices. I find this to be very true in my life, as I do not allow myself to dwell on everything that can go wrong. I stand by most of my choices, and do not stress about what might have happened if I acted differently. This takes a burden off my shoulders, and helps me to get back up when I fall. Music helps me keep this positive attitude in life.
Further Questions
How much of a direct effect does music have on my happiness?
How much does the style of music affect my happiness?
Is it the creativity that music provides that makes me feel happy, or the music itself?
Does music ever have a negative impact on my happiness?
The Stranger Seminar Prep
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13gkk80EcHU8grp3B3G9FFcoorAPpzoSNjIZf4CZg65g/edit?usp=sharing
Happiness and Meaning Seminar Prep
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13aFB-0dnYbHClr44Eq6xRN7CZSA56yVX0oyV9opI3tc/edit?usp=sharing
Literary Analysis Essay
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AiMxO0CuEH_1eVOCNmQoqhT_gyIkpLW00t_vZDL4olQ/edit?usp=sharing
Project Proposalhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1a5-0KsmBuAJO9VkHH96O3l_te7hk0hLKD9NYVL1muoE/edit?usp=sharin
Energy and Sense of Place Project
My Artist Statement
My visual piece expresses my sense of place. At the bottom of the picture, you see the city merging into mountains. This shows how my sense of place is both in the city, as well as out in nature. The pictures above shows what matters to me in an area. First and foremost is the people I meet. Both in Phoenix and Durango, I have made very good friends. These friends play a huge role in finding my sense of place. Next, is what I can do in the area. This is seen in both the picture of the sports stadium and the mountain biking trip. Last is the beauty of the environment, whether or not that is natural beauty. This is seen in the photo of nature, as well as Westgate, located just outside of Glendale, AZ.
I spent a lot of time refining this project, primarily in the pictures I chose. I had a lot more pictures I wanted to include, but as I added them, it took away from the silhouette of the city and mountains. I chose to use most of the space to fit pictures of people, as that is the most important aspect of an area to me. I feel like I have a good color scheme, as well as the right amount of pictures to get my point across, without distracting from the rest of the piece.
I had a very hard time coming up with an idea for this project. I knew that I wanted to include what makes an area special to me, but I had no idea how to display it visually. After getting a few other opinions, I found that a collage of pictures can be made in a creative way. I did this by adding the silhouette of the city and mountains over the sunset.
Visual Piece
My issue is on GMO labeling. I think that GMOs should be labeled so that everyone knows what it is they are putting into their bodies. That way, if GMOs are proven harmful, it is your fault because you knew you were eating them.
My visual shows how common GMOs are. My statistic saying 80% of foods have GMOs is really a shock, and my logos of common food shows it is in some of the most common American products.
My poster is rhetorical because it has a quote from Jeremy Bentham (ethos) and the above mentioned statistic (logos.)
The tone of my poster is almost a creepy thing. GMOs are sneaky, and we don’t know if they are safe or not. So, I used lots of dark colors.
I chose to arrange my pictures in the way I did because it shows that these companies make up GMOs basically. So I really emphasized that most foods we eat contain GMOs. It really is a scary thought, considering we don’t know if they are safe or not.
I refined my poster by using more accurate statistics and a very good quote. I really think I did a strong job on my final poster, and it was very effective. I really enjoyed this projects.
Project Reflection
This project involved knowing about a few main philosophies to start, primarily Liberterianism, Deontology, Rawls Theory, and Utilitarianism. Once we understood all of these, we started to develop our own issue, and take a side on it. I chose to talk about GMOs for my project. I researched multiple points of views, and chose my side on this issue. Then, we had to write an essay and create a visual piece using rhetoric showing our side on the issue. Then we went to a local coffee shop, and conversed with fellow community members. This assignment was pretty cool!
This project really showed me to do my own research on anything in life, and come to my own resolution. This really applies to issues today, when there are so many different angles at which you can approach something. This also showed me why it is so hard to get something finalized and a law, even when it may seem obvious to you. There are many different ways to look at justice, so that causes issues at times when trying to pass laws. Learning about rhetoric will be a very useful tool in life, especially for marketing purposes. There are many ways to appeal to people, but the primary ways are Pathos, Ethos, and Logos. Pathos appeals to emotions, Logos to reason, and Ethos plays the role of credibility. If you can effectively use these, you will very likely sway people into your viewpoint.
I think that my project was very strong, and I have very strong public speaking skills, so I think I did good at the exhibition as well. I think the strongest part of my essay was my use of logos, a lot of statistics. I am swayed mostly by logos, so I included a lot of this in my essay, as it appealed mostly to reason. For example, I did my own research and I came to this conclusion: " Children born between 1997 and 2011 have likely been born and raised on genetically altered foods. As I stated before, during this time period, food intolerances have seen a rapid increase during this period as well. There seems to be a correlation here. Children born since genetically altered foods were introduced and became common, are 50% more likely to develop food intolerances than children raised before GMOs. While there is yet to be a confirmed correlation between food allergies and GMOs, the trend is strong enough to call for further investigation and caution." This was a very strong piece of logos, and I came to my own conclusion based on my own research. I feel like my essay was lacking a little bit of Pathos however. I didn't appeal to the emotions very often in my essay, so I feel like I could improve on that.
If I had another whole week to work on this project I would make a few more changes. I would make sure to include more Pathos, because my essay was lacking some of that. I would also make sure to cite more of my sources in text. This helps my essay seem more credible, and shows where I got my information. I would probably make my visual piece a little less blurry if I had more time. It seems like some of my pictures got distorted with all of the re-sizing. Other than that, I don't know how I would change my visual. I feel like I had a strong project that I am confident in, and I don't what else I could have done to improve it any further.
Korematsu v. U.S.
Fletcher Bowron Testimony (1944)
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Fletcher%20Bowron/
“My name is Fletcher Bowron. I am 57 years old. When the United States entered World War One, I enlisted in the army, so I have seen combat myself. From the time of about 1925 to 1926, I served as the executive secretary to Friend Richardson, who was the current governor of California at the time. Afterwards, I served as a supreme court judge in Los Angeles until 1938. At this time, I went into a recall election against Mayor Frank Shaw, who everyone knew had a corrupt administration. I ended up winning this election. Later, in 1941, it was time for the municipal election. I did campaign in Little Tokyo. There, I met John Aiso. He made it his goal to attract Japanese American votes for me. I ended up winning this election with about 55% of the vote. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, I immediately tried to reassure everyone that there was no threat of an attack on Southern California coasts. I did this over the radio, which was a great for getting the word out there. Soon after, I was elected to incarcerate the Japanese people in the area, and move them inland. They were put there to help with the war effort, such as raising food. After reading all of the newspaper articles about spotted Japanese submarines in the area, specifically around the area of Terminal Island, where there was a very large population of Japanese Americans, I felt this was necessary. By the end of February 1942, all of the people of Japanese ancestry were given a 48 hour notice to leave the island. I also forced all Japanese American workers in the L.A. area to take a leave of absence. You see, I didn’t trust the Japanese. I felt even if a Japanese American hadn’t committed an act of sabotage, doesn’t mean that they were not planning on doing so. I pushed very hard towards the mass removal of people of Japanese descent on my weekly radio show, because i felt that this was a necessary precaution. For example, a lot of young Japanese people were sent back to Japan to receive their education. It was very possible that the Japanese brainwashed the students into thinking that the U.S. was the enemy. However, I did know that this would be hard to swing because of my knowledge of the constitution and my time as a judge. So, I proposed a constitutional amendment that changed rights of people who had dual citizenship with a country that the United States was at war with. They did not have the rights of a U.S. citizen during this time. When Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, I started suggesting locations for these detention centers. I protested the site at which Manzanar was to be built, because it would take water away from the people in the L.A. area. However, no one cared, and they put Manzanar in the Owens Valley anyways. When the Japanese were allowed back into California, I was VERY against this, and adamantly opposed it. This is because I thought that there would be an outbreak of violence upon their return, and we did not have housing or police protection for the Japanese. I think that they should all have their citizenship revoked. I do not think there is ever going to be a Japanese American. They are all Japanese, wherever born, and they cannot be Americans. They should not be allowed back into California, or anywhere else.”
Henry Stimson Bio (1944)
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Henry%20Stimson/
“My name is Henry Lewis Stimson and I am 77 years old. I am an American statesman, a lawyer, and a Republican politician and spokesperson when it comes to foreign policy. I previously worked as Secretary of War under William Howard Taft, and as a Governor-General in the Philippines. I was soon after reappointed as the Secretary of War under Roosevelt, a short time before the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor… I felt terrible. I felt like we were in war, and there was nothing I could do about except help the U.S. win. As the Secretary of War. My main responsibilities are being responsible for all of the affairs of the military and navy. It was also my duty to help decide what was to happen to the Japanese Americans on the west coast. I had to preside over the disagreement between the Justice and War departments when it came to these Japanese Americans. The Justice department was strongly against removing these Japanese from the west coast. I was presiding over the military leaders that adamantly wanted to remove these Japanese. I was against this movement at first, but the more I talked to military advisors, who really felt is was a military necessity. I choose to believe them, and felt that this action was necessary. There was much evidence that was later proved wrong that the Japanese had submarines off the coast. At the time I felt that this was convincing evidence of the possibility of attack. When and General Francis Biddle and I received the letter from Leland Ford to move all of the Japanese to inland camps, that is what we did. In my autobiography, I talked about the probability of Japanese raids on the west coast, which seemed very high considering all of the reports of Japanese submarines in the area.. Since there was a lot of important military targets on that coast, I felt that extra protection was necessary, and I also said that is would be quite impossible to be sure that the raiders would not receive important help from individuals of Japanese origin. I felt like this is the right move, and I refuse to feel bad about using force for a cause as important as this problem was. So yes, I feel like these people of Japanese descent could be a threat to the national security of the United States of America. I agreed to let the interns at the camps go in 1944, as long as they could not leave until after the elections of 1944.
Class B: Fletcher Bowron (Age 57) Direct Examination
Dalton and Riley
- Tell the court about your career history
- When the United States entered World War One, I enlisted in the army, so I have seen combat myself. From the time of about 1925 to 1926, I served as the executive secretary to Friend Richardson, who was the current governor of California at the time. Afterwards, I served as a supreme court judge in Los Angeles until 1938. I then served as Mayor of the L.A. area
- What role did you play in executive order 9066 being carried out?
- I suggested a few locations for the internment camps to be located, like on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. I also played a big part in moving the Japanese in my area to these camps, all of which I did because of the threat that the Japanese Americans posed to national security.
- Can you tell us more about this more about this “security threat”?
- There were many reports of Japanese submarines in the Terminal Island area, which had a large amount of Japanese population. Also, there were many reported underground groups in favor of the Japanese winning the war.
- Why did you feel the Japanese needed to be removed from the area?
- Mostly because of what I just said, the security threat they posed. But I was also concerned about their safety. We did not have the police protection for them, especially when tensions were high because of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
- Are you implying that all of them were innocent?
- No, of course not. I believe that just because someone has not been convicted of sabotage, does not mean they are not planning to do so.
- Could you please explain why you were so concerned about letting the Japanese-Americans interns back into California? Like I said before, the L.A. area did not have the police protection for the Japanese interns upon their arrival. Also, we were running short on housing, so we would not be able to provide very much for these returning interns.
Evidence:
Pulled from the final report quotes
Fletcher Bowron X Examination
- Is it not true that you knew that the mass removal of the Japanese people had one major obstacle, it’s constitutionality?
- And isn’t it true that you pushed very hard for such a removal, in spite of your knowledge it was unconstitutional?
- Isnt it true that over your radio show, u adamantly opposed the Japanese coming back to California? Yes, but this was in part because we did not have the police protection to stop violence towards them from breaking out as soon as they returned. There was a lot of hate directed towards them during the war.
- Is it true that you said that there will never be a such thing as a Japanese American? I don’t recall saying that
- Is it true that you said this, “"I feel that there are not and never can be such a thing as Japanese-Americans. They are all Japanese, wherever born, and they can never be Americans…” - I said this because they claim to be citizens and support the government when there were so many underground groups supporting the Japanese, and people like Korematsu who claimed to be a citizen, but then disobeyed our laws, made me lose my trust in the Japanese Americans.
Evidence
Densho Website Encyclopedia (when Bowron proposed a constitutional amendment to make it easier to move the Japanese Americans)
Radio Show Racism
Henry Stimson Direct Examination
what was your role:
secretary of war
What role did you have in Executive Order 9066?
As the secretary of war, I felt it was very important to move these Japanese people out of the west coast area, in the interest of national security. Any one of them could have been conspiring with the Japanese to destroy the war effort.
what information were you told regarding the Japanese?
I was told that there was significant grouping by the Japanese citizens around valuable assets to war efforts. These groupings could not have been coincidental.
So, this order was specifically calculated to cover as little area as possible?
Yes it was, we didn’t just go and move the Japanese people out of New York. We only did so where we felt it was necessary targets to hold.
So those targets were the bare essentials?
Yes they were
And the Japanese Americans were a threat?
Possibly. And in war, you never take chances, or people die. Something Biddle never understood. We moved these people as a precaution, and to save the lives of American citizens.
Henry Stimson X Examination
- Is it true that you received a letter from Francis Biddle that recommended moving
- all people out of the area, and then sending back those who the U.S. viewed as a non threat, instead of just singling out the Japanese?
- Yes, but the army does have the right to evacuate people from an area if it seems to aid the defense of the area, and our plan was already in motion.
- Is it not true that the proclamations that the president issued directing the Department of Justice to apprehend and evacuate alien enemies did not apply to the Japanese American Citizens, only to the Japanese citizens?
- Yes, that is true
Evidence
- All from the Letter From Francis Biddle to Henry Stimson
Reflection
This project was put in place so that we could better understand both the supreme court system, as well as just your ordinary court. The supreme court case that we did a Mock Trial on was the case of Korematsu v. The U.S.. We were divided up into teams, and then into specific roles. I had the role of prosecution witness. I had to take on the role of Henry Stimson and Fletcher Bowron. This required me doing a lot of research on each individual person to give a strong representation of him, as well as to make a strong case for our team.
This project also had a lot of teamwork involved with it. Since we were literally divided into prosecution and defense teams, it took a lot cooperation between teammates. The direct examination questions above are scripts of what my general testimony would be. This was done with the lawyer assigned to my witness, so that I could know exactly what I needed to say to best help our team. Our team overcame a lot of issues, primarily that we were on the team that has the odds stacked highly against its favor. I think that, even though we didn’t win, we still gave a strong representation of our team, and performed well.
There were a few revision processes that I had to do in order to perform well at the mock trial. For example, Fletcher Bowron was one of the people I had to portray, and there was a lot of quotes that show his racism against the Japanese. I had to find a way to tailor my testimony in a way that would not give the other team many opportunities to make my testimony seem worthless. I also had to prepare a lot about what I had to say to keep my testimony strong under the trial of cross examination. I was constantly rewording phrases to improve my testimony.
This project was overall very fun. It was awesome to learn about the court systems in such a hands on way. It was a great way to learn these concepts. The only thing that I suggest for anyone going into this project is to be very prepared for the trial. It was hard for me to perform well since I had not gone over my testimony very much. Overall, I felt like I did well and learned a lot with this project.
Happiness and Meaning
Essential Questions:
a. What is the purpose of your existence?
b. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
c. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
d. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Link to project description: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlccFFuTE85UVhyckk/edit
Project Reflection:
In doing this project, I didn’t gain many new insights. I actually confirmed what I had already believed to be true: the key to being happy is getting back up when I fall. Things are not always going to go my way, and I can’t let that keep me down. For me, music is one of the main ways I get back up in the end. Whether it is me playing music and letting feelings out that way, or just listening to music, it really helps me pick myself back up and rebound. We watched the documentary, “Happy” we learned that a lot of our happiness comes, not from position or circumstances, but by our actions and choices. I find this to be very true in my life, as I do not allow myself to dwell on everything that can go wrong. I stand by most of my choices, and do not stress about what might have happened if I acted differently. This takes a burden off my shoulders, and helps me to get back up when I fall. Music helps me keep this positive attitude in life.
Further Questions
How much of a direct effect does music have on my happiness?
How much does the style of music affect my happiness?
Is it the creativity that music provides that makes me feel happy, or the music itself?
Does music ever have a negative impact on my happiness?
The Stranger Seminar Prep
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13gkk80EcHU8grp3B3G9FFcoorAPpzoSNjIZf4CZg65g/edit?usp=sharing
Happiness and Meaning Seminar Prep
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13aFB-0dnYbHClr44Eq6xRN7CZSA56yVX0oyV9opI3tc/edit?usp=sharing
Literary Analysis Essay
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AiMxO0CuEH_1eVOCNmQoqhT_gyIkpLW00t_vZDL4olQ/edit?usp=sharing
Project Proposalhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1a5-0KsmBuAJO9VkHH96O3l_te7hk0hLKD9NYVL1muoE/edit?usp=sharin
Energy and Sense of Place Project
My Artist Statement
My visual piece expresses my sense of place. At the bottom of the picture, you see the city merging into mountains. This shows how my sense of place is both in the city, as well as out in nature. The pictures above shows what matters to me in an area. First and foremost is the people I meet. Both in Phoenix and Durango, I have made very good friends. These friends play a huge role in finding my sense of place. Next, is what I can do in the area. This is seen in both the picture of the sports stadium and the mountain biking trip. Last is the beauty of the environment, whether or not that is natural beauty. This is seen in the photo of nature, as well as Westgate, located just outside of Glendale, AZ.
I spent a lot of time refining this project, primarily in the pictures I chose. I had a lot more pictures I wanted to include, but as I added them, it took away from the silhouette of the city and mountains. I chose to use most of the space to fit pictures of people, as that is the most important aspect of an area to me. I feel like I have a good color scheme, as well as the right amount of pictures to get my point across, without distracting from the rest of the piece.
I had a very hard time coming up with an idea for this project. I knew that I wanted to include what makes an area special to me, but I had no idea how to display it visually. After getting a few other opinions, I found that a collage of pictures can be made in a creative way. I did this by adding the silhouette of the city and mountains over the sunset.
Visual Piece
My Essay
Abstract
My sense of place is a based on what the area has to offer to me, whether in the form of people, activities, or the environment. This is a commodified sense of place. My environmental ethic is instrumental. However, I don’t hold the standard view of this ethic. I don't agree with instrumental use of the environment in terms of ruining the environment for monetary gain. My view of an instrumental ethic is more along the lines of what the area has to offer, as stated above, whether that is recreation or the spending time with the people in the area. A good example of both my environmental ethic and my sense if place is seen here; “All the sporting events to attend, all of the restaurants to dine in. And I could do all of this while becoming closer to the people I cared about. It wasn’t necessarily the overheated concrete jungle that I fell in love with, instead it was what it could offer me.”
City vs. Mountains
Dalton Millonzi
I slowly pry my eyes open, raise my body from my bed, and wander aimlessly around the house. Just like every kid not wanting to go to school in the morning, my mind is blank, my body on autopilot. I waddle to the kitchen, eyes open ever so slightly, hair pointing in every direction. I bust open a box of my favorite cereal, Reese’s Puffs. As I slowly raise the spoonful of small, brown puffs to my mouth, I realize that today is not like any other ordinary day. This isn’t my house I have known for the past eight years. The walls in the kitchen are not the vibrant orange and dusty tan I am used to. Right in front of me was a deep red, which was very odd. The scheme is still similar to our previous kitchen, bright sections of paint, like a splash of color in an otherwise neutral room. The sponge painted tan is deeper than I am used to. This is the first morning in my new home- Surprise, Arizona.
~
At first, I felt lost and bewildered. I knew nobody. It was just me and my family against the harshness of the sun scorched desert. However, I was excited. I have always been excited by change, meeting different people, and the diversity it brings to my life. The first few weeks in the fresh house were full of excitement, as we played hide and go seek in a whole new environment. Exciting hiding spots, just like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered, We went about our lives, resuming them as if the desert backdrop behind our home was no different than the mountainous region I was born in. We met different people, new friends. Little did I know, I was about to meet someone who would become one of my closest friends, and like an older sister. Alexis Bulleigh was her name. It was when I met her and her family that I first felt like we could easily make this area our home. It started with the polite handshake of a small boy, blue eyes, blonde hair, to a 15-year-old girl. As the years past by, we had our fair share of pranks and practical jokes. Most of them were instigated by me. However, Alexis’ response to my teasing was more of a playfully violent response. She must have seen that I was just an immature, young boy, and it was just normal to come from someone that age.
I never thought that I could develop a love of the city, but that is exactly what happened as I wandered the bustling downtown areas of Phoenix with my friends. The city lights shining, cars zooming by, crowds cheering in the stadiums, and the smells. The smells of a perfectly cooked hamburger fresh off the grill, or french fries right out of the fryer. I loved everything that the city offered me. All the sporting events to attend, all of the restaurants to dine in. And I could do all of this while becoming closer to the people I cared about. It wasn’t necessarily the overheated concrete jungle that I fell in love with, instead it was what it could offer me. The city reached out to me, offered from it’s hand people and recreation, the two things that I needed the most to really connect with the area.
~
“I miss that place,” I think as I cruise through the mountian biking trails located behind my home. I had moved back to the rugged, vibrantly colorful Rocky Mountains in which I was born. I had left Phoenix behind, and with it, all my friends that had slowly become my family. Much like the painfully slow process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, I was slowly maturing. As I think back on that time, I realize how much I grew up living there. Granted some of it was from the guidance I received from my parents, but I also grew socially. I believe that this came from the diversity that Phoenix offered me. There, I was befriended by people twice my age, three times my size. I learned how to be someone that people want to be around, not just one of the kids that are invited because the host wants to converse with their parents. And, thanks to Alexis, that blurry line, where playful teasing becomes too much, was much clearer.
I continue steering my bike through the bends of the mountainous trail, swerving in and out like the body of a serpent. I turn another bend, and there is Ian. Ian, much like Alexis, is someone that I slowly have become very close to. He is waiting on the bank of the trail, a grin all the way across his face. “Did you fall back there?” he inquires, with an awnry smile.
“Of course I did,” I laugh. “My very first bike trail and you take me on this, what did you expect?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get it, it just takes practice,” he replies, trying to be sympathetic. Ian grew up on these trails. In fact, he had the experience that you would expect from someone twice his age.
“Well, we might have to walk the rest of the way down, I just busted my fork,” he states with multiple emotions on his face. I can see what is going on in his mind. It is written all over his face. He is thinking about how great the jump was, how sweet of a landing. However, there is another thought dominating his mind. How is he going to tell his mom? This is the third bike he has maliciously destroyed in the past 6 months with his lust for speed on the trails. First was the GT. He sent a crack up the poor bikes spine, and the frame is now unusable. Just two weeks ago, he incapacitated his newest bike, in the exact same fashion he broke this bike. A busted fork.
“And this is my dad’s bike too!”
“Well maybe if you didn't do such crazy things on your bike, you wouldn’t break it all the time,” I reply in a complementary way. The last thing he needs is a lecture from me, he will be receiving his fair share when he gets home. “Well, let’s not worry about it until you get home, no sense in ruining the rest of the time we have up here.
As we continue, now walking down the trail, I am in awe of the luscious green all around me, from the trees leaves to the bushes. The Animas River Valley truly is one of the reasons I am in love with the area. From the towering pine and spruce trees, to the chipmunks scampering around on the valley floor. As excited as I was when I first moved here, part of that was due to the foreign environment. It wasn’t until the past year that Durango became my home. I have everything I had in Phoenix, minus the sports arenas and stadiums. However, I do have close bonds with friends, I do have plenty of activities to partake in, especially of the active sort, which are my preference anyway. There’s plenty for Durango to offer me, and I really am happy here.
“Hey, I think your phone is ringing…” Ian says, with a curious look on his face.
“Oh.” I pull the phone from my pocket and raise it to my ear. “Hey mom… Yeah, we are almost back to the bottom, took a bit longer than we thought, Ian broke his bike again… Yeah, I will call her… Ok, love you too, see ya.”
“Was that your mom?” Ian inquired, already knowing the answer to that question.
“Yeah, just a minute, I gotta call Alexis.” I thumb through my contacts, find her name, and tap the phone shaped icon. The phone rings and rings. I start to take my phone from my ear, expecting her not to answer. When she finally answers the phone, I convey my mom’s message to her.
I end the call and put my phone back in my pocket. “Ok, let’s go, we gotta hurry now, the Bulleighs are coming over for dinner.” It had been really nice to have Alexis back in my life. Her family ended up visiting us here in Durango one summer, and the next thing we knew, they were moving into our neighborhood. When we finally make it to the bottom, it is 6:15. I can see the sun starting to set behind the valley walls. Half of the sun hidden by the mountain, the other half covering the area in a tinted lighting. We head to the car, lift our bikes into the bed, and pull out.
After I dropped Ian off at his house, I headed home. As I pulled my truck into my parking space, I check the time. It is 6:30. “Couldn’t have timed that any better,” I murmur to myself. I walk through the door, give my mom a hug, and head to the couch. Ten minutes pass by. Finally, we hear a knock on the door.
My brother yanks the door open. “Didn’t we say 6:30? How hard is it to be on time when you live two doors down?” he teases.
“Eh, close enough,” Alexis replies as she steps into the house, her family close behind her. As we sit around the table to eat, the topics of conversation constantly change. Alexis tells everyone she had recently read an article about Hermosa Valley. According to the article, the city of Durango is considering removing some mountain trails, and building some shopping centers in the area. These are to include chain restaurants like Red Robin and Chili's, as well as movie theaters, laser tag arenas and bowling alleys. The article said that the idea behind it all is to increase tourist appeal.
“Well, I am all for these shopping centers, it sounds like there will be a lot of fun things to do there,” I say with mixed emotions. But why do they have to build them where the trails are? Those trails are a lot of fun! Why Can’t they build this out by the mall? There is nothing to lose out there. That seems like a much better location to me!”
“Yeah,” exclaims my brother. “It’s not even like it is pretty by the mall, or at least not as pretty as the valley. There is nothing to lose, it will make that area so much better.”
“Well, I am going to write a letter to the city, maybe that will change their mind,” states my little sister as she stomps up the stairs.
We all know that there will be plenty of protest against the project. Surely there are other people who feel the same way. There’s nothing wrong with developing areas, but the valley is not the right place. However, part of me wants these centers to be built, regardless of where. There are other trails. These centers are going to be built, no matter how we feel. We should enjoy what the area has to offer us, just like we do with the trails. Ultimately, that is why I live here, for what Durango offers me. In fact, I believe that is why most people live here. The environment is perfect for all sorts of sports. Durango offers it’s citizens plenty to do outdoors. What’s wrong with making the area more diverse, adding some restaurants or recreational buildings? Whatever happens, I just want to make the best of it, and enjoy the time I get to spend unwinding.
Reflection
This project was a project that was very closely related to our Chemistry project. They were both related to energy and it’s effect on the environment. The humanities portion had more to do with finding our sense of place and our environmental ethic. After learning about environmental ethics and sense of place, we were turned loose with a very flexible project. The aspect I took on the project was finding my sense of place, which is intertwined between two areas. It also included showing my environmental ethic in the same essay.
This project gave me a sense of self awareness I didn’t have before. I knew I liked Durango, and I knew I liked Phoenix, but I never stopped to think about what it was that connected me to each place. I knew that there had to be a bottom line, something in common. It was hard to find this similarity, so I started writing about each area separately. This was when I really became self aware in terms of this project. I saw what it was that attracted me to both areas. This is what inspired my visual piece.
I am the most proud of my visual piece. I think it was one of my more creative visual pieces all year. I feel like my essay was strong, but I am more attracted to my visual piece. I feel like I did a very good job at conveying my sense of place in my essay. For example, in my essay, I talk about how I am attached to Durango, and part of it is forming bonds that are similar to those I had in Phoenix. “I have everything I had in Phoenix, minus the sports arenas and stadiums. However, I do have close bonds with friends, I do have plenty of activities to partake in, especially of the active sort, which are my preference anyway. There’s plenty for Durango to offer me, and I really am happy here.”
As difficult as this project was, especially in the beginning, I did a very good job of sticking through the writer’s block with a good attitude. This project, although challenging, was by far my favorite project of the year. I liked how the chemistry portion of the project complimented the humanities portion, but they both felt separate at the same time. This was a big plus to me. They complimented each other in a great way, they made the project seem more relevant. I definitely enjoyed this project.
Abstract
My sense of place is a based on what the area has to offer to me, whether in the form of people, activities, or the environment. This is a commodified sense of place. My environmental ethic is instrumental. However, I don’t hold the standard view of this ethic. I don't agree with instrumental use of the environment in terms of ruining the environment for monetary gain. My view of an instrumental ethic is more along the lines of what the area has to offer, as stated above, whether that is recreation or the spending time with the people in the area. A good example of both my environmental ethic and my sense if place is seen here; “All the sporting events to attend, all of the restaurants to dine in. And I could do all of this while becoming closer to the people I cared about. It wasn’t necessarily the overheated concrete jungle that I fell in love with, instead it was what it could offer me.”
City vs. Mountains
Dalton Millonzi
I slowly pry my eyes open, raise my body from my bed, and wander aimlessly around the house. Just like every kid not wanting to go to school in the morning, my mind is blank, my body on autopilot. I waddle to the kitchen, eyes open ever so slightly, hair pointing in every direction. I bust open a box of my favorite cereal, Reese’s Puffs. As I slowly raise the spoonful of small, brown puffs to my mouth, I realize that today is not like any other ordinary day. This isn’t my house I have known for the past eight years. The walls in the kitchen are not the vibrant orange and dusty tan I am used to. Right in front of me was a deep red, which was very odd. The scheme is still similar to our previous kitchen, bright sections of paint, like a splash of color in an otherwise neutral room. The sponge painted tan is deeper than I am used to. This is the first morning in my new home- Surprise, Arizona.
~
At first, I felt lost and bewildered. I knew nobody. It was just me and my family against the harshness of the sun scorched desert. However, I was excited. I have always been excited by change, meeting different people, and the diversity it brings to my life. The first few weeks in the fresh house were full of excitement, as we played hide and go seek in a whole new environment. Exciting hiding spots, just like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered, We went about our lives, resuming them as if the desert backdrop behind our home was no different than the mountainous region I was born in. We met different people, new friends. Little did I know, I was about to meet someone who would become one of my closest friends, and like an older sister. Alexis Bulleigh was her name. It was when I met her and her family that I first felt like we could easily make this area our home. It started with the polite handshake of a small boy, blue eyes, blonde hair, to a 15-year-old girl. As the years past by, we had our fair share of pranks and practical jokes. Most of them were instigated by me. However, Alexis’ response to my teasing was more of a playfully violent response. She must have seen that I was just an immature, young boy, and it was just normal to come from someone that age.
I never thought that I could develop a love of the city, but that is exactly what happened as I wandered the bustling downtown areas of Phoenix with my friends. The city lights shining, cars zooming by, crowds cheering in the stadiums, and the smells. The smells of a perfectly cooked hamburger fresh off the grill, or french fries right out of the fryer. I loved everything that the city offered me. All the sporting events to attend, all of the restaurants to dine in. And I could do all of this while becoming closer to the people I cared about. It wasn’t necessarily the overheated concrete jungle that I fell in love with, instead it was what it could offer me. The city reached out to me, offered from it’s hand people and recreation, the two things that I needed the most to really connect with the area.
~
“I miss that place,” I think as I cruise through the mountian biking trails located behind my home. I had moved back to the rugged, vibrantly colorful Rocky Mountains in which I was born. I had left Phoenix behind, and with it, all my friends that had slowly become my family. Much like the painfully slow process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, I was slowly maturing. As I think back on that time, I realize how much I grew up living there. Granted some of it was from the guidance I received from my parents, but I also grew socially. I believe that this came from the diversity that Phoenix offered me. There, I was befriended by people twice my age, three times my size. I learned how to be someone that people want to be around, not just one of the kids that are invited because the host wants to converse with their parents. And, thanks to Alexis, that blurry line, where playful teasing becomes too much, was much clearer.
I continue steering my bike through the bends of the mountainous trail, swerving in and out like the body of a serpent. I turn another bend, and there is Ian. Ian, much like Alexis, is someone that I slowly have become very close to. He is waiting on the bank of the trail, a grin all the way across his face. “Did you fall back there?” he inquires, with an awnry smile.
“Of course I did,” I laugh. “My very first bike trail and you take me on this, what did you expect?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get it, it just takes practice,” he replies, trying to be sympathetic. Ian grew up on these trails. In fact, he had the experience that you would expect from someone twice his age.
“Well, we might have to walk the rest of the way down, I just busted my fork,” he states with multiple emotions on his face. I can see what is going on in his mind. It is written all over his face. He is thinking about how great the jump was, how sweet of a landing. However, there is another thought dominating his mind. How is he going to tell his mom? This is the third bike he has maliciously destroyed in the past 6 months with his lust for speed on the trails. First was the GT. He sent a crack up the poor bikes spine, and the frame is now unusable. Just two weeks ago, he incapacitated his newest bike, in the exact same fashion he broke this bike. A busted fork.
“And this is my dad’s bike too!”
“Well maybe if you didn't do such crazy things on your bike, you wouldn’t break it all the time,” I reply in a complementary way. The last thing he needs is a lecture from me, he will be receiving his fair share when he gets home. “Well, let’s not worry about it until you get home, no sense in ruining the rest of the time we have up here.
As we continue, now walking down the trail, I am in awe of the luscious green all around me, from the trees leaves to the bushes. The Animas River Valley truly is one of the reasons I am in love with the area. From the towering pine and spruce trees, to the chipmunks scampering around on the valley floor. As excited as I was when I first moved here, part of that was due to the foreign environment. It wasn’t until the past year that Durango became my home. I have everything I had in Phoenix, minus the sports arenas and stadiums. However, I do have close bonds with friends, I do have plenty of activities to partake in, especially of the active sort, which are my preference anyway. There’s plenty for Durango to offer me, and I really am happy here.
“Hey, I think your phone is ringing…” Ian says, with a curious look on his face.
“Oh.” I pull the phone from my pocket and raise it to my ear. “Hey mom… Yeah, we are almost back to the bottom, took a bit longer than we thought, Ian broke his bike again… Yeah, I will call her… Ok, love you too, see ya.”
“Was that your mom?” Ian inquired, already knowing the answer to that question.
“Yeah, just a minute, I gotta call Alexis.” I thumb through my contacts, find her name, and tap the phone shaped icon. The phone rings and rings. I start to take my phone from my ear, expecting her not to answer. When she finally answers the phone, I convey my mom’s message to her.
I end the call and put my phone back in my pocket. “Ok, let’s go, we gotta hurry now, the Bulleighs are coming over for dinner.” It had been really nice to have Alexis back in my life. Her family ended up visiting us here in Durango one summer, and the next thing we knew, they were moving into our neighborhood. When we finally make it to the bottom, it is 6:15. I can see the sun starting to set behind the valley walls. Half of the sun hidden by the mountain, the other half covering the area in a tinted lighting. We head to the car, lift our bikes into the bed, and pull out.
After I dropped Ian off at his house, I headed home. As I pulled my truck into my parking space, I check the time. It is 6:30. “Couldn’t have timed that any better,” I murmur to myself. I walk through the door, give my mom a hug, and head to the couch. Ten minutes pass by. Finally, we hear a knock on the door.
My brother yanks the door open. “Didn’t we say 6:30? How hard is it to be on time when you live two doors down?” he teases.
“Eh, close enough,” Alexis replies as she steps into the house, her family close behind her. As we sit around the table to eat, the topics of conversation constantly change. Alexis tells everyone she had recently read an article about Hermosa Valley. According to the article, the city of Durango is considering removing some mountain trails, and building some shopping centers in the area. These are to include chain restaurants like Red Robin and Chili's, as well as movie theaters, laser tag arenas and bowling alleys. The article said that the idea behind it all is to increase tourist appeal.
“Well, I am all for these shopping centers, it sounds like there will be a lot of fun things to do there,” I say with mixed emotions. But why do they have to build them where the trails are? Those trails are a lot of fun! Why Can’t they build this out by the mall? There is nothing to lose out there. That seems like a much better location to me!”
“Yeah,” exclaims my brother. “It’s not even like it is pretty by the mall, or at least not as pretty as the valley. There is nothing to lose, it will make that area so much better.”
“Well, I am going to write a letter to the city, maybe that will change their mind,” states my little sister as she stomps up the stairs.
We all know that there will be plenty of protest against the project. Surely there are other people who feel the same way. There’s nothing wrong with developing areas, but the valley is not the right place. However, part of me wants these centers to be built, regardless of where. There are other trails. These centers are going to be built, no matter how we feel. We should enjoy what the area has to offer us, just like we do with the trails. Ultimately, that is why I live here, for what Durango offers me. In fact, I believe that is why most people live here. The environment is perfect for all sorts of sports. Durango offers it’s citizens plenty to do outdoors. What’s wrong with making the area more diverse, adding some restaurants or recreational buildings? Whatever happens, I just want to make the best of it, and enjoy the time I get to spend unwinding.
Reflection
This project was a project that was very closely related to our Chemistry project. They were both related to energy and it’s effect on the environment. The humanities portion had more to do with finding our sense of place and our environmental ethic. After learning about environmental ethics and sense of place, we were turned loose with a very flexible project. The aspect I took on the project was finding my sense of place, which is intertwined between two areas. It also included showing my environmental ethic in the same essay.
This project gave me a sense of self awareness I didn’t have before. I knew I liked Durango, and I knew I liked Phoenix, but I never stopped to think about what it was that connected me to each place. I knew that there had to be a bottom line, something in common. It was hard to find this similarity, so I started writing about each area separately. This was when I really became self aware in terms of this project. I saw what it was that attracted me to both areas. This is what inspired my visual piece.
I am the most proud of my visual piece. I think it was one of my more creative visual pieces all year. I feel like my essay was strong, but I am more attracted to my visual piece. I feel like I did a very good job at conveying my sense of place in my essay. For example, in my essay, I talk about how I am attached to Durango, and part of it is forming bonds that are similar to those I had in Phoenix. “I have everything I had in Phoenix, minus the sports arenas and stadiums. However, I do have close bonds with friends, I do have plenty of activities to partake in, especially of the active sort, which are my preference anyway. There’s plenty for Durango to offer me, and I really am happy here.”
As difficult as this project was, especially in the beginning, I did a very good job of sticking through the writer’s block with a good attitude. This project, although challenging, was by far my favorite project of the year. I liked how the chemistry portion of the project complimented the humanities portion, but they both felt separate at the same time. This was a big plus to me. They complimented each other in a great way, they made the project seem more relevant. I definitely enjoyed this project.