Class 82 the best NBA team ever

VG

The Miami Heat during the 2012-’13 season is what I believe is the best team and play in the history of basketball. The Miami Heat were in the top of the NBA leaderboards two years in a row and recently. They have achieved many, many titles over the years such as LeBron’s MVP awards, most wins in a month (March 2013), and highest scoring average. Their value may just be bordering at #6, but in a majority of value that relies on skill they are ranked as #4 or higher (out of the 30 NBA teams listed). The team has shown their skills and achievements throughout the NBA and in many cases, have been awarded plenty of MVP titles to their individual players.

Global Peace and a drama of corruption

VG
Final Action of term 2

In the final action proctject that took place this term, we were to create a form of satyagraha to demonstrate a fight against an issue we dissaprove of. In my case, along with two other fellow bloggers, we made an act of government corruption. The skit was meant to be five minutes or less, so we couldn't create a more elaborate plot. A mayor of a small anonymous town is using taxpayer money for his own selfish wants. He was then visited by two ghosts; one of the past and one from the future. (Below is the recording of the skit)


(A link to the script shall be placed here aswell)

The general purpose of this was to display government corruption and how those who have done wrong should change their ways. Though ghosts may be that of the supernatural, it's still a motivation of why the poeple should govern themselves.

WNBA Chi. Sky infographic

VG

In GCE a new project set afoot. The project was to choose a basketball team and to complete report about them. We were asked to include information on several subjects. One general subject was the team. Which team, how the salaries have grown, arena information, and performance data too. Other data consists of the franchise itself. What has the team done for the community, what relation do they have with politics, and what have they helped with economically. 

I chose the WNBA Chicago Sky, why? A women's basketball team that's local to me. The team is also interesting as their attendance and values rocket up at some point in time. The true point of this project is to debate whether or not the team is worth having in the city, like if the Bulls are worth having as a Chicago basketball team.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/easel.ly/all_easels/194863/WNBAskyinfograph/image.jpg

As the infographic above displays, the WNBA Sky have proven to be beneficial towards us. Chicago already has famous landmarks & teams, but with another basketball team attracting tourism, the city is likely to gain a large profit out of them. With this reasoning, it's easy to find that having the Chicago Sky is truly worth it, though the expenses of the stadium are unknown, with one weighing in at only 7,000 seats, can most likely not be more than $25 million. When multiplying ticket prices and attendance together, the sum will vary between 50k & 100k, but also multiplying the number of games in a season (82) you get the variants of 4.1 million - 8.2 million. Then once again multiply the past 6 years they've been around, you receive $24,600,000-$49,200,000. That well enough, covered the costs of the team. The math states just how much the Chicago Sky is "worth it", which in this case is very.

infographic by VG on https://s3.amazonaws.com/easel.ly/all_easels/194863/WNBAskyinfograph/image.jpg
information displayed from www.wnba.com/sky/
attendance statistics  cited from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sky

GP letter to alderman

VG

In this assignment, I had to send a letter to the 47th Alderman of Chicago. I wrote in the letter how more local businesses would be benefitial to the community. The following is the actual letter sent to Alderman Ameya Pawar. Small adjustments such as my name were changed in this post.

Ameya Pawa, 47th Alderman

47th ward office

4243 N. Lincoln Avenue

Chicago, IL 60618

November 15, 2013

Dear Alderman Pawar:

In this area of Chicago, in which am referring to Lincoln Square, I believe a slight improvement could be made. Although this may be the case as of now I am going to introduce myself, my name is VG, a student at GCE (Global Citizenship Experience) and in a unit (2) we are studying the Gandhism of Swadeshi, which is the local and global/national economy. Ownership of land, items, or creatures defies and disapproves of Swadeshi.

Around Western, there are plenty of stores, but there’s the problem, large franchises that end up receiving more money than the community. Money that goes into large franchises like Jewel end up receiving money that then goes to the large corporations that own those stores. Alot of the money is taken  out of the community, although local businesses don’t do this.

The loss of money means that more will be needed to be earned in order to replace what was lost or taken out of the community and even more to increase value. The larger franchises earning money makes this part of town stay at one specific value rather than a preferable increase. It’s a one-sided chain through money. With this said, you can already visualize or at least think of the benefits of having more local businesses.

Local businesses are already residents so their money would stay in the the community. This also brings up social communication, then there are two benefits; the recycled money that would increase the money earned because not as much would leave and therefore increasing value upon this area. In a way, it’s as if rather than having a straight road towards the receiver, there’s a road that curves back to the supplier.

Overall, there are many reasons as to encourage and influence more local businesses. Common stores end of sending out the money to the corporation that owns them, leaving town value at a stalemate. While if there are more local businesses, a recyclage of the money will make the value that’s already owned will generally increase.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

VG

My freedom song

VG                                                                                                                         publish date: 11/17/13
GP
A1


     In one of my previous posts, Song of Cesar, I was instructed to make a poem dedicated to a freedom fighter of which I didn't know of and then research the one you chose (Cesar Chavez, see post for more details) and along with that, we were also to make a poem of ourselves, refering to any challenges including segregation that we have, or believe to be experiencing in our future.


                                                                 

 Stanzas of Freedom

I have been seperated before,

more than once, more than twice.

I have been seperated before,

I used to always be the new kid around.

I have been seperated before,

to be left out of the activities.

Soon it will change,

in the near future no one shall be left out.

Soon it will change,

as of now life is fine.

Soon it will change,

no violence shall be sought out.

Soon it will change,

where everyone is equal and everything is for everyone.

Freedom, rights, and equality,

virtures of life.

Freedom, rights, and equality,

is the goal of today.

Freedom, rights, and equality,

is law to the world.

In the near future,

all will rise, as one,

different but together.

82 movie reflectoin

82 Jerseys history

Song of Cesar

VG 11/6/13

     In one of my classes of global peace, we were assigned with chosing a freedom fighter out of a list or recommend our own that's one you don't know much about. I chose Cesar Chavez out of the list. After researching him I found out that he contributed to the fight against artificial grape growth, a chemical that would simulate the effects of modern day GMO (genetically modified organisms).

narrated here:

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119044790%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-WxT6s

Song of Cesar

I am the freedom fighter,

not on the street,

standing tall on my feet

The one who’s mightier,

with the pen and not the sword,

where happiness you can easily afford

Cesar Chavez is my name,

peaceful resolutions are my game

It’s not about the money

it’s not about the fame,

it’s about what’s right, good, & humane

Making wars sensible not one bit

boycotting is truly what should fit

Call me a pacifist,

but answers do not rely on our fists

Violence is not the way,

so leave your weapons down at bay

All we need to do,

to clean up this zoo,

because this world is for me & you!

MDG A3 poetry on endagered animals

Humans are populating the Earth by the billions, more than some species of insects, but today, some animals are dying off because of humans. In commomeration, I wrote this poem to show you the wrongs of hunting and overkilling some of these poor near extinct animals. This tale of the endangered species of which I address.

 Extinct Exihbit~VG 2013

Endangered and in Danger

Seven billion people today,

make all the leopards go away,

why is this true,

what can we do? 

Humans have everything

these animals have nothing,

poor, helpless, on the verge of extinction,

a plan should be in motion,
an animal that used to be,
we soon won't be able to see.
Less than 100 today,
what else is there to say?
Soon, like the dinosaurs,
an exhibit for the extinct,
in many museums,
that can really make you think;
"What if we could have saved them,
the pandas, rhinos, tigers and leopards?"
"Just what if?"

All these endangered animals put together is still less than any normal species population, at most 10,000 total, but there is an organization who helps and supports these animals, preserving them, and nursing them back to full health. WorldWildLife (here's their website worldwildlife.org) is an organization that's fairly large and funded to help all the endangered animals in the world. WWF accepts donations of even the smallest kind, so even you can help out and save these poor animals, with nothing holding you back.

information from- http://worldwildlife.org/species/directory?sort=extinction_status&direction=desc 

and also from- http://worldwildlife.org/species/amur-leopard 

original image- Extinct Exhibit~VG 2013

H2O A3 presentation

A2 H2O water filter

Vítor Garcia

Course: H2O

Action Project 2

Water Filter Reflection

For this second action project at GCE, we learned about the acidity/basic measure named pH. The measure pH stands for potential hydrogen, and pH can come up to a very basic, or alkaline, point of 14, all the way down to -25, 10^19 times more acidic than sulfur! After learning the drinkable level of water, which would be a neutral 6.5 to 8.5 (preferably 7), an assignment was given for us to build a water filter. Building a water filter was though work because materials were in many places besides the actual filter, but the result after made me proud to know I made one that works at a good efficient level.

There are different parts that all contribute to the filter itself, such as the different layers. The materials I used were cotton balls, to apply at the end of bottle so what’s inside (besides the water) wouldn’t come out, then inserting the sand after that because the finer the filter, the lower it should be. Then came fine gravel and afterwards, larger gravel. The water was collected from local source that came from natural occurrences/landmarks. Some of the water was gotten from a fountain that pumped water from Lake Michigan, and a rainwater birdbath right in my backyard. Potting soil was also added to the collected water to simulate dirt at a water bed or river floor.

The process was similar to what’s displayed above but was different in terms of placement of ingredients, sand was above the cotton ball, then fine gravel, and then the larger pieces of gravel up on top.The water itself was very cloudy and murky passed through my custom filter, you could see how much clearer it got. Before filtering, its pH level was between 5 or 6.  These numbers are low, considering that drinkable water, safe for human consumption, needs to fall between 6.5 and 8.5, with 1 being the most acidic and 10 being the most basic. After the filtration, the pH was between 6 and 7.  After adding activated charcoal, I measured pH level again, and it was 7, so the water became more basic after filtration.  A pH of 7 is neutral and also potable, one of the best measures of pH for water.

In conclusion, my water filter worked, well. A soda bottle cut in half with the ingredients mentioned above, and placed in the manner they were, can make an effective water filter.

Their main website; http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.com

Information cited from http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.com/how-to-make-a-water-filter.html

Image from, http://www.optaminerals.com/img-products/Coarse-Coal-Medium-Sand-Gravel-illustration.gif  

A2 MDG gender equality

VG
Course: MDG
October 2
To: Representative Larry Bucshon

Icelandic Jafnrétti
(Icelandic language for; Icelandic Equality)

Iceland has been the number one country for three years in a row for gender equality. With the U.S. in 22nd place, it can be easily said that the United States have much to learn from them. Iceland has been said ban strip clubs and pornography because of how demeaning it is to women. The wage gap between male and female has went from 82.4% to about 90% of similarity. This is a definite improvement considering how the United States has some jobs where women get only 20% as much as the men and generally only 75% as much as them too.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to fill out America's wage share. So
 in many parts of the U.S. women are paid 20% as much. or less, than the men.

Dear U.S. Representative Bucshon,


As the representative of Indiana, which neighbors Illinois of which I am sending this letter from, there are things here in the United States that have bothered me and one of those would be gender inequality. Iceland is the number country for gender equality and has been for 3 years in a row (this year, 2013, has not been recorded yet). Iceland has many laws and regulations that make me convinced that it is the best country for gender equality. For one, any demeaning or stereotypical media and content, like strip clubs and pornography, are strictly prohibited due to how biased it essentially is. Also, wages between genders in general jobs are very close to equal.

That percentage of similarity was 87% in 2003 and went up to about 90% in 2007. Iceland remained as the number one country for equality ever since 2009. So the United States has much to learn, especially considering that media views are expected in real life, how everything should be perfect. So in conclusion, the U.S. has to treat women equally in order to truly have a free country because despite how women have full rights over themselves, the public is being influenced that they actually only have one small purpose in life; reproduction.

Why is this broadcasted widely through all sorts of programs and channels in America? Something like this is just unfair and unequal to women, even more so when they’re paid less for their contributions of work. Someone should be changing this because inequality is still going on to this day (year 2013). All equal rights were “achieved” long ago and made official by the government, but inequality is still among us now.

Miss Representation reflection

Miss Representation

      Miss Representation is a movie that tells you the many facts of inequality in the world. Although a measurement that I thought I could relate to or also measure in a reasonable fashion was the statistic that said, “An average American teen spends up to 10 hours a week on the internet.” So what I’m doing is that I am going to prove this point, that regular teenagers use the internet for about ten hours or more. I recorded the data by simply asking my friends (outside of GCE too) an estimate how many hours they think they spend on the internet. So I collected the data at several places like my separate art school; Marwen, and through the internet as well as GCE. Although finding the time to ask them was challenging because I’ve been working hard on many different things. Even though finding the time was hard, the recording data was relatively easy considering how I already knew everyone I asked.

      While doing this I noticed a few things about this that taught me something new. For one, those who use the internet, use it for much longer than ten hours a week. Then there are the people who don’t use the internet that much, or at least, according to their own general opinion still use the internet for a fairly close amount of time as the averaged amount that the title, “Miss Representation” stated. Although after all that, I learned basically that even those who claim they don’t use the internet too much have used around 6 hours and then the ones who admit to their usage can go up to a summed up time of two days, or 48 hours. So by these measurements, I was indeed able to prove that an average American teenager uses about ten hours of the internet or more. So in conclusion, this statistic given from the documentary is proven to be a realistic measurable stat and has actually not varied my perspective about gender. The statistic was a general statement about both genders; male & female.

About me

Mini-Biography

I’m a Chicagoan with a Brazilian background. I myself wish to become a successful animator, making all sorts of different kinds of animation productions. Usually when I go out, I tend to observe my surroundings then imaging it in a different perspective, this helps me to think out a unique setting whenever I’m drawing. I also take interest in those basic teen wants and such. Whether it’s a social network or just gaming online. I’m just that basic teenager after the art.

-VG

A1 H2O water consumption

An infograph to help you see what I'm talking about (will open new window)

Comparing Water

Water usage: Me < U.S.

A comparison between me and an average US citizen shows that they use an equivalent to 148 gallons a day, while I use about 43 gallons a day. An average use for a person is more than 100 gallons than I use, meaning at least 1 million people use 148 gallons each day, that’s more than 54,020,000,000,000 (54 trillion) gallons of water consumed each year.

Water Rarity and Abundance

Just about 71% of Earth is covered in water but only 2.5% is clean enough to drink and some countries only have 3% of this already small 2.5%. Why is it that these people don't even have a donation of clean water regularly? Some other countries need to find and salvage their water, it's just wrong.