A Role-Playing Board Game Adventure

The second Action Project for Game Changers has arrived, and this one dives much further into game design. You see, earlier, this term, within the first two weeks we actually designed and prototyped our own board game

So imagine you're in a world that's filled with knights and dragons, but there's one dark lord who rules with an iron fist, terrorizing kingdoms with his monster army... Now imagine everything being set in the future, with multiple planets at stake and such. That is the game of Rizzuto, and in order to win this RPG Board Game, you must deliver the killing blow the the one and only boss, Rizzuto. Choose a class and travel across the board, leveling up, gathering items, and completing side quests, with twists that can change for better or worse by merely tossing a die. Have your fate change and experience something new every play through. Work together, or against one another, to put an end to Rizzuto's horrifying reign.

And here just below we have brief video that give and example of how it plays, live. Making this game was quite fun at first, but since there was a deadline, I found myself scrapping many concepts, and other such features. Honestly, in comparison to the final product I envisioned, this is comparable to an alpha build. However through play testing sessions, I will say that there were definitely aspects that were improved. An example would include the stats, as before, SR (strength) was based on numbers and enemy health, but that's a lot to keep track of for what's supposed to be a simplified role-playing oriented board game, so I changed it to a similar system that everything else is based on "every +5 points in this attribute increases it by a specific chunk/usage".

Despite the fact that I feel like I can develop this much more in the near future, this execution got the main functions across, having each space activate something different when you land on it, along with having the singular 6 sided die determine what happens next.

Fun Fiction

The first Action Project for a brand new term has arrived. Here, in the course named Game Changers, we've looked at all kind of games and their multiple aspects and functions. What kind of games? Tabletop games, like Scrabble, Uno, and in general, any game you may play on a "family night" of sorts. During this class, we've learned about what makes a game, whether it's how you win, how you move, how you stay relevant in the game, just about anything and everything you could think about from a design point of view. Some other things we learned revolved around skill vs probability, and which works best for what kind of game. A regular 6 sided die is called a d6 whilst other may be called a d4 or a d12. Sometimes, a game should only have strategy elements and other times, randomness adds to the fun. The project itself was to find a situation where we compare 2 titles and see which one is more optimal for a specific situation. Initially, as a (video) gamer, there are likenesses in all games that I am interested in, as all games have the desire to be fun. Some challenging aspects about this project include finding the right games that would suffice the situation, but luckily, I found an exact match for what I was thinking of.

My situation was a book club wanting to draw people in by showing them that reading can be fun, and what's more fun than a game? As it's a simple club, the ideal pricing would be set for lower budget and for an ambiguous amount of in simultaneous play. So the book club has a couple of options on how they can show others the fun of fiction and stories through a game that accommodates any amount of people for about 5 minutes per round of gameplay.

Between all the word and story based games out there, 2 came across as very fitting for this scenario. One game is the famous Mad Libs, and the other is the one and only Bring Your Own Book. This is a reference sheet in presentation format so you know what each game is all about, as well as my general thoughts about them.

Both of these word oriented games can attract all kinds of audiences, even if they don't read books as a hobby, or anything of the sort, often. It's rather self-explanatory, but Mad Libs is all about creating and making a story, and then to read such a narrative brings you the excitement that an author would get when reviewing their own works. And Bring Your Own Book shows off what these stories have. One is the process, the other is exposure.

Initially, Bring Your Own Book is far more appropriate for a book club considering that a book club would be about exposure to different stories so they may be discussed upon rather than an encouragement of writing your own stories. While Mad Libs may be a bit more fun to the non-reader, I'm sure the challenge of using someone else's book to find randomized phrases would bring further joy to the participants as it's an actual exercise of skill. That's why Bring Your Own Book would be the best low budget, quick, multiplayer for a book club looking for more members.

Intelligent Investments

The second and final Action Project for my Economics class, appropriate named as such, has us making a business plan. This includes setting at least 3 SMART goals for yourself, which span across different set time periods. A goal you can reach in a single year is one of them, which would be the easiest to access but you would have to put more effort in since you only have a dozen months to reach that goal. Some goal that may take 5 years is the next level. And the final goal would be a 25 year one, which can take the most and least money over time. The initial money we have for investments is $49,128.87 and with that we are to explain our reasoning for choosing these companies. For me, a great challenge was finalizing which companies to actually invest in considering that all of them have exponential growth, but they are already expensive, so you'd have to go with where you'll make the most money rather than just go with the most expensive stocks. For this, you'd have to analyze patterns that match your set times for your SMART goals. If a company always has exponential growth seeming every 5 years or so, then that's a good choice to have a medium term investment in. With that, I'll elaborate on my process, actual goals, and even my investment philosophy.

So I suppose to start things off, I actually will go on about my specific goals that correlate with those set time frames. My first goal is to achieve a stable job, so for the sake of simplicity, I'll say that I'll be spending $11,000 on transportation costs from gas money coming to and from that job per year. The 5 year goal would be to own a house or rather live in an apartment, only worrying about food and a heating bill, which will cost me about $22,000 per year. Then the long term 25 year goal will be to own a franchise of animated characters that stemmed from my comics, which will be extremely costly in comparison, ranging from $2 million to $4 million depending on how the television series is scheduled.

Now my philosophy for investing is to be efficient but to not put all your eggs in a single basket. Choice what brings the biggest results and the safest risk. Speaking of risks, an online test gave out a quick assessment for my tolerance of risk. This quiz have me a score of 22/47 which just barely puts me at a below average tolerance for risk, which makes sense considering how I can doubt my own actions if I'm not brimming with confidence in that choice, causing me to rethink my decisions.

Risk Tolerance Test

So what companies do I have confidence in?

Well my first thought that Procter & Gamble would be magnificent due to how gargantuan they are, as a goods manufacturing company that has a name brand in every household tool, from Tide laundry detergent, Gillette shaving blades, Old Spice deodorant, Crest toothpaste, and even Bounty paper towels; this conclusion came to me because of just how many large brand names they actually own. They're a great choice with an economic moat of, well monopolization really. A P/E ratio of 24.57, a dividend yield of 3.08%, they are truly set for growth. That's why I'll be investing in them throughout the years, all the way through a quarter of a century. Just by looking at their stock growth, it's like every decade where they severely drop, they come back quite a percentage more valuable, so this pattern is optimal for long term investments. What also helps is how much the company cares for their reputation, so initially, growth is almost guaranteed to ensue over time. With an ROI (return of interest) of 9% that will stack up over the years providing a greater growth than already anticipated, so I wouldn't need to focus too much on dumping all of my cash in purchasing their stocks.

P&G Stock

The other company I have great trust in is Disney. Their entertainment and recent leap in value leads me to believe all it takes is a series of movies that they clearly went out of their way to make good, and considering how production for long awaited films such as Incredibles 2 has already been announced, you can tell that the effort will be great in that film. Due to that, there will be a great rise in popularity, thus increasing the value of the company. Over shorter periods of time, Disney as always quickly risen up above any drop in share value they've come across. Their economic moat would be consisting of pulling in a dedicated crowd, and it's that loyalty that ensures their safety throughout their years. They have P/E ratio of 16.84 and a dividend yield of 1.51% with an ROI of 12.5% and with a higher percentage than P&G, I'd feel more confident doing short time investments with Disney.

Disney Stock

My initial plan is to invest in Disney for 5 years and overlapping said investments with Procter & Gamble for 25 years. Since Disney will be my investment for a much shorter amount of time, I'll focus more on them up until the 5 years are done.

So now I have to worry about now how much I'll invest for how long. That's when a time horizon comes in, which is basically just a plan for your future. Taking into account that the 25 year goal would definitely be the biggest focus for money. I found myself putting $4,020.87 in for the first year, splitting it so a quarter of that goes to PG while the other 75% goes to DIS, which means that I can buy 32 shares of DIS stock and 11 shares of PG stock.

Combining their ROIs with what percentage of the money I dedicate to those stocks, then adding those 2 answers together, gives me the total ROI from both companies. Since that percentage is adding on the original number, you'll see that when the percentage is converted to a decimal, I added 1 or a 100% because that's how much money I already put in, so with the percentage increase, that (when multiplied with the initial input money itself: about $4,020) will give me my total earnings increase based on ROI alone.

We repeat this process for the 5 year investment plan, but I thought since this is when I'll stop investing in DIS, I'd put more a little more money into it. So now I'm putting 80% of this $15,035.88 into DIS and the other fifth to PG. With 128 shares from DIS, 34 shares from PG, and a total ROI of 11.8 percent, we bring that to the power of 5 because of the five years going us a 74.7% increase. This ultimate total becomes 1.747 multiplied by the investment amount ($15,035.88) becomes $26,267.68.

And finally, for the rest of those year, tallying up to the 25 year goal, I have fun 100% investments to PG with $30,072.12 (which buys me 346 shares) on an ROI of 9% for that quarter century. In other words, 30072.12 [1x((9÷100))]^25 which amounts to $259,311!

The Math

If you ask me, these 2 companies simply have the most beneficial patterns based on growth in the past for what I'm looking for. DIS works all throughout mass media entertainment, while PG works in the fields of every home item necessary for basic life, everything from diapers to vapor rub. The diversity Choosing these 2 will give me an advantage as the only things left out of the equation are food and educational programs as well. But there are some assumptions made when calculating all of this. These include assuming the value of these companies will follow a set pattern, and that Disney only have success in some form from their future films.

Sources:

- CSI Market, Procter & Gamble Co's ROI per Quarter, Accessed: Oct. 2016, http://csimarket.com/stocks/PG-Return-on-Investment-ROI.html

- CSI Market, Walt Disney Co's ROI per Quarter, Accessed Oct. 2016, http://csimarket.com/stocks/DIS-Return-on-Investment-ROI.html

- Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money

- Procter & Gamble, Investors| P&G, Accessed Oct. 2016, http://www.pginvestor.com

The Power of a Smile

The second Action Project for my Journalism class has come around the corner, and it's requiring us to create our own podcast like recording, ranging from 3-5 minutes in length. Initially, we choice an iconic voice from the 1900s (the 20th century) and expand upon certain ideas of why we think they're so popular. My decision was to show just how influential Robin Williams can be, and his rise to fame as well as moments in fame were most prevalent in the 20th Century. However it was difficulty isolating which audio clips would be most effective, since he works very well with visuals alongside his acting, but initially, I'm proud of the outcome of this little podcast. You can have a listen for yourself, and just underneath the SoundCloud is its transcript. Thanks for reading!

Transcript

[Robin Willaims as Genie from Aladdin] [VG] [Robin Williams narrating a commercial for Apple’s iPad Air] [VG] [Williams] [(Zelda) Willaims] [Robin] [Zelda] [Robin] [Zelda] [Robin] [VG] [RD narrating] THE END

•So tell me, when your life passed in front of your eyes, did you go “I’m not that interesting”?... I would’ve done mouth to mouth but I don’t find you that attractive. -I bet that made you laugh a little bit, didn’t it? And if you were angry at something before, you’re probably not as mad now, right? That’s the power of a smile. *sentimental music kicks in* -See, the thing is, a smile works wonders. Especially when you make someone smile. Robin Williams was a person who knew that well; he tried so hard to spread joy because he understood what miseries could come to an individual when they’re down and really felt like they just got hit hard. He actually dealt with many problems himself, so he knows from experience the kind of suffereing one can go through. His passion for only being an entertainer goes so far as turning down most opprotuinties to advertise something. As a matter of fact, when Disney used his voice to sell Aladdin merchandise, he was furious, stating, “I don’t want to sell stuff. It’s the one thing I won’t do.” And as an apology, Disney sent him a Picasso painting estimated to be around $1 million. Yet ironically, he has participated in 3 advertisements, one for the Apple iPad Air, where he goes on about unity, clearly spreading a well intented message, and here’s part of it. He never advertised something if he didn’t believe in the positivity or potential for a product. *music fades* •We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. -And the only other 2 times, in a more relatable situation, he advertised his absolutely favorite video game series on 2 occasions alongside his daughter, who he has named after the series. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure had a special deal online and the commercial featured a multiplayer session featuring Willaims and his daughter, should he loose, he shaves the beard, which was sold as unexpected based on Zelda Willaims’ reaction. The next heartwarming advertisement boasts of the games ingenuity, but rather it refers to any hardships and challenges as a personal experience that Robin goes through for his very own royal destiny. •The first time I saw you, I knew we’d be Linked forever. For you I’d travel to the four corners of the world, I faced adversity. I became a hero. °Dad. •I even saved your kingdom-- °Dad. •Yes, Zelda? °Are you mixing me up with The Princess again?... •...Hard to say, you’re both pretty magical. *a slow calming piano tune is played* -Robin always wanted to make people laugh, and feel good. And for the most part, his roles in movies exemplified that, like in Patch Adams, or Mrs. Doubtfire. Willaims truly was an entertainer, whether it was utilizing stand up comedy or merely improvising in the recording studios or on set. *the piano fades* -And Robin wasn’t just loved by his audience, but the people he worked with too. His power to make people smile brings energy to any set he comes to, and many praise his uplifting nature that invites all to be at least a friend to him. But even so, you didn’t need to be right next to him for him to have an impact on your life… This story is one of a simple viewer’s, whose life was essentially saved by Robin’s impressively hilarious antics found. This is Suzanne’s story. ∆Growing up as an only child, in a very poor and severely abusive household –in the 70s and 80s– the only laughter and joy I experienced was when I was allowed to escape by watching my favorite television show: Mork & Mindy. I was particularly captivated and mesmorized by the then young actor potraying Mork, Robin Willaims. Whenever I watched his on-screen antics, I was able to forget my pain and fear and escape into each 30-minute comedic journey. Afterwards, I would gaze outside my bedroom window, wishing and hoping aliens really exsisted and ould some day whisk my away from my painful and lonely existence. I continued to seek solace, strength, and laughter through his numerous roles in what I consider to be the best feel-good movies of all time. Through his comedy, Robin taught me how to laugh and smile, chasing away the hurt, hopelessness, and helplessness I felt every day. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was saved by this comedic genius, and his death has left me feeling as if I lost my own chlidhood therapist and hero. Thank you Robin Williams, for being so instrumental and helping me to grow into the strong happy and sucessful woman I am today, and for bringing so much joy and laughter to the world. There will never be another, rest in peace, o’ captain, my captain. -A smile has a lot of power, and Robin Willaims was one of the many sources in the world. But he was the only few who wanted others to smile more than him. His passing is unfortunate, but a legend lives on in all of our hearts.

Citations: Music use • First track, "Wind Waker - Title Theme", Koji Kondo, Nintendo, 2002-2003 • Second track, "Ocarina of Time - Title Theme", Koji Kondo, Nintendo, 1998

Photojournalism

This new Senior year in GCE Lab School also means that of course the students experience new courses. This Journalism course is self-explanatory, as it revolves around journalism (the act of bringing news to the people through media of some sort). That being said, our first Action Project in this class revolved around writing out about 1000 words going off an interview with someone about the meaning of life, which is complimented by an image of them. Initially, the project gave me a bit of difficulties when coming up with questions, because I know that if I was asked one question, I would just go on and on explain as many points as I could, rather than allow for a question to ask for details. Of course I did manage to overcome this and provide you all with an article I wrote out here showing you what one my colleague's thoughts on what the meaning of life is. I hope you enjoy!

What is life? Or more specifically, what is the meaning of life? That’s quite the question, isn’t it? We can infer this in a multitude of ways; what is our purpose in life? Well that’s the question I asked to my good friends and cohort NVA. And after some time, and a lot of thought, he managed to think about an answer that satisfied him. So after taking an image inside of GCE, we went off to enjoy lunch at a nearby Mariano's. That’s where we conversed.

The way he went on about it was unique, the opposite of those who have existential crises. As my fellow senior classmate, our conversation was quite casual and relaxed. That is why I shall paraphrase much of it, but of I won’t distract from the main meaning of his sentences. He’s an only child who was actually adopted from Bulgaria, which is partially why I wanted to interview him specifically. Growing up –and still young– he’s had a much more unique experience than most others I know. His outlook on life would vastly differ from mine, for sure.

NVA's Cam Time, VG, 2016

The image (just above) as you can see is a picture of him fiddling with that there camera, which I found ironic considering the photojournalism taking place soon after. The image aligns with his affiliation to possibly work in either film or create street art (something that can only really be captured by a camera). The image itself was adjusted with the camera on my phone (the Galaxy J7) with a higher aperture (duration of the shutter staying open) so the image would appear brighter with less shadows. Having a clear picture that displays my interviewee as if they were simply standing there really brings out the more down to Earth thought process that doesn’t overcomplicate things, yet still deeply contemplates solutions and paths for the future. I didn’t ask him to pose or anything; he actually didn’t notice me taking a picture in the moment, and for me, that’s far better than staging or posing for a picture. To be yourself when a picture is taken of you is to be natural, organic even.

So that was the first question I asked. “What is the meaning of life?” and in a swift response, he answers, “Well, I think it’s to capture the good moments and enjoy it while it lasts.”

To me this was a more unexpected response considering his initial personality. I would’ve expected a more unsure reply, so I asked him to elaborate; he explains that “life is limited, so you have to at least enjoy yourself as you go on through it. It would be pointless to make yourself feel bad, so in a way, everyone’s purpose is to make themselves feel good. That’s basically the meaning of life.”

This response incidentally went great with the image I took before the interview, as he’s holding a camera, which can easily represent that photographers (and with him desiring to go into the film industry) capture and immortalize the best of moments in life. The main idea I got from that one answer is that you only have one life, so don’t worry and don’t waste it; make the most of what you have.

As the inquisition continued, I asked him whether or not that’s been his constant definition of life, as in whether or not it has changed over time. His initial reply went along the lines of “Well I guess before I used to think think it was much simpler, just don’t do bad stuff, like hurt anyone or lie. It sort of did evolve I guess.” The commotion at Mariano's provided a relaxed atmosphere as we ate lunch. I continued with a couple more questions, next asking “Well, how do you find purpose in life?” & this one proved a bit more difficult to answer. He addressed the question as being a bit redundant, but went on with answering claiming that “A purpose is never really defined, it’s only what your goals are aimed to be.” By this, I understood that he was claiming that purpose is an individualistic motivation that varies upon people. For example, someone’s purpose in life could be to eat the great food from the hot bar, or perhaps even to care for someone endearing.

Asking next about his beliefs, I asked if he found all life to be equal, and he swiftly gave and answer, stating that a life must be tainted in order to lose value. Next I asked of his morals, or more specifically, whether or not they’ve changed; as he thought, he soon replied saying that the only things that have really changed are his ideals about honesty, since the world can benefit from a small white lie every now and again. I followed up with asking if there was anyone in particular that influenced him –in other words, who/what would have been the thing to change said morals– and his response merely denied this possibility, stating that nobody specifically changed him, his mind merely evolved as he grew.

The next question I asked was “How have you solidified a purpose in your life; when was it that you came to an epiphany of such?” And so he went “I honestly grew over time, there was maybe a certain day or 2 where I realized that life wasn’t so simple and easy, but it was a very long process. I didn’t really see too much of my potential until I thought about entertaining others, which is why I’m doing my art with graffiti and potentially diving into film studies. I kind of just looked at what I was good at and said that it would be a great thing to focus on for my future.”

As the time for lunch came closer to ending, I prepared my last 2 questions for some exercise, as we started to walk back to the school. One of said questions asked about how he came up with that initial view of life, not necessarily the process, but the moments that helped him realize it. The reply was once again something more indirect, saying that not a singular thing was noteworthy enough to consider it commendable for influencing him. I actually can admire that about his outlook on life, because I always prefer to look at things from a neutral perspective myself, and for him to essentially say that life simple moves and you learn as you stride forward says, to me, that he doesn’t exaggerate or see only a black and white side to every situation, but that’s merely my interpretation.

True Cost Of College

So rolling into my Senior year of high school, here at GCE Lab School, one of my first projects to complete is one that revolves around my future. The assignment was to create a slideshow that depicts your future decisions for a career and college, displaying how much of your salary would be dedicated to paying off your tuition, etc. For me, the biggest challenge in making this was trying to find solid information I could base this off of, because as an artist, your job earnings are completely unstable and interchangeable... However the actual productivity of doing this Action Project was very useful as a reference for the near future. Attending my first college of choice would leave me poverty stricken for the next 18 years, but if you want to know more about that, there's a 60 second SoundCloud recording followed by a detailed slideshow just below. I hope you enjoy.

A Public Service

So in the 2016 Summer, I participated in a great number of service hours for the high school I attend, GCE. During the school year, I assisted The Menomonee: Boys and Girls Club with similar tasks, and considering how they hosted many classes for us here at GCE, this was just one way to help pay them back. So anything from cleaning up something outside, to attending the front desk; I did a total of 80 3/4 hours, and honestly, I learned a lot about commitment and dedication. Before doing the hours, I generally assumed that the work wasn't even preparatory for a real life job/career experiences. Any work I've done before felt almost more like another assignment, even if it wasn't tedious. But doing these hours at GCE and Menomenee, I actually felt like I was impacting a community.

Working in these facilities that have assisted me and impacted me in a great way gave me a sense of assisting the community, even when it was as simple as watering the plants in the garden, it allowed me to acknowledge that I've impacted the community that has taught me so much, which definitely allows much more appreciation for said communities. And that's a pretty valuable lesson if you ask me.

Renovating Chicago (Logan Square)

The final Action project has arrived for the Urban Planning class, a mix of architectural studies, city design, science, and math. In this unit, we studied more about the efficiency and quality of urban panning as a whole. Featuring TedTalks of speakers such as James Kunstler and Ellen Dunham-Jones expressing their feelings on today's urban planning. Some activities involved actively considering how to improve the immediate area around us such as widening roads, or expanding sidewalks, creating bike lanes, and even try improving the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Now the actual Action Project had us redesign an area of our choosing. What I decided upon was a small block in the NorthWest corner of Logan Square in Chicago. Just below you can not only see what I made out Tinkercad, but my whole process of redesigning the block at Diversey & Pulaski.

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Google Maps Edit, VG, 2016

So upon deciding an area, I've heard from many people that Logan Square lacks much greenery and plants in a multitude of locations. Based on my inspiration from Majora Carter, who I agree with the importance of having more greenery around anywhere really, but of course an obvious focus on cities, I decided to include some more environmentally aware decisions whilst redesigning the block. Originally, my intention was to modify an entire few miles where the tracks run down, but that was clearly too much for a single person to handle in such limited time, so shrinking the area, that I worked on, I chose a space with 2 empty lots that are clearly not in use anymore, as they're rundown unorganized parking lots that are rarely used. Considering this, I looking around the surrounding area of this space and noticed there was already a park and a food market, so it would be pointless to add another one of those as they're already present. I thought to myself, what could any of this be used for? Then after inspecting the area more and more, I figured that there was no activity center nor clothe store within near proximity. That's what I decided to add, for the sake of the community that lives there.

Revamped Logan Square, VG, 2016

As you can see just here, this is the plan I had, include 5 additions or alterations as Carter's "greening up" concept stuck with me, so I decided to reorganize the residential parking lot so not only that it's more organized, but also so that it can be used by the neighboring business employees. What was added was a concrete block in the middle featuring trees and bushes to separate the parking lot and give it a sense of organization. Another thing that was added just added shrubbery around emptier parts (which are most likely taken up by concrete, which can be broken to get to the dirt for planting purposes) just because it never hurts to add some trees or bushes in an area that seems so barren in comparison to its surroundings. So with a remodeled parking lot, and added greenery, I manage to think of one last thing to assist Majora Carter with her ideals of greening up the ghetto, and that was added a solar panel to the roof of the business building that wasn't too busy.

Volumes, VG, 2016

Now, modifications aside, what about the two new spaces? Well the Fitness Center is a simple cylindrical building with a height of 45 meters, and a diameter of 30 meters. Now to find the volume of a cylinder, we simply find the area of the circle base, and multiply that by the height. So 3.14 (pi or π) x  15^2 (radius squared) = the area of the base, so we multiply that by the height to find the volume, which is 31,792.5 meters cubed. Then of course the volume of the clothing store, which is incidentally a half-cylinder, which had a practically identical formula to finding the volume of a cylinder, except it's only utilizing half the area of the circle, as it is just that. So we'd have 1/2 (or 0.5) x {27^2 (radius squared) x 3.14 (pi or π)} x 35 which amounts to 40,058.55 meters cubed for its volume. Now obviously, the purpose of each building is as the name suggests, as the clothing store would either be a large brand or even just a locally run business, as long as there's a place that distributes clothes as there's nothing of the sort nearby in this area. Then of course the fitness center is, simply put, a gym. Given that these area both right next to a bus stop, that shows that transportation is no problem, and access in general will be great for the residents who live nearby. Speaking on that concept of transportation, there's another  concept that was reviewed in class known as "T.H.I.S." which stands for Transportation, Housing, Infrastructure, and Services. So in that aspect, transportation has easy access to these 2 services which also makes nearby housing more desirable, so that's how my project relates to that concept known throughout urban planning. So to review, now instead of having a desolate slab of concrete with minimal usage, we have brimming opportunities for communities with more environmentally friendly energy sources, and simply housing that's now wanted more. A nearby Aldi and park make this area great to go to or live in!

Supreme Court and Public Commercial/Media

So the Final Action Project for the course Policy has had us analyze a supreme court case. We summarize it and then speak out mind on the subject and outcome. The unit itself was focused around, as you probably guessed, the Judicial branch of the government. We learned variety of facts about the judicial branch, such as how it works and how it exercises power. Initially, the project seemed easy as it we could have chosen any Supreme Court case, however I did want to chose one that had some relevance to it's time, which is why this 1942 case about public commercial distribution during a time of World War II strikes my fancy. It was challenging to gather up as much info as possible, but with that, I hope you enjoy the presentation below.

The Study of Spanish

So this final term of my Junior year at GCE actually had me (or rather, I chose) a Spanish class. Throughout the term, we learned a multitude of verbs and how certain words change based on pronouns. Certain challenges for me definitely revolved around how I speak, as my slight accent gives me a rough time with thick "R" sounds, so of course, there were some words the were just plain hard to say. Another thing that, without a doubt got me mixed up, is the fact that I've studied Italian before also here at GCE. Add that with my basic Portuguese knowledge (since my parents are Brazilian), and I had a jumble of different words butting heads as all three of those Latin based languages have many similarities. The Action Project for the class though had us create some sort of writing essay with a visual, and 20 sentences of Spanish, so trying my best and using past notes, I decided to choose a topic on Spanglish since that was already something studied during class, and it's more common than you think in poetry. Just below you can see the product, and I hope you enjoy!

Was the Bay of Pigs Invasion Justified?

Hello everyone once again, with another Action Project for the class called Policy. In the second project for this history and literature course, we've been tasked to refer to a war/conflict that the US has participated in and then broadcast our stand on whether or not we believe it was justified or not. The second unit itself revolved around the Executive branch of the government and how certain policies affected wars that the US may or may not have justly participated in. It was a challenge to single out a single conflict as the topic of war is very negative from my standpoint, but to only look at one side is without a doubt singling out a lot I can truly criticize. Anyway, without further ado, just below the picture you will find a written essay of my views regarding the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which happened in Cuba.

JFK picture; presidential library museum, 1962

1961, Cuba. 1500 exiles opposed the infamous Fidel Castro with an invasion that was supported via financial support from the U.S. government. However it was a few years before the incident occurred that is truly noteworthy, as Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista's reign of dictatorship. As of that start of 1959, relations between Cuba and the United States began to become a trifling matter. With Castro in charge, he claimed as much private property as possible, and much of that territory was owned by North American interests. Castro provided many hostile comments and claims such as the U.S. attempting to sabotage the newly establish government and time went on. It was a conflict from the start. President, serving the term of 1956-1960, Dwight Eisenhower was allowed to commit acts of retaliation as legislation passed such laws as of June in 1960. As America was cutting off purchases of sugar, soon following up with an embargo, only allowing the export of food and medicine to Cuban soil. As of January 1961, one of Eisenhower's final acts was to cut diplomatic ties with Cuba. There was great hostility between the 2 countries.

However every since May 1960, a great invasion was planned by the United State's CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and heavily debated with newly appointed president (at the time) John F. Kennedy. Eventually, succumbing to the proposition, the plan to invade was finally approved. 3 US-made airplanes bombed Cuban air bases, and then soon after, only a couple days, several Cubans trained by the US landed upon the "Bay of Pigs" on Cuba's South-Central coast. This series of events, albeit something Kennedy initially wished to condone against, forced him to issue out an "air-umbrella" as a plan of attack as Castro reacted with over 20,000 troops heading towards the beach, greatly overshadowing the 1100 men ordered out by the CIA's plans. Probably due to an altered time zone, the air umbrella attack plan arrives an hour late and is shot down... There were many prisoners, and plenty of casualties too.

The policy allowing the Invasion to happen was quite the large risk on Kennedy's part. With the CIA organizing such a hostile plan early on only made the act all the more questionable. However Castro was ready as his aggressive behavior did intimidate the United States, more specifically Eisenhower. This conflict really branched through 2 presidents, and Kennedy was truly thrown into the middle of things. Initially, I'd still personally say that for the size it grew into, the Bay of Pigs Invasion was far from justified. The United States went through a lot during that time, and Eisenhower essentially was making a new enemy hastily. JFK really seemed to have limited options, either wait for Castro's assault, or do what he can to prevent that by attacking first. The CIA's plan was disputed against several times, but Kennedy final saw no other option. If he were to be here today, there's no doubt that he too would say the conflict was unjustified. Now that's not to say Castro did nothing wrong, as confiscating the land was provoking a response from North America since it was privately owned as their's. Consequences of the Bay of Pigs Invasion resulted in hundreds of casualties, and the long term consequence was increased support for Castro, allowing him to continue what the CIA wished to stop.

Overall, the Bay of Pigs Invasion did not seem righteous in the slightest as the first issue was the seizing of already owned territory. Embargo and trade restrictions were made in response to Castro's actions, yet the escalation to violence the CIA decided upon was concerning even to Kennedy. It's possible that even Eisenhower had no clue of the CIA's intent. Honestly, it's even debatable as to whether or not the conception of such a plan was even legal for the CIA to create. The act of Castro taking land he didn't may have provoked the US, however regarding that issue, Eisenhower had an embargo set in place, so at that moment, it was still being taken care of. The act of violence was simply an escalation that did not seem to benefit the Untied States as much as it should have. It was as if America only had a hunch because there was known and obvious tension.

Citations:

• Bay of Pigs invasion, Encyclopedia Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, NA
• The Bay of Pigs, JFK Library, NA
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion, History Today, Micheal Dunne, NA
• Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Foreign Policy Journal, Karthik Gopalan, 2010

Electrifying Efficiency

The second Action Project arose for the class Urban Planning, and so after designing a bridge, we're going to revolutionize the electrical grid! Well... At least make a circuit. After studying current, voltage, ohms (resistance), types of circuits, and switches along with a multitude of other terminology and circuit design, our Action Project was to create a function parallel circuit (one where if one thing stops working, the electrons still have a path to flow through), featuring at least 5 resistors (light bulbs, motors, etc. Something that takes some electricity but allows some of it to flow), and 2 switches (one controlling everything, and the other cutting off only a single function). Initially, some challenges including creating a circuit that actually had flow to all resistors. Some circuit designs cut off flow from branches as there's not enough demand for the electrons to pass, thus taking the shorter path of wires instead. Overall, this challenge was overcome with the help of my partner in this project, where you can see her slideshow on the same build here. Without further ado, you may check out the full presentation just below.

Letter To The City

The first Action Project for the Policy class, a history and social studies styled class, has us creating a letter towards a governmental official that has jurisdiction over an improvement that we wished to see. This could be regarding the city, the nation, perhaps certain regulations you've questioned, maybe specific laws, or even how these changes would be handled. Initially, I found it to be quite difficult to even think of something I would want to change, as I always believed that the way things are currently are most likely the best, or else they would have been changed already. However when it came down to it, an FE (Field Experience; a purposeful "field trip" so to say) we went to earlier this Unit to Chicago's City Hall –to attend a meeting between the Aldermen and the Mayor (the president of the City Council) to discuss issues that have come up around/in the city– inspired me to write about the improvement of the way the City Council does things, as the meeting had several things that simple seemed inefficient, although our class did only attended the first hour of it. So without further ado, you can see the letter just below, which discusses how addressing issues during the City Council meetings can be improved.
____________________________________________________________________________

Vítor Garcia
GCE Lab School
1535 N. Dayton
Chicago, IL

April 30, 2016

Mayor Rahm Emmanuel
121 N LaSelle Street
Chicago City Hall 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602

Dear Mayor Emmanuel,

I'm sure you have a handful with all of the city's issues that require refinement or fixing, however I feel that you might be missing out on an efficient way to deal with the lot of them. See, during a visit to a City Council meeting in early April, I noticed that within the one hour stay, many issues seemed to be gleamed over or not referred to. More importantly, there was a lack of more than a few Aldermen, including my own, Ameya Pawar. Now of course, there's only so much time in a day and this was indeed the first visit, and so far the only one I've had but it just seemed lacking in the response towards a plethora of the issues brought up. On the first note, before I mention the main points of organization during the meetings, I want to point out that based on citizen word, many of Chicago's problems here are hardly being attended to, and when there are Aldermen that don't even attend to the meetings, it makes me wonder just how much can even be known of in the long run. One would assume that the meetings are mandatory, with little room for excuse or exception, but how can we say that the time spent during these meetings are even optimized with the officials that do show up?

There was some informal, irrelevant joke when one of the representatives claimed that your two daughters were interesting to his two sons... Now of course, comedy and light hearted tones are actually quite lovely in a majority of situations, but during a crucial meeting where Chicago's many problems are meant to be taken note of and fixed, is it worth having notes such as these take up the limited time? Granted that it's not impossible to for something of the sort to happen, the rest of the meeting is the main reason why I bring that detail up. When we speak of ones who have passed and who shall be appointed to replace them, it's understood that certain things need to be said, however perhaps such words of appreciation should be stated during an event that's centered around the person who has unfortunately died. It may sound cold for me to say that there should be no dawdling with things that could easily be brought up during a funeral, but seeing as how Chicago is one of the top cities in terms of gun violence, and that Illinois is in a budget crisis, doesn't seem more appropriate to tackle a solution to as many problems as possible?

When it was addressed that a couple police officers withheld someone's inhaler, and did not give it under any circumstance, despite the detainee suffering from it in the moment, that was a prime example to open a debate as of how to improve the issue and claims of police brutality. Look at the problem as objectively as possible, and find a way to fix it. When emotions or opinions are involved, that influences extreme reactions or acts to solve the issue, and one would assume that you clearly wouldn't want to create a problem whilst in the process of solving one. However during this topic, far too much time was consumed to keep restating what happened via different viewpoints. Of course it's impossible not to state both sides when viewing the topic objectively, but by the time everything was said and done, it was only stated that there will be a new person to fill in position of commissioner, rather than provide options and describe any clear improvements. That would be like having a new president and he never made a statement. Hopefully you may understand the point, while the inductive reasoning is that most cases show a plethora of police brutality, therefore the entire force must overuse violence, but of course that's not the case. However to ensure the people's confidence in your actions, the least you could do it say what exactly it is that you'll be doing as a simple reappointment that lacks descriptions is far to vague for anyone to understand what your aims are.

I do hope that rather than seeing this all as nitpicks, you view this as a suggestion to be more descriptive, and hold these meetings for efficient problem solving and make it known to the public that you, the Mayor of this city that needs improvement, are doing everything you can to solve as many problems as quickly as possible. The civilians lack confidence in your actions, and as a young mind that only hears the backlash from those who face these issues every day, I feel that there is a need, not to scold you, but to tell you that judging from my only experience in regards to your decisions, you've have lackluster appeal and action, which doesn't help anyone in this great City of Chicago. Gun control, police brutality, quality of education, roads, and taxes, it could all be improved given the current circumstance, and once you gain momentum traveling up the slope, you should be on a roll until you're at the top. Thank you, should it be the case, for taking the time to read through this letter, and I hope to see some more efficient work within future meetings.

Please do consider all of your options before giving up, because there's no doubt in my mind that simply speaking out to the public will help you help them, featuring a collaboration between citizens and government officials.

Sincerely,

Vítor Garcia

Bridging the Gap

The final term for GCE has come, spring term, the final quarter. Learning all about trigonometry such as the law of sines, cosines, and even going in depth about architecture and city design, that's only the first unit of my math and science class Urban Planning. The Action Project was to design a bridge that would hold at least 10 pounds using nothing but 50 popsicle sticks and of course Elmer's common glue (although everybody borrowed generous NVA's superglue that wasn't abused, but assisted with the initial sticking of joints, remember, it's still just popsicle sticks) . Paired up with partners, there were actually few challenges with me and diligent worker MF and she most likely shares the pride of having the lightest bridge that held 10 pounds as well as supporting the most weight, well over 30 entire pounds, with nothing but popsicle sticks as our material. Just below you can find the slideshow presentation, and I hope you enjoy!

Time Has Never Sounded So Good

The Final Action Project of our Light, Sound, & Time course, focusing on both math and science has us utilizing our knowledge on the 3rd and final unit, Time, to make something you probably have in your pocket right now. A way to tell time. Now to specify, the project was to create a unique way or improve upon an already existent time telling device, but mainly an entire item dedicating to telling time, as opposed to an app with the most accurate time or something. In the unit itself, we actually studied that based on how fast you go in relation to the speed of light (approximately 300 million meters per second), time may actually flow slower for you, and this happens with gravity too. Gravity's effect on you body affects how time gets to you as well, because if you're higher up in, let's say the mountains, then you'll live longer than your clone (assuming the actual lifespan is the same) who could be living at sea level. Time genuinely has altered effects based on speed and gravity, as if there were 2 watches (which include a date for accuracy) ticking at the exact same time and pace, if one was traveling at 90% the speed of light, and the other one was stationary, then the one that's moving would be at a time beforehand, something in the past as opposed to the one that didn't move which as a much farther time. There will be a time gap. Of course, the actual amount is varied based on how long the watch was moving for, but there is a true difference, an actual time gap sole because of motion and/or relation to gravity. Now just down below, you can see what I thought of to tell time, and I'm proud of it's (possible) universal appeal, as it can be anything you want. It was difficult to think of how it would work exactly, but look just a little further below and you can figure out exactly how it works, plus what exactly it is!

General Concept In-Depth: Have you ever thought of a timer that would speed up music the closer it is to finishing, or maybe even one that literally speaks to you, saying something like "almost there" as it progress back down to that zero mark? Well with the Custom Audio Timer, also known as the CAT Clock, you can set up different markers for your timer to update you on. If you ever need to know when the half way point of something is, then the CAT Clock is for you. If you've ever wanted to put your favorite movie quote to tell you that your cake is done baking, then the CAT Clock is for you. But where exactly did the CAT Clock come from?

Well some of the earliest forms of time telling devices come in a glass, an hourglass to be precise. More than millennium and a half later, humans managed to make mechanical clocks, which either used clock work or pendulums, the latter being the earlier form of these conventional inventions. Digital clocks and timers followed by the 19th century, almost 200 years after the first official clock that we would know today. Digital timers are now so common, you've got 2 if not more of them in your own home. Fascinations aside, timers are a crucial part of organizing yourself. If it wasn't for timers, then I wouldn't know how long I would be making this video. Most people only consider the forwards flow of time, but when you're counting down to something, then it's much easier to keep track of as you're independently separating what you're doing from regional timezones or global affiliations with time.

Now what does the CAT Clock bring to offer that your standard clocks and timers probably don't have? Custom audio. Using a special app or possibly a bluetooth set up, maybe even USB, (this is only a conceptual product after all) you can program specific audio to play based on what percentage of time you have left on the clock. The clock itself is a circle shape, with a diameter of 3 inches. That means that the circumference is π times that diameter, which is approximately 9.42 inches squared. There's a panel in the back where you can set up how long you want the timer to go on for, whether it be 15 minutes, hours, or maybe you just want to hear how it works and put seconds. Whatever time you want, you can set it up with the digital panel in the back. If you also what the clock mode to speak out each day to you, you can record your own voice or set up a synthetic voice to speak out to you each day a regular alarm for you to wake is set. Speaking on that note, I found it interesting to figure out through research that "Sunday is, obviously named after the Sun and Monday is named after the Moon. Saturday is named after Saturn. The other days of the week are named after Germanic gods. Tuesday is named after Tiw the god of war. Wednesday is named after Woden the chief god. Thursday is named after Thor the god of thunder and Friday is named after the goddess Frig." according to Tim Lambert in his article of "A History of Clocks" on the Local Histories organization website. But while that's interesting, how does the main feature add to your general life convenience.

What extra benefits do you have with an incrementally notifying timer? Well for cooking, you may need to check things when they're about halfway done cooking or boiling, but way think about when you can precisely know halfway. Other benefits could be during a presentation, as the timer also vibrates, so if you have a portable version of it and set it up to vibrate as each third of the total time passes by, you can easily pace yourself as to how quick you may need to speak. All in all, this timer is supposed to feel personal. It is customizable after all, and with several settings on how it interacts with you via sound based on remaining time, it's supposed to be the best clock you ever got. Not to mention that the CAT Clock does indeed have an actual clock mode, as the name suggests, telling official time based on manual configuration. There's no downside to a personalized watch!

Sources (MLA Citations): Wikipedia contributors. "History of timekeeping devices." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Local Histories, Tim Lambert, "A Brief History of Clocks and Calendars", 2012

School is Long, But Should it be Longer?

The final Action Project for the history and language course, Argument, has risen. This course we've learned about the Civil Rights Movement Act in 1964, and also how certain forms of discrimination are evidently present today, despite our country's (United States) government's best effort to prevent it from happening. Countless cases of abuse and brutality from our own law enforcers, this is why we study the Civil Rights, to see if everyone actually has them, but I digress. The Action Project this time was merely to have a synthesis of both sides for an argument, any argument actually. As long as both points of view of the topic are considered, there's no limit to what this project can focus on. I myself chose school schedules. Many people already consider school days to be long enough as is, especially with the homework, but what if they were longer?

Reformatting School

Thesis

If school days were slightly longer, and the school year was longer too, then that would provide more time for proper teachings, and less homework. I see it as a more effective method for schools as homework is often times what overwhelms some students, resulting in less sleep each night they stay up trying to complete all the assignments. That, in turn, causes a chain effect of less efficient work, because of having less sleep. If the school day was slightly longer, there would be less homework assigned, and while there may be more time spent in school, the ratio of work done is school is suppose to alleviate a good amount of homework from the students.

Where's the Support?

- "A longer school day would allow schools to spend more time on art, music, social studies, science and physical education. These subjects have been cut back through the years to focus on English and math in the hopes of boosting test scores. Yet test scores have remained stagnant, and students have missed out on a more well-rounded education." -Barbara Bean-Mellinger, 2016

- "Yes, longer school days.

Wikimedia Commons, David Stroble,

Students and Teacher in a Classroom, 

1974 (digitally remastered)

I say yes. There are a lot of kids struggling in classes. Having longer class time means that a lot more stuff will get finished that might have not because there was too little time. The longer class times doesn't mean that it has to just be the teacher up inn front. This could be a time where the teacher walks around asking students if they need help. It could be a homework period. Maybe they have sports. They could get all their homework done if there is longer school days. And teachers worry so much about students not doing homework. This could be the time that the kids who don't do homework do it and not waste time playing video games." -Anonymous User via Debate.org 2013*

- "Instead of narrowing the school curriculum to focus on reading and math, the new school day opens up the range of subjects students study and get exposure to. In new day schools, students explore music and the arts, a remarkable variety of enrichment activities, as well as a range of programs in social and emotional learning. All these activities contribute mightily to helping children receive a truly well-rounded education. There's good evidence that the new school day improves the overall school learning climate by raising attendance and by reducing disciplinary referrals and what are blandly called serious incidents." - Christopher Gabrieli & Warren Goldstein,  2010**

Who has a say against it? (Anti-Thesis)

- "There are just 24 hours a day. School in itself takes up around 8 of those hours with travel to and from school and homework. Kids need about 10 hours of sleep. That leaves just 6 hours a day for family life, eating, sleeping, health care, physical activity, developing social skills, learning life skills participating in extra curricular activities and sport, religious instruction, reading and so on. Many of these things are just as important as school." Anonymous User via Debate.org 2012

- "School Days: Quality vs. Quantity

Wikipedia, Young woman sleeps over study materials,
Username: Psy3330 W10, 2010

But like the Academy Awards or tapeworms, “longer isn’t necessarily better.” After a while, things deteriorate and can even become painful. School is no exception. When we start to solve schooling issues from the position of lengthening the school day, we will create more problems than solutions because that time and money will have to be cut from something else.
By extending the school days, schools will need to cut after-school programs, sports and clubs, and make-up credits (night school). Graduation rates will plummet (further) when we see that kids who can’t make up classes they failed the first time have no second chance to learn.
Outside of the classroom, students’ lives will deteriorate: students will need to quit their after-school jobs. They will get home much later in the evening." - Adam Heenan,  2014

- "The more time kids spend in school, the less time they'll have outside of school. This is time they currently spend on extracurricular activities of their choice. Students will spend time in a basic physical education class instead of dance, karate or listening to music. Children already spend a large portion of their day being told what to do, how to do it and what rules to follow, and have little free time as it is. The ability to make their own decisions on how to spend their time is a learning experience, too." -Barbara Bean-Mellinger, 2016

Simply put (straight forward visual):

Questions for both sides

Longer school days: Do you really believe that the students will pay attention?

Answer: While the influence of the teachers and guardians is essential for optimized student performance, if the school day is slightly longer, we can either have a shorter school year or cover more lessons thus reducing homework. The goal is to eliminate the after school stress of having hours worth of independent work which will usually have a long term negative effect on the student.

Shorter school days: How do you suggest handling the work load, because compensation for what's not learned in class will be require.

Answer: With shorter schools days, a longer school year or even all year round could allow for any teachings that weren't fit in for the regular schedules. Brazilian education has 2 schedules, morning or afternoon, and it's all year round, which provides much less stress and strain on students as extended school hours can even proof to be painful in some way.

But is there something we agree on? (Synthesis):

Flicker, Girl overwhelmed by books, Walt Stoneburner, 2009

I believe both stands recognize that a change in schedule would be beneficial, and that students need more time to themselves as a whole. Focusing only on school causes too much stress for young developing minds to handle, which is why change should be a priority. American education may not be the worst, but there's a reason as to why here in this country, school is always affiliated with loathsome boredom, so a more engaging classroom, or perhaps more time for the student to pursue personal interests, should surely change that asphyxiation. Less work at home means better attitude the next day, however longer days could possibly result in a negative outlook towards school because it consumes so much time alone. Assuming it was all year around, though, it could also provoke a hateful connotation with the idea of going to school, as it would be redundant with the students. There are definitely large points to address for both sides, but in hindsight, the way things are right now are not optimal for American students. Some way to change the work load is no doubt what's needed for students today.

Sources (MLA, see also for Prezi)

TeacherHub, Ed Reform: Longer School Days or Better School Days? AH, 2012 http://www.teachhub.com/ed-reform-longer-school-days 

Institute of Education Sciences, Fast Facts, NA, 2015-16 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40

Seattle PI, The Negative Effects of Extending School Days, Marie Anderson, 2016 http://education.seattlepi.com/negative-effects-extending-school-days-1755.html 

NEA, Longer School Days Affect Everyone, Dave Arnold, 2015 http://www.nea.org/home/14511.htm

Debate.org, "Should school days be longer?" NA, year of creation 2013(?) http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-school-days-be-longer

*Interested in hearing the debate about video games? Classmate and fellow blogger DNR made a post all about that here.

**There's much more to read in the article that further backs up the side of having longer school days, you can read more here.