Neighborhood Investigations

This is the first AP of our Senior year Humanities class, Journalism. In this unit, we learned all about Investigative Journalism, and what it takes to be a Journalist, as well as, a responsible reader. Some of the main topics we discussed were critical thinking, fact-checking, the risks of being a Journalist, facts vs. opinions, and news literacy - being able to interpret the news and know the difference between credible news sources, and noncredible ones. We also learned about the Inverted Pyramid and Good News Values, which essentially lay out the basics for writing a good investigative article. The Inverted Pyramid outlines that a good article has, 1st - A "lead", which is the most important information and usually includes 1-2 paragraphs and a hook, 2nd - "The Body", which is the crucial information and it includes the argument, controversy, story, issue, background (evidence, details, logic, etc), and quotes, and 3rd - "The Tail", which is the extra information and it includes interesting and related topics to create context. Additionally, Good News Values is news that includes accuracy, independence, impartiality, humanity, and accountability. 

For this AP, we chose a topic that we deemed relevant in our neighborhood and conducted investigations to support that topic, by interviewing people that would be affected by it. Below, you will see my project, which focuses on my neighborhood, Edgewater, and how its differences before vs. after college students move in, are viewed by local residents, either negatively or positively. Enjoy!

How do College Students affect Neighborhood Residents?

Edgewater is a northern Chicago neighborhood, and it sits in between downtown, and Evanston. There are nice parks, shops, and a lot of little activities to do. It typically tends to be rather quiet, except for the heavy noise of Sheridan traffic, but the overall environment is peaceful, especially due to the number of kids and schools in the area. Occasionally, areas around the train will have a little more disruption, but for the most part, nothing seems too bothersome. Edgewater is also home to Loyola University Chicago. 

It’s September, the glory of summer has nearly passed, as well as the surrounding peace and quiet in this neighborhood. All of the college students have settled in their dorms and apartments, and have begun living their college life. The average undergrad student population at Loyola in 2020, was close to 12,000 students, according to usnews.com. Additionally, 80% of those students live in one of the many housing structures that the campus provides. The rest either live in nearby apartments or commute. So, due to this influx of students, there tends to be a disruption in the neighborhood of Edgewater, every time September rolls around.

The rest of this article focuses on identifying the effects (negative or positive) that incoming Loyola students have on the neighborhood each year, and how local residents feel about it. So, based on what we know about how many students join each year, two interviews were conducted, talking to residents of the area about their experience, every September. 

The main subject was a woman with the initials of K.T. The primary quote that was received from her, was a response to whether or not she felt that the influx of students affects the neighborhood. She stated, "Yes, I believe that they do affect the neighborhood. In some ways positively, from the perspective that they increase and support the local economy, but there is also a negative impact, because they cause more pollution, partying, and some other issues as well." She then went on to explain how every weekend, there are multiple parties, throughout the neighborhood and in her apartment building, which becomes a noise disturbance. Additionally, she mentioned how there is constantly trash in front of their dorms and in the local parks, as well as around her building. She mentioned that a fix for that might be to work with the University to create local trash-cleanup days, where the whole neighborhood participates, including the students. 

Though she seemed to mainly point out their negative impacts, she did also mention how a majority of the students do bring, "a fun and young perspective that uplifts the neighborhood". She consented to her full interview being recorded and included in this article, so you can listen to it below, as well as a second person's interview, with the initials of C.G.M. 

Morgan · K.T.

2021. K.T. recorded interview. MEM

Morgan · C.G.M

2021. C.G.M. recorded interview. MEM

A majority of C.G.M's answers were similar to K.T.'s, however, he generally seemed to have a more positive perspective on the students' presence in the neighborhood. One statement he made was, "...They create more activity and energy - there are more people walking around and going to restaurants." He also mentioned how they boost the local economy every year, which Loyola University actually encourages. Many students participated in conducting a study of how much money going into local vs. chain businesses, affects local neighborhoods and jobs. The study concluded that, "$1 million spent at chain restaurants produces about $600,000 in additional local economic activity and supports 10 jobs. Spending $1 million at local restaurants, meanwhile, generates over $900,000 in added local economic activity and supports 15 jobs." He concluded that they do disrupt the silence in the neighborhood, but in a positive way, as opposed to in a negative way, "when you get past the trash and constant noise". 

All in all, based on the interviews, it is safe to say that Loyola students have neither just a negative or positive impact on the neighborhood, but rather, a combination. While it is agreed that they contribute to the disturbances, such as lingering trash issues and partying, they do help to stabilize the local businesses, which in turn, creates more job opportunities. 

Sources:

"Loyola University Chicago" General Information, https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/loyola-university-chicago-1710 

“Student Life.” Housing - Student Life, https://www.loyola.edu/department/student-life/housing-process#:~:text=Housing%20Process,-Living%20at%20Loyola&text=Loyola%20is%20a%20residential%20campus,years%20of%20their%20Loyola%20experience.

“Buy Local.” Loyola University Chicago, https://www.luc.edu/celts/resources/anchormission/buylocal/.

Surround Sound in the Park

 The Week of August 30th-September 3rd is GCE orientation, and one of the fun things we have been able to do, is go to the Pritzker Pavilion (in Millenium Park), for an FE. There, we listened to two pieces of music that were a part of the Sonic Pavilion Festival. It was an interesting expereience because it was much different than a more typical form of listning to music. For example, this soundscape sounded and felt as though all of the pieces, instraments, sounds, etc. were physically surrounding all around you. It reminded me of surround sound, except that it was outside, in a park. This contrasts to listening to music through headphones, where instead, it feels like the sound is being distributed directily into your ear. 

The purpose of this FE was to gain perspective on different forms and spaces of learning and how broad the definition of a classroom can be. Part of our Internal Investigation, which we did before leaving for the FE, was the class looking at different images of classrooms from ancient times to now. We then observed the similarites and differences that they held to today, as well as noticible aspectes that caught our eye. After discussing our thoughts and observations, we each drew our own versions of an 'ideal' classroom and what we would personally add to them. This was setting us up for the park expereince, where we would later think about how a traditional classroom compares to an outside expereince, and why those are important. Now having been to the FE, I can say that learning expereicnes that are outside of our typical classroom and school environment are very important because it helps us to obsorb the information so much more because it is something we are not used to. 

Additionally, we all did individual research about the Festival aswell as looked into some questions we had about the music. The questions I had were, who was the creator of the Festival?, how was the distance between each speaker calculated?, and where did the inspiration for the soundscape come from?. Since there was not a lot of time to research and not a lot of information on the festival, only bits of my questions could be answered. The creator of the Festival is Stephan Moore, 

-What did you learn from it?
-What did you connect with? Why?
-What did you uncover in your independent investigation?
-What did you learn from your peers?
-What are you still curious about?
-As we wrap up our "external investigation", where do we go from here?

Is this War Just?

This is the last AP of Junior year, in our Policy class. In the last unit (1), we focused on the Legislative branch In this unit (2), we learned about those who execute the law, within the Executive branch. We were going to have a 3rd unit, which would have focused on the Judicial branch, but due to certain circumstances, we did not get to it. We primarily dug into identifying the members of the President's cabinet and the role they play, as well as influential Executive Orders, signed by former Presidents. Some of these EO's included ones that, through executive power, led us into war (undeclared by Congress), with other countries. The two specific wars we looked at were the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We learned terminology from the conflicts, the propaganda, and attempted justification of such conflicts, and touched upon the U.S.'s involvement in the era of 'fighting against Communism'. For this project, we were challenged to pick a conflict that was the result of a Presidential EO and decide if it was/is just or unjust, according to the U.S. constitution. The project is written in the form of an Essay and, through research, builds context and support for the argument that the war is either just or unjust. Below, you will see the war I chose, and my essay determining its legal position. Enjoy!

2014. "The War on Terror". waronterror.blog

Is this War Just?

The President of the U.S. has the ability to sign an Executive Order, which exempts the contents of that order, from immediate Congressional approval. This can either be a blessing or a curse, especially looking at the recent precedent surrounding war policy and Presidential power. In recent years, it has become the norm for Presidents to surpass Congressional approval and I believe that there is a need for the restoration of checks and balances, surrounding the current Executive Power. One war that was the result of a Presidential order, is The War on Terrorism. It is currently an ongoing war in Afghanistan, that has unnecessarily prolonged, for 19 years. The main countries involved in the war are the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. Though the legality of this war is being judged based on the U.S. constitution, and our involvement, this war started as a just war. The intentions were defined by President Bush, and the nation, of fighting terrorism after the 9/11 attacks and improving National/International security. However, as this war continued on, its intentions became more and more unclear and there was no longer a clear motive to continue fighting, therefore becoming morally unjust. Despite the destruction that has come out of this period, it is arguable that there was still good that was created. Examples of the benefits include the revolution of drone technology, more efficient GPS tracking, the strengthening of Federal databases for international identification, and more global communication about terrorist watchlists and counterterrorism attempts. 

The beginning of this war was a direct response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and it was signed by President Bush when he was just 234 days into his 1st term. During this time, there was an immediate rush and need across the nation for unity and a strategic solution to seek justice for the tragedy. Wasting no time, the deployment of American troops into Afghanistan was just days after the planes hit. Within 7 days of the attack, Congress authorized President Bush to, according to the Atlantic, "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determined that planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or groups that harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons." This was not a Congressional declaration of war but it supported President Bush's counterterrorism efforts, which in turn, led Bush to sign Executive Order 13224, on September 23, 2001. This allowed the U.S. to cut off terrorist groups financially, if not physically. The order gave the “U.S. Government a powerful tool to impede terrorist funding and is part of our national commitment to lead the international effort to bring a halt to the evil of terrorist activity.” In other words, it provided the U.S. with the means to disrupt any financial support networks for terrorist groups or organizations. 

There have been multiple years, administrations, and orders that continued in various iterations from September 2001, until now. The War on Terrorism no longer has the motive that it initially started with, and many have reason to believe that the original intent that was shared with the public, wasn't really the intent at all. According to the article, OIL SECRETS BEHIND U.S. WAR ON AFGHANISTAN, "the U.S.'s primary interest in the Afghan war might be oil, not terrorism; the U.S. president, they claim, had obstructed the investigation into the Taliban's activities." The U.S., especially during a time when we are engaged in such conflicts, has a tendency to mislead the public about America's military progress. Much like during the Vietnam War, with the publication of the Pentagon Papers, there were also Afghanistan Papers that came out in 2019, again, hiding evidence that showed that the 'war' had proven to be unwinnable, among other misleadings. Due to this information coming out, along with Bush's alleged obstruction of an investigation on the Taliban, this war then becomes unjust, not only morally, but legally too. President Bush sending troops into the Middle East was just the beginning of the endless conflict and a precedent that was further set by President Obama. The consequence unofficially strengthened Executive Power, wherein they don’t require as much Congressional support, to put through EO's that deploy troops and engage in international conflicts. Another consequence of this war was the decline in Muslim support towards the U.S. and the devastating amount of discrimination that occurred towards those who follow Islam, in America. 

In conclusion, The War on Terror was an unjust war because from its beginning to the current day, the war's intentions have been overshadowed by ulterior motives that are unlawful, based on personal agenda, and should not have been authorized to continue this long under the guise of 'seeking justice'. An anonymous senior member of the White House, interviewed by the Washington Post said, “'We went to Afghanistan to deliver justice to those who attacked us on September 11th. . . . We believe we achieved that objective some years ago,' the senior official said, and now judge the threat to the United States 'to be at a level that we can address it without a persistent military footprint.'” This further proves that the longevity of the war was unjust, as well. America's attempt to disband al-Qaeda also ended up effectively scattering their network even further, making it hard to counteract, instead of eliminating their organizations. Additionally, it appeared for many years that there would be no end, until President Biden announced in April, that all American troops will be safely transported out of Afghanistan, in September 2021. Though this is a triumph that the troops are finally coming home, the damage of an unjust war will have far lasting impacts we have yet to witness. 

Works Cited: 

“Confidential Documents Reveal U.S. Officials Failed to Tell the Truth about the War in Afghanistan.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Dec. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/.  

“Executive Order 13224 - United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 27 May 2021, www.state.gov/executive-order-13224/. 

Franke-Ruta, Garance. “All the Previous Declarations of War.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 1 Sept. 2013, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/08/all-the-previous-declarations-of-war/279246/. 

Shashikumar, V.K. “OIL SECRETS BEHIND U.S. WAR ON AFGHANISTAN.” Peace Research, vol. 33, no. 2, 2001, pp. 102–104. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23608077. Accessed 12 June 2021.

Missy Ryan, Karen DeYoung. “Biden Will Withdraw All U.S. Forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Apr. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html.

A parking lot re-imagined

This is the last AP for our Junior year, in our Urban Planning class. As we wrapped up the year, and the term, we learned about the history/development of cities and the beginning fundamentals of Urban Planning. We also watched three videos, that separately taught us about living locally, the issues and the disconnect between modern urbanism and suburbia, retrofitting, and environmental justice. We also learned about parks, city budgeting, and transit, which all make up Urban Planning. We had an architect come in to talk to us, as well as, 3 architect students who assisted us with the beginning building stages of this project. For this project, we were challenged with finding a space, either in our neighborhood, city, country, or anywhere else in the world, that we wanted to redesign. After we chose an area and sketched out ideas for redesigning it, we transformed it into a 3D model. Below you will see the area I chose, my building process, and my final model! Enjoy!

Overall, I really enjoyed this term and getting the opportunity to do this project. I especially enjoyed the building aspect of it. This class taught me about how much goes into Urban Planning, and it gave me insight into how planners make proposals for redesigns, as well. I am proud of my model, even though I wish I added more cutouts of vegetables and flowers, instead of just painting them. I think that is the only thing I would have done differently. Thank you for reading my project!

A letter to our Legislator

This is the 1st Action Project for our Humanities class, Policy. In this unit, we really dug into all three branches of government, but specifically the Legislative branch. We focused on specific policies (rules, laws, bills, pending legislation, etc) and learned about the influence and power that our legislators have. We also learned about the individuals and their roles, in different levels of federal and state government. Once we learned the fundamentals of each branch, we began focusing on WW1, WW2, and a little bit of the Vietnam War. For this project, we were challenged to identify a piece of legislation that is currently pending, and it could either be State, City, or Federal. Once we did that, we had to identify someone who represented us, in either the form of our Alderman, our Mayor, our Governor, one of our State Representatives, or one of our State Senators that could vote in favor, or against our chosen legislation. I looked on multiple government websites and finally found something I was interested in, The Environmental Justice For All Act. Tammy Duckworth was already a cosponsor of the legislation, so I decided to write to her. Below, you will see an introduction to the Act and my letter. Enjoy!

Background: 

The Environmental Justice For All Act is legislation that is embedded with the principle that everyone has the right to pure and clean air, healthy water, and a stable environment for living. It is fueled by the belief that federal policy is capable and should use that capability to achieve, “environmental justice, health equity, and climate justice for all underserved communities.” It was originally introduced and is being led by Chair Raúl M. Grijalva and Rep. A. Donald McEachin, and it has not yet passed the House. I will be writing my letter to Senator Tammy Duckworth. Since she is a sponsor of the bill, below, I wrote a letter in support of her sponsorship, rather than using an argument to persuade her to support the bill. 

Letter: 

Dear Senator Tammy Duckworth, 

I am a high school Junior, and I wanted to write to you, in support of your sponsorship of the Environmental Justice For All Act. I think it is very important that these issues are finally getting recognized, on a federal level. Though, on a smaller scale, these things have been in the works for some time. Due to a continuing pattern of certain party-dominated states not believing in or caring about Climate Change, it is crucial that these policies are passed federally. This is so that it is not left up to the states to create their own environmental policies, which creates further division, nationally. Though I have no experience working in government, being surrounded by environmental policy, or being involved in any major decision past what time I should start my homework, I still feel that I have a basic understanding of the environmental needs of my city and country. I am also supported by the material I have learned this past year, through my school. We focused on the purpose of messages/ideas, and who/what sees those messages and ideas through to fruition. This past month, we have been learning about policy, making laws, and how our government works and connects through each branch. Additionally, I take part in community service around my neighborhood, by cleaning up the abundance of local trash. 

Getting into facts about the current Environment; There has been a continuing issue in this country regarding the lack of environmental responsibility, especially on the federal level. Within that lack of responsibility, states are left to create environmental policies on their own, which oftentimes gets overlooked, as a ‘non-pressing' issue. As a result, those who become most overlooked are the lower-income areas of cities and states. Those low-income areas, in Chicago for example, have some of the most unnecessarily high exposures to pollution (some reaching a level of 10/10) - mainly affecting black and brown communities. These areas also, according to nrdc.org are, “environmental racism hotspots,” and 5% of premature deaths can be attributed to overexposure to these pollutions, as well as severe lung and heart complications. 

The amount of environmental support one gets should not be based on their status, class, or income, but rather, it should be treated as a basic human right. It should be extended to every individual equally and without bias, which is what I admire about this act. I admire your work within Environmental justice and how you take the time to think of and fight for those, who would otherwise, not be thought of. I like that the Environmental Justice For All Act, if passed, will provide justice based on the principles that everyone deserves said justice, no matter their beliefs, race, gender, religion, origin, etc. I find this refreshing and much needed, in a time where there is still much bias in this country. I am sure that many states and Legislators, especially those who don’t believe in Climate Change, will be reluctant to accept or vote on this new act. One being, Senator Ted Cruz, where he states that Global Warming is, "liberal politicians who want government power over the economy, the energy sector and every aspect of our lives." And while this belief may be shared by others, I believe that regardless of the acknowledgment of Climate Change, taking care of the earth and of each other, should not be a second thought, nor should it have any exterior motive. 

In conclusion, I support your sponsorship for this Act, and I admire your hard work regarding this issue and many other issues. Especially, your fighting for Black and brown communities, and providing voices for those who would most likely continue to be ignored. I hope progress is made with the Act and it goes through! Thank you for taking the time to read this! 

Sincerely, 

MM 

Sources:

“Email Tammy.” U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, www.duckworth.senate.gov/help/email-tammy.  

October 29, 2020. “Environmental Justice in Chicago: It's Been One Battle After Another.” NRDC, 18 May 2021, www.nrdc.org/stories/environmental-justice-chicago-its-been-one-battle-after-another. 

“Scientific Evidence Doesn't Support Global Warming, Sen. Ted Cruz Says.” NPR, NPR, 9 Dec. 2015, www.npr.org/2015/12/09/459026242/scientific-evidence-doesn-t-support-global-warming-sen-ted-cruz-says. 

Yeo, Sophie. “A Clever New Map Shows Which Chicago Neighborhoods Are Most at Risk From Pollution.” Pacific Standard, Pacific Standard, 15 Jan. 2019, psmag.com/environment/which-chicago-neighborhoods-are-most-at-risk-from-pollution. 

Circuit Appliances

This is the 2nd Action Project of our Urban Planning class. In this Unit, we learned about electricity, AC and DC, the War of the Currents (Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla), energy, circuits, and how to be environmentally conscious, regarding our energy consumption. We had two FE guests from Farr Associates who came to talk to us about their work and focused a lot on energy consumption and emissions, specifically carbon. They also talked about their work to find efficient solutions on how to reduce the number of carbon emissions needed to halt the damaging effects of Climate Change. Throughout all the work from this unit, I am most proud of my understanding of the material, along with our experiments with building circuits. For this project, we were challenged to research energy-efficient appliances and further create a home/room, including these appliances. We also have a circuit kit with two batteries, two swtiches, and two light bulb holders. Our additional task was to make a parallel circuit with a third resistor (lightbulb) and to figure out how to make it connect. Without actually being able to build a model to scale, we used our circuits to represent each energy-efficient appliance. Below you will see an explanation of my work and my process. Enjoy!

For my house, I am modeling a basement laundry room. In the room, there is a Costway Washer and Dryer, and an Energy Star certified ceiling lightbulb. The light bulbs represent each energy efficient appliance, the main switch turns on the light, and the parallel switch gives power to the Washer and Dryer. I hope you enjoy seeing my process!

 

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun doing this project. The hardest part was probably that the building process took me 4 hours - don't ask me how or why, I'm not sure. I was mainly trying to plan everything, where to connect the wires, and placing furniture. I also had to start over on building my circuit because I was trying to get the third light bulb to stay and the circuit fell apart. I ended up getting it to stay by using a paperclip and a rubber band! Thank you for taking the time to read my project! 

Trus(s)t the process

This is the first Action Project for our Spring Term, STEAM course; Urban Planning. In this unit, we learned about the meaning of Urban Planning, its purpose, Newton’s Laws of Motion, calculations of Velocity, Force, Acceleration, Vectors, Triangles, and how those all connect to Bridges. We also learned about different types and classifications of bridges, ending with our central focus, Truss bridges. Additionally, we were supposed to enjoy an outside adventure, walking along Michigan Ave, and ending where the River bridges connect the two parts of downtown. However, we had to watch virtually, as our teacher filmed the whole experience live because in-person learning was canceled that day. The purpose of this project was to take what we learned during this unit and build one of our own bridges. We were challenged to build them with a limit of 60 popsicle sticks, and at the end, create a bridge durable enough to withstand at least 8.9 pounds, over a 1ft gap. Below, you will see my work and whether or not I succeeded in the challenge. Enjoy!

 

Looking back at my process and my overall conclusion about my bridge, there are many things I would have done differently if I could do it over. I remember thinking, throughout my entire building process, "this will be the stick (that I do or don't add) that will make or break my bridge." This guided where I placed every stick, but looking back, I realized I should have added more. I only used 36 out of the available 60, because I thought that I had already used enough. However, if I were to do it over, I would have added more vertical stick support on the bottom chord/deck of the bridge, and I would have made my top structure longer, with more triangles. This would have distributed the weight more evenly, throughout the entire bridge, instead of it just balancing on the square. Despite the bridge breaking, I learned that there can still be successes from failure, and I feel that I am able to write this reflection in more detail, now that the bridge is broken, than if it wasn't. I also learned the meaning of building something with your own hands, designing something on your own, and that it is, of course, not easy. I feel as though my bridge connects to SDG11 because of the initiative it took for us to build/design them, and if we were actual engineers, they would meet the characteristics of the goal (sustainable, and safe, etc. human settlements). I hope you enjoyed my project!