Tu Ne T'intéresses Pas Au Sexe?

For our last action project in Rhetoric, we were assigned to create an artistic representation of your feelings about an important social issue. The purpose of this action project was to produce a compelling work of art that transcends speech, one that “breaks the sound barrier”. My topic is adolescent sexuality, specifically teenage girls' sexuality. Ironically enough, I was afraid to choose this topic because of it's mature content and nature. I am proud of completing this project on time because I struggled with the timeline that was given.

GN (Print), 2014 

 I understand that it can be especially hard to talk about sex, but this can be very detrimental to teens. Yes, we have sex education classes at school, but as a teenager myself I don't feel like those classes answer all of our questions. Sex Ed focuses on the physical and the consequential aspects of sex, some teens including myself are interested in knowing about the emotional aspect of sex. What does it feel like? "Human sexuality is much more complex than the biological forces that initiate the sexual maturation process, " (The Development of Adolescent Sexuality). Adolescent sexuality does not only include physical development, but also emotional, social, moral, and cognitive development. Adolescent sexuality is usually associated with various risks, including unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and this negative focus can be especially harmful because it can scare or prevent people from talking about it. No one said that having the "talk" is not awkward, but there is no reason to put off that discussion.

Related to this issue, I am also interested in how gender affects your view towards sex. Because of the way society frames female sexuality, girls generally think of virginity as sacred. "Researchers found that girls typically think of virginity as a gift, while boys think of virginity as a stigma (meaning they often seek to cover up the fact that they are virgins). In interviews, girls said that they viewed giving someone their virginity like giving them a very special gift" (Adolescent sexuality. (2014, October 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia).

AMK (Skirt), 2014

The purpose of my piece is to get people thinking and talking. I was inspired by Lisa Anne Auerbach, an artist based in Los Angeles who is interested in the way time changes the meaning of things and how fabric can outlast sentiments to create my artistic representation of adolescent sexuality. I didn't want a piece that was graphic. I wanted to make a loud political statement and encourage people to talk about sex, and so I decided to make my piece/artwork a wearable one.

GN (mannequin), 2014

I designed the pattern and created the print and skirt myself. With the help of a family friend I was able to print my pattern on the fabric. Squares are a major part of my print. They represent grounding because of their fixed lines. They also represent foundations (homes) because that is where, in my opinion, teens should be getting a foundation about sex.

My print/pattern has a very African vibe to it because I am African. Red represents sexuality which correlates with my topic, adolescent sexuality. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body, and learning about sexuality benefits you both mentally and physically. Many of us think of the color green as the color of nature, but green also has strong emotional correspondence with safety, which communicates a message of safe sex to the viewer. Skirts are considered very feminine, and in the 1910-1912, women were only allowed to wear ankle-length skirt with no slit. I wanted my piece I utilized repetition because I am using the same color pallet over and over again. I also employ description because my print is vibrant and utilizes the sense of sight to capture people's attention. I would love for everyone to be wearing my art piece, instead of it being confined in a museum.

Statistics:

• A new study from Harvard finds that more than 40 percent of parents don't get around to talking to their kids about safe sex practices until after their kids are sexually active.
• Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
• A study on examining sexual messages in popular TV shows found that 2 out of 3 programs contained sexually related actions. 1 out of 15 shows included scenes of sexual intercourse itself.

Materials for skirt:

- Fabric: Cotton

- Needles

- Sewing machine

- Thread

- Buttons

- Scissors

- Color pencils

- Ruler

- Measuring Tape

- Fabric Printer

- HP Intel, a 3rd generation Intel core i5 processor
Works Cited:

1. Adolescent sexuality. (2014, October 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:16, October 22, 2014.
2. Unit, Courtney Hutchisonabc News Medical. "Don't Let the 'Sex Talk' Come Too Little, Too Late for Your Teen." ABC News. ABC News Network, 07 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. 
3. Angela Oswalt, MSW, Edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D. "The Development of Adolescent Sexuality - Child Development Theory: Adolescence." The Development of Adolescent Sexuality - Child Development Theory: Adolescence. Sevencountries, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
4. McKeon, Brigid. "Effective Sex Education." Effective Sex Education. Advocates for Youth, 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2014. 

Aluminum Cans

BKJ (Earth), 2014

Humans throw so much away with so little thought as to where that trash is going and how it affects us in the future. In my Design and Engineering course, we were assigned to collect samples of a product that was being wasted and assemble the samples into a visual representation of an issue. The purpose of this action project was to create something that represents and illustrates a global issue we are facing: material waste. Our waste material was aluminum, particularly aluminum cans. I learned and appreciate trial and error and I am proud of the way my partner and I worked together.

A beverage can is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc. Beverage cans are made of aluminum (75% of worldwide production) or tin-plated steel (25% worldwide production)(Wikipedia).

Aluminum is a slippery-white metal and the second most abundant metallic element in the earth's crust. It weighs about 1/3 as much as steel, and is remarkable for its excellent corrosion resistance, durability, ability to be easily machined or cast and its volumetric mass density (density) (Wikipedia). Some of the uses for aluminum are in electrical transmission, packaging, and transportation.

Here are some interesting facts about aluminum waste from Lehighcounty: 

• It takes about 80-200 years for an aluminum can to biodegrade.
• In 2012, 55 percent of aluminum beer and soft drink containers generated were recycled, which is about 0.7 million tons.
• The largest source of aluminum in the MSW (municipal solid waste) stream is used beverage containers and other packaging containers.
• There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum can be recycled. 
• It is estimated that over the past twenty years, we've trashed more than 11 million tons of aluminum beverage cans worth over $12 billion on today's market.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.

"Liquid Candy: How Softdrinks Are Harming America's Health ~ CSPI." Liquid Candy: How Softdrinks Are Harming America's Health ~ CSPI. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. 

Our installation shows a model earth made almost entirely out of aluminum beverage cans, glue, strings, and a Styrofoam ball as our base. Our installation depicts a model earth with silver representing water, green and brown representing earth. The strings represents how many times the total number of aluminum cans wasted in 2012 would go around the earth. There are 5 string around our earth installation, each string represents 7385.285408 times the number of cans goes around the earth. This piece was inspired by the amount of soda cans our school wastes each year, which is roughly about 29,850 aluminum cans. On average, a person will use 597 cans of soda pop each year.

BKJ and GN (Earth), 2014

BKJ and GN (Earth), 2014

Logistics for cans used in our installation:
2 Diet coca cola cans
7 Root beer cans
4 Sprite cans
1 Coca cola cans
1 Sparking water can
* All of our materials comes from either staffs or students from GCE (Global Citizenship Experience).

Calculations: 
On average each American drinks 597 cans of soda a year. The average life expectancy of an American in 2012 was about 78 years (World Bank). This means that over a lifetime, an American would drink 46566 cans of soda. In 2012, the United States population was 312,780,968 (US. News). Number of aluminum cans of soda drank in 2012: 312,780,968 x 46566 = 1.456495856e13 (14,564,958,560,000 cans).

Amount of times the number of aluminum cans went around earth calculations: 
- Earth's circumference: 24,901 miles.
- Conversion to miles/space: 14,564,958,560,000 cans x 4 (height of a can) x 12 ft/5280 = 919504959.6 miles
- Number of times United States' waste of 2012 goes around the earth: 919504959.6 miles/24,901 miles (circumference of earth) = 36926.42704 times.

Recycling is an important part of a sustainable lifestyle and is a solution to this aluminum waste problem. It’s important for the future of the planet that we all live sustainably. Recycling aluminum saves an enormous amount of energy, because the aluminum is already in its metallic state. Recycling was a low-profile activity until the late 1960's when the growing use of aluminum cans brought it to the public's attention.

Here are some facts about the importance of recycling aluminum:

• Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can's volume of gasoline.
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours, this is the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
• Making beverage cans from recycled aluminum cuts air pollution by about 95%.
• The pollutants created in producing one ton of aluminum include 3,290 pounds of red mud, 2,900 pounds of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), 81 pounds of air pollutants and 789 pounds of solid wastes.

Works Cited:

1. "Aluminum Recycling Facts." Aluminum Recycling Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
2. "Aluminum, Common Wastes & Materials." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. 
3. Aluminium. (2014, October 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:47, October 24, 2014.
4. "Chemical of the Week -- Aluminum." Chemical of the Week -- Aluminum. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. 
5. "Aluminum Statistics and Information." USGS Minerals Information: Aluminum. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. 
6. "Liquid Candy: How Softdrinks Are Harming America's Health ~ CSPI." Liquid Candy: How Softdrinks Are Harming America's Health ~ CSPI. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
7. Robert Schlesinger. "U.S. Population 2012: Nearly 313 Million People." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 30 Dec. 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. 
8. "Life Expectancy at Birth, Total (years)." Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

 

A Dream of Science

In my Rhetoric course, we were assigned to articulate a dream that we have for our city and write a speech about it. We identified obstacles to our dream and envisioned solutions to them. We drafted, edited, and revised our three drafts of our speech. The purpose for this action project was to write a persuasive speech about an issues you feel strongly about facing your community. The topic I felt most strongly about was women and minorities in STEM. Science affects us all, and we need to support students who are interested in science and change some of science stereotypes.
Below is my Speech!

"Chicago | US2020." Chicago | US2020. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.

AUDIO:

Designed With The User In Mind

SJ, The Diamond Bike 2014

In my Design and Engineering course, we were assigned to brainstorm ideas with our partners to design a reliable bicycle that suits a specific user’s needs. We sketched our three strongest ideas and built a prototype. The purpose of this action project is to create a better bicycle for a particular user. I learned to harness empathy (understand and share the feelings of another) to do things better, and appreciate trial and error. I am proud of completing this project on time, given the deadline.
We were assigned to design a bike for Vanessa, a 17 year old high school student who lives in Oak Park. Vanessa travels a total amount of 9 miles from home to school. She has a baby brother, whom she drops off at daycare everyday. She rides down Lake street, which is a noisy (given the fact that it is under a train track) and busy street filled with potholes. Her apartment has no storage room, so she has to lock her bike outside everyday.

After many ideas and complications my partner and I came up with the Diamond Bike. Its main purposes are safety, durability, maneuverability, speed, and a baby carrier. Although the Diamond Bike was designed specially for Vanessa, there is no reason why it cannot be used or adopted for other demographics.

GN, The 3D Model 2014

The Diamond Bike features:

• Detachable Baby bassinet 

The stroller is detachable, so that the user has a choice of either detaching the stroller or keeping it once they are done using it. There’s a twist type lock that’s a part of the frame.

AJ, Main Feature 2015

•  Built In frame U-lock 

In the top tube of the bike frame, there are two U-locks at the end of each side. The two U-locks are extendable, and are used to lock up the two wheels by them interlocking.

•  Detachable U-lock handlebar

We were inspired by the Denny bike made by Teague and Sizemore Bicycle, to create our own U-lock handlebar that locks the frame.

AJ, U-lock Frame 2014

•  Pneumatic tires with small iron pins

We were inspired by Schwalbe, Marathon winter tires, which have small iron pins that gives the user full control on icy roads. Pneumatic (containing or operated by air or gas under pressure) tires help reduce the effect of bumps.

• Light signals

A lot of cyclist worry about their safety, the Diamond Bike has a lighting system attached above the breaks, that allows the user to signal the driver behind them that they will be making a turn. There are two turning signals, a left turning signal and a right turning signal.

•  Motion detectors 

Our bike is safer than other bikes with our sensor in the back. The sensor will beep whenever a car is coming up fast behind, to alert the user.

•  Triangular frame

The Diamond Bike has a triangular/wedge bike frame which allows the weight of the bike to be equally distributed. For light weightiness, The Diamond Bike is made out of aluminum.

•  Comfortable seat

The Diamond Bike has extra cushion on the bike seat for comfort while riding long or short distances.

Calculations

Distance: 9 miles

Diameter: 26 inches

Circumference: (D x pi) 26 x pi = 81.68 inches

Speed: (Distance/Time) 9mi/50min = 10.8 mph or 4.827 m/s

Wheel Rotations: (Distance/Circumference) 6,981.39 rotations in 9 miles.

P.S. The scale used is for our 3D model is a 13 inches, meaning for every 3 inches in our model equals 13 inches in real life. The diameter of the wheels in our model is 2 inches and in real life they are 26 inches.    

                 

In conclusion, when investing in a bike you expect it to be suitable to your needs, "A good bike should pay itself off" said Joey a bike repairer. The Diamond Bike doesn't just cater to the spectrum of people with children, but other consumers that value safety, sturdiness, and easy mobility. The Diamond Bike is not only a form of transportation, but a way of life!