Advisory
Social Styles
1. My primary social style is expressive. I am a social person who likes to show things and be with people.
2. My secondary social style is amiable. I would rather agree with someone than get into an argument.
3. I like to hang out with people and be happy.
4. I feel misunderstood when I don't have anyone to hang out with.
2. My secondary social style is amiable. I would rather agree with someone than get into an argument.
3. I like to hang out with people and be happy.
4. I feel misunderstood when I don't have anyone to hang out with.
Humanities
This I believe
Essay
What do I believe and why?
Working hard pays off. This is an unspoken value in my family. Whether it be chopping firewood to keep the house warm or studying hard to get good grades, I was taught to finish everything I do, and to do it well. When I was in sixth grade, my dad started talking about when I was going to buy my car. I started saving up, first just birthday money, then expanding my income to money earned for mowing lawns. Soon I had a big lump of money in the bank and was able to buy my first and second car in eighth grade summer.
When I got my car, that was the beginning of me realizing that I was going to have to persevere through everything I do, not only to finish things but to also be pleased with them. This was when I really started believing in our little family rule, hard work pays off. My car had sat in a field for twenty years, so it was quite the project. Spending hour after hour, day after day working on one seemingly insignificant fix, like replacing the heater core, or cleaning a carburetor, can bring insurmountable amounts of frustration but also joy when finished. No one will ever know how much I did to get where I am, but I know how many disorienting days I spent under the car to get there. Greasy knuckles and rough skin become not an inconvenience, but a regular trophy, earned from a feat not many people can accomplish these days. I know paying another man off to finish the job will get it done, but satisfaction isn't included in this deal. The taste of my own sweat becomes more familiar than even water at times. But the taste of victory is much better than both.
Now I'm almost done fixing my car. The only fixes left are either minor or cosmetic, and I don't have enough time to repaint it right now. Driving down the highway with the cruise control I fixed on, the sunroof I installed open, and the engine roaring cleanly is always a reminder; hard work pays off.
When I got my car, that was the beginning of me realizing that I was going to have to persevere through everything I do, not only to finish things but to also be pleased with them. This was when I really started believing in our little family rule, hard work pays off. My car had sat in a field for twenty years, so it was quite the project. Spending hour after hour, day after day working on one seemingly insignificant fix, like replacing the heater core, or cleaning a carburetor, can bring insurmountable amounts of frustration but also joy when finished. No one will ever know how much I did to get where I am, but I know how many disorienting days I spent under the car to get there. Greasy knuckles and rough skin become not an inconvenience, but a regular trophy, earned from a feat not many people can accomplish these days. I know paying another man off to finish the job will get it done, but satisfaction isn't included in this deal. The taste of my own sweat becomes more familiar than even water at times. But the taste of victory is much better than both.
Now I'm almost done fixing my car. The only fixes left are either minor or cosmetic, and I don't have enough time to repaint it right now. Driving down the highway with the cruise control I fixed on, the sunroof I installed open, and the engine roaring cleanly is always a reminder; hard work pays off.
Reflection
For the This I Believe assignment, I had to generate a core belief and write an essay on how I came to that belief and why I believe it. To prepare for the essay, our class participated in several activities requiring us to share our values. We then read several This I Believe essays and analyzed skills they used to create a personal essay about their own beliefs. Such skills analyzed included narrative coherence, communal relevance, and authentic voice. These skills are important to recognize because they are not used in most essays such as Op Eds, and create a connection with the reader. Once I had a thorough grasp on what a This I Believe essay consists of and how it is written, I had to come up with a core belief and write a credo about it. The purpose of this was to come up with an idea of what my This I Believe essay was going to be about, and to start thinking about why I came to my belief. I dug deep and came up with the belief that hard work pays off. I used my credo to build the rest of the essay, and came up with a rough draft. I shared my rough draft with some classmates and took notes on how they thought the essay could be refined, and made small changes accordingly.
Throughout the project, I didn't know what I was going to write about until I had to write the credo. After reading other credos, I thought about one of the biggest experiences in my life. My car has been an ongoing project for a few years now, and is a part of me. I have grown a number of years working on it. This is obviously a big part of my life. I realized that this is something I am proud of and thought of why I am proud of it. When sharing details about my car, I don't usually think of just the part I fixed installed. I think of all I went through to do that, and how a working and fun car is my reward. This is how I came to the conclusion of writing about how hard work pays off. I decided to use this experience to talk about because it is how I came to my belief and is very close to me. I can talk about it very easily. It seemed like a great story to share about how I came to my belief.
I am most proud of all the reflecting I did and how I was able to use such a close experience to write about. In all the essays that I read, the authors were very close to their beliefs and seemed to know their experiences as if they happened yesterday. I am glad I was able to think of something which so accurately represents my belief and shares so much about me. I wrote in my essay, “No one will ever know how much I did to get where I am, but I know how many disorienting days I spent under the car to get there.” I got to share something about myself that I never would have without being really motivated to give reasons for my belief. I thought long and hard about all the experiences I could talk about. At the beginning, I didn't know where to start, but after some good thought, I was very confident in my essay's theme.
If I was to refine my essay even further, I would probably add some more experiences to it. I wouldn't mind talking about chopping wood, or something smaller like studying for a test. It would be nice to bring the intellectual aspect into my essay. I mostly talked about physical work. Even though mechanics requires a good amount of knowledge and innovation, people mostly associate it with physical work. I have to work hard in school, too, though. This comes with a more symbolic representation of success, but it is still very important. I could have used this as another example so people would see that working with your brain is just as important as working on a physical project. If I was to send my essay in to anyone or publish it, I would try to include this.
My essay has changed my thinking by making me reflect on my life and values. I usually don't reflect on the past much, and don't really ever think about my values. I just have my values and beliefs and that's that. This essay made me actually think about why I have these values though. It has been interesting to think about where I have come and who I am based on my past. I started thinking it might be important to think about why you believe things sometimes, and how that belief came to be. It is good to have a personal and insightful answer to why you believe in something rather than just saying something along the lines of, “It's important,” or another meaningless answer. I have learned to respect the importance of self-reflection.
Throughout the project, I didn't know what I was going to write about until I had to write the credo. After reading other credos, I thought about one of the biggest experiences in my life. My car has been an ongoing project for a few years now, and is a part of me. I have grown a number of years working on it. This is obviously a big part of my life. I realized that this is something I am proud of and thought of why I am proud of it. When sharing details about my car, I don't usually think of just the part I fixed installed. I think of all I went through to do that, and how a working and fun car is my reward. This is how I came to the conclusion of writing about how hard work pays off. I decided to use this experience to talk about because it is how I came to my belief and is very close to me. I can talk about it very easily. It seemed like a great story to share about how I came to my belief.
I am most proud of all the reflecting I did and how I was able to use such a close experience to write about. In all the essays that I read, the authors were very close to their beliefs and seemed to know their experiences as if they happened yesterday. I am glad I was able to think of something which so accurately represents my belief and shares so much about me. I wrote in my essay, “No one will ever know how much I did to get where I am, but I know how many disorienting days I spent under the car to get there.” I got to share something about myself that I never would have without being really motivated to give reasons for my belief. I thought long and hard about all the experiences I could talk about. At the beginning, I didn't know where to start, but after some good thought, I was very confident in my essay's theme.
If I was to refine my essay even further, I would probably add some more experiences to it. I wouldn't mind talking about chopping wood, or something smaller like studying for a test. It would be nice to bring the intellectual aspect into my essay. I mostly talked about physical work. Even though mechanics requires a good amount of knowledge and innovation, people mostly associate it with physical work. I have to work hard in school, too, though. This comes with a more symbolic representation of success, but it is still very important. I could have used this as another example so people would see that working with your brain is just as important as working on a physical project. If I was to send my essay in to anyone or publish it, I would try to include this.
My essay has changed my thinking by making me reflect on my life and values. I usually don't reflect on the past much, and don't really ever think about my values. I just have my values and beliefs and that's that. This essay made me actually think about why I have these values though. It has been interesting to think about where I have come and who I am based on my past. I started thinking it might be important to think about why you believe things sometimes, and how that belief came to be. It is good to have a personal and insightful answer to why you believe in something rather than just saying something along the lines of, “It's important,” or another meaningless answer. I have learned to respect the importance of self-reflection.
Morality and Politics of Justice
Artist Statement
My Political Campaign poster represents my perspective on labeling GMOs, which is that they should be labeled so people know what they're eating. I included a container of baby food that has a question mark on it. This symbolizes the mystery that is in our food, because we don't know if it has GMOs. I also put a question mark on the man's shopping bag. I included pathos by putting the baby in. People usually think babies are all sweet and innocent, but it is kind of sad that the mom doesn't know what exactly she is feeding the baby. People feel bad for the baby. I included ethos by having a quote by Barack Obama. He is the leader of our country, automatically making him a credible source. I included logos by having a statistic. The statistic is that “Over 90% of Americans want GMOs labeled.” This shows the viewer the bias of the majority of people, and hopefully persuades them.
The tone of my poster is sympathetic, because the baby is being fed some mysterious food. I decided to have the baby food a little bit brighter and in the foreground so people recognize it and see that it has a question mark on it. I put the title on the top in big letters so people ask themselves the question, how do they really know what's in their food? I put the stats and quote in a place where there was not too much background noise, so they would be more noticeable. I refined my project by adding the man in the back with the bag and moving around the words to make them more noticeable. I am very proud of my poster because I worked really hard on it and was very stoked when I got all three rhetorical aspects in it. I believe I did a great job communicating my view and included relevant and meaningful text.
Image Citations
http://fffkids.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/mom-feeding-baby.jpg
http://truecouponing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/gerber.jpg
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/smiling-healthy-young-man-holding-groceries-bag-7703742.jpg
The tone of my poster is sympathetic, because the baby is being fed some mysterious food. I decided to have the baby food a little bit brighter and in the foreground so people recognize it and see that it has a question mark on it. I put the title on the top in big letters so people ask themselves the question, how do they really know what's in their food? I put the stats and quote in a place where there was not too much background noise, so they would be more noticeable. I refined my project by adding the man in the back with the bag and moving around the words to make them more noticeable. I am very proud of my poster because I worked really hard on it and was very stoked when I got all three rhetorical aspects in it. I believe I did a great job communicating my view and included relevant and meaningful text.
Image Citations
http://fffkids.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/mom-feeding-baby.jpg
http://truecouponing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/gerber.jpg
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/smiling-healthy-young-man-holding-groceries-bag-7703742.jpg
Op Ed
HOW CAN YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR INGREDIENTS?
Jonathan Middleton
Jonathan Middleton
Science has been increasingly advancing these past years, but with all these developments, how can you know what you are feeding your family? The simple answer is you can't. GMOs, or Genetically Modified Organisms, are foods which have had their DNA spliced to obtain a desired trait such as being immune to pesticides or having increased amounts of vitamins. Many families choose to avoid GMOs, but this can be difficult when you can't know whether your food contains them or not. Although studies have shown no significant health risks in eating GMOs, they should be labeled so people have the liberty to eat them based on their own health or moral beliefs.
GMOs in foods are relatively new, as they were commercialized in 1996. These foods were never required to be labeled in the United States. Big corporations believe that it is not necessary to label GMOs, as “the food from GMO crops is as safe as conventional (non-GMO) food.” (Newsroom) The company believes that a company should be able to put what they think suitable on labels. “We also support food companies’ choices to voluntarily label food products noting certain attributes (e.g., organic) based on their customers’ preferences and provided the labeling is truthful and not misleading.” (Newsroom) Other arguments state that labeling GMO foods would be pointless, as Byrne states, “Consumers who want to buy non-GE food already have an option: to purchase certified organic foods, which by definition cannot be produced with GE ingredients.” These arguments, as well as others, do pose valid points, but are outweighed by the need to inform the public about their food.
Many Americans believe GMOs should be labeled based on their faith. Reverend Dr. Dudley D. Chatman explains why many Christians support labeling GMOs when he states, “We definitely and positively want truth. And to be untrue to me, and not telling me what I’m eating, is definitely a sin.” They believe that because many food companies are not being completely honest on their labels, they are defying and ignoring God. Rabbi Elihu Gevirtz speaks for the Jewish community as he states, “If you can’t trust the food that you eat, how can you take care of your children? Labeling food as GMO enables us to make a conscious choice about the content of our food.” The reason many people are against GMOs and would like to choose to eat them or not is because in the Bible, Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 9 declares, “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled.” (New) Without GMO labeling, some people obviously don't know if they are being completely true to their faith or not when eating commercial products, which is not fair.
Many people are skeptical on the health of GMO foods. Lab testing has shown mice who were fed GMO corn were found “to have smaller offspring and fertility problems. Hamsters fed with GM soy were unable to have offspring.” According to Chinese Daily, Rice engineered to contain high amounts of vitamin A had a “tendency to cause allergic reactions” (Geib) Many believe GMOs have a direct connection to our current health as a community. “The American Academy of Environmental Medicine advises doctors to tell their patients to avoid GMOs, explaining that the introduction of GMOs into the current food supply has correlated with an alarming rise in chronic disease and food allergies.” (M.D.)
GMO foods cannot be abolished because their future presents many opportunities. Many biotech companies are currently developing various kinds of GMO foods, with different beneficial traits. Companies work on making foods taste better. They strive to make food's ripening season longer. Foods can even be modified to improve one's health. Food can be modified “with substances that help stimulate the body’s natural defense mechanisms to better fight diseases.” (Bellingham) The future of GMO foods is bright, and many people do not oppose these advances. These people who support GMO foods will still buy them, even when labeled.
As one can see, there are many debates over GMO foods, which is exactly why they should be labeled. A great portion of Americans are against GMO foods, and should have the liberty to choose not to eat them. Along with them, there are Americans who do not care about eating GMOs and don't think they have a negative effect on the body, who would eat them. It is not right for Americans to be blindly eating food, though, when they could be against its consumption. As studies show, the complete health effects of GMOs are unknown, but the freedom of Americans knowing what they're eating should be major companies' number one priority.
Work Cited
"The Bellingham Herald." Will Washington State Break U.S. Logjam on Labeling GMO Food? N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
"Faith and GMOs: Christian, Jewish, and Hindu Congregations Urged To Vote Yes On 37." Faith and GMOs: Christian, Jewish, and Hindu Congregations Urged To Vote Yes On 37. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
Geib, Aurora. "GMO Alert: Top 10 Genetically Modified Foods to Avoid Eating." NaturalNews. N.p., 01 May 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
M.D., Ph.D., Edison De Mello,. "What's the Big Deal About Genetically-Modified Organisms?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
New American Standard Bible
"Newsroom." Monsanto. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
GMOs in foods are relatively new, as they were commercialized in 1996. These foods were never required to be labeled in the United States. Big corporations believe that it is not necessary to label GMOs, as “the food from GMO crops is as safe as conventional (non-GMO) food.” (Newsroom) The company believes that a company should be able to put what they think suitable on labels. “We also support food companies’ choices to voluntarily label food products noting certain attributes (e.g., organic) based on their customers’ preferences and provided the labeling is truthful and not misleading.” (Newsroom) Other arguments state that labeling GMO foods would be pointless, as Byrne states, “Consumers who want to buy non-GE food already have an option: to purchase certified organic foods, which by definition cannot be produced with GE ingredients.” These arguments, as well as others, do pose valid points, but are outweighed by the need to inform the public about their food.
Many Americans believe GMOs should be labeled based on their faith. Reverend Dr. Dudley D. Chatman explains why many Christians support labeling GMOs when he states, “We definitely and positively want truth. And to be untrue to me, and not telling me what I’m eating, is definitely a sin.” They believe that because many food companies are not being completely honest on their labels, they are defying and ignoring God. Rabbi Elihu Gevirtz speaks for the Jewish community as he states, “If you can’t trust the food that you eat, how can you take care of your children? Labeling food as GMO enables us to make a conscious choice about the content of our food.” The reason many people are against GMOs and would like to choose to eat them or not is because in the Bible, Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 9 declares, “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled.” (New) Without GMO labeling, some people obviously don't know if they are being completely true to their faith or not when eating commercial products, which is not fair.
Many people are skeptical on the health of GMO foods. Lab testing has shown mice who were fed GMO corn were found “to have smaller offspring and fertility problems. Hamsters fed with GM soy were unable to have offspring.” According to Chinese Daily, Rice engineered to contain high amounts of vitamin A had a “tendency to cause allergic reactions” (Geib) Many believe GMOs have a direct connection to our current health as a community. “The American Academy of Environmental Medicine advises doctors to tell their patients to avoid GMOs, explaining that the introduction of GMOs into the current food supply has correlated with an alarming rise in chronic disease and food allergies.” (M.D.)
GMO foods cannot be abolished because their future presents many opportunities. Many biotech companies are currently developing various kinds of GMO foods, with different beneficial traits. Companies work on making foods taste better. They strive to make food's ripening season longer. Foods can even be modified to improve one's health. Food can be modified “with substances that help stimulate the body’s natural defense mechanisms to better fight diseases.” (Bellingham) The future of GMO foods is bright, and many people do not oppose these advances. These people who support GMO foods will still buy them, even when labeled.
As one can see, there are many debates over GMO foods, which is exactly why they should be labeled. A great portion of Americans are against GMO foods, and should have the liberty to choose not to eat them. Along with them, there are Americans who do not care about eating GMOs and don't think they have a negative effect on the body, who would eat them. It is not right for Americans to be blindly eating food, though, when they could be against its consumption. As studies show, the complete health effects of GMOs are unknown, but the freedom of Americans knowing what they're eating should be major companies' number one priority.
Work Cited
"The Bellingham Herald." Will Washington State Break U.S. Logjam on Labeling GMO Food? N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
"Faith and GMOs: Christian, Jewish, and Hindu Congregations Urged To Vote Yes On 37." Faith and GMOs: Christian, Jewish, and Hindu Congregations Urged To Vote Yes On 37. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
Geib, Aurora. "GMO Alert: Top 10 Genetically Modified Foods to Avoid Eating." NaturalNews. N.p., 01 May 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
M.D., Ph.D., Edison De Mello,. "What's the Big Deal About Genetically-Modified Organisms?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
New American Standard Bible
"Newsroom." Monsanto. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
Reflection
For the Op Ed Political Campaign Poster project, I was assigned the task to study a political issue and form an opinion based on what I think is right. I did research on my subject and wrote an essay to persuade people to agree with my belief. To do this, my essay included facts and statistics about my subject. I had to connect my subject with the morality and politics of justice, as part of my explanation of why my opinion is right. I then created a political campaign poster to go along with my essay. This poster included different kinds of rhetoric to show my opinion.
I have changed a lot due to this project. Before I started doing research, I was against the use of GMOs in foods. As I researched them, I realized they aren't as bad as I once thought and that there are a lot of myths about them. I decided that it is morally right to use GMOs in food, but only when people know about it. I got to do a lot of valuable research on different group's views on GMOs and about current food laws. This was a very beneficial aspect of the project. I also believe I refined my concise writing skills very much. In the past, I've written with a lot of detail, but this project gave me a great chance to break this norm and write differently. I am glad I did, as I feel much more confident in my concise writing now.
For my poster project, I am very confident I included three rhetorical devices effectively. I included a meaningful statistic on the top. It is that “90% of American's support labeling GMOs.” As one can understand, 90% Is a significant number, so this logos was very useful. I included strong ethos by using a quote from Barack Obama. Obama is the leader of our country, so he has a lot of credibility. I used pathos by showing a mother feeding her baby food, but the label has a question mark. The emotional aspect is the part with the baby, most people naturally feel like babies are cute little things that we have to take care of, but this is suggesting we can't take care of them without knowing what is in their food. I feel like my weakest point was refining the visual appeal of the project. One can tell that the baby food is photoshopped, which is not ideal. For my Op Ed, I feel like I did a great job with my concise writing. As earlier stated, I had a great opportunity to refine my concise writing skills. I feel like I really did this in this project, and am proud of my writing. I did a weak job at including a moral and political belief to support my reasons, I focussed more on the views of other groups.
If I had one more week to work on my project, I would get some help from another student to refine my poster and make it look less photoshopped. I believe a poster that looks genuine will be much more effective at communicating information than a poster that looks like someone with little qualification created. Although I am unqualified, it would be nice to have a more professional looking poster. I would also like to add more information about the morality of justice in my op ed essay. I would like to include a quote from one of the philosophers we studied in class, as that is a great form of ethos. Overall, I am glad I had the opportunity to study my subject more and create writing skills, as I will definitely be using this information and these skills in the future.
I have changed a lot due to this project. Before I started doing research, I was against the use of GMOs in foods. As I researched them, I realized they aren't as bad as I once thought and that there are a lot of myths about them. I decided that it is morally right to use GMOs in food, but only when people know about it. I got to do a lot of valuable research on different group's views on GMOs and about current food laws. This was a very beneficial aspect of the project. I also believe I refined my concise writing skills very much. In the past, I've written with a lot of detail, but this project gave me a great chance to break this norm and write differently. I am glad I did, as I feel much more confident in my concise writing now.
For my poster project, I am very confident I included three rhetorical devices effectively. I included a meaningful statistic on the top. It is that “90% of American's support labeling GMOs.” As one can understand, 90% Is a significant number, so this logos was very useful. I included strong ethos by using a quote from Barack Obama. Obama is the leader of our country, so he has a lot of credibility. I used pathos by showing a mother feeding her baby food, but the label has a question mark. The emotional aspect is the part with the baby, most people naturally feel like babies are cute little things that we have to take care of, but this is suggesting we can't take care of them without knowing what is in their food. I feel like my weakest point was refining the visual appeal of the project. One can tell that the baby food is photoshopped, which is not ideal. For my Op Ed, I feel like I did a great job with my concise writing. As earlier stated, I had a great opportunity to refine my concise writing skills. I feel like I really did this in this project, and am proud of my writing. I did a weak job at including a moral and political belief to support my reasons, I focussed more on the views of other groups.
If I had one more week to work on my project, I would get some help from another student to refine my poster and make it look less photoshopped. I believe a poster that looks genuine will be much more effective at communicating information than a poster that looks like someone with little qualification created. Although I am unqualified, it would be nice to have a more professional looking poster. I would also like to add more information about the morality of justice in my op ed essay. I would like to include a quote from one of the philosophers we studied in class, as that is a great form of ethos. Overall, I am glad I had the opportunity to study my subject more and create writing skills, as I will definitely be using this information and these skills in the future.
Korematsu vs U.S.
Written Components
Dewitt
My name is John Lesesne Dewitt. I was born at Fort Sidney, Nebraska on January 9th, 1880 to Calvin Dewitt, a former Civil War infantry captain. I attended Princeton before starting my Army career. When I was 18 years old, in 1898, I left to enlist in the Spanish-American war. In 1899 I went on my first tour of duty in the Philipines. During the First World War, in 1918, I served in Europe as a Lieuteant Colonal. When the war ended I was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1930 I became Quartermaster General of the Army with the rank Major General. I became the Commandant of the Army War College in 1937. I was not promoted to Lieutenant General until December of 1939. I took command of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command of the United States. My job was to protect the United States' west coast from invading Japanese. In 1942 I became concerned with the number of Japanese Americans residing in the west coast states. I could not take their word that they would be loyal to the United States. I reported my concerns to President Roosevelt. I told the president, “no sabotage by Japanese Americans has yet been confirmed. There is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken.” When I proposed the idea of evacuating all Japanese American civilians from the coast of California, Washington, and Oregon to President Roosevelt, he supported me. He issued Executive Order 9066 and ordered the evacuation. This Executive Order affected 110,000 Japanese Americans. I served as head of the Western Defense Command until June 15, 1943 when I was needed in the Pacific. In 1943 I organized the Army-Navy Staff college. In August of 1944 I visited France for a short time, attempting to convince the Germans that the Allies intended to land in Pas de Calais area and in Normandy. This was part of a deception plan. Now I am here, in the court room.
Direct Examination Questions: Dewitt
Q:Please state your name and age
A:My name is John Lesegne Dewitt, age 64.
Q: Can you please tell the court what your occupation is?
A:I have been in the army since I was 18 years old; I was born into a military family. I am currently the commander of the Army and Navy Staff College in Washington, DC
Q: Can you tell us about some of your war credentials?
A: During the First World War, in 1918, I served in Europe as a Lieutenant Colonel. When the war ended I was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1930 I became Quartermaster General of the Army with the rank Major General. I became the Commandant of the Army War College in 1937. I was not promoted to Lieutenant General until December of 1939. I took command of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command of the United States.
Q: How did you get involved in the mass evacuation of American Japanese people?
A: When I was in charge of the Western Defense Command if the United States, I was assigned the important task of protecting the west coast from invading Japanese.
Q: What part did you take in the mass evacuation of the Japanese people?
A: I suggested to the President that we evacuate all Japanese Americans from the west coast. I told him, “no sabotage by Japanese Americans has yet been confirmed. There is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken.” I was afraid for the well-being of my fellow Americans, so the President had to know of my concerns.
Q: Did you believe that the Japanese posed a threat to National Security?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What reasons did you have to believe that the Japanese Americans posed a threat to National Security?
A: The Japanese Americans lived around important locations for the US, like oil fields and beaches that could be used as runways for military aircrafts. We couldn’t risk having the US invaded. Some Japanese had ceremonies exclaiming their loyalty to their mother land. There was even a Japanese terrorist organization, called the Heimusha Kai. They could have posed a huge threat to the US’s integrity if not dealt with carefully.
Submit Evidence: Final Report
Q:General Dewitt, what you are holding what has been labeled Prosecution Exhibit A. Do you recognize it?”
A: Yes
Q: What is it?
A: It is the Final Report I wrote in 1943.
Q:Does the pages out of your report seem to complete and accurate?
A: Yes
“Your honors, I move for admission of prosecution Exhibit A.”
Q: Can you read the highlighted section?
A: Yes
Q: Can you flip the page and read the next highlighted section.
A: Yes
Q: One last thing to read Mr. Dewitt will you flip to the last page and read the highlighted section on the page.
A:Yes
Q: General Dewitt does this piece of evidence confirm your statement about the Japanese Americans posing a threat to National Security?
A: Yes they do.
Q: So to confirm and summarize what you’re saying, not only did you think the Japanese people were a threat you had plenty of reasons to believe so, such as the Emperor worship ceremonies, a large concentration of Japanese American people around important US structures, and terrorist groups such as the Heimusha Kai that were loyal to the Japanese Empire?
A: Yes, thats exactly right.
Expected Questions
Q Is it true that you once clearly stated, “A Jap's a Jap?”
A Yes. Perhaps the statement was inappropriate. I spoke out of anger and fear for the American people as a whole, not just certain races. I never said that the Japanese people were inferior to another race, I meant that they had ethnic ties that might promote certain actions in favor of their or their fathers home country.
Q Was anyone affected by the evacuations other than Japanese people?
A We felt that the Japanese people were the biggest threat, being that they had already attacked our soil, but were also concentrating around various points of interest, for example beaches that could possibly be used as landing strips, military bases, and supply depots. Our sole purpose was protecting America, and if the Japanese invaded our country, we would suffer far greater casualties and costs than fighting across seas. There were small amounts of people other than Japanese-Americans who were affected, but they were mostly Japanese.
Direct Examination Questions: Dewitt
Q:Please state your name and age
A:My name is John Lesegne Dewitt, age 64.
Q: Can you please tell the court what your occupation is?
A:I have been in the army since I was 18 years old; I was born into a military family. I am currently the commander of the Army and Navy Staff College in Washington, DC
Q: Can you tell us about some of your war credentials?
A: During the First World War, in 1918, I served in Europe as a Lieutenant Colonel. When the war ended I was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1930 I became Quartermaster General of the Army with the rank Major General. I became the Commandant of the Army War College in 1937. I was not promoted to Lieutenant General until December of 1939. I took command of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command of the United States.
Q: How did you get involved in the mass evacuation of American Japanese people?
A: When I was in charge of the Western Defense Command if the United States, I was assigned the important task of protecting the west coast from invading Japanese.
Q: What part did you take in the mass evacuation of the Japanese people?
A: I suggested to the President that we evacuate all Japanese Americans from the west coast. I told him, “no sabotage by Japanese Americans has yet been confirmed. There is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken.” I was afraid for the well-being of my fellow Americans, so the President had to know of my concerns.
Q: Did you believe that the Japanese posed a threat to National Security?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What reasons did you have to believe that the Japanese Americans posed a threat to National Security?
A: The Japanese Americans lived around important locations for the US, like oil fields and beaches that could be used as runways for military aircrafts. We couldn’t risk having the US invaded. Some Japanese had ceremonies exclaiming their loyalty to their mother land. There was even a Japanese terrorist organization, called the Heimusha Kai. They could have posed a huge threat to the US’s integrity if not dealt with carefully.
Submit Evidence: Final Report
Q:General Dewitt, what you are holding what has been labeled Prosecution Exhibit A. Do you recognize it?”
A: Yes
Q: What is it?
A: It is the Final Report I wrote in 1943.
Q:Does the pages out of your report seem to complete and accurate?
A: Yes
“Your honors, I move for admission of prosecution Exhibit A.”
Q: Can you read the highlighted section?
A: Yes
Q: Can you flip the page and read the next highlighted section.
A: Yes
Q: One last thing to read Mr. Dewitt will you flip to the last page and read the highlighted section on the page.
A:Yes
Q: General Dewitt does this piece of evidence confirm your statement about the Japanese Americans posing a threat to National Security?
A: Yes they do.
Q: So to confirm and summarize what you’re saying, not only did you think the Japanese people were a threat you had plenty of reasons to believe so, such as the Emperor worship ceremonies, a large concentration of Japanese American people around important US structures, and terrorist groups such as the Heimusha Kai that were loyal to the Japanese Empire?
A: Yes, thats exactly right.
Expected Questions
Q Is it true that you once clearly stated, “A Jap's a Jap?”
A Yes. Perhaps the statement was inappropriate. I spoke out of anger and fear for the American people as a whole, not just certain races. I never said that the Japanese people were inferior to another race, I meant that they had ethnic ties that might promote certain actions in favor of their or their fathers home country.
Q Was anyone affected by the evacuations other than Japanese people?
A We felt that the Japanese people were the biggest threat, being that they had already attacked our soil, but were also concentrating around various points of interest, for example beaches that could possibly be used as landing strips, military bases, and supply depots. Our sole purpose was protecting America, and if the Japanese invaded our country, we would suffer far greater casualties and costs than fighting across seas. There were small amounts of people other than Japanese-Americans who were affected, but they were mostly Japanese.
Masaoka
Hello, my name is Mike Masaoka. I was born on October 15th, 1915 in Fresno, California. My parents were Japanese Immigrants from Hiroshima and Kumamoto. We moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when I was very young so my father could manage his fishing market. It was hard for my mom to raise eight children on her own when my father died when I was nine, but she managed. I ended up graduating from the University of Utah. Later I moved to San Francisco, California and worked for the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). I was not named Executive Secretary until August of 1941. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, all of the Japanese speaking news papers were shut down. I tried to keep the Japanese language alive by creating news bulletins and distributing them to JACL chapters. The JACL had to censor everything that went through them. I remember they urged everyone to look as patriotic as possible, telling them to donate blood, take first aid courses, buy war bonds, and volunteer for civil defense units. We wanted to have a good image. I wrote the Japanese-American Creed and presented it to some fellow JACL members that New Years Eve. The Japanese-American Creed was my manifesto, which included my allegiance to the United States. When the war first started, Issei leaders were arrested and imprisoned at the very beginning. As the war continued, I found myself becoming the organizer and communicator between the War Relocation Department and the Japanese-American people. We had to let the country know how extremely devoted we were. I opposed any challenges against the evacuation order. I held campaigns showing my patriotism and devotion to the US. I even went to the lengths to propose a suicide battalion to the US army, made up of Nisei volunteers. If there were any doubts, they would use their parents as hostages. When the army responded, they said I should take on an advisory role at prison camps and told me how to operate the camps. I became the head of the Japanese American Advisory Council. When this happened, our attempts at keeping the Nisei out of incarceration proved ineffective, and the Nisei were imprisoned by the masses. I urged all Nisei to follow me when I volunteered to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team as a way to show their loyalty. I agreed that safeguards had to be provided by the government to make cooperation in the internment camps possible.
Q: Please state your name and age.
A: My name is Mike Masaoka, I am 29 years old.
Q: Can you please tell the court a little bit about your past.
A: Well, I graduated from the University of Utah before I moved to San Francisco, California. I ended up working for the Japanese American Citizens League, and became the Executive Secretary in 1941. I wrote the Japanese-American Creed and presented it to some fellow JACL members that New Years Eve. The Japanese-American Creed was my manifesto, which included my allegiance to the United States. When the war started, I found myself becoming the organizer and communicator between the War Relocation Department and the Japanese-American people. Responding to my many acts of patriotism, the Army appointed me as an advisor at prison camps and showed me how to operate them. I became the head of the Japanese American Citizens League.
Q: Is that your current position?
A: I am currently the National Secretary and Field Executive of the Japanese American Citizens League.
Q: So would you consider yourself a respectable man in the Japanese American society?
A: Yes, I would. I have shown my devotion to the US.
Q:How are you involved in the mass evacuation of the Japanese American people?
A: While I was an organizer at the Prison Camps, I helped facilitate communications between the Japanese American people and the US government.
Q: Mr. Masaoka, you have stated before that you don’t support the Japanese Internment camps except in the event of military necessity. What lead you to believe they were a military necessity.
A: Well, sir, there could have been many violent activities if the Japanese Americans were not separated. There could have been mobs on the streets, between non-Japanese Americans and Japanese Americans, and also between Japanese Americans who support the US and those who don’t. In many ways, the Japanese American people were being protected by being sent away. And I also recognize that not every Japanese American can be loyal to the US.
Q: So what you’re saying is that the internment camps were not only a Military necessity because not every Japanese American citizen could be loyal, but also it protected Japanese American citizens from mob violence.
A: Yes sir that is correct
Q: As a Japanese American citizen what would you do to if you were asked to go to the internment camps.
A: Well i wouldn't completely agree with it, but as an American citizen it is my duty to obey my country and I would go to prove that I am loyal to the US. A loyal citizen would do what his or her country asks of them in order to protect themselves and their countries from enemies. I, as well as many Japanese Americans, showed my loyalty by following orders and doing what was asked of me by my country.
Q: If a Japanese American was asked to go an Internment Camp and refused, is he or she refuses are they unloyal?
A: I would say partially yes.
Expected Cross Examination-
Q Did you think the evacuation of the Japanese people was justified?
A Yes. Even though our side of the story was not heard or even considered, in the interest of National Security, the government was protecting our own security along with the security of the non-Japanese Americans. There could be all kinds of violence in the streets if we were permitted to stay.
Q So you were willing to give up your way of life and go to these internment camps?
A Of course. I am willing to cooperate with the government and prove my loyalty no matter what the cost.
Q Was your opinion taken into account during the evacuation?
A Not at all. I was willing to put that aside and show my patriotism by cooperating.
Q You were not an intern at the camps, Mr Masaoka. Did you take certain actions to avoid being an intern with your fellow Japanese people?
A I took actions in order to show my loyalty, and the loyalty of others. I made the best out of a situation, and tried to let the government know that I as well as other Japanese people were not a threat to the country.
Q Was it valid to assume that most or all of the Japanese American people were disloyal?
A No. As I stated, I took certain actions to show and prove my loyalty.
Q: Please state your name and age.
A: My name is Mike Masaoka, I am 29 years old.
Q: Can you please tell the court a little bit about your past.
A: Well, I graduated from the University of Utah before I moved to San Francisco, California. I ended up working for the Japanese American Citizens League, and became the Executive Secretary in 1941. I wrote the Japanese-American Creed and presented it to some fellow JACL members that New Years Eve. The Japanese-American Creed was my manifesto, which included my allegiance to the United States. When the war started, I found myself becoming the organizer and communicator between the War Relocation Department and the Japanese-American people. Responding to my many acts of patriotism, the Army appointed me as an advisor at prison camps and showed me how to operate them. I became the head of the Japanese American Citizens League.
Q: Is that your current position?
A: I am currently the National Secretary and Field Executive of the Japanese American Citizens League.
Q: So would you consider yourself a respectable man in the Japanese American society?
A: Yes, I would. I have shown my devotion to the US.
Q:How are you involved in the mass evacuation of the Japanese American people?
A: While I was an organizer at the Prison Camps, I helped facilitate communications between the Japanese American people and the US government.
Q: Mr. Masaoka, you have stated before that you don’t support the Japanese Internment camps except in the event of military necessity. What lead you to believe they were a military necessity.
A: Well, sir, there could have been many violent activities if the Japanese Americans were not separated. There could have been mobs on the streets, between non-Japanese Americans and Japanese Americans, and also between Japanese Americans who support the US and those who don’t. In many ways, the Japanese American people were being protected by being sent away. And I also recognize that not every Japanese American can be loyal to the US.
Q: So what you’re saying is that the internment camps were not only a Military necessity because not every Japanese American citizen could be loyal, but also it protected Japanese American citizens from mob violence.
A: Yes sir that is correct
Q: As a Japanese American citizen what would you do to if you were asked to go to the internment camps.
A: Well i wouldn't completely agree with it, but as an American citizen it is my duty to obey my country and I would go to prove that I am loyal to the US. A loyal citizen would do what his or her country asks of them in order to protect themselves and their countries from enemies. I, as well as many Japanese Americans, showed my loyalty by following orders and doing what was asked of me by my country.
Q: If a Japanese American was asked to go an Internment Camp and refused, is he or she refuses are they unloyal?
A: I would say partially yes.
Expected Cross Examination-
Q Did you think the evacuation of the Japanese people was justified?
A Yes. Even though our side of the story was not heard or even considered, in the interest of National Security, the government was protecting our own security along with the security of the non-Japanese Americans. There could be all kinds of violence in the streets if we were permitted to stay.
Q So you were willing to give up your way of life and go to these internment camps?
A Of course. I am willing to cooperate with the government and prove my loyalty no matter what the cost.
Q Was your opinion taken into account during the evacuation?
A Not at all. I was willing to put that aside and show my patriotism by cooperating.
Q You were not an intern at the camps, Mr Masaoka. Did you take certain actions to avoid being an intern with your fellow Japanese people?
A I took actions in order to show my loyalty, and the loyalty of others. I made the best out of a situation, and tried to let the government know that I as well as other Japanese people were not a threat to the country.
Q Was it valid to assume that most or all of the Japanese American people were disloyal?
A No. As I stated, I took certain actions to show and prove my loyalty.
Reflection
For the Korematsu vs. US mock trial, our class took on roles of people involved in the Korematsu vs. US trial in 1944 and used facts and lawyer skills to explain our case and come to a conclusion. We were assigned to be witnesses, lawyers, or judges, each with specific tasks. The class was divided in half. One half was the prosecution team, and the other was the defendant team. I played the roll of two prosecution witnesses, general Dewitt and Mike Masaoka. We were trying to show that the Japanese internment camps passed the tests of strict scrutiny during times of war. To prepare for the trial, we learned about our characters, went over proper courtroom etiquette, and talked to lawyers to make the strongest case possible.
I had a great experience working with my team. Conner Murphey was my lawyer, so he helped me create cases in our teams favor. Mike Masaoka was a tough witness to work with on the prosecution side, he would probably be better with the defense team. Conner and I talked about his personality a lot, and tried to get as many good pieces of evidence from him as we could. We got the opinions of all of the lawyers on our team. This was extremely helpful. We all decided we would use him to show there were patriotic Japanese people, but still saw some Japanese people as threats to the US. This conclusion probably wouldnt've been found without the team's contribution. It was very helpful to have multiple ideas and opinions to create a strong argument.
For my written components, first I wrote a biography for each of my characters. These were short and consisted of important moments in the lives of the witnesses. This was to get into the characters head and start thinking like them. I then worked with my lawyer to create direct examination questions for each of my characters. For Dewitt, we decided to emphasize his war credentials and history with the military, as he had a rich history with the US army. We talked about his motives to intern the Japanese, and how he went about doing it. For Masaoka, we talked about his history being a loyal American, and how even he thought some Japanese people could pose a threat to security. We included how he was ready to do whatever was necessary for the US' security. The original plan was to talk about his role in the internment camps, but this did not seem to help our case at all. After talking to a lawyer, we decided to use his patriotism to our advantage. After creating strong direct examination questions and answers, I created some cross examination questions I would expect for each of the characters. For Dewitt, I was expecting them to ask about how just Japanese-Americans were interned, while German and Italian-Americans were not. For Masaoka, I was expecting them to ask about the conditions of the camps, and why I showed so much patriotism. We thought they'd ask if I was very patriotic to get out of being an internee. After these questions were formulated, I spent the rest of the planning time discussing the plan for our direct and cross examination questions with my lawyer.
I did not enjoy the idea of this project at first, because I was taking on the role of someone who has already existed, but once we started I had a really good time. I got to dig deep into the minds of others and use their past to create strong arguments, which was a good experience. The competitiveness definitely motivated me in the project. I became very enthralled in the idea of winning. This made the project fun as well, because we had some actual emotions and fears for the trial. We had secret conversations with our team members, and tried to listen in on the other team's conversations. I was really into it by the time the day of the trial came around. If I were to redo the project, I would recommend being more to-the-point with the questions and answers. The war history was great to share, but we definitely should've told them why our case passed the tests of strict scrutiny more blatantly. We only used the words strict scrutiny a few times. I believe we had great evidence, but we should've explained it's roles. The judges would've seen our point much more clearly, and perhaps the outcome would be different. It is also nice to have good evidence against possible cross-examination questions. I didn't have much, and I could've had a much better cross-examination experience if I could come back explaining a piece of specific evidence rather than explaining the general situation.
I had a great experience working with my team. Conner Murphey was my lawyer, so he helped me create cases in our teams favor. Mike Masaoka was a tough witness to work with on the prosecution side, he would probably be better with the defense team. Conner and I talked about his personality a lot, and tried to get as many good pieces of evidence from him as we could. We got the opinions of all of the lawyers on our team. This was extremely helpful. We all decided we would use him to show there were patriotic Japanese people, but still saw some Japanese people as threats to the US. This conclusion probably wouldnt've been found without the team's contribution. It was very helpful to have multiple ideas and opinions to create a strong argument.
For my written components, first I wrote a biography for each of my characters. These were short and consisted of important moments in the lives of the witnesses. This was to get into the characters head and start thinking like them. I then worked with my lawyer to create direct examination questions for each of my characters. For Dewitt, we decided to emphasize his war credentials and history with the military, as he had a rich history with the US army. We talked about his motives to intern the Japanese, and how he went about doing it. For Masaoka, we talked about his history being a loyal American, and how even he thought some Japanese people could pose a threat to security. We included how he was ready to do whatever was necessary for the US' security. The original plan was to talk about his role in the internment camps, but this did not seem to help our case at all. After talking to a lawyer, we decided to use his patriotism to our advantage. After creating strong direct examination questions and answers, I created some cross examination questions I would expect for each of the characters. For Dewitt, I was expecting them to ask about how just Japanese-Americans were interned, while German and Italian-Americans were not. For Masaoka, I was expecting them to ask about the conditions of the camps, and why I showed so much patriotism. We thought they'd ask if I was very patriotic to get out of being an internee. After these questions were formulated, I spent the rest of the planning time discussing the plan for our direct and cross examination questions with my lawyer.
I did not enjoy the idea of this project at first, because I was taking on the role of someone who has already existed, but once we started I had a really good time. I got to dig deep into the minds of others and use their past to create strong arguments, which was a good experience. The competitiveness definitely motivated me in the project. I became very enthralled in the idea of winning. This made the project fun as well, because we had some actual emotions and fears for the trial. We had secret conversations with our team members, and tried to listen in on the other team's conversations. I was really into it by the time the day of the trial came around. If I were to redo the project, I would recommend being more to-the-point with the questions and answers. The war history was great to share, but we definitely should've told them why our case passed the tests of strict scrutiny more blatantly. We only used the words strict scrutiny a few times. I believe we had great evidence, but we should've explained it's roles. The judges would've seen our point much more clearly, and perhaps the outcome would be different. It is also nice to have good evidence against possible cross-examination questions. I didn't have much, and I could've had a much better cross-examination experience if I could come back explaining a piece of specific evidence rather than explaining the general situation.
Energy and Sense of Place
How does energy impact place? How does your sense of place, environmental ethic, and understanding of our energy needs influence your perception and decisions regarding energy production?
Use What You Need, Leave What You Don't
By Johnny Middleton
Abstract
My essay is about my environmental ethics: conservationism and sustainability. I think that we should be able to use the earth, as long as we are responsible about it. We need to leave some of the earth for future generations, so they can experience it as we do. I tell a story about how I have come to believe in these ethics in one of my favorite areas in the world, La Plata Canyon. “In snowboarding, you work with the mountain, not against it. The same goes for all of the earth. We should work with the earth. Using it is fine, as long as we are working with it by making compromises.” My sense of place is the mountains, particularly snowy ones. I describe one of my favorite moments in the mountains in this essay, and try to show why I like them so much, and how they affect my environmental ethic.
Essay
I have always had a connection with the land. There is a certain feeling of fullness I get when I'm in the mountains, whether they be in Colorado, California, or even New Mexico. The fact that there are thousands of feet of dirt and rock under and around me makes me feel safe. The fact that nature can be so powerful as to create these gigantic monuments inspires me to surround myself with them and immerse myself in the landscape.
I am pretty passionate about snowboarding. Carving through frozen clouds of water at dangerously high speeds may be the best feeling in the world. There is a certain satisfaction I get when I rip through a turn; I can use so much of the landscape to my advantage. The snow is just waiting to be molded by my board. It is at the mercy of my edges yet invites me to float through it. This was my original incentive to go up into the La Platas, through La Plata canyon this winter. The snow there can be prime during the winter, and our ski hill was running out of untracked powder. So my friend, Tanner Smith, and I decided we would snowmobile to the top after school and board down.
I have been snowmobiling in the La Platas before, but I usually mess around in a basin you reach before you get to the peak. This time, though, we wanted to summit this mountain to get the longest ride down. We packed our backpacks with life-essential items, like Cheerios, blow horns, and roman candles. You know, the serious stuff. These were originally brought for fun, but one can see how they could be legitimately useful- Cheerios for food, blow horns to try and trigger avalanches or alert search-and-rescue teams, and roman candles to use as flairs. The preparation for this trip was brief, if our stoked ride to the mouth of the canyon could even be considered preparation, but we knew what we were getting into (for the most part.) Our dads knew where we were, what time they should look for us, and what time they should call search-and-rescue. Along with our party items, slightly notified parents, and snowboards, we were ready for the adventure.
We left on a school day. Right after our teacher let us know our torment was over, we jammed up the road to our houses. We both packed, dressed, and loaded the snowmobiles in record time. We reached the canyon entrance around 4:30 in the afternoon. The ride up the canyon is definitely something to look at. Around every corner is a completely new landscape. At the bottom, you speed through mostly straight trails, threading through aspen trees marked with messages from decades of hikers, cowboys and lovers. The nearly frozen stream on the right side of the trail trickles around a thousand years of carved stone, creating beautiful rock formations. Further into the trail, it starts to get twisty, as more and more aspens disappear, leaving only evergreens to guard the landscape. As you get farther into the canyon, more and more snowmobile tracks wander off of the immediate trail, adding texture to the smooth snowy landscape. They wait to be covered again, leaving almost no trace of civilization within the next storm or two. I love these tracks; I love making my own tracks. When I see the other tracks, I know that someone up here was having a good time, and enjoying themselves. They may have even challenged themselves with a hill climb or two. I cannot blame someone for simply enjoying their time in the mountains, I am here myself, just as they were. Eventually you reach the timberline, and, depending on where you are, shoot into a huge basin. It is a spectacular area. There are miles of sloped walls all around a giant bowl of fluffy, smooth snow.
One of the beauties of snowmobiles is that they bring you where you want to go, but not everyone can use them. You have to be relatively healthy to get to the very top. There are no driveable roads going to the top, which I really like. Not everyone can get there. It's kind of a secluded little area that makes sure that only the people that are actually serious can get to the peak. I am really annoyed when the only way people can get places is from their car or an easy atv or snowmobile trail. This ensures there is a relative level of solitude in the mountains. No tourists are there, only adventurers. Once we get to the top, Tanner and I have a system to get each other back up the hill, giving us many rides in one day. One person snowboards down while the other snowmobiles down. The boarder gets picked up at the bottom and gets a ride back up to the top, and we switch.
Riding down these hills is a feeling like none other. It's really hard for me to describe it. My board slices through snow like butter. The ride is euphoric, snow sparkles all around me as I carve through clouds, kicking up billows of powder with every slice. My legs pump through what feels like heaven. When I'm up here, with the sun setting and the cold setting in, with the snow gracefully flowing beneath me, I am alive. There's no such thing as “when we get back,” or, “tomorrow,” or even, “yesterday.” Everything is purely in the moment, and life seems completely authentic for a little bit. My mind and body meld with the landscape to become a living art piece. I need nothing else in the world, all of my worries are gone.
The key to snowboarding and skiing is that you have to work with the mountain, not against it. The landscape is a playground for me to use, but I am still at the mercy of the earth. You must work with obstacles to get around or through them, you cannot be afraid of them. The direct path must sometimes be abandoned, and risks must be taken. If something goes wrong, you work with the mountain some more to fix that. If you work against the mountain, though, you're never going to get anywhere. Ultimately, the mountain has control. It can kill you in an instant. There is so much power behind it, those thousands of pounds of snow just waiting to tumble down. It is interesting, how it can be the thing that makes me feel most alive, but can become my cause of death in just an instant.
After a few hours of shredding the gnar, Tanner and I decided it was time to go home. The sun had set about an hour earlier, and it was getting dark. We packed up and started heading off, when one of the snowmobiles got stuck. Not just a little stuck. This was really stuck, the now blueish snow engulfed half of it like an amoeba. We decided to try and ride it out, but with every pull of the throttle, it dug itself further into its doom. The best thing to do in this situation seems obvious enough: pull it out with the other snowmobile, right? Wrong. We now had two buried snowmobiles, miles from any civilization in the middle of winter, an hour after sunset.
We dug like dogs desperately trying to find long forgotten bones, all around the snowmobiles. Sweat dripped from my face and fell into the frozen sea below, acting as a catalyst to melt a small patch of snow. Trudging through the snow between machines, lifting the vehicles, and gaining no ground was possibly one of the most exhausting things I've ever done. My body was at the point where merely speaking became resentful, the loss of energy was too great for me to bear. My legs felt like bricks and my arms fell like noodles at my sides. With little progress, we decided to take a break and have some cheerios.
At this point, the stars were bright enough to perfectly compliment the black dome above. The sun was long gone, and for some reason, this was a moonless night. I sat and gazed at the sky, my eyes wandering from galaxy to galaxy. I have never felt so close to heaven in my life. Not because of the dangerous situation we were in, but because of the sheer beauty of everything around me. The blankets of snow in the middle of this gigantic bowl of rock and earth glowed blue, as the white light of the stars reflected off of millions of water crystals.
After some more fiddling and digging, we got the snowmobiles uncovered and made it to the cars before our parents called search-and-rescue. Even though things could've gone terribly wrong, I feel incredibly lucky to live in a place where I can have these kinds of experiences. I have the freedom to go pretty much wherever I want in these mountains. I think everyone should have this same freedom. I want others to have their own experiences in the mountains. I have learned a ton about myself in these mountains, and have had awesome moments. These moments shouldn't be limited by any kind of law. The mountains are part of the earth, and as long as we do not abuse them, we should be able to enjoy them.
In snowboarding, you work with the mountain, not against it. The same goes for all of the earth. We should work with the earth. Using it is fine, as long as we are working with it by making compromises. Good fisherman take what they need, but leave fish for the next season. This is how we should treat the earth. Take what we need respectfully, but make sure there will still be areas like La Plata Canyon for the future. These areas need no paved roads to thrive. As long as these places are on the earth, there will be adventurers to visit them. Use the earth as fisherman use the ocean, take only just enough. Take too much, and there won't be enough for tomorrow.
By Johnny Middleton
Abstract
My essay is about my environmental ethics: conservationism and sustainability. I think that we should be able to use the earth, as long as we are responsible about it. We need to leave some of the earth for future generations, so they can experience it as we do. I tell a story about how I have come to believe in these ethics in one of my favorite areas in the world, La Plata Canyon. “In snowboarding, you work with the mountain, not against it. The same goes for all of the earth. We should work with the earth. Using it is fine, as long as we are working with it by making compromises.” My sense of place is the mountains, particularly snowy ones. I describe one of my favorite moments in the mountains in this essay, and try to show why I like them so much, and how they affect my environmental ethic.
Essay
I have always had a connection with the land. There is a certain feeling of fullness I get when I'm in the mountains, whether they be in Colorado, California, or even New Mexico. The fact that there are thousands of feet of dirt and rock under and around me makes me feel safe. The fact that nature can be so powerful as to create these gigantic monuments inspires me to surround myself with them and immerse myself in the landscape.
I am pretty passionate about snowboarding. Carving through frozen clouds of water at dangerously high speeds may be the best feeling in the world. There is a certain satisfaction I get when I rip through a turn; I can use so much of the landscape to my advantage. The snow is just waiting to be molded by my board. It is at the mercy of my edges yet invites me to float through it. This was my original incentive to go up into the La Platas, through La Plata canyon this winter. The snow there can be prime during the winter, and our ski hill was running out of untracked powder. So my friend, Tanner Smith, and I decided we would snowmobile to the top after school and board down.
I have been snowmobiling in the La Platas before, but I usually mess around in a basin you reach before you get to the peak. This time, though, we wanted to summit this mountain to get the longest ride down. We packed our backpacks with life-essential items, like Cheerios, blow horns, and roman candles. You know, the serious stuff. These were originally brought for fun, but one can see how they could be legitimately useful- Cheerios for food, blow horns to try and trigger avalanches or alert search-and-rescue teams, and roman candles to use as flairs. The preparation for this trip was brief, if our stoked ride to the mouth of the canyon could even be considered preparation, but we knew what we were getting into (for the most part.) Our dads knew where we were, what time they should look for us, and what time they should call search-and-rescue. Along with our party items, slightly notified parents, and snowboards, we were ready for the adventure.
We left on a school day. Right after our teacher let us know our torment was over, we jammed up the road to our houses. We both packed, dressed, and loaded the snowmobiles in record time. We reached the canyon entrance around 4:30 in the afternoon. The ride up the canyon is definitely something to look at. Around every corner is a completely new landscape. At the bottom, you speed through mostly straight trails, threading through aspen trees marked with messages from decades of hikers, cowboys and lovers. The nearly frozen stream on the right side of the trail trickles around a thousand years of carved stone, creating beautiful rock formations. Further into the trail, it starts to get twisty, as more and more aspens disappear, leaving only evergreens to guard the landscape. As you get farther into the canyon, more and more snowmobile tracks wander off of the immediate trail, adding texture to the smooth snowy landscape. They wait to be covered again, leaving almost no trace of civilization within the next storm or two. I love these tracks; I love making my own tracks. When I see the other tracks, I know that someone up here was having a good time, and enjoying themselves. They may have even challenged themselves with a hill climb or two. I cannot blame someone for simply enjoying their time in the mountains, I am here myself, just as they were. Eventually you reach the timberline, and, depending on where you are, shoot into a huge basin. It is a spectacular area. There are miles of sloped walls all around a giant bowl of fluffy, smooth snow.
One of the beauties of snowmobiles is that they bring you where you want to go, but not everyone can use them. You have to be relatively healthy to get to the very top. There are no driveable roads going to the top, which I really like. Not everyone can get there. It's kind of a secluded little area that makes sure that only the people that are actually serious can get to the peak. I am really annoyed when the only way people can get places is from their car or an easy atv or snowmobile trail. This ensures there is a relative level of solitude in the mountains. No tourists are there, only adventurers. Once we get to the top, Tanner and I have a system to get each other back up the hill, giving us many rides in one day. One person snowboards down while the other snowmobiles down. The boarder gets picked up at the bottom and gets a ride back up to the top, and we switch.
Riding down these hills is a feeling like none other. It's really hard for me to describe it. My board slices through snow like butter. The ride is euphoric, snow sparkles all around me as I carve through clouds, kicking up billows of powder with every slice. My legs pump through what feels like heaven. When I'm up here, with the sun setting and the cold setting in, with the snow gracefully flowing beneath me, I am alive. There's no such thing as “when we get back,” or, “tomorrow,” or even, “yesterday.” Everything is purely in the moment, and life seems completely authentic for a little bit. My mind and body meld with the landscape to become a living art piece. I need nothing else in the world, all of my worries are gone.
The key to snowboarding and skiing is that you have to work with the mountain, not against it. The landscape is a playground for me to use, but I am still at the mercy of the earth. You must work with obstacles to get around or through them, you cannot be afraid of them. The direct path must sometimes be abandoned, and risks must be taken. If something goes wrong, you work with the mountain some more to fix that. If you work against the mountain, though, you're never going to get anywhere. Ultimately, the mountain has control. It can kill you in an instant. There is so much power behind it, those thousands of pounds of snow just waiting to tumble down. It is interesting, how it can be the thing that makes me feel most alive, but can become my cause of death in just an instant.
After a few hours of shredding the gnar, Tanner and I decided it was time to go home. The sun had set about an hour earlier, and it was getting dark. We packed up and started heading off, when one of the snowmobiles got stuck. Not just a little stuck. This was really stuck, the now blueish snow engulfed half of it like an amoeba. We decided to try and ride it out, but with every pull of the throttle, it dug itself further into its doom. The best thing to do in this situation seems obvious enough: pull it out with the other snowmobile, right? Wrong. We now had two buried snowmobiles, miles from any civilization in the middle of winter, an hour after sunset.
We dug like dogs desperately trying to find long forgotten bones, all around the snowmobiles. Sweat dripped from my face and fell into the frozen sea below, acting as a catalyst to melt a small patch of snow. Trudging through the snow between machines, lifting the vehicles, and gaining no ground was possibly one of the most exhausting things I've ever done. My body was at the point where merely speaking became resentful, the loss of energy was too great for me to bear. My legs felt like bricks and my arms fell like noodles at my sides. With little progress, we decided to take a break and have some cheerios.
At this point, the stars were bright enough to perfectly compliment the black dome above. The sun was long gone, and for some reason, this was a moonless night. I sat and gazed at the sky, my eyes wandering from galaxy to galaxy. I have never felt so close to heaven in my life. Not because of the dangerous situation we were in, but because of the sheer beauty of everything around me. The blankets of snow in the middle of this gigantic bowl of rock and earth glowed blue, as the white light of the stars reflected off of millions of water crystals.
After some more fiddling and digging, we got the snowmobiles uncovered and made it to the cars before our parents called search-and-rescue. Even though things could've gone terribly wrong, I feel incredibly lucky to live in a place where I can have these kinds of experiences. I have the freedom to go pretty much wherever I want in these mountains. I think everyone should have this same freedom. I want others to have their own experiences in the mountains. I have learned a ton about myself in these mountains, and have had awesome moments. These moments shouldn't be limited by any kind of law. The mountains are part of the earth, and as long as we do not abuse them, we should be able to enjoy them.
In snowboarding, you work with the mountain, not against it. The same goes for all of the earth. We should work with the earth. Using it is fine, as long as we are working with it by making compromises. Good fisherman take what they need, but leave fish for the next season. This is how we should treat the earth. Take what we need respectfully, but make sure there will still be areas like La Plata Canyon for the future. These areas need no paved roads to thrive. As long as these places are on the earth, there will be adventurers to visit them. Use the earth as fisherman use the ocean, take only just enough. Take too much, and there won't be enough for tomorrow.
Chemistry piece can be found in the Chemistry section of this page.
Reflection
In Humanities, for the past few weeks we have been researching different environmental ethics and sense of place. We learned about power sources and how our environment is impacted by various kinds of power plants and methods of creating energy. We also learned about the world's energy needs and how the environment is currently being protected. We then wrote inspiration journals, which were journals about our sense of place. We read various sections from stories that focused on sense of place and showed the authors environmental ethics to get a sense of what nature writing is and how to express our ethics through writing. When it came time to start the project, we were assigned the task to write an essay/poem that showed our sense of place, included our environmental ethics, and used nature writing in a minimum of 1,500 words. We also had to create a visual piece to go along with our writing.
When writing my essay, I really struggled with what to write about. I initially wanted to write a short story, and had many ideas on what to write, but didn't think they would apply to the project very well. I spend a lot of time in a canyon near my house, and have had many experiences there. After some time and thinking, I decided I should just write about one of those. It was perfect because I could write about my environmental ethic and sense of place, almost all in nature writing. I thought of how Desert Solitaire was written, and decided I should write my essay in kind of the same style, like a self-reflection essay. I think this was successful as I could write just what I knew and felt, and it was easy to reflect on an event I was so fond of. I grew by showing how I could be so lost in the beginning of the project, then later pulling everything together to create a quality project with a good amount of time left. I didn't finish it last minute, but I definitely wasn't the first person to complete my project. I also learned a lot about how vast metaphors can be, with my visual piece.
I am really proud of my visual piece. I ended up creating a watercolor picture of a fishing boat off the coast, during a sunrise. I am very happy with how it turned out. I have created really good watercolor pieces and really bad ones, and this project ended up at the better side of the spectrum. I like how it could just be a good picture, and the metaphor wouldn't be recognized if someone hadn't read my essay or artist statement. At the same time, there is that metaphor there, and it makes sense. If someone had already known the metaphor, hopefully they would be reminded of it when they saw the picture. This is a different concept for me, my art never has metaphors, but I was so pleased with my project, I might start using them. It might open up new doors for my art.
Chemistry was integrated into this project very well when we started, as the guest speakers told us about power and how we affect the land. Throughout the project, they both seemed to go separate ways, though. In Chemistry I was researching the efficiency of nuclear power plants and the cost of creating them and transporting them, whereas in Humanities, I was diving deep into my morals and my connection with the land. By the time the project had finished, they barely had anything to do with each other. I really enjoyed both projects, though. On one hand I got to be all artsy and use nature writing, but on the other I was researching a really fascinating scientific topic. I do not think they relied on each other at all, though. We could have done the science portion at the beginning of the year and the humanities portion now, or vis versa, and I wouldn't have noticed any correlation between the two projects.
When writing my essay, I really struggled with what to write about. I initially wanted to write a short story, and had many ideas on what to write, but didn't think they would apply to the project very well. I spend a lot of time in a canyon near my house, and have had many experiences there. After some time and thinking, I decided I should just write about one of those. It was perfect because I could write about my environmental ethic and sense of place, almost all in nature writing. I thought of how Desert Solitaire was written, and decided I should write my essay in kind of the same style, like a self-reflection essay. I think this was successful as I could write just what I knew and felt, and it was easy to reflect on an event I was so fond of. I grew by showing how I could be so lost in the beginning of the project, then later pulling everything together to create a quality project with a good amount of time left. I didn't finish it last minute, but I definitely wasn't the first person to complete my project. I also learned a lot about how vast metaphors can be, with my visual piece.
I am really proud of my visual piece. I ended up creating a watercolor picture of a fishing boat off the coast, during a sunrise. I am very happy with how it turned out. I have created really good watercolor pieces and really bad ones, and this project ended up at the better side of the spectrum. I like how it could just be a good picture, and the metaphor wouldn't be recognized if someone hadn't read my essay or artist statement. At the same time, there is that metaphor there, and it makes sense. If someone had already known the metaphor, hopefully they would be reminded of it when they saw the picture. This is a different concept for me, my art never has metaphors, but I was so pleased with my project, I might start using them. It might open up new doors for my art.
Chemistry was integrated into this project very well when we started, as the guest speakers told us about power and how we affect the land. Throughout the project, they both seemed to go separate ways, though. In Chemistry I was researching the efficiency of nuclear power plants and the cost of creating them and transporting them, whereas in Humanities, I was diving deep into my morals and my connection with the land. By the time the project had finished, they barely had anything to do with each other. I really enjoyed both projects, though. On one hand I got to be all artsy and use nature writing, but on the other I was researching a really fascinating scientific topic. I do not think they relied on each other at all, though. We could have done the science portion at the beginning of the year and the humanities portion now, or vis versa, and I wouldn't have noticed any correlation between the two projects.
Español Dos
Orejas y ojos- La lengua y yo
Dia de los muertos proyecto
For the Day of the Dead project in Spanish, we were given the task to create an art piece in the Mexican day of the dead style. I used paper mache to create a figurine which represented my grandma. We wrote a paper about our loved ones who've passed away. This paper had to include facts about our loved one's lives and a specific memory of them. I had to write the paper in Spanish and conjugate verbs to the past tense.
project
Mi abuela se llamaba Betty Middleton. Ella nació en Denver, Colorado, en 18 de enero de 1927. Ella trabajó una maestra por estudiantes sordo. Ella mudó a Tustin, California. Betty se casó Ed Middleton. Ella dio a luz seis niños. Ella le gustaba bailaba, acampaba, y jugaba juegos de naipes. Betty cocinaba muchos platos deliciosos, especialmente los enchiladas. Ella hacía un mezclar de chex delicioso con salsa de Tabasco. Ella amaba mucho inteligente, porque ella leyó muchos libros. Ella tenia flores en el jardín de ella. Ellos florecían todo el año. Ella tenia un perro. Cuando los niños de Betty se mudaron, ella se mudó a Cottonwood, Arizona. Ella asistía iglesia domingo cada. Ella murió en 6 de octubre de 2013.
Mi abuela amaba mucha amable. Ella tenía un reír inolvidable, y un sonrisa excelente. Ella amaba un manera gracioso ella decía “Oh, Ed.” Ella enseño yo el juego de Bridge a un campamento. Ella cocinaba los pez, y yo comía los pez a el lago. Yo iba iglesia con mi abuela a veces. Yo extraño ella.
Mi abuela amaba mucha amable. Ella tenía un reír inolvidable, y un sonrisa excelente. Ella amaba un manera gracioso ella decía “Oh, Ed.” Ella enseño yo el juego de Bridge a un campamento. Ella cocinaba los pez, y yo comía los pez a el lago. Yo iba iglesia con mi abuela a veces. Yo extraño ella.
Picture
Reflection
I learned a lot from the Day of the Dead project. I thought using this project as a way to apply our new knowledge was extremely useful for me. It was a good way for us to see how we can use the Spanish we know in more than just tests. The exhibition was good because we got to speak in Spanish a lot. Many people enjoyed our projects and were impressed at our depth of knowledge in Spanish grammar. The hardest part was conjugating all of the verbs to the past tense. Past-tense conjugations are relatively new to us, so it was different and pretty difficult to get them all conjugated correctly.
El Periodismo proyecto
For this project, I, as well as two other classmates, was assigned the task to study various significant cultural aspects of Chile. We each studied a different part of the country. Dakota Padilla studied current events, Chase Pierson studied products in Chile, and I studied the music. I had to study the music and write a script for a video we put together about Chile. I learned about the music and wrote the script about a Chilean music artist being interviewed. We later made videos about the music, current events and products and put them together in an informative video about the country's culture. These videos were all in Spanish.
I liked working on my own portion of the project. It is not too often in school that one gets to write about something that is really completely different from what everyone else is writing about, so that was good for me. I also enjoyed being able to put my Spanish to work and have my peers critique it. My best moment was writing the script. I had all the information and knowledge of Spanish to write it, so I ended up powering it out in a few days, then got it revised. I was happy with how I could just put information together and already knew enough that I didn't have to look too many words up.
A difficult part in this project was definitely learning about the music of Chile, because all of the websites that I looked at were in Spanish and my computer wouldn't translate them. I had to figure out what most of the websites were saying by using my Spanish skills. This made research slow, but I was able to finally get the information I needed and put it all together.
During this project, I learned that I work well in small groups. In larger groups, I seem to get drowned out, but in the three person group I was really able to be a leader as well as get the opinions of the other two members. Through the research, I learned that even though I don't know every word in Spanish, sometimes I can take words I know and try and finish sentences with them. I learned that Spanish can be relatively easy to read as long as you have a basic understanding and can persevere.
The knowledge from this project is important because learning languages is also about learning about cultures. Every country is different, and this project gave us a chance to learn about a South American country and see the differences and similarities with other groups' countries by watching their videos. We were able to immerse ourselves in a way in a Spanish environment. It was very beneficial to my Spanish speaking.
I liked working on my own portion of the project. It is not too often in school that one gets to write about something that is really completely different from what everyone else is writing about, so that was good for me. I also enjoyed being able to put my Spanish to work and have my peers critique it. My best moment was writing the script. I had all the information and knowledge of Spanish to write it, so I ended up powering it out in a few days, then got it revised. I was happy with how I could just put information together and already knew enough that I didn't have to look too many words up.
A difficult part in this project was definitely learning about the music of Chile, because all of the websites that I looked at were in Spanish and my computer wouldn't translate them. I had to figure out what most of the websites were saying by using my Spanish skills. This made research slow, but I was able to finally get the information I needed and put it all together.
During this project, I learned that I work well in small groups. In larger groups, I seem to get drowned out, but in the three person group I was really able to be a leader as well as get the opinions of the other two members. Through the research, I learned that even though I don't know every word in Spanish, sometimes I can take words I know and try and finish sentences with them. I learned that Spanish can be relatively easy to read as long as you have a basic understanding and can persevere.
The knowledge from this project is important because learning languages is also about learning about cultures. Every country is different, and this project gave us a chance to learn about a South American country and see the differences and similarities with other groups' countries by watching their videos. We were able to immerse ourselves in a way in a Spanish environment. It was very beneficial to my Spanish speaking.
Guia De Supervivencia
Reflection
For our Survival Guide project, we had to create a guide to visiting a country showing how to speak in different scenarios. For each scenario, we included helpful vocabulary and terms. We then wrote the scenario in Spanish and translated it into English. All of the cultural facts in the scenarios came from various travel books and websites. I wrote two scenarios, one on shopping and one on surfing. After all of the scenarios were written, my group and I decided to write a script to perform a short skit based on the shopping situation. We edited it and added more speaking, and performed it in front of a crowd.
Through my research, I learned a lot about the food and beaches of Costa Rica. Rice and beans are very popular there. There are a lot of tourist areas in Costa Rica, especially along the beaches. I learned that Costa Rica doesn't necessarily have big waves, but they are good because they are consistent. A lot of pro surfers travel to Costa Rica, but beginners can also go surfing there, too. A very large amount of Costa Rica is beaches, making a lot of it's economy dependent upon those beaches' attractions.
The most beneficial part of this project was being able to speak in front of people. I never get to, but this project forced me to, and made me really focus on pronunciation and grammar. It was really nice to be able to practice my speaking skills in front of people. It was also nice for me to work with my group and have to create the project with them. I am not very good at managing time, but for this project I had to because I would've let my group down if I didn't finish on time. This kept me motivated and engaged in the project.
Through my research, I learned a lot about the food and beaches of Costa Rica. Rice and beans are very popular there. There are a lot of tourist areas in Costa Rica, especially along the beaches. I learned that Costa Rica doesn't necessarily have big waves, but they are good because they are consistent. A lot of pro surfers travel to Costa Rica, but beginners can also go surfing there, too. A very large amount of Costa Rica is beaches, making a lot of it's economy dependent upon those beaches' attractions.
The most beneficial part of this project was being able to speak in front of people. I never get to, but this project forced me to, and made me really focus on pronunciation and grammar. It was really nice to be able to practice my speaking skills in front of people. It was also nice for me to work with my group and have to create the project with them. I am not very good at managing time, but for this project I had to because I would've let my group down if I didn't finish on time. This kept me motivated and engaged in the project.
matH
I have faced many obstacles in math this year. I started the year strong, as seen in the picture from the test above. When we started doing things involving square roots and factoring, I started on a downhill slope. I did not understand square roots or factoring at all, and math got really tough for me. I found I could go online and look up how to do factoring and square root problems, and I did this for most of my homework assignments. The problem was that when it came time to take a test or quiz, I was lost. I ended up doing poorly on two or three tests before I went to Jennifer and got help. I learned that advocating is really important in math, because just because I could complete a problem for homework didn't mean I understood it. I usually don't like admitting I don't know what I'm doing, but in this case it helped a lot. I had a particularly good understanding in the Quadratic Formula this semester. It was nice, because I could memorize the formula and complete it very easily. It was like a nice map for me to plug the numbers into, and problems seemed to solve themselves from there. I found myself wanting more quadratic formula assignments for homework, because I liked that I could complete them so much. I am glad I had a chance to learn so much this semester and was able to complete half of the year having a good understanding of most of the concepts.
Polynomials and Art
For the polynomials and art project, our class had to take a picture and turn it into another picture, using just polynomials. We took our initial pictures and found some lines on it that we wanted to graph. Then we layed graphs over the pictures and traced the lines onto the graphs. We used the zeros of our lines and the coordinates of the graphs to write equations for our lines. We had to go through the process of using the coordinates to turn them into lines on paper. After we had our equations, we could plug them into our calculators and see the polynomials. We used these lines to create new pictures on graph paper.
Calculations
Reflection
I enjoyed this project because it showed us how math could be more than just numbers. I am not very good with numbers, but learning through this project was very beneficial for me to apply what I had learned into an actual visual. It was really cool to take the pictures, write equations for them, and make new pictures. I think the process of finding those equations was the hardest part, but also the best because it was really hands-on. I learned really well by making my picture. I think that this was my favorite math assignment, because it was not only fun, but it showed me how math could be integrated into many things more than just homework.
Chemistry
Materials Project
Letter
Animas High School
3206 Main Ave
Durango, CO 81301
(970) 247-2474
Venture Snowboards
5 Mears Avenue
PO Box 547
Silverton, Colorado 81433
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Jonathan Middleton and I live in Durango, Colorado. I have been snowboarding for seven years, and have been teaching at a local mountain for two. Snowboarding is one of my most passionate activities, and I surround each summer with long boarding and surfing as I wait for the next winter season.
I would like to address the problem of scratched bases on snowboards. Many people would agree that one of the most disappointing feelings in snowboarding is getting a big scratch on the bottom of their board. Although your boards' high-quality bases use strong P-Tex or Durasurf, some scratches are inevitable. I propose the idea of a base that doesn't prevent these scratches, but rather repairs them.
Self healing materials are becoming more and more popular as they develop. The technology I suggest is the filling of cracks using a polymer, which is a chain of monomers. The polymer polycyclopedniene would be created inside the base as it gets scratched, automatically. This involves microcapsules embedded in the base material of the board, P-tex in most cases, along with a catalyst. The microcapsules would be made of urea-formaldehyde, and contain the monomer dicyclopentadiene, or DCPD, the healing agent. The base must also contain a catalyst for the DCPD to react with. This catalyst is called Grubb's catalyst. When the base of the board cracks or is scratched, these microcapsules break. The DCPD is released and fills in the crack.
When the DCPD comes into contact with the catalyst, a chemical reaction occurs. The catalyst starts a ring opening metathesis polymerization process in the DCPD. This polymerizes the DCPD and creates polycyclopendiene, held together by cross-linked covalent bonds. Polycyclopendiene is a tough polymer that is impact-resistant in low temperatures, in fact it was first used as snowmobile cowlings. It's cross-linked bonds are irreversible, and have a high modulus, fracture strength, and are solvent resistant. These properties are also found in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, or, as you may know it, P-tex. This material would be excellent for filling cracks because of this reason. Some studies using this technology in epoxies have shown a strength increase of up to 125% compared to the un-cracked material.
(Image taken from http://shakeel.host22.com/current%20issues/self%20healing%20materials.pdf)
Self healing snowboard bases would be extremely useful for many riders. The polycyclopendiene filling would fill small cracks and scratches, protecting the base from further damage and allowing for a smoother ride. Not only would this technology be useful, but it would be easy, as the process happens automatically. More time would be spent on the mountain, and less time worrying about scratches causing further damage and ruining runs. Thank you for your time and consideration, you can contact me at [email protected] or at the address in the letterhead.
Kind regards,
Jonathan Middleton
3206 Main Ave
Durango, CO 81301
(970) 247-2474
Venture Snowboards
5 Mears Avenue
PO Box 547
Silverton, Colorado 81433
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Jonathan Middleton and I live in Durango, Colorado. I have been snowboarding for seven years, and have been teaching at a local mountain for two. Snowboarding is one of my most passionate activities, and I surround each summer with long boarding and surfing as I wait for the next winter season.
I would like to address the problem of scratched bases on snowboards. Many people would agree that one of the most disappointing feelings in snowboarding is getting a big scratch on the bottom of their board. Although your boards' high-quality bases use strong P-Tex or Durasurf, some scratches are inevitable. I propose the idea of a base that doesn't prevent these scratches, but rather repairs them.
Self healing materials are becoming more and more popular as they develop. The technology I suggest is the filling of cracks using a polymer, which is a chain of monomers. The polymer polycyclopedniene would be created inside the base as it gets scratched, automatically. This involves microcapsules embedded in the base material of the board, P-tex in most cases, along with a catalyst. The microcapsules would be made of urea-formaldehyde, and contain the monomer dicyclopentadiene, or DCPD, the healing agent. The base must also contain a catalyst for the DCPD to react with. This catalyst is called Grubb's catalyst. When the base of the board cracks or is scratched, these microcapsules break. The DCPD is released and fills in the crack.
When the DCPD comes into contact with the catalyst, a chemical reaction occurs. The catalyst starts a ring opening metathesis polymerization process in the DCPD. This polymerizes the DCPD and creates polycyclopendiene, held together by cross-linked covalent bonds. Polycyclopendiene is a tough polymer that is impact-resistant in low temperatures, in fact it was first used as snowmobile cowlings. It's cross-linked bonds are irreversible, and have a high modulus, fracture strength, and are solvent resistant. These properties are also found in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, or, as you may know it, P-tex. This material would be excellent for filling cracks because of this reason. Some studies using this technology in epoxies have shown a strength increase of up to 125% compared to the un-cracked material.
(Image taken from http://shakeel.host22.com/current%20issues/self%20healing%20materials.pdf)
Self healing snowboard bases would be extremely useful for many riders. The polycyclopendiene filling would fill small cracks and scratches, protecting the base from further damage and allowing for a smoother ride. Not only would this technology be useful, but it would be easy, as the process happens automatically. More time would be spent on the mountain, and less time worrying about scratches causing further damage and ruining runs. Thank you for your time and consideration, you can contact me at [email protected] or at the address in the letterhead.
Kind regards,
Jonathan Middleton
Energy Debate
Energy and Place: Should nuclear power be utilized in the four corners region?
Joint Scientific Statement-
How a Light Water Nuclear Reactor Works...
Radiation is an incredible phenomenon, and can create an abundance of power for many people around the world. A nuclear power plant is very complicated. The light water reactor uses H2O to create steam, which spins a turbine to produce electricity.
The fuel used in Nuclear Reactors is usually Uranium Oxide (UO2) pellets. These pellets make up fuel rods. The Uranium in these fuel rods decays and shoots radiation onto the other fuel rods, causing them to decay as well. It is a chain reaction that generates extreme amounts of heat. This heat must be controlled, so control rods are placed between the fuel rods. The control rods must be made of neutron-absorbing material, so they stop the radiation when it hits them. Cadmium, hafnium or boron is usually used as the control rod material. The control rods can be raised or lowered, allowing more or less of the fuel rods to react. The control rods can even shut down the reaction completely, if necessary.
In pressurized water reactors, inside the core, water acts as the primary coolant. A pressurizer pressurizes the water so it will not create steam inside the core. The water runs around the fuel rods as they heat it. It is pumped through the core and runs into a radiator-like system. In this system, the primary coolant runs through a secondary coolant. The secondary coolant is also water, but is not as pressurized, as it must be allowed to generate steam. As the steam generates it turns a turbine, which powers a generator. The steam then flows through a condenser, which is another coolant. The steam condenses into water which runs back to the primary coolant to be used again. The water for the condenser can be used from nearby water sources, such as streams, rivers, or oceans.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors/
In boiling water reactors, the water in the core is less pressurized. The water in the core turns into steam and passes by a steam separator. This steam goes straight to the turbine. After it has passed the turbine, it condenses and returns to the core via a pump.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors/
After the turbines power generators to create electricity, the electricity is sent through a transformer. From there, part of it goes back to the plant to be used to run various components of the plant, and the other part goes out to the grid to be used.
Sources
"Nuclear Power Reactors." Nuclear Reactors. World Nuclear News, Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors/>.
12.
b.
Breeder Reactors (Fast Neutron Reactors) are much different from Light Water Reactors. A light water reactor uses a moderator to slow down the radiation between fuel rods to maintain maximum efficiency. Breeder reactors, however, use moderators that slow the neutrons much less, letting them maintain their speed. Natural Uranium must be concentrated so it contains a relatively higher ratio of U235 isotopes to U238 isotopes. This Uranium fuel contains 3-8% U235. U235 fissions readily, unlike U238. Most of the fissioning happens to the U235. U238 can be useful, as it turns into Pu239 when it absorbs fast neutrons. This Pu239 decays into U235. Pu239 fissions as reactors operate, but as they fission, they reduce the amount of fuel left in the reactor. Fast neutrons are absorbed by U238 easily, and do not easily cause fission in Pu239, which makes them good for creating high amounts of U235. These reactors can generate 30% more fuel than used in the reaction. The plutonium created in these reactions can be used in nuclear weapons, which has become a concern. Another concern is that the waste can cause high radiation exposure when it is being reprocessed.
Sources
"How Do Fast Breeder Reactors Differ from Regular Nuclear Power Plants?" Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 17 July 2006. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-fast-breeder-react/>.
c.
Heavy water nuclear reactors use heavy water (D2O) rather than light water (H2O) as a moderator. It slows neutrons even more than regular water, as it is 10% heavier. Heavy water reactors can use Uranium that has not been enriched as fuel. It can be used right from the mine.
Sources
"Light Water Reactors." Light Water Nuclear Reactors. HyperPhysics, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/ligwat.html>.
Radiation is an incredible phenomenon, and can create an abundance of power for many people around the world. A nuclear power plant is very complicated. The light water reactor uses H2O to create steam, which spins a turbine to produce electricity.
The fuel used in Nuclear Reactors is usually Uranium Oxide (UO2) pellets. These pellets make up fuel rods. The Uranium in these fuel rods decays and shoots radiation onto the other fuel rods, causing them to decay as well. It is a chain reaction that generates extreme amounts of heat. This heat must be controlled, so control rods are placed between the fuel rods. The control rods must be made of neutron-absorbing material, so they stop the radiation when it hits them. Cadmium, hafnium or boron is usually used as the control rod material. The control rods can be raised or lowered, allowing more or less of the fuel rods to react. The control rods can even shut down the reaction completely, if necessary.
In pressurized water reactors, inside the core, water acts as the primary coolant. A pressurizer pressurizes the water so it will not create steam inside the core. The water runs around the fuel rods as they heat it. It is pumped through the core and runs into a radiator-like system. In this system, the primary coolant runs through a secondary coolant. The secondary coolant is also water, but is not as pressurized, as it must be allowed to generate steam. As the steam generates it turns a turbine, which powers a generator. The steam then flows through a condenser, which is another coolant. The steam condenses into water which runs back to the primary coolant to be used again. The water for the condenser can be used from nearby water sources, such as streams, rivers, or oceans.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors/
In boiling water reactors, the water in the core is less pressurized. The water in the core turns into steam and passes by a steam separator. This steam goes straight to the turbine. After it has passed the turbine, it condenses and returns to the core via a pump.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors/
After the turbines power generators to create electricity, the electricity is sent through a transformer. From there, part of it goes back to the plant to be used to run various components of the plant, and the other part goes out to the grid to be used.
Sources
"Nuclear Power Reactors." Nuclear Reactors. World Nuclear News, Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors/>.
12.
b.
Breeder Reactors (Fast Neutron Reactors) are much different from Light Water Reactors. A light water reactor uses a moderator to slow down the radiation between fuel rods to maintain maximum efficiency. Breeder reactors, however, use moderators that slow the neutrons much less, letting them maintain their speed. Natural Uranium must be concentrated so it contains a relatively higher ratio of U235 isotopes to U238 isotopes. This Uranium fuel contains 3-8% U235. U235 fissions readily, unlike U238. Most of the fissioning happens to the U235. U238 can be useful, as it turns into Pu239 when it absorbs fast neutrons. This Pu239 decays into U235. Pu239 fissions as reactors operate, but as they fission, they reduce the amount of fuel left in the reactor. Fast neutrons are absorbed by U238 easily, and do not easily cause fission in Pu239, which makes them good for creating high amounts of U235. These reactors can generate 30% more fuel than used in the reaction. The plutonium created in these reactions can be used in nuclear weapons, which has become a concern. Another concern is that the waste can cause high radiation exposure when it is being reprocessed.
Sources
"How Do Fast Breeder Reactors Differ from Regular Nuclear Power Plants?" Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 17 July 2006. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-fast-breeder-react/>.
c.
Heavy water nuclear reactors use heavy water (D2O) rather than light water (H2O) as a moderator. It slows neutrons even more than regular water, as it is 10% heavier. Heavy water reactors can use Uranium that has not been enriched as fuel. It can be used right from the mine.
Sources
"Light Water Reactors." Light Water Nuclear Reactors. HyperPhysics, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/ligwat.html>.
Opening and Closing Statements-
Nuclear energy, although relatively efficient with little emissions, cannot be utilized in the four corners area. There are many risks involved with nuclear waste, and the alternatives can yield safer and more efficient energy. In fact, nuclear energy is only around 0.27%, whereas the efficiency of natural gas plants is around 38%.
Nuclear waste, as many know, can be very dangerous. Currently, there are not many ways to get rid of it, and it can be detrimental to human's health and the environment. Although nuclear waste can be reprocessed, this is not allowed in the United States. The steps taken to reprocess the waste can be too hazardous to workers. In fact, a worker has just sued Tepco, the owner of Fukushima 1, for unknowingly being exposed to high amounts of radiation. After the fuel is used, it lasts for thousands of years. Right now, one of the only known solutions is to bury it.But by burying it, we are putting the burden onto our children's shoulders rather than finding a solution ourselves. If we cannot find a healthy solution for the disposal of nuclear waste, we should not be producing it.
Nuclear technology may look high and mighty, and nuclear power plants can be cheep to maintain, but there are hidden costs which are not mentioned very often. These costs are both in the form of money, and the environment paying for our mistakes. According to a small publication firm you may have heard of, called the New York Times, the meltdown at Three-mile Island costed $1,000,000.00 in cleanup. The disaster at Chernobyl has made the area uninhabitable for an estimate of thousands of years to come. Even if a nuclear reactor does not melt down, it is expensive to build, and a mine and mill must also be built.
Nuclear power is not the most efficient form of energy. There are definitely alternatives to using nuclear power in the Four Corners area. Natural gas is more efficient than nuclear reactors. It is also readily available. Natural gas can be instantly turned on, whereas nuclear reactors need time to start up. Natural gas can also be transported through pipelines.
The effects of nuclear technology are not as positive as instantly perceived. The environment and people of the US cannot deal with the nuclear burden until we have a surefire way of cleanly disposing the waste, and creating more efficient reactors. If you care about the earth and about yourself and your family, you will join my cause. Keep nuclear technology out of the four corners area. Keep Colorado clean.
Sources
Kyodo. "Tepco Hit with Suit over No. 1 Risks." Japan Times RSS. The Japan Times, 8 May 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/08/national/tepco-hit-with-suit-over-no-1-risks/#.U3OMwV47c04>.
"14-Year Cleanup at Three Mile Island Concludes." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Aug. 1993. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/15/us/14-year-cleanup-at-three-mile-island-concludes.html>.
Zactruba, John. "The Efficiency of Power Plants of Differnt Types." Brighthub Engineering. Bright Hub Inc, 27 May 2010. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.brighthubengineering.com/power-plants/72369-compare-the-efficiency-of-different-power-plants/>.
Closing Statement-
My fellow Coloradoans, if you have listened to our arguments, you know that nuclear technology is not a viable option in the southwest, for our environment and physical health. We cannot risk our beautiful landscape for a source of energy that could destroy so much. We owe it to our earth and to ourselves to use the safest method possible.
Nuclear waste, as many know, can be very dangerous. Currently, there are not many ways to get rid of it, and it can be detrimental to human's health and the environment. Although nuclear waste can be reprocessed, this is not allowed in the United States. The steps taken to reprocess the waste can be too hazardous to workers. In fact, a worker has just sued Tepco, the owner of Fukushima 1, for unknowingly being exposed to high amounts of radiation. After the fuel is used, it lasts for thousands of years. Right now, one of the only known solutions is to bury it.But by burying it, we are putting the burden onto our children's shoulders rather than finding a solution ourselves. If we cannot find a healthy solution for the disposal of nuclear waste, we should not be producing it.
Nuclear technology may look high and mighty, and nuclear power plants can be cheep to maintain, but there are hidden costs which are not mentioned very often. These costs are both in the form of money, and the environment paying for our mistakes. According to a small publication firm you may have heard of, called the New York Times, the meltdown at Three-mile Island costed $1,000,000.00 in cleanup. The disaster at Chernobyl has made the area uninhabitable for an estimate of thousands of years to come. Even if a nuclear reactor does not melt down, it is expensive to build, and a mine and mill must also be built.
Nuclear power is not the most efficient form of energy. There are definitely alternatives to using nuclear power in the Four Corners area. Natural gas is more efficient than nuclear reactors. It is also readily available. Natural gas can be instantly turned on, whereas nuclear reactors need time to start up. Natural gas can also be transported through pipelines.
The effects of nuclear technology are not as positive as instantly perceived. The environment and people of the US cannot deal with the nuclear burden until we have a surefire way of cleanly disposing the waste, and creating more efficient reactors. If you care about the earth and about yourself and your family, you will join my cause. Keep nuclear technology out of the four corners area. Keep Colorado clean.
Sources
Kyodo. "Tepco Hit with Suit over No. 1 Risks." Japan Times RSS. The Japan Times, 8 May 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/08/national/tepco-hit-with-suit-over-no-1-risks/#.U3OMwV47c04>.
"14-Year Cleanup at Three Mile Island Concludes." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Aug. 1993. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/15/us/14-year-cleanup-at-three-mile-island-concludes.html>.
Zactruba, John. "The Efficiency of Power Plants of Differnt Types." Brighthub Engineering. Bright Hub Inc, 27 May 2010. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.brighthubengineering.com/power-plants/72369-compare-the-efficiency-of-different-power-plants/>.
Closing Statement-
My fellow Coloradoans, if you have listened to our arguments, you know that nuclear technology is not a viable option in the southwest, for our environment and physical health. We cannot risk our beautiful landscape for a source of energy that could destroy so much. We owe it to our earth and to ourselves to use the safest method possible.
Debate Link-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEkdMx9y08Y&feature=youtu.be
Reflection-
Energy and Place: Nuclear power is a clean source of electrical energy and the US should provide incentives for the construction of new nuclear power plants throughout the US including the Four Corners region.
We debated the motion of whether the US should provide incentives for constructing nuclear power plants in the four corners region. I was against this motion. I researched alternatives and the dangers of nuclear waste to try and prove my point that there should not be nuclear power plants in the US. I was for nuclear power at the beginning of the debate, but after learning more about it, started leaning towards being against it. I think it is a really cool form of harvesting energy, and the technology fascinates and intrigues me, but after thinking about it more personally, I don't want a nuclear power plant in my backyard. I have a great amount of NIMBYism in the subject. I have nothing against nuclear power plants in other places, but Durango and most of the four corners region is not a place for them. We rely too much on the outdoors, and on tourism. The Humanities project definitely got me to think about this, and I don't think I would've thought of nuclear power the same without it. After reflecting on my sense of place, I really started feeling this NIMBYism towards nuclear power.
For my side of the motion, I think our strongest arguments were safety hazards using evidence from past nuclear disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima. More of our strongest evidence included the fact that there are CO2 emissions involved in mining and milling uranium, our lack of guaranteed safe disposal of nuclear waste, and alternatives being more efficient and clean than nuclear power plants. My enemies' arguments mostly focused on how little CO2 emissions there are, and how much energy is created with nuclear reactors. I would love to learn more about fast neutron reactors and fusion. I know fusion is a while away from being a viable energy source, but I think it is a really cool idea. I'd love to learn more about the science behind it, and how it occurs naturally, like in stars. For me, arguing against nuclear reactors was hard. It was interesting, though, because I really got a good understanding of them, and was actually informed of some of the legitimate issues surrounding their use. I believe arguing for or against the nuclear reactors would yield this result, though.
In Humanities, I decided to write my sense of place essay about experiences I've had in La Plata Canyon. La Plata Canyon is a place I really enjoy going to, I spend a ton of time there during the summer and winter. There are issues involving creating a mine in the area; there are many signs warning of the mine's threat. Thinking of there being a mine, or nuclear power plant in the canyon would probably make me hate nuclear power forever. The canyon is kind of my escape, and I'd hate to see it touched by too much civilization. If there were anything that could completely change my views on nuclear power, a plant being built in that area would be it.
I think we had a strong team in the debate. Both sides had good evidence, and there were some good arguments brought up, like when we discussed the issue of how a mine must be created, and the uranium must be transported. If I were to do anything differently, I would state that the nuclear power plants would not be able to work either in the event of a drought, after Dylon stated that the hydro-electric plants wouldn't work in such a situation. I wish we had more questions from the moderator to discuss, because we had a few awkward silent moments.
Over the debate, there was some confusion on the efficiency of nuclear power plants compared to natural gas. According to http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_08_01.html, natural gas actually is more efficient than nuclear power. Also, we found that when a nuclear reactor shuts down, it is still generating heat, even a week after the shutdown, according to http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Safety-of-Nuclear-Power-Reactors/. These arguments could both be used in our favor.
We debated the motion of whether the US should provide incentives for constructing nuclear power plants in the four corners region. I was against this motion. I researched alternatives and the dangers of nuclear waste to try and prove my point that there should not be nuclear power plants in the US. I was for nuclear power at the beginning of the debate, but after learning more about it, started leaning towards being against it. I think it is a really cool form of harvesting energy, and the technology fascinates and intrigues me, but after thinking about it more personally, I don't want a nuclear power plant in my backyard. I have a great amount of NIMBYism in the subject. I have nothing against nuclear power plants in other places, but Durango and most of the four corners region is not a place for them. We rely too much on the outdoors, and on tourism. The Humanities project definitely got me to think about this, and I don't think I would've thought of nuclear power the same without it. After reflecting on my sense of place, I really started feeling this NIMBYism towards nuclear power.
For my side of the motion, I think our strongest arguments were safety hazards using evidence from past nuclear disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima. More of our strongest evidence included the fact that there are CO2 emissions involved in mining and milling uranium, our lack of guaranteed safe disposal of nuclear waste, and alternatives being more efficient and clean than nuclear power plants. My enemies' arguments mostly focused on how little CO2 emissions there are, and how much energy is created with nuclear reactors. I would love to learn more about fast neutron reactors and fusion. I know fusion is a while away from being a viable energy source, but I think it is a really cool idea. I'd love to learn more about the science behind it, and how it occurs naturally, like in stars. For me, arguing against nuclear reactors was hard. It was interesting, though, because I really got a good understanding of them, and was actually informed of some of the legitimate issues surrounding their use. I believe arguing for or against the nuclear reactors would yield this result, though.
In Humanities, I decided to write my sense of place essay about experiences I've had in La Plata Canyon. La Plata Canyon is a place I really enjoy going to, I spend a ton of time there during the summer and winter. There are issues involving creating a mine in the area; there are many signs warning of the mine's threat. Thinking of there being a mine, or nuclear power plant in the canyon would probably make me hate nuclear power forever. The canyon is kind of my escape, and I'd hate to see it touched by too much civilization. If there were anything that could completely change my views on nuclear power, a plant being built in that area would be it.
I think we had a strong team in the debate. Both sides had good evidence, and there were some good arguments brought up, like when we discussed the issue of how a mine must be created, and the uranium must be transported. If I were to do anything differently, I would state that the nuclear power plants would not be able to work either in the event of a drought, after Dylon stated that the hydro-electric plants wouldn't work in such a situation. I wish we had more questions from the moderator to discuss, because we had a few awkward silent moments.
Over the debate, there was some confusion on the efficiency of nuclear power plants compared to natural gas. According to http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_08_01.html, natural gas actually is more efficient than nuclear power. Also, we found that when a nuclear reactor shuts down, it is still generating heat, even a week after the shutdown, according to http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Safety-of-Nuclear-Power-Reactors/. These arguments could both be used in our favor.
Humanities Project
Can be found in Humanities section of this page.
Update
Chemistry has shaped the world we live in today in remarkable ways. Throughout history, materials have been created and edited to achieve certain characteristics. Metals can be mixed to create the desired strength and flexibility, ceramics r