Welcome to the class of Humanities!
Energy and place AND ESSENTIAL QUEstions
Artist Statement
My piece represents my perspective by the TV that’s located at the bottom of the canvas surrounded by a blizzard. My blizzard represents that we can’t always save everything, like the TV, it continuously keeps flickering on and off due to the lack of energy. The artistic decisions that I had to make was that since I wrote about a TV and how ironic it was that we were trying to strike to stop the Fracking that the TV was going out. I also was leaning towards that when a huge snowstorm happens, I always feel safe when my dad is around because I know that nothing happens.
They way that I refined my art piece was that I made sure that I only add a few aspects from my paper into my piece. I know that I want to stop Fracking or simply stop all bad energy consumption, but that fact is that we can’t stop it and that’s what the storm represents. At the beginning of my painting, I had a hard time blending the colors and trying to make it a snowy feel instead of a rainy day. I had to look up multiple pictures of snowy winters and try to duplicate it but it was just too hard, so I just went off what I remember!
What inspired me to do what I did, was that I knew that I wanted to put snow in my essay and art piece so how because winter is my favorite season. Snow had brought so many memories to me, which I wanted to cherish by putting it in my pieces. Another thing is that, our TV is always going out! It’s crazy.
They way that I refined my art piece was that I made sure that I only add a few aspects from my paper into my piece. I know that I want to stop Fracking or simply stop all bad energy consumption, but that fact is that we can’t stop it and that’s what the storm represents. At the beginning of my painting, I had a hard time blending the colors and trying to make it a snowy feel instead of a rainy day. I had to look up multiple pictures of snowy winters and try to duplicate it but it was just too hard, so I just went off what I remember!
What inspired me to do what I did, was that I knew that I wanted to put snow in my essay and art piece so how because winter is my favorite season. Snow had brought so many memories to me, which I wanted to cherish by putting it in my pieces. Another thing is that, our TV is always going out! It’s crazy.
Sense of place essay
The effortless light kissed my eyelids, leaving behind the creeping warmth onto my skin and revealing that today was my day. My suck-in-bed trapped me to stay motionless, secluded, and solitary from the coming exploration. It was December 20th, five days away from the smooches, canoodles and smackers and the annoying comments about how much I have grown or simply that they just missed me tumbling around in my diapers. The damp air from the heater melted the mist from my window showing the packed snow on my windowsills. The Smell of burnt toast crawled its way up to my bedroom, making my belly jealous of the food that my dad was enjoying downstairs. The first sight wakened my limbs, allowing them to unfold to the sound of my breath from my lungs. “Brittney!” my dad shouted from his stomach, “Get ready!” The ceiling shrunk as I stretched my arms to the top, as soon as I felt that “falling asleep” feeling, I sprint my hands back to my waist to avoid bloodless hands. “Goddammit Brittney, hurry.” My dad barked with a mouthful of bacon. The hustle shoved me into battle with my closet. The hangers daringly swung at me, launching one of my scratchy, archaic sweaters that have a bleached out horse that my grandmother gave me on my 16th birthday. The tension itching its way from my dad’s mouth was approaching while my hunger was still consuming illusory butterflies. “Okay. Okay. It’s snowing and its cold, so I guess I should wear my long sleeve shirt with some jeans?” reasoning with myself. “Ugh, I need to hurry! What time is it?” I squinted over to my desk, and it displayed in bold red words 7:30 AM. That time that specific time was for me to avoid my consequence, last ditch to save my butt from waiting until the last minute, last chance to save my butt from being flattened out by my dad’s firm words. Well, I guess my day is once again flushed down the toilet. I slicked to my bathroom with shame, my eyes heavy with humiliation that in the future I will have to face the reality of my father’s chastisement. The floor in the bathroom was drenched in water from the previous chaotic, singing, hairy user before me. While groaning, I rested my hands on the facet yearning that one day I was going to win the lottery and have my own maid turn my shower on for me, but yet again, I couldn’t even wake on time for events. The snow still knocking at the window faced me with mist, even mocking me that I need to grow up from doodling fired awareness in my face that it was now 7:55 AM. “Shit!” I shouted, while yanking on the frozen faucet bending it towards the red end.
***
“It got worst; I don’t think we’re going to make it.” My dad frowned. My dad turned away from the window, his hands on the doorknob to the door ready to leave but was rejected. His body dropped as if he was once a child wanting to play but was ordered by his mother to stay inside to eat. His heavy feet dragged on the floor leaving behind trails of shoes and socks to the couch where he flopped. Still standing by the door, I followed his traced the gloomy boulevard to where he lay “I’m sorry dad” I uttered underneath the invigorating temperature in the room. Extending his arm out towards me, he directed his head in a jerk motion, ordering me to sit next to him. “I just wanted to protect the land.” He stated. For as long as I remember, my dad was the hero and the only hero but I guess you can’t save anything because five miles from my home was a field that became the preparation for hydraulic Fracking. Why should we stop it you must ask? Well because in that field that’s five miles away was the first field my dad asked my mom out, it was the first time I cried because I lost my imagery friend but found a new best friend who helped me through it (don’t worry she’s real). What the hell? Why should you care? Fracturing only goes down into the earth 2000 to 8000 feet deep, it won’t affect you. It’s not that my friend. It’s my family who grew up here; it’s the adventures that will disappear along with the earth. It’s not fair. I don’t mean to say that we need our homes heated or vehicles to drive but the fact is it wasn’t supposed to be destroyed, turned into trash then left to rot. “Man has fallen and will destroy the earth but that is not our destiny.” That’s was the saying my dad hand on every poster, every flyer and every window that we had on our car. We were planning on attending a meeting (but thank god, the snow cancelled it), which I don’t like going to because they are all the same. A week ago, my dad forced me to go to a meeting with him; it just started snowing too which made me even more miserable. Shaming, I walked into the wore-down, building with my dad’s logo stuck to every window. They first start off by saying their thanks and then proudly stating their name which is, Bitter Root Range Society (surprisingly, this name came to my dad in a dream while striking on our front lawn). At these meetings, I listen to my fellow neighbors share stories about their times where they hiked, swam & camped on these lands. Franticly, I just sit there playing with my thumbs and nod at everything that they say. But now thinking about it, they did say something that we do need energy but is Fracking really it? Is driving in our car really necessary? Do we really need half-cooked waffles waiting for us in the morning? Where would they go if we kick them out of that field that’s five miles away? What memorable field will they destroy next? All I could hear were this question that floated around in my head, there were no longer the chattering from the Bitter Root Range Society, and instead was the hoar of the snow underneath my boots.
***
My dad dropped the remote, his weapon to clear the silence, in my lap. “Put on a movie, you hungry? I’m hungry. Waffles?” he questioned with a smirk. “Sure dad.” Surfing through the channels, a few of them lining up to be taken out by the weather, a movie came on. The exaggerating narrator, screaming through the movie-box, “FIERCE, READY, HUMBLE.THE NEW MOVIE COMING YOUR WAY, called no longer.” The confusion fell from my face; the foolish commanded me to take a glance over to my dad where he held the batter. “Hey dad, we should go see that!” I stated sarcastically. “Start walking, I’ll meet you there.” He said while pointing the batter out the door. The smell of waffles with the mix of the exhaust burner, softly said it’s hellos until disappearing with the lights. The silence lifted from the dying waffles and its maker as it readied for its hibernation, the unresponsive lights still flickering on and off trying to give us some hope for our desperate energy. Wow, they haven’t even begun the Fracking and were still losing energy. My checks flushed red from anger, the annoying trailer still hollering at me, until dying. Well that’s the history of our TV. I awkwardly looked at my dad; he stood, unresponsive still holding with a fan filled with four waffles half cooked, my eyes squinted trying to hold in the upcoming giggles. Wildly, I shouted, “Hey dad! Guess you’re no longer going to cook.” Closing my dad’s eyes, he calmly set down the lifeless pan and food, and dashed to where I laid laughing. He launched, crushing my face into his ribs, the numbness in my fingertips tingled, causing me to squeak and snort uncontrollably. “Looks, like you’re going to be no longer alive!” My dad said, while pushing on my pressure points.
****
A memory flashed into my mind. It was when my sister and I went on a hiking trip in 2005. It was the beginning of spring, my sister who comes to visit every other week decided that she wants to spend time with me, and the thing she had on mind was hiking. Phew, the first thing that pop in my head what that this was the perfect opportunity to get in shape, the goal that I wanted to set from New Years while eating a full bag of Cheetos. The morning of our hike intended of my non-existent mother instincts to kick in, are you hungry? Do you have to go to the bathroom before we leave? Are you thirsty? Today is supposed to be pretty warm; do you have a sweater just in case? Lorraine looked at me like I was going crazy; she just grabbed a water bottle while heading out the door. “Have fun”. Dad shouted behind the computer screen. This year, we found out that the government decided to start pouring oil and Fracking rigs around the land that we call home. Not knowing what they looked like, my sister and I stumbled upon one on our first hike. The sun was starting to hid behind the mountains bringing out the orange and red fingers highlighting the empty forests. The rig’s core frame is cold like a zombie, the steel unfriendly while its drill sticks up and down trying to break through the tormented frozen earth.
***
The comfort from my dad’s heat made me feel safe and protected from the outside world where the piles of snow cover everything in its path. My heart stings that once again, I am going to wake up surrounded by these oil rigs eating its way to the core. Growing up here in this house only brought strength and power that one day I was going to stand in my dad’s shoes trying to protect these lands because of the greed that was implanted into humans today. I know that where we stand in this rumbling valley that’s stuffed with the political debate between rescuing this sacred land and the need to sustain U.S’s need for energy. And I know that I am going to wake up like I do every day with my dad yelling me to hurry, waking up to different seasons, or simply watching our TV go out on stupid movie commercials. The shake from the snowflakes dancing outside the kitchen window, brought to my attention that no matter what their will always be beauty in everything, whether it’s in a valley embraced with oil rigs because there was once a memory that was created there, and if you ask me that memory will always be there. Like right now, where I sit next to my dad, where snow lets you takes glimpse of it passing by the window, where every moment impacts me to appreciate or simply take note that this is life.
Project reflection
The task of this project included both Chemistry and Humanities to complement each other through the science because energy and our understanding of our energy consumption and production schemes. We as an individual had to find our sense of place and an environmental ethic by reaching into the relationship between human and nature by reading multiple essays, watching political debate and art. For example we were assigned Desert Solitaire by an environmental activist Edward Abbey. In his excerpts, he describes his experiences as a park ranger in Arches National Monument, and understands our dependency on energy. One of the PowerPoint’s that I enjoyed greatly discussed environmental justice, where lower-income communities have an inequitable access to environmental resources as in clean food, air & water. After gathering information, we placed all that in a creative writing where we described our sense of place, and then we had to show that in a visual piece.
Throughout the three weeks of gathering information to use for our sense of place essay, I had a difficult time trying to get a topic to write about. Another thing that was challenging about writing this essay was combing energy, this helped me grow as an individual because I really didn’t understand how much energy we used each day especially me. Beside the writer’s block of not knowing how to put that energy in my essay, I gained new perspective of our need for energy. After revising and critiquing my essay, I never gave up. The habit of heart and mind that I used the most when creating my essay or art piece was perseverance, I knew that this was the end of the semester and I couldn’t get lazy!
The factor in my essay that I am the most satisfied is my descriptive language. I take a long time trying to show not tell to my audience, and sometimes I might get too carried away with it but it’s the one thing that I love to do. An example of my descriptive language from my essay is,
“My dad barked with a mouthful of bacon. The hustle shoved me into battle with my closet. The hangers daringly swung at me, launching one of my scratchy, archaic sweaters that have a bleached out horse that my grandmother gave me on my 16th birthday.”
At first, I was a little overwhelmed with the whole idea that both Humanities and Chemistry were combing the class projects into one. I knew that I was going to struggle because I already have a hard time in Chemistry, so I was a little stressed at the start. After both teachers describing the project, taking away some of the aspects of it and turning them into optional I started to relax a little. The whole learning experience was very cool, I loved that we had guest speakers that came to talk to use one on one.
Throughout the three weeks of gathering information to use for our sense of place essay, I had a difficult time trying to get a topic to write about. Another thing that was challenging about writing this essay was combing energy, this helped me grow as an individual because I really didn’t understand how much energy we used each day especially me. Beside the writer’s block of not knowing how to put that energy in my essay, I gained new perspective of our need for energy. After revising and critiquing my essay, I never gave up. The habit of heart and mind that I used the most when creating my essay or art piece was perseverance, I knew that this was the end of the semester and I couldn’t get lazy!
The factor in my essay that I am the most satisfied is my descriptive language. I take a long time trying to show not tell to my audience, and sometimes I might get too carried away with it but it’s the one thing that I love to do. An example of my descriptive language from my essay is,
“My dad barked with a mouthful of bacon. The hustle shoved me into battle with my closet. The hangers daringly swung at me, launching one of my scratchy, archaic sweaters that have a bleached out horse that my grandmother gave me on my 16th birthday.”
At first, I was a little overwhelmed with the whole idea that both Humanities and Chemistry were combing the class projects into one. I knew that I was going to struggle because I already have a hard time in Chemistry, so I was a little stressed at the start. After both teachers describing the project, taking away some of the aspects of it and turning them into optional I started to relax a little. The whole learning experience was very cool, I loved that we had guest speakers that came to talk to use one on one.
Korematsu v U.S (1944)
Case summary
By: Brittney smith
Background of Fred Korematsu/ Arguments for each side of the case:
Fred Korematsu’s life up to 1944 entitled of living in Oakland, CA where he was from the second generation (Nisei). Fred was 22 years old in 1942, and was in love with an Italian-American girl. When Civilian Exclusion was ordered, Fred refused to obey because he didn’t want to leave his house, which led to changing his name and endured eye surgery. In May, 1942 Fred was arrested and sentenced to five years of probation. Soon after, Military forces took him in imprisonment and placed him to Topaz (UT). Korematsu was brought to court because he violated the Exclusion order No.36. His lawyers were Ernest Besig and Wayne Collins who were a part of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). After losing to the court of appeal, he appeared to the United States Supreme Court, he wanted to challenge the constitutional of the deportation order.
Court Ruling
The two different arguments from each side of the case are that Fred Korematsu, being part of the Japanese ancestor may be a dangerous tendency of sabotage and espionage. Another argument is that the constitution makes him a citizen of the United States and is not censured for not obeying a marital law, which the court was required to enforce them
Majority: Mr. Justice Black delivered his opinion by relating to the Kiyoshi Hirabayashi V. Unites States where he was convicted of violating the curfew and relocation. Mr. Justice Black states that it’s constitutionally right to protect the people from imminent danger and if it continues to proceed then it cannot justify it because it’s for the public need. He uses Hirabayashi case to justify the exclusion order by informing that it’s it the military authorities and Congress right to retain espionage and sabotage.
Dissenting: Mr. Justice Jackson articulates that the constitution forbids it’s stating the constitution, “no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attained.” Article 3, S.3, cl.2. The reason why this is racist is because when they required them to leave their own home after dark, it was meant to leave their home entirely. It was also pushing the principle of protecting the people by racial discrimination. Another reason why is because it was specifically towards the Japanese ancestry, thinking that since Americans cannot see their loyalty makes them want to formulate espionage and sabotage.
Amendment V:
Amendment V being a part of the Bill of Rights is where it protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. It is also where they have Due of process of law; this is saying that if a person from a different country comes to the United States they have a fair trial if convicted of something.
Amendment 14th:
Amendment 14th is where no state is can deny any persons against their jurisdiction of equal protection.
Congress V. Presidential powers during wartime:
Following up with the meeting that we had, I feel that with the powers that are given to the legislative group is very vague. I also feel that when they gave the military forces without seeking Congressional approval under a wide variety of circumstances.
Executive order 9066 and Civilian Exclusion No. 34:
Executive order 9066 is where its subjected to all persons of Japanese ancestry is ordered to the West Coast military areas to remain in their residences. This is allowing military to have control in specific districts, and is allowed to export people if threat to the public.
Civilian Exclusion No. 34 from the Commanding General of the Western Command, U.S Army, all persons of Japanese ancestry should be excluding from that area.
Espionage Act of 1912: Was reinforced by the sedition act of imposing similar harsh penalties on anyone who found guilty of making false statements that interfered with the prosecution of the war.
Sedition Act of 1918: Piece of legislative to protect America’s participation of WW1.
Alien Enemies Act of 1798: is where the president is authorized to prison, banish anyone from a different country that the United States is at war with.
Alien Registration Act of 1940: Set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S government and required all non-citizen adults residents to register with the government.
Habeas Corpus: A legal procedure that keeps the government from holding you indefinitely without showing cause and ensures you receive a fair trial. Habeas corpus prevents the king from simply locking up subjects in secret dungeons and throwing away the key. The founders of our nation believed habeas corpus was so essential to preventing liberty, justice, and democracy that they protected it in the very first article of the United States Constitution.
Other Cases:
During my research, I looked at the Supreme Court case Scheneck v. U.S 1919. This is where Charles Scheneck violated the espionage act in 1919, where he was ordered to look after secret files that were not to be shared with anyone outside of military conscription. It was interesting to see that that when Charles said that they violated his first amendment of having the free will of speech. The court denied him because when the United States is at war, its greater then anyone’s voice of greater restrictions, and they sentenced him to six months in prison.
References:
U.S. Congress passes Espionage Act. (2012). The History Channel website. Retrieved 1:09, December 11, 2012, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-congress-passes-espionage-act
Carruth, Ashley. "Korematsu Trial Work Time." Durango . 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. <https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2QC-culCKvHRWlKSEZGZnlOYWM/edit>.
Final decision
Brittney smith
The case ruling has been decided before the judges of the trial Korematsu vs. U.S. Signifying the evidence that defense has offered to back up their case was gripping Amendment 14th which delineated equal protection. One piece of evidence that defense has proposed was exhibit A page 16; Manson who was an investigator of the Japanese population of the west coast. He reported that Japanese are loyal as whole and there is no intimidation among them. This proved that sabotage was not guarded and a less restricted rule. Denoting the lifestyle that each and every Japanese person has gone through in the internment camps was unacceptable with because of the indecent lifestyles. Their last piece of evidence that was compelling was from defense witness J Edgar Hoover, head commander of the FBI provided that the Black Dragon society, an extremist group, have been found and was not a threat. He also says that the camps have no absolute purpose because if they decided to commit sabotage, they had ability to contact outside of internment camps. On the other side of the case, the prosecution clearly considers that in time of war, people must make sacrifices in order for the protection of the civilians. Centered on the evidence that was provided from both prosecutions and defense, we as the judges has concluded that Executive Order 9066 was passed from the three tests of Strict Scrutiny yet Civilian Exclusion Order number 34 has not passed the tests because it didn’t concern less restriction and not tailored.
Brittney smith
The case ruling has been decided before the judges of the trial Korematsu vs. U.S. Signifying the evidence that defense has offered to back up their case was gripping Amendment 14th which delineated equal protection. One piece of evidence that defense has proposed was exhibit A page 16; Manson who was an investigator of the Japanese population of the west coast. He reported that Japanese are loyal as whole and there is no intimidation among them. This proved that sabotage was not guarded and a less restricted rule. Denoting the lifestyle that each and every Japanese person has gone through in the internment camps was unacceptable with because of the indecent lifestyles. Their last piece of evidence that was compelling was from defense witness J Edgar Hoover, head commander of the FBI provided that the Black Dragon society, an extremist group, have been found and was not a threat. He also says that the camps have no absolute purpose because if they decided to commit sabotage, they had ability to contact outside of internment camps. On the other side of the case, the prosecution clearly considers that in time of war, people must make sacrifices in order for the protection of the civilians. Centered on the evidence that was provided from both prosecutions and defense, we as the judges has concluded that Executive Order 9066 was passed from the three tests of Strict Scrutiny yet Civilian Exclusion Order number 34 has not passed the tests because it didn’t concern less restriction and not tailored.
Project Reflection
This assignment was based off the event of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1944. When this event occurred, it brought upon the discrimination upon the Japanese especially the second generation (Nisei). What we had to do before the project is learn about the history and the case Korematsu v. United States. This case is where a man was forced to leave his home when the Exclusion order 9066 endured. -And Korematsu, an American-Japanese went under eye surgery and replaced him name. Long story short, he was found and was sent to an internment camp in Utah and demanded his case to stretch into the Supreme Court.
Being a judge of this case, it required a lot of individual reading yet needed the help from the other peers who enacted as judges as well. Throughout this journey, I gained new perspectives on how the court worked in 1944, with this sensitive case with American-Japanese and American assortment. We did come across many challenges because of the many objections that could happen in the court. Another challenge was understand strict scrutiny. Eventually we overcome this by advocating to Ashley, and understanding topics that would be appropriate to go along with it. An example of this is the case we did in court; it had to pass three tests of: Government interest, narrowly tailored, and least restrictive means.
The two revisions that I made were in my court summary, where I had to go in more depth of what the court ruling, majority and dissenting. In these sections, I talked about the different sides on this case: dangerous tendency and constitutionally right because he was a citizen. The other section of this summary was the majority, where Mr. Justice Black declares that this man was sent to retain espionage and sabotage. On the other side, the dissenting Mr. Justice Jackson forbids his opinion because it’s not constitutionally right and breaks the 14th amendment. These revisions make my essay stronger because it goes more in depth for the audience to understand what how the court discussions and ideas were. This also helps my essay because it makes my writing organized, which helps me a lot because when I need to write, I’m not organized so this is an helpful resource for my future writings.
Throughout this project, my attitude was always positive! I was really excited to participate in this kind of experience and to be a judge was even more thrilling. I feel that I could have been more prepared by my writing skills. You can tell by the written components that I could have been more precise on the information. I really liked the note-taking role that I did, the reason being because I love taking notes and I get a lot of the information. During the trial, one of the judges did have hard time understanding the objections and which ones were appropriate; I think one thing that could help to prepare us is practicing the objections in the class a few days before the trial so were comfortable.
Being a judge of this case, it required a lot of individual reading yet needed the help from the other peers who enacted as judges as well. Throughout this journey, I gained new perspectives on how the court worked in 1944, with this sensitive case with American-Japanese and American assortment. We did come across many challenges because of the many objections that could happen in the court. Another challenge was understand strict scrutiny. Eventually we overcome this by advocating to Ashley, and understanding topics that would be appropriate to go along with it. An example of this is the case we did in court; it had to pass three tests of: Government interest, narrowly tailored, and least restrictive means.
The two revisions that I made were in my court summary, where I had to go in more depth of what the court ruling, majority and dissenting. In these sections, I talked about the different sides on this case: dangerous tendency and constitutionally right because he was a citizen. The other section of this summary was the majority, where Mr. Justice Black declares that this man was sent to retain espionage and sabotage. On the other side, the dissenting Mr. Justice Jackson forbids his opinion because it’s not constitutionally right and breaks the 14th amendment. These revisions make my essay stronger because it goes more in depth for the audience to understand what how the court discussions and ideas were. This also helps my essay because it makes my writing organized, which helps me a lot because when I need to write, I’m not organized so this is an helpful resource for my future writings.
Throughout this project, my attitude was always positive! I was really excited to participate in this kind of experience and to be a judge was even more thrilling. I feel that I could have been more prepared by my writing skills. You can tell by the written components that I could have been more precise on the information. I really liked the note-taking role that I did, the reason being because I love taking notes and I get a lot of the information. During the trial, one of the judges did have hard time understanding the objections and which ones were appropriate; I think one thing that could help to prepare us is practicing the objections in the class a few days before the trial so were comfortable.
Project reflection
By: Brittney Smith
For the Morality and Politics for Justice Project, I chose a political issue that was significant to our culture. Out of the many issues, I selected the issue that points out that we should give equal rights to homosexuals, the reason is because for our government to successfully achieve, we need equality among each other’s including if they have different sexual orientation. After reading our articles, we had to write an Op-ed article that stated what our view on our issue, and create a project that reflected on what our thesis statement said. My thesis statement is; in order to ensure equality for homosexuals, we as a community must take a stand and strengthen the viewpoint that all lovers, by the name of freedom and happiness, should be allowed to possess sanctioned marriage. I showed this through my poster by having a man who represents the law holding homosexuals in a closet, trying to make them stay, while their trying to get out.
One Habit of Heart and Mind I used most while creating my project is perspective. Personally I gained this habit at the exhibition at Durango Joes. A man came up to me and asked where I stood on this particular issue, and when I told him he disagreed and claimed that he only believed on what the bibles say. Going through that experience not only helped me gain that perspective but influenced me to use critical thinking, thus making me think about the situation on where he stood and I stood on this issue. One challenging thing that I came across from creating my project was my time management, I feel that I don’t control my time and think that I can finish my project a day before the exhibition.
The project that I feel the strongest is with my Op-ed article, the reason is because I focused most of my time on my article then my poster which explains my view on my issue. An example of this in my Op-ed article is; Enhancing the lives of an individual, from those who are attracted to their same sex, to those who are not, can be reached by equalizing rights for all and giving opportunities through human rights of marriage. I was able to make this sentence so strong in my article is refining it, and I also worked with Ashley to refine my sentence structures. During this project, I feel my poster is my weak point from the rubric because the lines are not refined as I wanted it to be and you can’t even see the word closet at the top. The reason why my project is so weak is because I waited till the last minute to finish my project because of the much time I spent on my article. If I had more time to work on this specific piece, I would draw it and not paint thus making the lines more straight and readable. I feel the appropriate grade for me is a B because I feel my project is above standard yet can still have refinement.
Like I said above in paragraph three, I would work on my art piece, because I wasn’t proud of the final piece. The changes that I would do is making it a drawing with pencil instead of with paint, this would make the message more clear and precise.
By: Brittney Smith
For the Morality and Politics for Justice Project, I chose a political issue that was significant to our culture. Out of the many issues, I selected the issue that points out that we should give equal rights to homosexuals, the reason is because for our government to successfully achieve, we need equality among each other’s including if they have different sexual orientation. After reading our articles, we had to write an Op-ed article that stated what our view on our issue, and create a project that reflected on what our thesis statement said. My thesis statement is; in order to ensure equality for homosexuals, we as a community must take a stand and strengthen the viewpoint that all lovers, by the name of freedom and happiness, should be allowed to possess sanctioned marriage. I showed this through my poster by having a man who represents the law holding homosexuals in a closet, trying to make them stay, while their trying to get out.
One Habit of Heart and Mind I used most while creating my project is perspective. Personally I gained this habit at the exhibition at Durango Joes. A man came up to me and asked where I stood on this particular issue, and when I told him he disagreed and claimed that he only believed on what the bibles say. Going through that experience not only helped me gain that perspective but influenced me to use critical thinking, thus making me think about the situation on where he stood and I stood on this issue. One challenging thing that I came across from creating my project was my time management, I feel that I don’t control my time and think that I can finish my project a day before the exhibition.
The project that I feel the strongest is with my Op-ed article, the reason is because I focused most of my time on my article then my poster which explains my view on my issue. An example of this in my Op-ed article is; Enhancing the lives of an individual, from those who are attracted to their same sex, to those who are not, can be reached by equalizing rights for all and giving opportunities through human rights of marriage. I was able to make this sentence so strong in my article is refining it, and I also worked with Ashley to refine my sentence structures. During this project, I feel my poster is my weak point from the rubric because the lines are not refined as I wanted it to be and you can’t even see the word closet at the top. The reason why my project is so weak is because I waited till the last minute to finish my project because of the much time I spent on my article. If I had more time to work on this specific piece, I would draw it and not paint thus making the lines more straight and readable. I feel the appropriate grade for me is a B because I feel my project is above standard yet can still have refinement.
Like I said above in paragraph three, I would work on my art piece, because I wasn’t proud of the final piece. The changes that I would do is making it a drawing with pencil instead of with paint, this would make the message more clear and precise.
Artist Statement
By: Brittney Smith
My perspective on justice towards my political issue is when someone takes away human rights because of their sexual orientation or what they believe in it isn't just because you’re not better than them. The symbols that I incorporated into my poster consist of homosexuals standing up by holding signs saying that they are human and need human rights. I tried portraying pathos in my poster by having homosexuals fight to get out of the closet, and a powerful quote from a philosopher who studies equality. The reason why I wanted to use pathos, especially towards accepting homosexuals is because it´s not fair when you’re not accepted in a society. In my poster I used a man with bold words LAW on his shirt, and he is trying to hold back homosexuals in a closet while their fighting hard to get out. I also used a rainbow that goes across the canvas with the quote from Thomas Jefferson, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” Another picture that I used was a sign that said three words; gay, lesbian and human. Next to it, it’s checked because homosexuals aren't different from someone who is heterosexual, and they still deserve human rights. During my process of making my poster, I drew many pictures that meant many different things, yet none of them matched what I was trying to say through my thesis statement. I wish that we could have had a little more time to work on our poster because I took a lot of time with my Op-ed article since my writing skills can be poor. If I had more time with my poster, I believe it would have been a little more organized with the placement of the pictures and colors thus making it high-quality.
By: Brittney Smith
My perspective on justice towards my political issue is when someone takes away human rights because of their sexual orientation or what they believe in it isn't just because you’re not better than them. The symbols that I incorporated into my poster consist of homosexuals standing up by holding signs saying that they are human and need human rights. I tried portraying pathos in my poster by having homosexuals fight to get out of the closet, and a powerful quote from a philosopher who studies equality. The reason why I wanted to use pathos, especially towards accepting homosexuals is because it´s not fair when you’re not accepted in a society. In my poster I used a man with bold words LAW on his shirt, and he is trying to hold back homosexuals in a closet while their fighting hard to get out. I also used a rainbow that goes across the canvas with the quote from Thomas Jefferson, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” Another picture that I used was a sign that said three words; gay, lesbian and human. Next to it, it’s checked because homosexuals aren't different from someone who is heterosexual, and they still deserve human rights. During my process of making my poster, I drew many pictures that meant many different things, yet none of them matched what I was trying to say through my thesis statement. I wish that we could have had a little more time to work on our poster because I took a lot of time with my Op-ed article since my writing skills can be poor. If I had more time with my poster, I believe it would have been a little more organized with the placement of the pictures and colors thus making it high-quality.
Op-ed Column
By: Brittney Smith
“Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
The quote above is from Michael Shepherd entitled, “Anti-Gay-Marriage ads mislead, mostly false.” Shepherd refers to Maine’s recent law that allows same- sex relationships to register as domestic partners. Maine offered an ad that mentions homosexuals would have “virtually all” rights as a married paired however, virtually does not mean complete equality! In order to ensure equality for homosexuals, we as a community must take a stand and strengthen the viewpoint that all lovers, by the name of freedom and happiness, should be allowed to possess sanctioned marriage
Traditional conservative views on the entire situation towards gay rights are not accepted towards their religion, nor are it not part of the regular lifestyle. The stance for liberals, a different take from the Conservatives opinion would approve gay marriages thus ensuring that people are treated equal. This is significant because this ensures that the equal rights promised in the constitution are available to everyone.
Enhancing the lives of an individual, from those who are attracted to their same sex, to those who are not, can be reached by equalizing rights for all and giving opportunities through human rights of marriage. Tomas Jefferson states, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” The relevance that is provided from this quote is allowing those to raise the voice, which they have and inquire the diversity that will not only benefit each other but provide communal equality. One of the moral theories that could benefit equality among a community is rights ethics where it would respect each other’s human rights.
This is not just a matter of treating people equally, but ensuring ALL citizens and their basic human rights. John Locke, a 17Th century Rights Ethnics philosopher, argued that we are all entitled to life, liberty and property; where everyone has basic rights which cannot be taken away from any circumstances. Denying same-sex marriages discriminates against homosexuals by pronouncing that they aren’t human because of their sexual orientation and prevents them from having the same rights as a heterosexual person. These rights include hospital visitation during an illness, taxation and inheritance rights. In the 14Th Amendment of the U.S constitution it states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” This shows that the basic civil rights of one individual are fundamental and nothing can interfere with those rights.
Guaranteeing privileges for homosexuals will strengthen the objective that as a nation and as individuals we are the same and deserve to have the same human rights!
By: Brittney Smith
“Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
The quote above is from Michael Shepherd entitled, “Anti-Gay-Marriage ads mislead, mostly false.” Shepherd refers to Maine’s recent law that allows same- sex relationships to register as domestic partners. Maine offered an ad that mentions homosexuals would have “virtually all” rights as a married paired however, virtually does not mean complete equality! In order to ensure equality for homosexuals, we as a community must take a stand and strengthen the viewpoint that all lovers, by the name of freedom and happiness, should be allowed to possess sanctioned marriage
Traditional conservative views on the entire situation towards gay rights are not accepted towards their religion, nor are it not part of the regular lifestyle. The stance for liberals, a different take from the Conservatives opinion would approve gay marriages thus ensuring that people are treated equal. This is significant because this ensures that the equal rights promised in the constitution are available to everyone.
Enhancing the lives of an individual, from those who are attracted to their same sex, to those who are not, can be reached by equalizing rights for all and giving opportunities through human rights of marriage. Tomas Jefferson states, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” The relevance that is provided from this quote is allowing those to raise the voice, which they have and inquire the diversity that will not only benefit each other but provide communal equality. One of the moral theories that could benefit equality among a community is rights ethics where it would respect each other’s human rights.
This is not just a matter of treating people equally, but ensuring ALL citizens and their basic human rights. John Locke, a 17Th century Rights Ethnics philosopher, argued that we are all entitled to life, liberty and property; where everyone has basic rights which cannot be taken away from any circumstances. Denying same-sex marriages discriminates against homosexuals by pronouncing that they aren’t human because of their sexual orientation and prevents them from having the same rights as a heterosexual person. These rights include hospital visitation during an illness, taxation and inheritance rights. In the 14Th Amendment of the U.S constitution it states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” This shows that the basic civil rights of one individual are fundamental and nothing can interfere with those rights.
Guaranteeing privileges for homosexuals will strengthen the objective that as a nation and as individuals we are the same and deserve to have the same human rights!
Moral Development
By: Brittney Smith
“I figure when I am doing something right, there is no guilt behind that action. I try my best and respect others by treating everyone the same”; explained by Unknown during The Moral Development interview on September 26th, 2012. The purpose of this interview was to examine my subject’s moral standing based on Kohlberg’s stages and his moral theory alignment by providing a couple moral dilemmas, and responses to a few related questions that Unknown will answer. Subject unknown is a 36 year old student who is currently enrolled at Fort Lewis Collage. Unknown is a Native American from the tribe of Pikuni (Blackfeet) in Northern Montana. He helps his brothers, who are incarcerated at the Southern Ute Detention center, by providing a traditional-based fatherhood curriculum. Unknown also built a sweat lodge on campus for many Natives and non-Natives to use for sacred purposes; he can only emphasize enough how important it is to treat everyone the same. After interviewing with Unknown, I placed him on stage 5 from Kohlberg’s 6 stages and found him to align with Rights Ethnics. Through the interview, I realized that his moral reasoning challenges what the law or society portrays on right or wrong.
Before diving into Unknowns moral reasoning level, it is important to understand Unknown’s motives towards helping his Native American brothers and sisters. We focus on how helping them by creating a dry-rez, which is a reservation that doesn’t sell any alcohol on its premises. During my interview, Unknown goes in depth of how he is trying to find hope in the lives of Natives on reservations; he states, “The best thing that I can do for my people is be a good example, where I won’t compromise my beliefs for excitements like going out to drink and party. When you investigate what happened to Native Americans in 1492, when Columbus came and killed many for gold and manipulated them, it brought historical trauma. Now today, many feel that they are personally powerless, and can’t change their fabric of their life.”(Personal interview, 9/20/12). This is a perfect example of how unknown tries to relieve Native American’s on reservations, and help provide hope for their future. The concept of this quote is to take a deeper look at Unknown’s journey to restore the outcome of Native Americans life on the reservation, and how living there impacted them; spiritually and physically. Moving away from what unknown thinks is morally right towards helping his people; we take a deeper look into what unknown’s moral theory is.
Unknown associates most with right ethnics, a moral theory that emphasizes that everyone has natural rights which cannot be taken away; particularly with life, liberty, and self-preservation. During my interview, he responded to the transplant (doctor in the E.R room) case #2. Unknown argued, “No, I would never do that, even if I asked him first, before cutting him open for other people’s needs!” This is a precise model of rights ethnics’ moral reasoning, since the man has the right to live and shouldn’t be taken away. Removing the healthy man’s life without inquiring on his own outlook on the whole situation is unfair in order to save the five lives; “It’s a one-sided view by not including the healthy man’s declaration if he should give up his life for the ones in need of his organs, it not fair. You shouldn’t even take someone’s life away, and you don’t even know why those people need those major organs. If one of the men who needed a lung had lung cancer, I still wouldn’t give him my lung because he made the choice of smoking.” This is a perfect example of the moral theory of right ethnics because you can’t take that man’s life away because he has a right to live and not be used. While understanding Unknowns moral theory, we take an even deeper look on his opinion through the Kohlberg’s six stages of Moral Development theories.
Unknown generally aligns with stage five that establishes that people hold a variety of values and opinions and is aware of those values and rights. In my interview with Unknown, he provides a general perspective on Kohlberg’s 6 stages of moral development theory. Mr. Smith claimed answering one of the response questions to Dilemma 2, that he would steal the drug from the druggist because not only did Heinz try every legal way to achieve this drug he was declined to save his wife. Mr. Smith stated, “I’ll help him! I’ll take all of the drugs and give them to the people for free.” This is a perfect example of Post-conventional moral reasoning. In chapter 13 of Perspective on teaching learning, and development, Kohlberg notes that “The perspective of post conventional is the standpoint of the individual rather than taking the point of view of (us members of society) (209). When he responded to Dilemma 2, he centered his goal on stealing the drug (avoiding the social obligations) to aid this one individual and possibly many others without concern about laws and duties.
As you can see, this essay proves my thesis precise because I provided my subject unknown with multiple situations and asked why he desires to help his people. For example, in the moral dilemma using the healthy man’s body parts to help the others, Unknown immediately declared that was wrong because you’re taking away that man’s life without realizing that he has his own voice and opinion.