World War II: Policy and Justification

In the second unit of Policy and GCE, we learned more about the Executive branch of the US Government. In our Internal Investigation, we explored the powers of the Executive branch and what it has the right to do in the government according to the Constitution. During one FE to the Chicago History Museum, we went to a Spies and Espionage exhibit that had lots of information relating to the wars, conflicts, and policies we were studying in class. For this Action Project, we were asked to write an essay that speaks our opinion on weather or not we though a war of our choice in US history was justified.

CNN. (2016) German Troops Marching

As many know, World War II began with Germany invading Poland in 1939. The Germans, being upset from the outcomes of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles, were evidently not very happy with many parts of Europe. Using this hatred to fuel his rise to power, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party quickly became a large force in Germany (US Army). After the inciting incident in Poland occurred, it was not long before the world began splitting itself into different sides of the fight. While over 30 countries were involved in WWII, the primary conflict was split between the two major powers: Axis and Allies. The Axis powers included Japan, Germany, and Italy. The Allied powers included Britain, France, China, Soviet Union, United States, and others (History.com). One of the most important events for the US during WWII was the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. This was the primary reason that the US ended up entering the second World War. Because of it’s need to protect itself and defend the values it holds, the United State’s entry into World War II was justified.

The US president at the time of entry, Franklin D. Roosevelt, played a large part in both the US’s participation in WWII and generating support from other countries and the American people. According to History.com’s page on Roosevelt, “On December 8, 1941, the day after Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress, which declared war on Japan.” According to the Constitution, the power to declare war lies with Congress. As we can see, Congress was, in the end, the deciding factor as to whether or not the US participated in the war. However, it seems that Roosevelt appeared at the session of Congress to express his support for the country’s entry into the war. Later in that same History.com article, it says “Roosevelt spearheaded the alliance between countries combating the Axis, meeting frequently with Churchill and seeking to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union” and “he spoke constantly on the radio, reporting war events and rallying the American people in support of the war effort”. Based on these two quotes, it is obvious that Roosevelt was at the helm of the War against the Axis powers, wanted the American people to rally behind his cause, and was a large influence on the other countries apart of the Allied powers.

Unfortunately, in Roosevelt’s efforts to protect his people, he made a mistake with a policy he implemented during the war. According to the Chicago History Museum (CHM), “In 1942, Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, authorizing the military to forcibly relocate and intern people it considered a security risk”. In the panic and fear of the recent attack on US territory, Roosevelt tried to contain any possible threat to the US. This would seem a reasonable action on a small scale. However, according to the same CHM info source “120,00 people of Japanese ancestry--most of them US citizens living on the West Coast--were interned primarily because of their ethnic origin”. What seemed to be a way to isolate and contain serious and legitimate risks to safety of American citizens turned into a fear-fueled witch hunt for any person who looked to be of Japanese descent. This executive order was both unjust and unconstitutional based on the fifth amendment. According to the Constitution, “No person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. People were being interned and promptly stripped of their liberty just because of their ancestry and without a proper trial or law process. Therefore, this executive order was unconstitutional and should have never been allowed to go into effect. Even though US’s entry into WWII was justified because of our need to protect ourselves, president Roosevelt should've gone to the length of creating an unconstitutional executive order to increase security.

Overall, it is understandable and reasonable to me why the US and president Roosevelt joined World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the need to protect our country from the foreign threats of the war made it almost impossible to stay uninvolved. However, Executive order 9066 was not a just way of increasing the safety of Americans. In order to prepare our country from future threats and to equip ourselves with the right means to ensuring security, it is important for us to analyze both the successes and mistakes that have been made in the past.

Works Cited

"Franklin D. Roosevelt." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 21 May 2017.

N.d. Exhibit: Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs. Chicago History Museum, Chicago.

U.S. Constitution. Amend. V.

US Army. "The Outbreak of War." Brief History of the U.S. Army in World War II. N.p.: U S Govt.

Printing Office, 1992. N. pag. Print.

"World War II History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 21 May 2017.

Student Representation

In our second unit of Argument at GCE, we looked at the constitution and how it presented arguments. In our internal investigation, we discussed how the US government works and more importantly, how the different branches of government interact with each other. For our external investigation, we went to a courthouse to watch a trial and visited an Alderman to see how arguments are constructed in court and how elected officials view/use the principals of argument. For this Action Project, we were asked to come up with an amendment for the Code of Conduct. The amendment could change anything that we have the ability to support with logical reasons and solid arguments.

Cartoon jury (2008) bethtgirl

The above image symbolizes my argument because it shows a fair trial by jury and represents the how the disciplinary council could be more fair and just with student representation. 

The part of the code I am amending involves who is a part of the disciplinary council. Currently, the person who is supposed to represent the interests of the student is the Director of Counseling. In the Code of Conduct, it says: “The Counselor’s primary role in the Disciplinary Council is to be an advocate for the student and to facilitate conversation between the members of the Disciplinary Council.” There have been reports of unfair treatment and decisions coming out of the council that do not fully take into account the need of the student. Thus, I am proposing an amendment to the Code of Conduct that allows a randomly picked student to be involved in the disciplinary process per student request.

P1: Students have bias to their peers in the decisions made and the opinions put forward.
P2: Students “on trial” has a right to privacy during the disciplinary process.
P3: Having a student on the council would infringe on the student in question’s right to keeping their issues private between them and the staff.
P4: Discipline can only be dispensed by professionals
C: Therefore, students should not have a place on the disciplinary council.

The argument above shows the assumed opinions of the people who originally created the Cod of Conduct. It describes how they would've thought and it helped me to think in their shoes when constructing my argument. In multiple cases, I have heard testimonies from students (former and current) that consistently say that the current student representative/mediator in the disciplinary council does not always represent the perspective of the student. By leaving the student to fend for themselves, they are much less likely to effectively present their side of the story and defend themselves. By adding a student representative, students being processed by the council can now have someone to relate to, feel supported by, and get defended by during the entire process. My changes to the rule are described in the syllogism below:

P1: The student rep does not have to have an empowered position on the council. Only a position that allows the representative to help the student in question explain their side and provide support.
P2: Student privacy and how it’s kept/broken is up to the student in question. It should be up to the student as to whether or not they want a representative and if they should know the details of the situation.
P3: With the point of GCE being a Lab school being constantly brought up, it would be counterintuitive to deny student representation based on the status quo definition of professional.
C: Therefore, students should have a place on the disciplinary council.

With this amendment, students will have more trust in how the staff deals with disciplinary actions. More students would be less resilient of the decisions that come out of the council. A student that supports my amendment by being a co-signer recently said this when discussing the details change: “Having a student on the disciplinary council would broaden the perspectives and make sure all sides of the story is heard and taken into fair account. It would also ensure all decisions made are justified.“ -SG

My Declaration for a New Course

In the first unit of Argument at GCE, we learned about how to properly structure our own arguments. To give us historical context as to have this has been done successfully, we analyze the Declaration of Independence and how the colonists made their argument against King George. For our Action Project, we were asked to write our own declaration for a new course at GCE using the concepts that we have learned. For my declaration, I choose to write about an advanced mathematics course.

LS. (2017) Class Discussion

As much as I’ve loved my time at GCE, there are also some things I would change if I could. One of these things is college readiness and the level of math. Because of the way GCE structures and teaches classes, I feel that many students are not as prepared as they could be for the next step in their academic careers.

I believe that education is not a privilege. Every person in the world deserves the right to know how to have the basic skills to function in a sophisticated society. The purpose of school is to prepare for the future. For some people it’s preparing for a deeper level of education and for others it could be starting their careers. Either way we learn things in school that are essential to all potential paths. I propose a class called advanced mathematics. In this course, students will have a personalized program to propel them to the highest level of math before they graduate. However, the goal of the course is not only to help students learn a higher level of math, but to also help them understand why they are learning it and where they could potentially use it later in life. Also, I hope that after taking this course, student will better understand the reason why they are learning math in school.

Personally, I've always loved doing math. Because of this, I think it's easier for me to understand the true value behind it. I've also been in many situations when applying to a school were certain a certain level of math was needed to apply but I hadn't reached it yet.

A good example of how people in the past used math to be successful is how Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan helped NASA do calculations for their space missions. Not only were these three people women, they were also African American. These women used math to liberate them from the idea that women could not do a "man's" job. Also, while not directly related to math, Phyllis Wheatley tried to promote change in other while her poems. In a way, I'm doing something very similar with this course. Something needs to change with how students think of math at GCE and around the world and I hope this course can help to start to do that.

Guiding Question: How can students use math to prepare for their future?

Course Details:

- The course would be one full term towards the end of senior year. However, in order to prepare for the SAT, the school may choose to teach it to juniors during the winter or spring.

- Most deliverables would not be large assignments. Each piece of homework would be small but focused on ensuring each student retained the information taught each day. New concepts would not be introduced in at home deliverables.

- The resources I would need are as follows: math teacher, classroom, writing materials

p1: Math is used in almost every aspect of your day and knowing more about it can save you money and valuable time. Also, even if you do not decide to go to college, knowing math can get you better paying job positions.

p2: A higher understanding of math can help you get into a better school or further your academic endeavors.

p3: The literal learning of math teaches a discipline of memorization and helps students develop conflict resolution/problem solving skills.

c: Math is an extremely valuable skill to learn for futures may or may not contain academic pursuits.

Overall, this syllogism tries to explain that both the principal of learning math and math itself can be valuable in anybody's life. That math can be valuable not only in the way that many people have viewed it, but in new ways that most high school students don't yet understand.

Usually, when people think of an independent study, they think of one person working alone all the time. However, collaborating with others can eventually lead to you being better as an independent learner. This is because after getting taught by someone else or working with another person, you can better apply the new tools and techniques youve learned to your independent studies.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

In the last unit of my Humanities class Forbidden Books at GCE, we learned a lot about diversity. Our studies were mainly focused on a book we chose from a pre-selected variety. My choice of reading was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. For our Action Project, we we’re asked to compose an essay based on 1 of 4 provided prompts. I chose the prompt that involved interpreting dangerous/controversial text literally, ethically, and symbolically. My biggest struggle of this project was creating a thesis that connected my interpretations and overall idea of the book. I tried my best to overcome this by exploring multiple theses and choosing the one I thought fit best.

LS. Sherman Alexie. (2016)

Have you ever read a part of a novel that made you put it down in shock from explicit language and ideas? While reading Sherman Alexie’s book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, this happened to me more than just once. Set on an Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, this book follows the life of 14 year old Arnold Spirit and his transition into a predominantly white school. Arnold never quite fit in at his reservation. However, once he changed schools, “not quite fitting in” seemed like a clear understatement. As we follow Arnold through his journey, we can clearly see the change in not only himself, but of the people and places around him. This may seem like a completely innocent retelling of a child's story. But, this book has in fact been banned in multiple parts of the country. My views  of some controversial parts will be in the form of sections divided into literal, ethical, and symbolic interpretations. While I don’t believe the banning was completely justified, in certain situations, Alexie’s portrayal of teens and their behavior can get too stereotypical and explicit.

The primary focus of this particular part of the novel is race and how teens create jokes around the subject. It also touches on how they use explicit language to make the joke more humorous and how when a teen gets offended, they use violence and rash actions.

“Hey, Chief” Roger said. “You want to hear a joke?” “Sure,” I said. “Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo?” I felt like Roger had kicked me in the face. That was the most racist thing I’d ever heard in my life. Roger and his friends were laughing like crazy. I hated them. And I knew I had to do something big. I couldn’t let them get away with that shit. I wasn’t just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo. So I punched Roger in the face (64-65).

In this passage, Roger tells Arnold a racist joke that offends him so he responds with a violent action. On an ethical level, Arnold sees the joke as not only an attack on himself, but as one on multiple cultural backgrounds and species. He feels the need to act to defend those being attacked and responds with the only way he sees fit: violence. Finally, symbolically the text means that this is a very good way to represent Arnold’s struggle throughout the book. There are multiple instances where he is feeling attacked and I felt this did one of the best jobs at providing a blunt and quick response that reflected on his feelings. While I understand Alexie’s message it seems his wording here is unrealistic from my experience as a teen.

The next quote from the book is about is teen relationships. Since this specific relationship was verbally mended by humor, I believe this is a good example of how Alexie wanted to portray teen communication. “‘I love that tree,’ I said. ‘That’s because you’re a tree fag,’ Rowdy said. ‘I’m not a tree fag,’ I said. ‘Then how come you like to stick your dick inside knotholes?’ ‘I stick my dick in the girl trees,’ I said. Rowdy laughed his ha-ha, hee-hee avalanche laugh” (Alexie 255). In the text, the two boys are joking about how Arnold is “in love” with a tree and because of that he places himself inside the tree. Arnold then says he only does that to girl trees to counter the fact that Rowdy called him a “fag”. In an ethical way, this could be seen as just teenage boys being normal and joking around about sexual things. In another, it could be interpreted as Rowdy and Arnold having a negative view on homosexuals because of their word choice and how Arnold doesn't want to be associated with that word. I feel this moment is symbolic for the relationship of Rowdy and Arnold towards the end of the book. Even though they we’re against each other, they can still come back together and joke around. Lastly, this explicit part of the book addresses a adult lesson in a way “changed for teens”. I feel this is one one the best ways to represent how Alexie feels that teens react to certain situations.

“Okay, so it’s like each of these books is a mystery. Every book is a mystery. And if you read all the books ever written, it’s like you’ve read one giant mystery. And no matter how much you learn, you just keep on learning there is so much more you need to learn.” “Yes, yes, yes, yes,” Gordy said. “Now doesn’t that give you a boner?” “I am rock hard,” I said. Gordy blushed. “Well, I don’t mean boner in the sexual sense,” Gordy said. “I don’t think you should run through life with a real erect penis. But you should approach each book— you should approach life— with the real possibility that you might get a metaphorical boner at any point.” “A metaphorical boner” I shouted.”What the heck is a metaphorical boner?” Gordy laughed. “When I say boner, I really mean joy,” he said. “Then why didn’t you say joy? You didn’t have to say boner. Whenever I think about boners, I get confused.” “Boner is funnier. And more joyful” (97-98).

Gordy and Arnold are talking about books and an important idea while then transitioning into an explicit comparison that turns into a conversation about how a sexual term and the word joy are related. In an ethical way, the boys are having a meaningful conversation about books and mysteries. To make this comedic and relatable, Gordy uses a sexual term for the reason of giving Arnold a better understanding of what he is talking about. I believe that this moment is symbolic for how the author believed the character and teens in the modern day deal with situations that don’t make sense to them or are hard to describe. It seems to he like he is inferring that teens use sexual language to both make light and sense of certain things.

The effect of many of these explicit passages through the book was many calls from around the country for the book to be banned. Parents in multiple states gathered and expressed their desires for the book to be removed from their community schools curriculum. In one particular case in Idaho, a local said that the book exposed students to words that they "we do not speak in our home". A student responded with a petition with over 350 signatures saying “our education is being censored”.

While it is usually easy to see Alexie’s purpose in expressing certain ideas, in my experience of being a person in the described age group, I don’t think the wording is realistic enough and seems stereotypical. I do not believe that this warrants the book to be banned. There is plenty of very positive things that can be taken away from this story. However, I feel Alexie would have had a much easier time getting this idea across to the people that want his book banned if he hadn’t hidden it behind a maze of explicit wording.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown,

2007. Print.

Flood, Alison. "Sherman Alexie Young-adult Book Banned in Idaho Schools." The Guardian.

Guardian News and Media, 08 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS

In my Humanities course MDGs at GCE, we learned about the 8 Millennium Development Goals that the UN made in 2000. For Unit 3, the specific MDGs we focused on were 6, 7, and 8. MDG 6 is: Combat HIV/AIDS, MDG 7 is: Ensure Environmental Sustainability, and MDG 8 is: Develop a Global Partnership for Development. For this Action Project, we were told to write an essay that gave information on one of these MDGs and inspired people to take action. I chose MDG 6 for my essay and learned a lot about how it affects millions of people around the world every day. I also learned about the many misconceptions people have about this disease, how certain people have taken action against it, and how regular people can help prevent HIV/AIDS.

LS. Spreading HIV/AIDS. 2015

Spread of HIV/AIDS

More than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV, and almost 1 in 8 (12.8%) are unaware of their infection (aids.gov). Either people in the US don’t know much about this horrible disease or they have rash misconceptions due to lack of education. However, even though you may not have this disease, there are many things you can do to help prevent others from contracting it.

HIV and AIDS have been a widespread global issue. The MDGs made by the UN in 2000 recognize the importance of trying to stop the spread of this disease because of the horrors that it imposes and the amount of people they affect. As a race, we have been slightly effective at reducing the spread of these diseases. According to the website Our World Data, in 2000 there were 3.5 million new HIV infections globally and in 2013, there were 2.1 million new HIV infections globally. This decrease in new infections can be considered successful but it can also be reduced a lot more. Also, in 2000, there were 1.8 million global AIDS related deaths and in 2013, there were 1.5 million global AIDS related deaths. While much less of a decrease, this is still a step forward in preventing this disease. However, according to this data, there are still around 2 million new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths each year.

One specific person who has made a difference in the progress of the stop of the spread of HIV and AIDS is Naina Khanna. In an article written about Khanna’s good doings, “This year, Khanna and team greatly expanded a leadership seminar that reached nearly 400 women from across the country and trained them in public speaking, media, blogging and community organizing” (Turkewitz, Ford, and Terell). In my opinion, the best way we can go about preventing HIV/AIDS is getting people educated and aware of the diseases. Khanna did this by teaching people that went to teach others about HIV and what they can do to protect themselves from it. From the same previous article, “... since January, PWN has also launched two major campaigns: the ‘30 for 30 Campaign,’ which focuses on ensuring that women's HIV issues are incorporated into new health care policies, and the ‘Count Us In!’ campaign, which began Dec. 1, and demands that women living with HIV have better access to care and are included in HIV policy decisions, more research and data, and leadership” (Turkewitz, Ford, and Terell). This quote also shows how getting people aware goes a long way to help prevent HIV from spreading.

There are many ways that regular people, young and old, can help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Like I said before, the best way to go about preventing this disease is spreading the word and getting people educated. HIV/AIDS is spread by people making decisions. If we can make everyone aware of the risks involved in having unprotected sex with another person you don’t know well, we can help prevent the disease. Also, making sure people are aware of the way that the disease spreads can be helpful too. Making sure that people know that they won’t contract HIV/AIDS just by being around a person that has it will also help clear some large misconceptions about the disease. So, quite simply the best way to prevent these diseases is education people about being aware, safe, and protected.

In conclusion, the spread of HIV/AIDS is a large problem all around the world. As the facts show, this disease has affected millions of people and many people every day try to stop it. What we can do as regular citizens to help is make sure that every person is aware, educated, and safe. The most important thing to remember about this disease is that it can and will infect anyone it comes in contact with, even you.

Works Cited

Rosser, Max. "HIV / AIDS." Our World in Data. OurWorldInData.org, 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2015. http://ourworldindata.org/data/health/hiv-aids/

Turkewitz, Julie, Olivia Ford, and Kellee Terrell. "HIV/AIDS Community Spotlight: People Who

Made a Difference in 2011." TheBody.com. Remedy Health Media, 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2015. http://www.thebody.com/content/65158/hivaids-community-spotlight-people-who-made-a-diff.html

"U.S. Statistics." AIDS.gov. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2 Dec. 2014. Web.

23 Oct. 2015. https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/statistics/

Education as a Human Right

      For this Action Project, we were asked to use our knowledge that we gained in our class, MDGs, to write an essay describing our opinion on if MDG 1 or 2 should be considered a human right. In this unit, we learned about all the aspects of the first and second MDGs. MDG 1 is extreme hunger and poverty. MDG 2 was achieving free universal primary education. One of the challenges I had was finding suitable quotes that directly apply to my argument. To over come this I just dug deep for them and really made sure they fit my points. One of the things I am proud of is how well that the quotes actually support my points and how strong my argument is presented.

LS, Education as a Right. 2015

Education as a Human Right

Often, people don’t realize that children are the future of the world. Many parent don't see that they’re creating the next presidents, lawyers, doctors, and political leaders. If we hope to have a successful future and world, then we need to come together and make a plan so that all our children are educated. I believe ability  to be able to to complete a primary education should be a human right.

Children are our future. If our children are uneducated, then the future of the world may be in danger. The Maslow's Hierarchy of needs goes in this order in levels: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, Self-Actualization. Under this hierarchy of needs, the need for education is apart of achieving the Self-Actualization level. This need isn’t needed for survival as an individual, but rather the survival of an economy or a culture. “The price of education is the cost of competitiveness in tomorrow’s economy, and it is in all Americans’ enlightened self-interest to invest in our future.” (Albada, Michael)  What the author is trying to explain is that if we don’t invest in our children’s education now, we’re failing to invest in the future.

Making sure every child around the world is educated can benefit the growth and development of the human race as a whole. If education didn’t exist, we wouldn't be able to innovate and develop to grow and fit the rising need of new and better technology and goods. If we aren’t able to fulfill the need of  new things, the economy will fall. Thus, the entire economic system is based on education. ”Additionally, in today’s increasingly global economy, education is becoming a necessary component for innovation, growth and development.” (Albada, Michael) In this quote, the writer explains the need of education in order to expand as a human race.

The most obvious solution to the problem of children not receiving primary education is to make it a human right. Making primary education a human right would force countries to give their children an education. Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. When we introduce problems lightly, action is hardly ever taken. Countries need to understand the importance of education and how it contributes to their future. In order for the proper schooling to be available, a global fund must be created and certain countries must pay varying amount based on their income to contribute to worldwide free and accessible primary education.

Free primary education should be a human right because it directly contributes to the future of certain countries and the development of the human race as a whole. I believe ability  to be able to to complete a primary education should be a human right.If we can make this a right and force people to educate our children, we can ensure a good future for the world.

Works Cited

Albada, Michael. "Stanford Progressive." The Stanford Progressive. 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

The Right to Education." The Right to Education | Education | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.