Rethink Trespassing

This action project is for my 2 action project of my argument class. In this project we were asked to choose one rule in the code of conduct to reinvent and make it our own and write a argument based on your opinion. I learned a lot about how arguments can be formally organized and how you can make a concrete argument. I am proud of my paper and i would like to see my rule passed and actually incorporated in the GCE code of conduct. Please read my argument and leave a comment and tell me if you think that my rule should be passed. Thank you and ENJOY!

The specific rule I’d like to amend in the GCE Code of Conduct is the one about trespassing that states: “Students, patrons, and school personnel are expected to have appropriate authorization to be on school property.” although this rule is short is is very clear and to the point. No matter how short and to the point this rule it it does not change the fact that this rule is very unjust because the GCE staff does not enforce it properly and they are very biased as to who they let in. For example, alumni are allowed back into the school to play basketball and they let some students friends come in to play basketball. But when I tried to bring one of my friends in for the same reason, all of a sudden the staff decided to enforce the rule and tell him that he cannot come in because it would be a liability if he got hurt. When I asked why the rule was being applied in this case, staff told me they couldn't cover my friend if he injured himself and when asked why they were applying this rule now instead of when other outsiders came in and they did not answer me they basically just told me "that's just how it is, it not our property so we can not be responsible for someone that does not go to our school." The way GCE staff selectively applies this rule is clearly biased, just like a landlord banning pets from his apartment building but has a dog.

I can type paragraphs about how this argument is unjust and biased but, this rule written as a formal argument would look like this...

P1: GCE’s campus is actually owned by the Menomonee club.

P2: Visitors and school personnel need appropriate authorization to enter GCE’s campus.

C: A visitor with incorrect authorization will be asked to leave the premises.

This rule is obviously flawed and according to the staff/ code of conduct it must be enforced "properly" and must not be broken but I feel that the rule should not apply for after school clubs that involve sports or activities such as volleyball or basketball, especially if it is not a team sport, but played for fun because it will make it more interesting if there are more people, anyways. Also, since GCE wants more people to know about and see the school why not have outsiders come in and play sports or talk with friends at GCE and see how the school is.

In my opinion I feel that my way of approaching trespassing is superior and should be put into affect in the future. As a way to break down my reasoning I have created a formal argument below.

P1: GCE wants to generate more interest in our school.

P2: Current students may know potential GCE recruits.

P3: Current students should be allowed to bring visitors to campus.

C: If you are visiting GCE “through” a current student, then you are not trespassing

I feel like life at GCE will be better because you will have more people interested in coming to GCE and we will end up having more kids due to the students bringing their friends in. Also, we will give other students a better sense or other students life by seeing the people they hang out with. Also, it would make clubs more interesting because outsiders will be able to come and spice up the games or activities that we do. Not only will it make our school better but it also helps us become global citizens and that is one of GCE's goals. I feel that my amendment demonstrates true citizenship because GCE as it is now is basically a bubble. We come to school and see/talk to the same 43 people that we see everyday. And, I feel that that my amendment will give us a better sense of the real world because you will always meet new people in the world not see the same people everyday. Therefore, I feel that it will build up your people skills because you will meet and talk to new people all the time. I did not want my amendment to be only my opinion so i went and asked a fellow student what they though of my redesigned rule on trespassing and they told me "I agree that it is reasonable because since our school aims to further educational and social life as one, we should be allowed to bring in people who could work and benefit with whatever we are doing after school."(JM)

Lastly i would like to present you with three facts to support my amendment and if you are reading this blog please leave a comment and tell me whether or not my rule is better than the original one

1. the original rule is biased because they would let other students friends and alumni in but when i tried to bring my friend they all of the sudden wanted to enforce the rule  
2. GCE wants more people to know about GCE and more people to understand what GCE is trying to do so if outsiders come in then they will most likely learn more about GCE
3. GCE loves to promote the idea of diversity in school and outside of school so by letting outsiders come in you are learning about them and the different parts of Chicago they come from

REMZ GUITAR

This project is all about sound and the different elements of sound. We linked that to guitars as a way to show the different elements of sound. We ended up making our own guitars out of various objects and tested the frequency, volume, amplitude etc. I made my guitar out of a small found box, a very long toilet paper tube, 2 pieces of wood for the bridge, and 2 pieces of wire for the strings and held it all together with hot glue and duct tape. I learned a lot this unit such as the difference between AM and FM and how radios work and how the sound is transmitted. I also learned about frequency, amplitude, volume, wavelength and how to calculate them. One of the things i'm proud of is my actual guitar, Initially I thought my guitar would be bad because its homemade and i'm not a professional guitar maker but i'm actually happy with the outcome.

BKJ, GUITAR (2015)

My guitar makes sound by plucking the string which causes vibrations to bounce around the inside of the sound hole which then reflects outward and produces a certain pitch and volume. In this unit we learned about frequency which is basically the pitch of the sound, a higher frequency is also a higher pitch and a lower frequency is a lower pitch. my guitar sounds more along the lines of a lower pitch which means that it has low frequency. We also learned about amplitude and that is basically the volume of the sound. The strings on my guitar are not very tight or strong so they produce a low volume sound which means that the amplitude would be very low.

The Doppler effect is sound waves being pushed together as an object moves forward and left behind as the object moves forward. My guitar does not demonstrate the Doppler effect unless I am moving while playing the guitar otherwise the sound waves are being distributed equally.

One thing that may effect the sound the guitar strings make is the length and thickness so for the purposes of this project we were asked to calculate the string length and the string thickness my string is 17.5 inches long and .36mm thick. We were also asked to calculate the volume of the guitar body and I found that my guitar body was 63.98 inches cubed. lastly we were asked to calculate the frequency and the wavelength and I found that my frequency is: A# 466.16 Hz and the wavelength is: 74.01 cm. The frequency of my octave is: 932.32 Hz and my wavelength is: 37.005 cm.

BKJ, ACTUAL GUITAR (2015)

If I could do it all over again I would probably take more time at home to build so I can use a bigger box and also I would use wood for the neck instead of a cardboard tube. I would also probably use real guitar strings because I have seen that they produce better sound after seeing other classmates projects. If I had extra time at the end I would probably paint the guitar because it looks very plain since its all the same color

The Art of a Vandal

This is my first action project for my Argument course. The purpose of this project was to design your own course and write a declaration to support your reason for proposing this course. I learned a lot this unit but one of the main things I learned was how to write premises and conclusions and how an formal argument is formatted. I am proud of my class mostly because I was pressured to do a different class but in the end I decided to follow my passion and do a class about something I actually care about and see in my everyday life and participate in myself. Please enjoy my declaration for my graffiti class below.

I am declaring a new independent study course at my high school for the next year. There are several reasons for me to propose this class but my main reason is because I want people to experience my passion and experience the life of being a graffiti artist. I want people to experience this because it is a misunderstood art form and even though you are breaking the law it does teach you values such as respect, loyalty, family etc. Students at GCE are taught the 4 values which are gratitude, autonomy, accountability, purpose. My course will teach us these values but in a unique way. Graffiti artist will often look at graffiti on their way somewhere and basically take it all in and notice all the details which is the same thing as gratitude. As a graffiti artist you will have to take responsibility for your style and will often have to go on "mission" by yourself and do most of the work by yourself (unless you have a crew) which is basically autonomy and accountability together. If you do graffiti there is always a purpose behind your reasoning for doing it, It may be different for everyone but they all have their own purpose.

In my opinion the purpose of school as a minor is to take advantage of your education and make the best out of it and actually learn something that you will use in your future job or even life ahead of that. I also feel that school teaches you more than just the basics, for example, it teaches you how to socialize and how to communicate with people professionally. One thing my school has taught me is how to do interviews and also how to be professional and talk proper. basically I feel that school only has a purpose if you take advantage of the opportunities and actually care.

As a GCE student it's my right to express myself and basically make learning interesting for me, tell others what i would like to see incorporated in the classes and also tell the teachers how I would like to learn and what i would like to see more of, I also have the right to tell anyone what i need to make my education the best that it can be. The school encourages me to take control of my learning, be creative with solutions to problems and also they give us enough freedom to make the projects ours and make them unique and do them how we want to. Therefore, I am declaring an independent study for a course titled: The Art of a Vandal. In this class, students will work to answer the guiding question: What makes graffiti the most purest form of art?

"The Art of a Vandal" would be offered to any high school grade level at GCE's campus with many outside meetings. This class will most likely take place in the summer because it is an ideal season to travel around the city and do a lot of walking. This class will almost entirely take place off campus but some days will be spent inside studying the history of graffiti and practicing the style of graffiti. This class will be taught by Hiu (a teacher at GCE) And by myself mainly because Hiu is the art teacher at GCE and me because I know a lot about the art form and I also do graffiti so I can give inside experience to the lifestyle of being a graffiti artist. In this course students will study the unwritten rules of graffiti which are: do not do graffiti on peoples houses, churches, civilian cars and many other rules about styles and respect. This course will also teach you the history of graffiti and different styles and where they originated. You will also learn about different neighborhoods of Chicago and how graffiti plays a big part of the community. Lastly you will learn about crews and also the different "tools" you can use and how to use them. Some of the resources that we can use to benefit us in this class are: Modest skate shop to buy the supplies from such as spray paint and markers. Another resource is Remz a Chicago graffiti artist. Blick will come in handy when we learn about letters because we can buy markers from there and also we can get paint and practice our pieces. Another resource would be "Sofles" because he is a sponsored graffiti artist and he can teach us about style. we could travel to Labagh woods to look at all the old graffiti and new graffiti to learn about style. We could also travel to the "k-mart walls" which is a discrete spot next to a K-mart in Albany park and it is almost 2 blocks of pure graffiti filled walls which will teach them a bit of the unwritten rules and also about style and color combos.

At the end of this course students will have hopefully learned more about their Chicago and the different style Chicago has made and also how graffiti plays a big part in the liveliness of Chicago. They will learn this by studying the history of Chicago graffiti and also by creating their own piece of graffiti art by the end of the class. For one of their action projects they will be assigned a spot and they will have to write a plan including: the best season to paint this spot, the best time, the best colors to use to make the piece pop, the style of the piece and why and they would be given a cardboard model of their spot and would be asked to draw out their piece.

Here is my formal argument for my independent study course:
P1: GCE embraces non-traditional learning
P2: GCE teaches the 4 values of gratitude, autonomy, accountability, purpose
P3: Graffiti is a misunderstood and often hated art form
P4: Studying the history of graffiti teaches the same values, in addition to: discipline/ rules
C: Graffiti should be a course offered at GCE to any grade level

Pinhole Camera

This course was all about light and sound and how those two things affect our daily lives. in this unit we studied light and how affects us and also how a camera is almost exactly like our eyes. In this unit we made a camera out of found materials and had to develop a picture using that camera using light and photo paper. In this unit i learned how to make a pinhole camera and how we can make a photo out of a pinhole camera and a little bit of light exposure. I also learned how a camera is so much like a human eye and how they function the same way to create images. The one thing that I am proud of is my photography because I like how it turned out. I really liked the shapes I used and how it all worked together to make a nice picture

BKJ, pinhole cam (2015)

Light rays from the sun travel through a lens made out of a square of aluminum and a small hole poked in it with a pin. The light ray then continue to travel until it hit the back of the box where the photo-sensitive paper is placed. The photo-sensitive paper reacts to the light bouncing off of the objects and then creates a picture, so that when you place it in the developing chemicals it will produce an image of whatever was placed in front of the pinhole.

This process illustrates that light is a particle because i bounces off of an object and then is sent through the pinhole and transfers to the photo-sensitive paper. I also behaves like a wave because when two light rays come in contact they simply pass through each other. If it was a particle it would bounce off of each other but it does not. Refraction is when a light ray transfers from one surface to another and the direction of the light is changes slightly and slowed down. My camera does not show refraction because the light does not change surfaces it just passes through the lens.

it's about 11.5 inches across from my lens to the photo paper. My object is about 11.25 inches tall. It's about 5 inches from my pinhole to the bottom of the camera, so if i created similar triangles my equation would be 5 / 11.5 = 11.25 / Y, where Y is the distance between the back of my camera and the front of my object.

BKJ Similar Triangles (2015)

When taking the picture we were told to set up our objects and then open the shutter. My shutter was open for about 4 minutes. After that 4 minutes i then closed my shutter and brought the camera to the dark room, where i then opened my camera and took out the photo paper and ran it through all the chemicals until it developed a picture. Unfortunately my picture did not turn out as expected but we did get to make a photo gram which is basically where you put photo paper under glass and then put objects on top and expose it to light and whatever parts of the paper did get hit with light will turn black and the parts that didn't will stay white. I hope you enjoy my photo and my photo gram below.

BKJ, Photo (2015)

BKJ, Photo Gram (2015)

Stand By Me Review

This project is for my film class name Ollywood. The purpose of this project was to choose a movie and make a podcast review on what you thought and about the editing and soundtrack etc. I picked the film Stand by Me because i remember seeing it a long time ago and really wanted to watch it again and do my project on it. I learned a lot about the movie and cast that i would not have found out if i didn't do this project. I am proud of my podcast even though I stuttered quite a bit. Please listen to my podcast down below and read my script if you would like to. Thank you.

Hello, I'm BKJ and I will be analyzing the movie Stand By Me by Rob Reiner (1986). This movie is a thrilling adventure/ drama movie that stars 4 kids Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern in their journey to find a dead body.

This story follows a young kid and his friends on a journey to find a dead body. The protagonist is presented with a journey and is tested and is pushed to the limit and in this case it was the journey to find the dead body. the movie has an antagonist which is the town bullies and they also set out for the body at a later point in the movie to get fame and they both arrive at the body and have a confrontation that basically change the protagonist and made him a different person in the moment. at the end of the movie every single one of those kids were changed forever and set out to do better things that they hadn't originally thought they were capable of.

The editing in this movie was very smooth and the cuts were put in perfect spots. one particular scene that had good editing was when all the kids were about to set off on their journey. I liked the editing in this scene because it cut from each kid and showed them all leaving their house and I felt that the “matched action” editing technique felt natural and worked very well to set the scene. also I feel that the editor knew exactly where to put the music to evoke a certain mood.

Another thing that was done well was the soundtrack. The music was very well chosen because they used songs from the time period the movie was placed in and they also knew exactly where to place the music to set the mood of the scene. For example, when the boys would be skipping along there would be happy music on such as “Lollipop, Rockin’ Robin, Hush-a-Bye” and many more.

As for the sound effects, I feel that they were actually pretty good for its time, Not as advanced as now but it was still smooth and believable. for example, the boys were about to set off on their journey, when Gordie and Chris meet up and find out the Chris brings a gun and they end up firing it in the alley behind a store. The gunshots in that scene sounded pretty real and lets the audience know that this movie is going to include. Another example is when they were in the woods and the wolves started howling, instantly making the kids scared and makes the audience anticipate a scary scene. I feel that the soundtrack that they used for that was pretty memorable because I have seen that in plenty of movies and tv shows. they also knew where to put the sound effects to make the scene 10x better than it already was. Another thing that contributed to the greatness of this movie was that special effects. I feel like the train in the bridge scene was a nice touch and it was believable. Some of the background looked kind of edited but I’m not sure. but all together the movie was well put together with its post-production elements. Likely, the special effects team achieved this realism by top notch technology and a green screen for the background

When I think about what the film means, it seems to really be about opposites - the boys facing challenges on their road to becoming adults. The entire film is actually a flashback that Gordie is having about his childhood adventure. Gordie was actually writing a paper about this event in his life because it was one of the best adventures and its the reason he is who he is today. His best friend Chris motivated him to be a writer throughout the whole movie and he finally made it. One example of this difference between childhood and manhood is the younger kids and the older kids. I feel like the younger kids are smarter and know what they want and the older kids just want to be cool and popular. The older kids are basically an example of what the younger kid WOULD have been if they did not go on that life changing adventure. I also feel that Gordie and Chris are very mature and actually want to get something out of their journey and actually be something in life. I feel that Teddy and Vern are very doubtful and don't really have plans for later on in life and I also feel that they don't really need to get anything out of the journey, they are just along for the ride. They aren't as in need of growth as the other boys. Lastly, there are important differences between the boys as they grow up. Gordie didn't want to be a writer or go to college. Chris didn't think he could do anything productive with his life. Vern didn't have any aspirations. Teddy wanted to be in the military like his dad was. In the end, Gordie did become a writer and actually had a successful life. Chris Actually got a good job as a lawyer and had a good life until he was killed trying to break up a fight. Vern ended up having kids and a middle class job. Last but not least Teddy ended up getting rejected from the army and after that he ended up working odd jobs around the city.  

Thank you for listening!

Streetart Advocate

My name is BKJ and I'm taking the class Five Faces of Genius. For our third action project we had to do a service project that served or affected at least 10 people. In planning my service project, I used the Five Faces of Genius. I used my seer skills by visualizing what my installation is going to look like and what my sticker are going to look like. Also I had to visualize how I was going to incorporate human rights and use it in my art so i can get my message out. I used my observer skills by planning for the project and paying attention to the details of how my project is going to work and how I can do it effectively. I used my alchemist skills by combining my love of art and specifically street art with a world problem. I used my fool traits by turning the normal way of doing street art on its head and using it to put out a message that matters instead of a name. I used my sage traits by simplifying my designs so I can get the message out but still look good. Below is a video I created that documents what I did for my service project.

This project was something that I actually care about because I have always felt a sense of unfairness between humans. I feel that we are all human beings and should all be treated equally even if we are different skin tones or different genders. Some people say that god created racism and inequality but that is not true, we were all created the same and we as humans chose to make racism and inequality by thinking one person is better than another. When I first started the project I thought, "What can an average street artist do to contribute to fighting for human rights?" Then I got the idea to just use my talent to put out a message not just a name or image. I decided to make stickers and an installation so I can put them up in the streets for the public to see. With other events like speeches or closed events only a select amount of people go and you have to be interested to even want to go, but with my idea anyone can see it while walking down the street. You don’t have to buy a ticket or travel to see my installation and stickers all you have to do is see one on the street and thats all you have to do to make your own meaning out of the project. What I like about art is that it’s up for interpretation. Art has no set meaning unless you state it but most people create their own meaning when they see it.

This project is for my Five Faces Elective course and this is the second Action Project of this course. This unit was all about the Five Faces and how we can identify our strong faces and other peoples faces. Also how we can unlock our faces and make the weaker ones stronger and how we can eventually use them to help us do a service project. I liked the fact that I got to identify my own strong and weak faces. I am proud of the interview I did because I feel that I never really talk to my cousin about graffiti like that and that was a cool thing to do.

In this unit we went deep into studying all of the Five Faces and what each face means. A Seer is someone that visualizes and basically sees things in their mind and then uses what they see to solve problems and use it in real world problems. An Observer is someone that sits back and watches their surroundings and really pays attention to detail. An Alchemist is someone that combines different things and tries to make a solution by putting things together. A Fool is someone that always tries to find weird ways to do things and take average solutions and turns them on their head. They also are the type of people that aren't scared to try weird things even if they might not work. A Sage is someone that likes to take complicated problems and things and make them simple and they are also people that look to history to solve problems.

When I took the Five Faces survey to see what my dominant faces and weak faces are, I scored high in the Fool and Seer category and kind of low in the others according to the test. I actually agree with the Fool and Seer outcome because whenever I'm at home and I have to do something I will always find a “different” way of doing it and also I’m pretty goofy and just like to turn normal things upside down and just make everything more fun. I also agree that I am a Seer because I do visualize everything I do because I draw and do graffiti so I have to visualize what everything is going to look like before it goes down on paper. Another way I see a Seer in me is that whenever I can't think of a character I will stare at a brick wall or other form of textured wall and I will start to see shapes and characters in the texture and its all me just putting those

shapes and visions together to make a character.

For my external part of this project I decided to interview my cousin because I feel that he is very creative because he does graffiti just like me and he draws.Throughout the conversation I talked to him about what he does when he sees graffiti, if he watches graffiti movies, does he study graffiti and just things like that. Basically at the end of the discussion I feel that he is a Seer and a Sage. I feel that he is as Seer because he has to visualize what he is going to do in his head before it goes on paper or a wall. Just like every artist, you have to visualize what it will look like and what color combo will be good or how you will structure a certain thing and I feel that that is what graffiti writers or artists have to do. I also think he is a Sage because a sage is someone that simplifies things and I knew he was one when he said “I like to keep my style simple but still clean.” Another thing a Sage does is look to history for solutions and from past times at his house and past conversations I've noticed that he likes to look up the history of graffiti and also look at other graffiti videos on YouTube.

Hoop mixtape, BKJ (2013)

              

One person that we studied in class was Albert Einstein. I felt that Albert Einstein is a Sage and a Seer. I think he is a Seer because he had to create the formula E=mc2 and I doubt that the answer just fell in his hand so he really had to visualize how everything was going to work and how he was actually going to make the formula. I also feel that he is a Sage because of one quote that he said which was “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” I feel that this makes him a Sage because he took a very broad, controversial, and uncommon topic and made it simple and actually made it make sense.

And lastly one person that I didn't study or interview is my mom Luisa Johnston. I feel that my Mom is a Seer and a Observer. I feel that she is a Seer because she visualizes how she wants things to look and then somehow makes it happen. My mom is also an artist and she likes to draw from her mind so she has to visualize how everything is going to look when she puts it on paper. I feel that my Mom is also an Observer because she sits back and just watches things unfold and really pays attention to detail and then uses that as a way to get other people to do something and fix the thing that happened. She often notices things that me and my other family members don't and that is why I feel that she could be an Observer.

My Mom, BKJ (2014)

I will use Seer qualities to teach kids art at an after school program and I will visualize what I am going to teach them and how I am going to teach them art step by step. I will use Observer skills to pay attention to each kid’s progress in learning and use it to make special lessons for each kid. I will use Alchemist skills to combine two different forms of art and try to teach them how to make two things work as one and make it an art piece. I will use Fool skills to make the class fun and take the average boring art class and turn it upside down and turn it into a fun class that they could look forward to. I will use Sage skills to make the class simpler because I will be working with kids and I don’t want to make anything too complicated. Also I will teach them about the history of art and maybe the history of graffiti if I get to teach graffiti. Another service project I could do is volunteer at my local park district and basically clean and help out with whatever else they need.