Energy and Place
Essential Questions
1. How does energy production impact* place?
2. How does your sense of place**, environmental ethic and understanding of our energy needs influence your
perception and decisions regarding energy production
1. How does energy production impact* place?
2. How does your sense of place**, environmental ethic and understanding of our energy needs influence your
perception and decisions regarding energy production
Reflection
For this project we looked more in to environment and how our energy effects the land. We looked in to all different forms of energy ranging from fossil fuels to renewable energy learning the pros and cons of each form of energy. We learned different ethics and ways that people view the land, such as preservation and other and ethics. We also studied how the energy production effects the people who are involved with things like coal mining and uranium mining and why or why not certain energy production needs to stop. To put the students in a different state of mind we attempted to create a debate between different parties that had different views on nuclear energy. The groups did separate research and then presented it to the other groups arguing for their side.
The beginning of this project I thought that it was going to be my least favorite project. I thought this project was not going to connect with me because I am not one to think about nature or the land. As we started writing I realized that this project was more creative with the writing and not so technical. We also did a take action project for this section too. This was very interesting because I have never had to do a project based with me going out and taking action for a subject I feel strong about. I worked on this project with a partner and I think it ended up better than I expected.
I am very proud of this project with all of the effort I have put into it attempting to create a great creative and descriptive writing piece. I use many similes in my writing for example in the first paragraph I state “graffiti covers the wall like make up on a young girl who doesn’t know how to put it on.” I think I also enjoyed this paper because it gave me a chance to talk about a place that I really enjoy visiting, Germany. I try to compare a big city to a small garden in a farm which is interesting with all the similes.
For this project we looked more in to environment and how our energy effects the land. We looked in to all different forms of energy ranging from fossil fuels to renewable energy learning the pros and cons of each form of energy. We learned different ethics and ways that people view the land, such as preservation and other and ethics. We also studied how the energy production effects the people who are involved with things like coal mining and uranium mining and why or why not certain energy production needs to stop. To put the students in a different state of mind we attempted to create a debate between different parties that had different views on nuclear energy. The groups did separate research and then presented it to the other groups arguing for their side.
The beginning of this project I thought that it was going to be my least favorite project. I thought this project was not going to connect with me because I am not one to think about nature or the land. As we started writing I realized that this project was more creative with the writing and not so technical. We also did a take action project for this section too. This was very interesting because I have never had to do a project based with me going out and taking action for a subject I feel strong about. I worked on this project with a partner and I think it ended up better than I expected.
I am very proud of this project with all of the effort I have put into it attempting to create a great creative and descriptive writing piece. I use many similes in my writing for example in the first paragraph I state “graffiti covers the wall like make up on a young girl who doesn’t know how to put it on.” I think I also enjoyed this paper because it gave me a chance to talk about a place that I really enjoy visiting, Germany. I try to compare a big city to a small garden in a farm which is interesting with all the similes.
Take Action Project
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Happiness and Meaning
What is the purpose of your existence?
What is happiness and what makes you happy?
What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Click here for the project description.
What is happiness and what makes you happy?
What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Click here for the project description.
The Morality and Politics of Justice
Artist statement NSA Bird
My art piece tries to convey the view on the problem of NSA surveillance being morally wrong. To bring this idea across I painted a bird on my painting to show the free citizens. I decided to use an iconic mask known as a guy Fawkes mask which is famous in protests. I used this mask to show that the citizens should be hidden to the government and that the citizens have the freedom to protest. The inside of the bird is a space scene to show that the citizens should have their own space and freedom.
My poster tried to use more of a pathos approach to convince people with an inspiring photo. I used the bird with its wings and this mask that is a symbol of protests to bring out the inspiration or feeling to rebel. The quote on my poster is to bring through ethos and to convince the reader that this rebellion is needed. My poster has a brighter tone to it even though it is spray paint. I expected the spray paint to look really dark and not professional
My poster tried to use more of a pathos approach to convince people with an inspiring photo. I used the bird with its wings and this mask that is a symbol of protests to bring out the inspiration or feeling to rebel. The quote on my poster is to bring through ethos and to convince the reader that this rebellion is needed. My poster has a brighter tone to it even though it is spray paint. I expected the spray paint to look really dark and not professional
We are Being Watched
Freedom or safety, this is the question at stake when looking at the NSA surveillance. Recently a man known as Edward Snowden has decided to release information explaining the extent of NSA surveillance. With the citizens learning this piece of information it has created an uprising of debates if this is morally right or not. Although there may be few benefits to NSA surveillance it still infringes on the liberty of Americans. The government has been doing this in hopes to prevent terrorist attacks but the fact that the government is taking away the liberty of Americans does not justify this action. Debater Michael German states “we know that spying on us did not save us from the underwear bomber… luck is what saved us from these bombers not mass surveillance.” (Spy On Me, I'd Rather Be Safe.)
With all the technology the world the government has been attempting to find better way to stop the illegal things online. So the government has come to the illegally activity of searching through this citizens electronic belongings and privacy. This has been proven useful in a case in San Francisco but because the search was illegal the court was forced to let the man go. In this conflict I can see why mass government surveillance can help find criminals and aid in the protection of others. Jeremy Bentham believed that if many were to gain or benefit from sacrificing one that we should do that, or otherwise known as short term Utilitarianism. In some cases I can see why mass surveillance could benefit the war on terrorism and help the safety of the citizens.
However, despite these claims by proponents of governmental surveillance, one reason against is that the use of these surveillance programs have been using up taxpayers money. Using mass government surveillance is a waste of resources, it has been estimated that the “National Security Agency together cost each taxpayer about $574,” (Kloc) per year. This money is just so someone can watch and monitor what you do just to make sure you are not a terrorist. Michael German also explains that the NSA has not helped us with a terrorism threat yet and he sees no point that we should waste money on something that doesn’t work.
Not to mention it is still inappropriate to spy on people. You never know when the government is watching what you are doing. Thomas Jefferson actually stated that “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” I think this is exactly what we are falling into and with the government watching us the citizens are at a loss of power.
The first Amendment provides the freedom of religion, expression, assembly and the right to petition. With the government fully watching their citizens it is hindering there freedom of expression because the government can control what the citizens put out on the internet, say or even do. The government, when searching for these terrorism threats, often only find suspects that are two or three people away from connection to the real threat. This problem has occurred so much that they actually made a name for this problem “Pizza Hut leads”. This name is highly due to the amount of times that they have come to suspect a pizza delivery guy to be a part of a terrorist attack.
The new act called the USA PATRIOT act wich also stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. With the USA PATRIOT act passed they have made the law that the government has the right to surveillance in a much wider range and to include other activities such as gathering electronic information and even to wiretap citizens if they are believed to be involved in a terrorism threat. When the government stated this act it tried to use a double speak skill known as euphemism to make the act easier to digest.
Philosopher J.S Mills believes in a more long term concept of Utilitarianism. He thought that preserving liberty over the long term is more helpful to the citizens and will bring more happiness than a short term solution would bring. Mills would argue that with the government spying on the citizens like this that it would promote bad or morally wrong actions among the citizens, as where the government should be setting an example for their citizens and following their own rules. This philosophy also argues that you should have the freedom of speech unless you are threatening some ones physical wellbeing.
Freedom is the correct choice when looking at NSA surveillance. With the NSA taking up hundreds of taxpayer’s dollars and with the results that we are seeing as citizens, we should not commit to this mass surveillance. Mills would have argued it perfectly from the utilitarian’s perspective that the government should not allow or commit certain acts that they believe should not happen for the citizens may follow. With the government secretly conducting this mass surveillance it has broken the trust between them and the citizens.
Kloc, Joe. "NSA Spying Costs Each U.S. Taxpayer $574 a Year." The Daily Dot. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct.
2014.< http://www.dailydot.com/politics/nsa-cost-spying-taxpayer/
>
Murdock, Sebastian. "Court Tosses Man's Child Porn Conviction Over Illegal Government Surveilance."
The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.< http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/14/court-tosses-child-porn-conviction_n_5818256.html
>
"Spy On Me, I'd Rather Be Safe." – IQ2 Debates. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.<http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/past-debates/item/987-spy-on-me-id-rather-be-safe>.
"What Is the USA Patriot Web." What Is the USA Patriot Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.< http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm >
With all the technology the world the government has been attempting to find better way to stop the illegal things online. So the government has come to the illegally activity of searching through this citizens electronic belongings and privacy. This has been proven useful in a case in San Francisco but because the search was illegal the court was forced to let the man go. In this conflict I can see why mass government surveillance can help find criminals and aid in the protection of others. Jeremy Bentham believed that if many were to gain or benefit from sacrificing one that we should do that, or otherwise known as short term Utilitarianism. In some cases I can see why mass surveillance could benefit the war on terrorism and help the safety of the citizens.
However, despite these claims by proponents of governmental surveillance, one reason against is that the use of these surveillance programs have been using up taxpayers money. Using mass government surveillance is a waste of resources, it has been estimated that the “National Security Agency together cost each taxpayer about $574,” (Kloc) per year. This money is just so someone can watch and monitor what you do just to make sure you are not a terrorist. Michael German also explains that the NSA has not helped us with a terrorism threat yet and he sees no point that we should waste money on something that doesn’t work.
Not to mention it is still inappropriate to spy on people. You never know when the government is watching what you are doing. Thomas Jefferson actually stated that “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” I think this is exactly what we are falling into and with the government watching us the citizens are at a loss of power.
The first Amendment provides the freedom of religion, expression, assembly and the right to petition. With the government fully watching their citizens it is hindering there freedom of expression because the government can control what the citizens put out on the internet, say or even do. The government, when searching for these terrorism threats, often only find suspects that are two or three people away from connection to the real threat. This problem has occurred so much that they actually made a name for this problem “Pizza Hut leads”. This name is highly due to the amount of times that they have come to suspect a pizza delivery guy to be a part of a terrorist attack.
The new act called the USA PATRIOT act wich also stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. With the USA PATRIOT act passed they have made the law that the government has the right to surveillance in a much wider range and to include other activities such as gathering electronic information and even to wiretap citizens if they are believed to be involved in a terrorism threat. When the government stated this act it tried to use a double speak skill known as euphemism to make the act easier to digest.
Philosopher J.S Mills believes in a more long term concept of Utilitarianism. He thought that preserving liberty over the long term is more helpful to the citizens and will bring more happiness than a short term solution would bring. Mills would argue that with the government spying on the citizens like this that it would promote bad or morally wrong actions among the citizens, as where the government should be setting an example for their citizens and following their own rules. This philosophy also argues that you should have the freedom of speech unless you are threatening some ones physical wellbeing.
Freedom is the correct choice when looking at NSA surveillance. With the NSA taking up hundreds of taxpayer’s dollars and with the results that we are seeing as citizens, we should not commit to this mass surveillance. Mills would have argued it perfectly from the utilitarian’s perspective that the government should not allow or commit certain acts that they believe should not happen for the citizens may follow. With the government secretly conducting this mass surveillance it has broken the trust between them and the citizens.
Kloc, Joe. "NSA Spying Costs Each U.S. Taxpayer $574 a Year." The Daily Dot. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct.
2014.< http://www.dailydot.com/politics/nsa-cost-spying-taxpayer/
>
Murdock, Sebastian. "Court Tosses Man's Child Porn Conviction Over Illegal Government Surveilance."
The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.< http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/14/court-tosses-child-porn-conviction_n_5818256.html
>
"Spy On Me, I'd Rather Be Safe." – IQ2 Debates. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.<http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/past-debates/item/987-spy-on-me-id-rather-be-safe>.
"What Is the USA Patriot Web." What Is the USA Patriot Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.< http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm >
Project Reflection
For this project we learned to think interdependently, we learned this skill to help us find and stand with a view point. I chose to research the topic of NSA surveillance. this was very interesting to me because I tend to use electronics a lot in life. with the government watching like this it is a trouble to the citizens threatening their freedom. we had to write an Op-ed on this topic which is a news paper entry that is normally 750 to 1000 words. after this we had to complete and art piece, and along with the art piece we had to write about the art piece explaining our idea and reasoning with it.