I can't believe it isn't extra credit :-(

I chose this fingerprint to be my emblem because throughout my writing, I've found individualism just like a fingerprint. I would have never thought I would be able to write and feel comfortable about doing so, so I thought a fingerprint fit the bill for my writing emblem. One theme that came across throughout all the writing I've completed this semester was happiness. I chose to write about things that brought me joy or that sparked some sort of joy in me, I felt passionate about the topics I wrote about for essays and felt happy doing so. I was continuously inspired to write about things and I never didn't want to finish my essay and have my teacher grade it. "It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? Maybe happiness is something that we can only pursuing maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?" Christopher Gardener- Pursuit of Happyness

Check in #3

After completing the challenge I realized how much black culture is tied into our society today. Whether people want to admit it or not, they will encounter something that stemmed from black culture on a day to day basis. By going to the graffiti wall, it helped me understand the even if it has no relevance to me, it has relevance to other people and I along with others should accept that. I should never look or hear something and think it is garbage sole because I do not like it or it does not pertain to me. Throughout the writing process one difficulty I had was actually going there and taking time to look at the wall and engage in a culture I am not familiar with but by doing this I was about to expand my horizons. I was able to open my eyes to the black culture about me and how it affect my every day life. It also makes me curious to what other cultures impact my life the way black culture does.

Teachers can make a lasting impression

I am a firm believer that high school and college is a place to find parts of yourself you never knew were there and I believe teachers help carve those paths. I became lucky and had four teachers that taught me so much about myself and the life I wanted to live. My first "literacy sponsor" came my sophomore year in English class. In fact, Mr. chase reminds me a lot of you (Mikayla, that is). He teaches English, he loves Kayne, he got a traffic violation (sorta), and he taught me a lot of life and how I should be applying myself through writing. At the time I didn't think much about what he was really teaching us but after once my sophomore year was over I could only hope to have another teacher who inspired me to chase after my dreams and do what I wanted well because, fuck it. My second sponsor came Junior year. Mr. Harkama created the path of my career. He taught my Anatomy class and I had never been so intrigued by the anatomy and physiology of our bodies. Throughout the year I thought more and more about becoming an Anatomy professor and had even talked to him about what I would need to do to become one. Now after nursing I want to go back and become an anatomy professor and hope to shape lives the way he shaped mine. My third teacher came Senior year. Mrs. Phelps was also my english teacher but I remember very clearly that I was so bitter to have her because our "greatest" teacher had left to Canada over the summer. I wasn't happy to be in her class and I'm sure she knew it but as weeks went by, I was excited to go to class. She taught me a lot about my writing as well but she become a sort of motherly figure to me and helped me through multiple situations. I was able to sit and talk with her for hours after school about things that had been going on and about college and she helped on way to UF. This is where my Fourth teachers comes in. Mikayla (my english professor) though she may not know it, has inspired me with writing. I completely dreaded writing essays but I found myself excited to pick my next topic. She showed me not to give a shit about what other people think and to do what truly makes you happy and inspires you. As I go on through college, I hope I get teachers that inspired me as much as her. Teachers have helped me define myself as a person and it's been the greatest experience.

Justification

As these rules and regulations are implemented, there are many set backs, both major and minor, that people may see as consequences. Building more cargo ships in itself would cost companies millions of dollars. In addition, paying the wages of more workers, along with the possibility of having to build new ports for farther destinations would cost millions of more dollars in itself. Due to this costing so much money that would come from the government, taxes would most likely be raised to help pay for construction and new jobs. At first, people won’t be happy about having their taxes raised for something that may not be directly harming them for the moment being. Americans will have to be educated on the effects of oil spills and the true harm it has on them and how serious it can become in the next few years if nothing is done about it. The public  should be aware of how much money it costs to clean up oil spills and at the rate of how many spills the United States has had in the past decade and a half, they could afford to pay for the work that is needed to be done. What people do not realize is that there are huge benefits for themselves directly. People will be directly affected because having a healthier environment, cleaner drinking water, and cleaner air to breathe, there are lower risks for diseases thus leading to longer lives. If the people become educated about the benefits and are able to see how the benefits outweigh the risks, it will take effect much sooner leading to a healthier environment for the future. Waiting too long can cause significant damage to the rest of the healthy environment and can cause so much contamination that there is no way to reverse the effects already caused. To get back to the point, Oil spills are a major problem for the United States. Over 30 oil spills have happened in the past decade and a half and have become a serious issue for the environment. The oil spills cause pollution in the water causing contamination in the marine life and the environment also leading to evaporation of the petroleum hydrocarbon into the air. The petroleum leaking or pouring into the oceans cause harm to humans because we use the water for drinking, we catch fish and sell them in bulk at fish markets, and because it is so dense we breathe it in leading to diseases and some cancers. By having emergency cargo ships follow oil ships, regulating how many stops the ships must make, and creating more ports for them to stop and get checked, oil spills can be dramatically reduced. These regulations reduce human error in the cargo ships, help stop encountering natural disasters, and there would be less illegal dumping of the oil into the oceans. Though it would be millions of dollars to be implemented, if we continue to let oil spills occur we will end up paying more to attempt to clean up the oil that has now been wasted. This being said, reducing oil spills benefits the Americans, enhances the environment, and helps marine life flourish. 

I can't tell if this is a good solution or not

Effectively reducing oil spills is something that could benefit humans and the environment dramatically. Two ways oil spills can be dramatically reduced is by having oil tanker pit stops along their trips and have other emergency tankers and clean up crews following them in case of an emergency or leak of any sort. The cargo ships containing ten tons of oil and traveling over 1,500 miles in a trip, placing mandatory stops every 250 miles or so enables crews to check any mechanical problems, check pipes, and have the rest of the tanker checked out before continuing to their destination.    By creating this regulation it would reduce future accidents exponentially because they would be required to stop to check for human error and they would not be allowed to leave the port if there is a hurricane or natural disaster on the route the tank would be taking. They would be required to stay the full amount of time required by the government and would require checks every stop they make. This would be a policy/ regulation that would need to be followed by every tanker or cargo ship carrying any amount of petroleum to reduce any spillage. Another way to reduce any spillage of the petroleum hydrocarbon would be having emergency tankers or cargo ships following them from port to port to be prepared for any emergency that could occur. The ships would have equipment on them such as spill kits, oily water separators, oil skimmers, and pumps. All crew members aboard the emergency ship will have advanced training, be able to respond quickly and effectively to spill responses, and be able to inspect and find problems effectively. The ship should hold about 50-100 crew members depending on how far the ship is traveling and how much tons of petroleum they are carrying for that trip. All crew members will be assigned a certain port along with a ship and follow whatever ship comes into the port. The crew at the port will have identical training to the crew on board of the emergency ships and they will only be required to work a certain amount of hours a week. They will only be required to work a certain amount of hours because they should be well rested and their brains should be top shape and prepared for an accident. Taxes and the oil companies will be paying for their services due to the fact that they are helping them reduce oil spills and keeping the environment and humans safe. By implanting the oil spills humans are saving the marine life and ourselves by saving our marine life and drinking water. 

Revising for dayz

Oil spills in the united states from 2001-2014:

Oil spills are a huge problem for the environment and its inhabitants. An oil spill is when liquid petroleum hydrocarbon is released into the environment, mainly in marine areas, caused by humans and is a huge form of pollution in the ocean and coastal waters. Oil spills mainly occur in Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and Gulf go Mexico with occasional rivers. They are caused by oil drillers and their companies trying to obtain oil for gasoline and harm humans, marine life, and birds when spilled into the oceans. There have been 37 oil spills from 2011 until present occurring all around our nations oceans and in some cases, the rivers. Oil spills occur for multiple reasons such as the workers being careless, equipment breaking, natural disasters, or illegal dumping. Oil spills may not be completely solved because you cant control natural disasters and in some cases equipment breaking but it can be dramatically reduced. Spills need to be reduced because it contaminates our air, waters that we get drinking water from, as well as poison the fish we catch for selling on markets. Oil spills have a direct affect on human health. “Oil is semi-volatile, which means that it can evaporate into the air and create a heavy vapor that stays near the ground - in the human breathing zone. When winds whip up oily sea water, the spray contains tiny droplets - basically a fume - of oil, which are small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs.” (1, Gina Solomon’s blog, 2010) When it gets into our lungs we begin to suffer from different side effects such as headaches, difficulty breathing, vomiting, and nausea. Petroleum hydrocarbons in the air have been linked to various cancers. When the oil evaporates into the air, there is still resido left in the water which is what contaminates our drinking water and the marine life in that area and even miles away. When we take water that has been contaminated with liquid petroleum hydrocarbon we are cleansing the water but not enough to get all of it out. In turn, we end up drinking the water and have the possibility of becoming ill and causing different types of cancers. When the petroleum gets in the fish, the fish either become extremely ill and begin to die off or die almost immediately. Even after the oil spill has been cleaned up for the most part, the fish that are still living can be caught and sold on the markets for people around the world to purchase and cook. If we eat a contaminated fish it could cause many problems for our health and stop that market from selling fish until they figure out what was wrong with the fish and where it came from. For the best outcome, oil spills need to be stopped as soon as possible to stop further harm on humans and the marine life. The consequences of oil spills not being solved could result in worse human health affects, contaminating the water so badly that we can no longer use the oceans for drinking water, and losing our fish markets because a majority of the fish are contaminated or ill. As of today, many things are being done to prevent future oil spills even though it isnt enough. One way the government is trying to prevent oil spills is by new laws taking effect to prevent that crisis from reoccurring. One of the laws came about because of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, requiring all tankers to have double hulls. Another way they are trying to reduce oil spills is advanced technology. They have advanced GPS’s to help stop collusions and groundings. Although the tankers have many rules and regulations they must follow, it doesn’t seem to be enough to reduce or possibly stop oil spills.

check in #2

To:Mikayla Beaudrie, Instructor

From: Alexandra Weston, Student <alex.weston1@ufl.edu>

Date: November 12th, 2014

Re: Legally graffiting our community

Dear Mikayla,

As you may know we have the 34th Street Wall, also known as the Graffiti Wall. The past week I have visited this magnificient wall and also witnessed people of our community decorate it with their paints and spray cans. I havent taken any pictures yet because every time I go, I end up liking a new spot or finding something interesting i had thought was before had. 

Also, due to the fact that there are probably over 1,000 different art pieces on this wall I have not had to time thoroughly examine every crack and hole. One part I have thought about many times is the huge section that has the death of a boy named Parker on the wall and I’m very interested in what his story was and why nobody has came and painted over this certain section.

As previously stated, the wall is continuously changing and this reminds me of hip-hop culture and music. This reminds me of hip-hop music in the way that the culture is always changing like the wall but the murla of whomever “Parker” may be and the meaning of hip-hop culture are both always constant. I want to relate these topics in my essay and explore more into why certain aspects are constantly changing and others are just constant. 

Sincerely yours,

Alexandra Weston