Hope Is Still Here

“Pinterest Climate Change 2019.” Pinterest.com

For our second unit of Rhetoric here at GCE, we focused on the question, how can we use rhetoric to change the status quo? We had a few guests come in that have challenged or had even altered the status quo as of today. Ugo Okere, 22 year old ran for Alderman and nearly came close to win but fell short in the run. His views matched the people and he was very passionate in his words. Also, Troy LaRaviere, the president of the Chicago Principal's Union came in and discussed his views on how things can change with one person’s action. He was a principal at a Chicago school and saw the impact on the future of society, and he wanted to change the result. He wrote an Op-Ed that made major headlines drastically changing his school’s system. I felt that I didn’t learn as much as I thought it was just things I herd already rephrased differently. Overall hearing others talk about change most definitely change my thought process and make me begin to wonder. What do I want to change?

My Op-Ed
Over many years and recently there has always been this stigma on climate change. Is it real? Oh no, that’s fake something made up by uneducated people. This drastic yet inevitable issue that we are facing is serious and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The forces of mother nature are showing its power more frequently than usual, from hurricanes off the coast to catastrophic flooding.

You may be wondering why should I listen to this teenager from God knows where. Well, I’m here to tell you that I will most likely have to deal with the consequences that have been caused by major corporations and ordinary people. You reading this, on the other hand, will be of old if not dead. Believe when I say this there might not be a future for this place we call Earth if things continue.

The other day I was reading this article that talked about how doing simple things won’t change the climate. How constantly repeating yourself won’t change anything. This sparked an idea.... umm, it would make a difference if everyone would do something rather than just talk about it. But by making noise on an issue you get a lot of attention which can turn into action.

One person, in particular, Greta Thunberg has literally taken the world by storm. A 16-year-old Swedish teenage environmental activist caused a lot of controversy over her speech at the UN. “ People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” This quote stood out to the adults there more than the facts of the global temperature rising. Shocking yes indeed.

I feel that as a country we have failed to understand how our actions result in the future. Nasa has recently uploaded an article containing jaw-dropping info.” limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities.” Hearing the facts from scientists tells people that it’s ok to do nothing because the task of reversing climate change is near impossible. Although these heavy-hitting heartbreaking words may be somewhat true it’s not too late to try.

In Chicago not too long ago, there was a strike for the climate that brought thousands of young people together just to show some hope. The strike on the other hand probably tripled the amount of Co2 emissions in one day from such a large gathering though. Imagine how my generation may feel, that their future children won’t have a pleasant life because of your actions of today. Picture droughts all over. Picture crops not being able to grow. Picture all the animals that we know and love no longer. Ask yourself do you want that on you?

Ways that we can try and change this is by taking action. It may sound like pie-in-the-sky but try walking to places, cycling, or using public transportation. This can somewhat help decrease carbon emissions. Also, you can reduce your waste and recycle. It makes no sense to disagree with the facts and just rather face them. For every argument there is about this time is being wasted. I believe that if everyone is on board then we can change the future. But only if everyone comes together.

So let’s get on track and save our home today people it’s now or never.

Addendum 

In my Op-Ed, I tried using pathos as my rhetorical appeal. I used pathos because I felt like I needed to reach the audience by making them feel guilty and to think about their children's futures in order to get through to people. I also used Logos by providing facts and Ethos on explaining why they should listen to me.

I used Metaphors, Alterations, Similes.

Impacting Designs For All!

In my Design and Engineering course, we have been learning how to be empathetic towards people with difficulties. Some examples include the elderly, people with disabilities and overall just making something even more effective. In our class, we were put to the task of being paired with a partner and challenged to pick a tool that we could possibly make better. We decided to choose a transfer shovel. It was simple but a cool tool too. Now we decided to make the shovel more comfortable towards people with back problems and also more natural at the same time. Brainstorming this design was pretty easy we just had to put ourselves in other people's shoes. Below is our design, enjoy!

 
Our research process for this project came from thinking outside the box mostly. We also did quite a bit of online research on elderly people and how gardening helps them feel better. It can be a coping mechanism to pass the time so we wanted to bring all those memories back by making a product that suits their needs. A setback that we faced was deciding on the size of the shovel itself. Since everyone is built a different way the tool may not be comfortable to someone really tall or short. So we added an extendable attachment to fit each individual consumer of our product.

Other shovels can't compare to the Transformer Shovel because we took multiple viewpoints and positions to make it. We considered people with disabilities, and also people who are getting to that older stage of life. Our product is safe and also very versatile, its blade can turn 360°. Our design provides extra grip comfort and wrist strap support. This stabilizes the use of the product and makes it even more effective. Our handle is contoured to the user's palm and fits almost perfectly. Also, our product is made out of the lightest and most durable wood, redwood.

The Transformer shovel has a simple machine of a lever. The shovel becomes a lever when you move out of the dirt. The resistance is the dirt on the head of the shovel, the end of the handle is the fulcrum, and the hand near the center is the effort. Also, the shovel is kinda making a seesaw motion as you go up and down.

Overall this project was used to make us think more broadly and engage more than one opinion when it comes to making and designing something. This wasn't a difficult task to complete but was challenging when trying to make something new off the top of our heads in little time. We eventually decided on a prototype and went with it, now I kind of want to make this revolutionary shovel.