San Francisco Park & Main Puerto Ayora Dock Redesigned

I am studying a course called “Urban Planning”, and this is my third and last Action Project. In this unit I studied about cities as a whole, and about the different qualities that make a city great. I began with studying about why cities were built in the first place, and about how they progressed and grew into what they are now. I interviewed Mrs. Ivonne Torres, the director of Sustainable Development of the Autonomous Decentralized Municipal Government of Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. She told me all about how the town I live in (Puerto Ayora, Galapagos) grew into what it is today, as well as the different difficulties it went through in the process.

For this Action Project I had to choose a specific urban area and take everything I’ve learned about cities to improve its planning.I am most proud of the fact that this course gave me the opportunity of learning a lot about the town of Puerto Ayora, given that I have only lived here for the last 4 months ago and I barely knew anything about its organization and history.



I will redesign the main Park and Dock of the town. The park’s name is San Francisco, and it is situated at the end of Baltra St., in the furthest point South of Town. The dock is situated in the Southern end of the park, which is limited by the sea.

The park is shaped as a rectangle, with its longer sides curved southward.  The main dock is also shaped as a rectangle, a much thinner one, with four small docks shaped as rectangles as well that branch out from the dock (two on each side).The dock also divides into two rectangles at the very end. The total area is 3840 square meters.

There are several purposes for this area. All of the boats coming from the different islands across the archipelago arrive at the main dock, and all of the boats that leave from this island to others also leave from the dock, as well as boats that leave for scuba-diving, snorkeling and surfing trips or to other parts of the island for other purposes in general. In order to get to the dock you must cross the park, and therefore the park is usually full of tourists and residents going or coming from the dock throughout the day, carrying their luggage. San Francisco Park and the main dock are both situated in the “busiest” part of town (relatively; Puerto Ayora is a pretty small town and rather unbusy). Usually in the evening the men of the town meet to play a sport called “Ecua-volley”, an Ecuadorian variable of the Volleyball sport, along with their families who come to watch them play. Youth begin arriving mostly at night when the men have stopped playing Ecua-volley and they have enough space to skateboard and hang around. Rails and ramps are stored when men play Ecua-volley and are taken out by the youth at night, and stored back when they are done skateboarding. The park also counts with a 20 m. long stage in the East end of the park, where most of the social events in town occur, such as concerts, festivals, contests, etc., as well as a small section full of games such as swings and slides for kids. 

One of the main strengths of this area is the fact that it is always full of people, and that it is a place of great economic flow to the town. Sailors and their crews make their money taking passengers such as tourists and businessmen to other islands in the main dock, as well as making small trips to other parts of the island. Small businesses are scattered around the park as well, mostly providing tour guides and food. The street parallel to the park is also full of restaurants, tour guides, the biggest supermarket in town, and one of the main churches. Merchants also appear in the evening, selling food and drinks to tired Ecua-volley players and their families, as well as anyone else walking through the park. The park is also a very safe place, where kids come from their homes without their parents to meet with other friends to play in the evening. Very rarely is something stolen and if you leave something forgotten you have a good chance of finding it exactly where you left it or picked by someone for protection. It is also a very clean park and  counts with some small neat green spaces, as well as with an artistic statue of a Galapagos seagull with a message from the artist and a patriotic altar with the flags of the country, province, and town. The park also faces the sea along all of its Southern border, and it is a beautiful place to sit and watch the colors of the sea as well as the sunrise. Finally, the dock (even though it is not meant for this purpose) is just about the best place in town to go sightseeing for sea lions, smalls rays and baby sharks. At night, the lights of the dock inside the water are turned on which permit you to see all of the sea nightlife, which is simply stunning.

This area, however, also has several weaknesses. First of all, the men that play Ecua-volley enjoy betting and drinking, and therefore it is common to hear shouts and insults during their time playing, as well as fights. This also doesn’t permit other people who are not willing to bet to play (there is only two courts, and usually both are being used). Youth skateboarders at night also often drink, smoke, and use illegal drugs.

 Besides, the Eastern part of the park is the one that is mostly used, but the whole western side of the park is almost always empty, even though it has a lot of nice footpaths and seats. I believe that one of the main reasons why most of this side of the park is usually not used is because it is not lighted well enough at night. It also appears to be that its current design doesn’t seem so amusing for residents and tourists. 

Also, there are some bicycle parking racks throughout the park, but there is two problems with these parking racks: First, they are designed poorly; the space between them is too close and they also are too high and damage your bike. Secondly, there is too few; you always see bikes being parked against lamp posts and trees because there is no more space in the bike racks. 

There is also no sign that shows the name of the park (San Francisco).

Something that would make this area better is drinking and fighting restrictions. Guards could be posted along the park (even if it's only in the evening and night while men are playing Ecua-volley and youngsters skateboard, given that the park is very safe for the most part) that could help control fights and shouts from the men that play Ecua-volley, for the purpose of there being a better ambience in the park.

 Another important matter that I have had in mind ever since I began living here is that Galapagos has a simply astounding flora and fauna that only exists here, and there is so many information that most tourists and residents don’t know of. Taking in account the truth that this area is one of the most visited on a daily basis by both of these groups, I believe this area could be even better if it would take advantage of all of its footpaths to place signs full of information about the flora and fauna found in the park, which (even though it may seem as a very small percentage) is a lot of information. The park counts with many native (and only native) trees, as well as a grand variety of birds and other animals that live both in these trees and in the mangrove that grows in the shores of the ocean in the southern edge of the park. The main dock could include a path meant for users that would like to enjoy the view of the ocean and animal sightseeing only, and the dock itself could include signs full of information about the fauna found right beneath it, in the ocean. These signs could be written in Spanish, and include English translations. The western side of the park could also include more seats that could be placed along the footpaths, and these seats could have this type of design (image below), which is seen in other places around town and I believe work well for both lighting, shading and beauty purposes. 

Concerning the bicycle parking rack problems,  this design (image below) could be applied instead of the current one, and it could also be placed in other strategic places across the park for there to be more parking space.

The food & art fairs that take place in the park are also quite irregular. It would be good for these fairs to happen every Friday evening and night, every 15 days.

There is also a lot of very talented local artists who work with recycled materials. They could be employed to design and make the park’s sign with its official name: Parque San Francisco. The sign could also include a translation of the work “parque” for the English word “park”.

In summary, these are  7 alterations that I believe could help improve this area:

• Drinking, drug consumption, noise, and fighting regulations could be set, and post guards in the evening and night for the purpose of enforcing the law during Ecua-volley matches and skateboarding sessions.
• Signs full of information about the flora and fauna found in the park along the mostly unused footpaths in the western side of the park could be placed to encourage visitors to walk through them and learn. The signs could be in Spanish, along with English translations. 
• The main dock could be divided into 3 passageways: One for passengers leaving, another one for passengers arriving, and a final one for users who simply want to walk along the dock and enjoy the scenery. This third passageway could be full of signs placed along the way full of information about the fauna visible underneath the dock, in the ocean.
• More seats along the mostly unused footpaths could be placed, with a special design that works well for lighting. These seats could be placed strategically along the park's border to the sea, to offer users a relaxed view to the ocean, the mangrove, and the sunrise.
• Food & Art fairs could take place on Fridays (when most people go to the park) every 15 days instead of irregular dates.
• Local artists could be employed who work with recycled materials to design and create the park’s official sign, which would read its official name: Parque San Francisco. The sign could also include a translation of the word “parque” for the English word “park”.
• Current bicycle parking racks could be replaced for another more convenient and less damaging design, as more bicycle parking racks in convenient places along the park.

This is a drawing of what the area re-designed would look like:

Scale: 1cm:15m

This is a digital design of the redesigned area:

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/fRFrwhGTk2j-magnificent-esboo-uusam/editv2

A small problem I encountered along the process of making this AP was learning how to use Tinkercad to digitally recreate the area I redesigned. I had some trouble figuring out at first, bu slowly started getting the catch of it. I finished my digital design, and on the next day when I go back online I realized that it had never saved! It all got lost. I had to repeat it, but I did it much better the second time (and I made sure to save it and take a screenshot!).

"In re Gault" Analyzed

I am studying a course called "Policy", and this is my third and last Action Project. For this Action Project I documented a U.S. Supreme Court landmark case and analyzed its repercussions to this day, as well as my personal opinion on whether it was just or not. In this Unit I learned a lot about the Judicial Branch's purpose and about the US Supreme Court's powers, as well as of international law and how it works, among other things.

The U.S Supreme Court landmark case I chose is "In Re Gault". I documented the case in a Prezi presentation:

The Vietnam War, Was It Truly Justified?

I am studying a course called “Policy”, and this is my Second Action Project. It consists in researching a specific war and taking a position on whether the U.S. involvement in that war was justified or not. I decided to choose the Vietnam War, because my uncle is a Vietnam Veteran and I’ve always wanted to know exactly why it occurred and the repercussions it has in the present time.

The Vietnam War was fought in the countries of  Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975. The main countries involved in the Vietnam War were North and South Vietnam. South Vietnam was backed by anti-communist countries and members of the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) which included the United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Khmer Republic (later overthrown by Khmer Rouge), Kingdom of Laos and Republic of China (Taiwan). North Vietnam was backed by the communist allies which included People’s Republic of China, Soviet Union, Pathet Lao (Laotian Communist insurgents), Khmer Rouge  (Cambodian Communist insurgents) and North Korea.

In short, the Vietnam War started as a result of the U.S.’s strategy of containment during the Cold War, which aimed to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world.It is considered that the US lost the Vietnam War.

The person serving as US President when the first troops were sent to attack North Vietnam was President Lyndon B. Johnson. However, it is believed that there were 5 Presidents involved in the Vietnam War. President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963), President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963 – 1969), President Richard Nixon (1969 -1974), and President Gerald R. Ford (1974 – 1977).

President Dwight Eisenhower, following the French defeat in the first Indochina War and the division between North and South Vietnam, decided to support anti-communist leader Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. He created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in an attempt to block communist spread to Southeast Asia, sent the first American military advisors to Vietnam to help build up Diem’s army in 1955.

President John F Kennedy was known for being a firm believer in the Communist “Domino Theory”, and supported Diem’s Army even further. However, he was conscious of Diem’s oppression and discrimination towards Buddhists and other religious minorities, and eventually decided that he could never unite South Vietnam to fight against the Viet Cong. Only 3 weeks before his death, President Kennedy approved a coup to overthrow Diem’s government.

In was during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s term that the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred, which involved two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Even though this incident remains controversial nowadays and is considered  false for varied reasons, at the time Congress, in response, passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing the President to take all necessary measures against North Vietnam.
President Johnson, after winning the presidential election, ordered a sustained bombing of North Vietnam shortly after, which lasted 3 years. He then sent the first combat troops to South Vietnam, in response to a Viet Cong’s attack on U.S. air base in Pleiku. After this, the number of troops deployed in Vietnam only increased. During his last period however, President Johnson became more and more unpopular, given that the end of the Vietnam War was nowhere near, from either winning or reaching a peace agreement.

Richard Nixon was elected, by the promise that he would bring “peace with honor” to the Vietnam War, which was growing more and more unpopular. However, President Nixon secretly intensified the war by involving Cambodia and Laos, in an attempt to destroy North Vietnamese supply through the Ho Chi Minh Trail to South Vietnam. There were side effects from his actions, which caused massive protests throughout the US. However, President Nixon made a historic visit to China, as well as a strategic Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviets, which secured his second elections victory. The same year of his re-election, Nixon ordered a bombing usually referred to as the “Christmas Bombing”, which’s purpose was to keep North Vietnam at the negotiating table as well as to convince South Vietnam to sign a peace treaty. The Paris Treaty was eventually signed that year, ending the American direct involvement in Vietnam. President Nixon then resigned, being the first to do so after a grand political scandal against his party called the “Watergate Scandal”.

During President Gerald R. Ford’s period, Congress considerably cut down the amount of military aid given to South Vietnam. Congress also internally forbade any direct involvement from the US in the Vietnam War. As South Vietnam was about to fall, President Ford made a final appeal to Congress asking for $722 million in military aid to essentially save the country. This appeal was rejected. On April 23, 1975, President Ford declared the Vietnam War ended “as far as America is concerned”, and only seven days later, South Vietnam’s capital was captured and fell to the communists.

It seems to me that one of the main things to have in mind when deciding whether this war was justified or not, is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. As I previously said, President Lyndon B. Johnson proposed this policy after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which he claimed that U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin had been attacked by the North Vietnamese. It was intended to allow the President to take any necessary measures against North Vietnam.

The application of this resolution seems wrong and illegal to me, given that what President Johnson did was declare war without doing so officially. It also seems to me as if this resolution brought a great deal of negative consequences and effects to the US, which were of course, the war itself, with its staggering death toll of an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops, 200,000 South Vietnamese troops, and 58,000 U.S. troops (not counting the wounded in combat who lived).

 But I’d think, another consequence that is often obscured is the fact that the Vietnam War, along with the Korean War paved the road for future presidents to bypass the War Powers Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11) and declare war without declaring it, as is the case with the War in Afghanistan and the Military intervention against ISIL. President Eisenhower in his final speech as president warned us of the military industrial complex, saying that “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.”. I believe that those words were very important, because he warned us of eternal war, and of war being the heart of the economy of our country, which are both things we are living through right now as a nation. He explained this concept more deeply in the same speech when he said that “Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of ploughshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions."

One of the things that disturb me most about this war is of how the US fought the war, but at the same time never invaded the North. It seems to me that the reason behind this is because the US was careful for this war not to become into a full world war against the communist countries, fighting yet not hard enough. I was able to interview my uncle, a Vietnam Veteran, and ask him about this matter. He shared with me about how much more suffering it brought to fight a war were you weren’t supposed to completely beat the enemy, but rather hit political blows every now and then. It is also known that the Vietnam War was one of the most expensive wars the US has ever fought, referring to both the amount of money used and the amount of casualties. To summarize my ideas, I believe the Vietnam War was a war that brought more cons than pros to the country, and therefore was an unjustified war.

Works Cited:

• ”Vietnam War”, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
• “What countries involved in the Vietnam War?”, Vietnam War. http://thevietnamwar.info/what-countries-involved-in-the-vietnam-war/
• ”Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964).”, https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=98
• "Ike's Warning Of Military Expansion, 50 Years Later", NPR. http://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942244/ikes-warning-of-military-expansion-50-years-later

Popsicle Sticks Bridge

I am studying a course called "Urban Planning", and this is my first Action Project. The main focus of this first Unit was bridges. I learned about how bridges are made, and what makes a strong or poor bridge. I also learned about the different things that can cause disasters, along with how the balance between tension and compression is the secret to keeping a bridge strong and steady. I also learned about triangles and of how great they work when it comes to bridges, among other topics. I am most proud of the fact that I can now make a decent analysis of any bridge I come across, noting which components are compressing and which are tensing, etc.

For this Action Project I had to design and create my own bridge out of only 50 Popsicle sticks and white glue. The bridge had to be able to support at least 10 pounds and had to have a span of at least a foot. I made a small slide presentation that shows my process of designing, building, and trying out my bridge:

Letter to Senator Tom Carper

I am studying a course called "Policy", and this is my first Action Project. For this Action Project I had to pretend I was a lobbyist, and I had to introduce an issue I chose to represent to a Senator, in order to request a meeting. The purpose of this Action Project is to become an active member of a democracy by participating in the legislative process.

 I decided to represent the issue of vulnerability of different endangered animals that live in the diverse lands of American property around the globe, and the legislation I propose that will address this issue is the H.R.335 - Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of 2015, which is a bill created to “reauthorize the African Elephant Conservation Act, the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994, the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997, the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000, and the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004, and for other purposes." The recipient of my letter is The Honorable Tom Carper Senior Senator of the United States from Delaware, and I chose him because he is a Ranking Member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Here is my letter:

Raji Scoggin
GCE Lab School
Bellavista, Pto. Ayora
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

The Honorable Mr. Tom Carper
Senior United States Senator for Delaware
513 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Tom Carper,

My name is Raji Scoggin, and I am a Junior Online Student from GCE Lab School, a small yet brilliant school in Chicago.I have spent the last month learning about the political aspects of our American government and abou the process of turning bills to laws.These matters have been relatively new for me, and the further I study into them the more interested and concerned I find myself to be. I am  writing this letter today because I believe that you are a Senator who is greatly aware of the beauty of our country as well as of the importance of preserving our wildlife and ecosystem. I, strongly, believe that you are passionate in promoting the  preservation of our country’s treasures, and I believe that you can help me by supporting a bill I find of extreme importance.

My whole life I’ve enjoyed being around animals, learning about them, helping the sick ones, and rescuing the imprisoned ones. In my childhood, I had the wonderful opportunity of participating in a summer school at a National Park called “Cerro Blanco” near my previous hometown in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Cerro Blanco is a dry tropical forest full of amazing animals such as parrots, tarantulas,boa constrictors, and monkeys. I learned a lot about these and other animals in my time there, and more than a couple of times I helped the National Police with placing rescued animals that were kept illegally in people’s homes back to their natural habitat. I believe that it was in my time there, that something clicked in my mind. The fire that had started within me has recently been re-ignited since my family and I decided to move to the Galapagos Islands a couple of months ago. Since day one, the beauty in the flora and fauna of these islands has blown me away, and this has made me realize how peaceful it feels when I know that the place I live in is greatly aware of the riches it has by protecting them. In a way it feels no less than natural and organic that men and nature live in harmony.

Now, I’d like to introduce to you the H.R.335 - Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of 2015. which is a bill created to “reauthorize the African Elephant Conservation Act, the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994, the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997, the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000, and the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004, and for other purposes”.  This bill pleads for the protection of six different species that live across America Land, which are all listed as endangered. There have been laws in the past that have protected these species, but they have all been expired for at least 8 years from now. It seems to me that this bill is of  great necessity, and its budget is not overwhelmingly high. It seems to me as if it needs only support from men of power who care such as you, Senator Carper, to pass this bill as a law.

All of these expired Acts had proved themselves very useful. Within the various achievements, since the Great Ape Conservation Act was passed, the US Fish & Wildlife Service had been building the capacity of governments, non-governmental organizations and local communities to address the threats to Great Apes through the Great Ape Conservation Fund. Through the Asian Elephant Conservation Act, the United States also committed to intensifying the protection of at-risk Asian Elephant populations. As these Acts were being passed, these animals found themselves more and more protected.

All of this progress, of course, until the Acts began expiring. The importance of these animals is, of course, beyond the beauty they provide to our nation. Each one of these animals have a specific purpose they fulfill in nature, permitting the cycle of life to be completed. As these animals become more and more scarce, other species become affected.

 Because ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but there isn't enough education about the importance of these elephants, or enough monitoring.  As a result, most African elephant populations remain endangered. All five species of rhinos and all subspecies of tigers surviving in the wild today are enlisted as endangered under the Endangered Species Act as well. Both animals were being successfully protected by the US Fish & Wildlife Service through the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act, up to 2012 when the Act expired.The American Nation today witnesses how these precious animals, these precious treasures that live within our land are more and more scarce  as time goes by.


All of the effort made to pass these acts most not be lost! All of the amazing progress our Nation has done can’t be lost in memory! I plead, dear Senator, that you take some time to look into this vital topic. I would like to request a meeting with you, where we could look further into this topic and make a plan to support it.

I eagerly await your response,
Raji.

I submitted this Email in Mr. Tom Carper's Email Submitting Form, at his official website:

Works cited:

National Geographic, "African Elephant", 2007. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/african-elephant/ 

US Fish & Wildlife Service, "Rhinocerous and Tiger Conservation Fund", 2012. https://www.fws.gov/international/wildlife-without-borders/rhino-and-tiger-conservation-fund.html 

US Fish & Wildlife Service, "Asian Elephants", 2012. https://www.fws.gov/international/animals/asian-elephants.html

US Fish & Wildlife Service, "Great Ape Conservation Fund", 2010. https://www.fws.gov/international/wildlife-without-borders/great-ape-conservation-fund.html

US Fish & Wildlife Service, "General Sea Turtle Information", February 16, 2017. https://www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/seaturtle-info.htm

The Painting Candle Clock

I am studying a course called “Light, Sound & Time”, and this is my third Action Project, which is in the time section. It consists of developing an original time telling device and explaining its purpose and the way it works through an animated presentation/video.

This is the script to my video:

I am studying a course called “Light, Sound & Time”, and this is my third Action Project, which is in the time section. It consists on developing an original time telling device and explaining its purpose and the way it works through an animated presentation.

My time telling device is called the painting candle clock. It is made of metal, candles, paint, and some measuring paper.

 As you can see in the picture, it consists of a bag of paint tied to a nylon string, which is finally attached in a series of connections to two candles, which are held at a 80 degree angle by a candle holder attached to the wall. The candle holder has two metal plates placed vertically on each side.There is two pieces of paper below the clock also placed in an 80 degree angle that have lines drawn with time measurements. Finally, there is a pair of metal bowls beneath the candle holder where the liquid wax falls into for recycling purposes. The candles are lighted, and as they melt the nylon string slowly detaches from the hot candle. The bag of paint that is tied to the nylon string drips very slowly from a small hole into the measured paper below. Given that the nylon string is attached in a series of connections to the two candles above, after the candles have melted a bit the nylon string will detach from one candle and hang from the other candle beside it. The metal plates will prevent the bag of paint from swinging, and the bag of paint will start dripping on the other measured paper below it. This process will happen several times until both candles are completely melted. This way, we can read how much time has passed since the candles were first lighted by looking at where the paint drops from the paint bag are falling in relation to the measuring paper below. 

A 5m x 2cm candle in a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius with humidity of 70% takes exactly 24 hours to burn out. Of course, having a 5 meter candle in a house is very inefficient, but we can balance the width and the height of the candle to achieve an optimal size for the painting candle clock. Unfortunately, there is no candles with a width of more than 2 cm available where I live, so a candle with a width of 2 cm was all I had for calculation.

My device is a meaningful and effective way to tell time because it doesn’t only rely as usual on one medium, such as fire or paint, but rather uses both to reach higher precision. My clock doesn’t rely on the dripping bag of paint only, but the burning candles as well.My clock merges both ideas into one. It solves common water clock-problems such as imprecise liquid dripping by using the Asian candle clock as a complement to its precision, and vice versa.  

For this time-telling device I used concepts such as combustion, as well as amplitude and periods. My time telling device completes one full period (1 hour) when detaching from both candles once. [Please show & explain how your sketch demonstrates at least 1 of these mathematical & scientific concepts: pi, Pythagoras, arcs, period, longitude, etc]

If we look at the history of my device, it is believed to state back all the way to the 16th century BCE in Egypt and Babylon. Water clocks, except for the vertical gnomon and the tally stick, are believed to be the oldest time-keeping devices, along with sundials and hourglasses. The most primitive form of a water clock consisted of any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel, where the amount is then measured. The paint bag in my device uses this principle by dripping the paint in a regulated flow. Candle clocks however, are believed to state back to 520 CE in China and Japan. These clocks consisted on a thin candle with consistently spaced markings (usually with numbers), that when burned, indicate the passage of periods of time. The candles in my time telling device assimilate this process, except that instead of using consistently spaced markings, it uses a nylon string.

Milk Consumption Analysis

I am studying a course called "A Nation's Argument", and this is my final Action Project. It consists on learning how to transcend a contradiction by mapping a synthesis for opposing sides. I had to choose a topic that I firmly believe in, and map the opposing side and finally create a synthesis of both Ideas.

MY THESIS

I believe that cow milk is not meant to be drunk by humans, and that its production and consumption is damaging to both humans and cows. This is an important matter because milk is a very common food in the everyday lives of millions of people, considering the fact that milk is placed in the 3rd level of the food pyramid, which means that it is recommended by most nutritionists to have 3 to 5 servings of milk everyday.

Allergies are very sensitive immune responses to substances that either enter or come in contact with the body. Eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and gluten all can hurt the immune system, to the point of causing deadly reactions called anaphylaxis. Milk is different, considering that most people who have bad reactions to milk aren't actually allergic to it. We know this because it's not their immune system that's responding to the milk.

According to recent research done by  Elizabeth Weise shared by “ABC News”, somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. People who are lactose intolerant cannot digest lactose, the main sugar found in milk. Human beings produce an enzyme called “lactase”, which  permits us to digest lactose. Between the ages of two and five, people usually stop producing this enzyme because they stop breastfeeding. When a lactose intolerant person drinks milk, the undigested lactose ends up in the colon, where it ferments and causes a series of problems¹.

Being able to digest milk is simply not normal. Thanks to our creative ingenuity and perhaps even our survival needs, we adopted the questionable habit of drinking another species’ milk. Cow’s milk is “custom-designed” for calves; nobody can dispute that cow’s milk is an excellent food source for them, given that they weigh around 100 pounds at birth, and that they typically gain approximately eight times their weight by the time they are weaned. But unlike humans, once calves are weaned, they never drink milk again. And the same applies to every other mammal on this planet².

The milk available to a typical consumer is also usually processed. Until the end of the 19th century in Europe and the beginning of the 20th century in the US, milk was consumed unpasteurized or raw. Later on, milk processing became the industry’s standard. At present, both cows and their milk go through a series of standard procedures before arriving to local stores, such as rearing, harvesting, pasteurization and homogenisation. Usually a lactating cow is reared in a dairy farm being fed grain, hay, or silage (conserved forage) in close quarters known as confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Once it is of age and ready for production, the cow is milked usually at least twice a day, with a machine that mimics the act of a young calf by creating a pulsating vacuum around the teat, which causes the milk to be released from the udder. Then the milk is tested for antibiotics, and it goes through processes such as pasteurization and homogenization. Pasteurization involves heating every particle of milk to a specific temperature for a specified period of time and cooling it again without allowing recontamination, and homogenization involves pushing the raw milk through an atomizer to form tiny particles so that the fat is dispersed evenly throughout the milk, stopping the fat from floating to the top of the container. It has also been proved that pasteurization in many cases decreases that quality of the milk, because it reduces or eliminates some valuable enzymes and vitamins (such as A, C, B6 and B12)³. 

Nowadays, milking cows are regularly given antibiotics to prevent infections and most are also injected with a genetically engineered form of bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a synthetic hormone used to artificially increase milk production. This synthetic hormone affects both cow and human health. It affects cow health by increasing the risk of mastitis by 25%, affecting reproductive functions, increasing the risk of clinical lameness by 50%, and shortening the lives of cows. Milk from rBGH-treated cows contains higher levels of Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), and even though humans naturally have IGF-1, elevated levels in the human body have been linked to colon and breast cancer. 

Here are 3 quotes that support my argument:

“Being able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn't really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it's abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase persistence, indicating what's really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk.”

- Elisabeth Weise and USA TODAY, “Sixty percent of adults can't drink milk”, 2015

“Drinking rBGH milk would thus be expected to significantly increase IGF-1 blood levels and consequently to increase risks of developing breast cancer and promoting its invasiveness.”

- Samuel Epstein, MD, “Monsanto’s Hormonal Milk Poses Serious Risks of Breast Cancer, Besides Other Cancers”, June 21, 1998

“It’s not natural for humans to drink cow’s milk. Human’s milk is for humans. Cow’s milk is for calves. You have no more need of cow’s milk than you do rats milk, horses milk or elephant’s milk. Cow’s milk is a high fat fluid exquisitely designed to turn a 65 lb baby calf into a 400 lb cow. That’s what cow’s milk is for!”

 –Dr Michael Klaper MD, RawNut's Blog, “Human’s milk is for humans. Cow’s milk is for calves.”

THE ANTITHESIS (OPPOSING SIDE)

The opposition’s argument is that milk is a necessary food in our everyday lives because it provides essential nutrients like calcium, protein and vitamins, and that processes such as pasteurization and homogenization are imperative for hygienic and therefore health matters. They believe that once milk goes through these processes it should be re-fortified with nutrients such as vitamin A, D and some enzymes, given that they are commonly reduced in the process. They also believe that injecting cows with recombinant bovine growth hormone is a good thing because that way cows will produce more milk and therefore milk will be cheaper and affordable to low income families⁴. Lactose intolerance affects Asian, African, and Mulatto communities mostly, and therefore the opposition consists essentially of Anglo and European communities⁵.

SYNTHESIS


I believe that both sides can agree upon the fact that even though bovine growth hormone potentially makes milk cheaper and more affordable, it is not good for both cows and humans. They also agree upon the principle of lactose persistence, and that more than half of the earth’s population cannot digest milk which leads to diseases. Even though the opposition presents its information in a misleading way by saying that “1 out of  10 people are lactose intolerant” without there being any proof behind it, both sides of the argument should agree that the great majority of humanity cannot digest lactose, given that there is available research online which provides solid proof for this affirmation. They also agree upon the fact that re-fortifying nutrients back into the milk after pasteurization, if done in a very delicate way, can result positively in our health. Lastly, both sides can also agree that even though milk is not the most appropriate food to get the nutrients we need from, it is a very affordable option and therefore provides these nutrients to millions of persons all around the world who cannot afford a better alternative. For different reasons, processed milk nowadays that is available for most of the population is not as healthy as it could be, but it is available nonetheless⁶.

This synthesis moves beyond the argument between both sides because it focuses on our main priority, which in this case is our mental and physical health. It is not healthy to drink milk from a cow that has been injected with bovine growth hormone, given that it has been proved that it is linked with colon and breast cancer; and given that injecting bovine growth hormone to a cow usually leads to mastitis, it makes it morally unhealthy for us to consume it under my point of view. But, if it is impossible to afford a healthier option to ingest the nutrients we need from, then the healthiest option would be to drink milk.

This synthesis has transformed my point of view on the subject because it has helped me realize that after all milk provides some nutrients that we need in our everyday lives to many people of low income who cannot afford a healthier alternative. I realized that farmers have a lot of pressure to keep the price of their milk as low as possible, which makes them have to treat cows in a way that is not healthy for them. This helped me notice that if farmers wouldn’t be subsidized by the government, and if they didn’t have so much pressure over them, milk would indeed be much more healthy than what we find today mostly available. It has also helped me understand what bovine growth hormone really is, and I have arrived to the conclusion that I would like to do everything I can to not support milk that comes from farms that use this hormone.

I made a presentation about this topic  where I present my argument, the opposing argument, and the synthesis in a more interactive way, adding images to all of the arguments and conclusion.

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1 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-08-30-lactose-intolerance_n.htm ^↩

1 http://www.drvanitamathew.com/post/milk-the-biggest-myth/2029 ^↩

1 https://saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/ ^↩

1 http://milk.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000972 ^↩

1 http://milk.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000661 ^↩


1 http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/is-milk-healthy ^↩