Challenge Check-In #3

Through completing this challenge, I was forced to really understand what the Gothic is all about. Since I had to find out how Bonnie Jo Campbell’s The Trespasser represented the Gothic, I had to know what elements of the Gothic to look for in the text and interpret them. This helped me understand Gothic representations much more because I had to consider all Gothic elements when reading the short story. During my writing process, I sometimes felt it difficult to convey my interpretations in writing. It is always easier to talk about the Gothic because you can spit out words or sections in the story that are Gothic but making coherent sentences describing them takes a little more thought.

Extra Credit: Emblem

Throughout almost every post of mine, I referred to space, rockets, or aerospace engineering. I have always held an interest in these things and it is shown directly in my emblem with the rocket ship figure travelling through outer space. I created my emblem in Microsoft Paint. It took about 3 minutes to make and I thought of it as I went along. Just this fact shows how I like to think quickly and effectively. I feel that this emblem represents me well because it seems pretty simple from the first glimpse but it has much more meaning within. 

For the rocket, I chose to use an arrow shape because it looks like a rocket ship and it symbolizes the idea of ‘moving forward.’ My initials are inscribed on the rocket, representing myself because I strive to learn new things every day. The upwards direction symbolizes betterment and how I am trying to improve my life as I live day by day. The rocket is green simply because it is my favorite color. The cartoonish or childish style of the emblem opposed to the meaning behind it shows how I like to be serious and professional at times while still remaining slightly comical. I think my emblem and its meaning is well represented by the quote below said by Elon Musk, someone I wrote about in a prevous blog post.

“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better. I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”
—Elon Musk

#4: School Uniforms

From Pre-K through senior year, I have been required to wear a uniform at school. This involved wearing certain pants and a polo shirt with the school logo on it. While many of my classmates have felt that it ‘suppresses’ their ability to express themselves in the school environment, I have never minded wearing uniforms. I have never been one to wear expensive or super fashionable clothing because I really could not care less about that stuff. I also feel my school uniforms are just as comfortable as any other clothes I could wear. There is not a single anecdote that stands out to represent how I feel about this school uniform code, as it can be represented the same on any day of school. On any given school morning, I would either be found sleeping in to the last possible minute before I had to leave, or taking care of some last minute studying. Uniforms allow me to get ready for school in the shortest amount of time possible because I know exactly what I will be wearing. There is no indecision about what shirt to wear, as I wear the same thing every day.

Some people in my school still wish they could choose what they wear every day but I never felt this way. I believe that uniforms help keep away any possible bullying that would occur based on people judging how others dress. I’ve also always felt that uniforms help make my school look more professional and organized., I feel that being subject to wearing uniforms my entire life may me help in the long run if I ever work for a company that requires uniforms, as I will be well used to it. It has also taught me the importance of looking neat and professional in my everyday life and that uniforms are nothing to dislike.

Proposal - Problem Statement

          Since the 1980s, wakeboarding has been consistently growing more popular throughout the world. In 2009, the Collegiate Wakeboard Series was developed by the organization Empire Wake as a dedicated program to college level wakeboarding (Mendieta 2009). In this program, all wakeboarding competitions and events are regulated under one set of rules. In these rules, there includes a Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Open, and Women’s division. These are the only five possible areas for competitors to ride in, and this leads to an inequality between the opportunities for men and women. The problem is that women wakeboarders can only compete under a single division, while men are able to compete in four different divisions.

          The rules for the Collegiate Wakeboard Series have been the same since it was initiated, including the single division for women riders. There were not many women riders at the time, so this division setup was most likely functioning well and was not a problem. Since 2009 the number of competitors has only grown, leading to more women riders. The larger population of women riders are still only able to compete within the single Women’s division, which is a huge disadvantage to the less skilled riders. In these wakeboarding competitions, the riders are judged based on their style, composition, execution, and amplitude, which all directly correlate to the skill of the rider. With all women in the same division, the women with more experience and skill will always win, while those who are less experienced or beginners will never have a chance at winning. The problem not only limits who is winning in these competitions, but it discourages some women from even trying. The beginner or intermediate riders who are unable to land advanced tricks will have no motivation to compete knowing that they have very little chance against the riders who can land advanced tricks. It is simply not a competition anymore.

          This problem is occurring nationally, as the Collegiate Wakeboard Series takes place in multiple locations around the US throughout the season. The problem also extends past just the events organized by Empire Wake, because many schools hold competitions by themselves and use the same exact rules as the Collegiate Wakeboard Series for consistency. The University of Florida, for example, uses these rules in the annual Wakefest competition each April, organized by the UF Wakeboard Club itself. The effects remain the same in these events, discouraging women riders and keeping a gap between women of different abilities. In events hosted in the Collegiate Wakeboard Series, the problem effects not just the women, but all of the participating universities. For each winning competitor, the university they ride for earns a certain amount of points. These points determine the national rankings of the participating universities. With women representing only a single division, this means only the 3 best riders will provide points to their universities. Regarding the men, a total of 12 riders from all 4 men divisions provide points to their universities. Since there are not multiple women divisions, the women provide less points for their university overall.

          A possible solution to this problem would be to create a petition to be sent to Empire Wake regarding an increase the amount of women’s wakeboarding divisions. Creating a Women’s Beginner and a Women’s advanced division rather than just having a single division for all women would create a fairer competition for women and allow more women to be recognized as winners.


References:
Mendieta, Rob. "Collegiate Wakeboard Series." Facebook. Empire Wake, 7 July 2009. Web. 30 July 2014.

Women Divisions in Collegiate Wakeboarding

Thesis/Overview: In the Collegiate Wakeboard Series, there are multiple skill level divisions for men, but there is only one division for women to compete in. This means that the most advanced women riders and the beginners all compete against each other, which gives a clear disadvantage to the beginner riders. This is discouraging to women riders, making them question if it is worth competing at all since there is little to no shot at winning.

Practical/Policy Solution: This solution may involve a coalition of college wakeboard clubs who agree that this is a problem and will contact Empire Wake, the host of the Collegiate Wakeboard Series, regarding a solution. This coalition may revise the divisions set up so there are extra divisions for women to compete in or just allow women to compete in the various men divisions.

Research Solution: A study could be done by researching women involvement in sports. Other sports with women divisions could be analyzed, and seen how the opportunities for women in these sports effect the sport’s popularity.

Media Solution: This solution could involve designing flyers that shows how women do not have the same opportunities as men in the Collegiate Wakeboard Series and could be sent to wakeboard clubs in participating universities. Each club could post these flyers in around their campus and online to promote awareness of the problem. The flyer could have information on how to sign a petition online to add more women divisions in wakeboard competitions.

Gothic Challenge Check-in #2

TO: Mikayla Beaudrie

FROM: Thomas Power

DATE: July 28^th, 2014

SUBJECT: Challenge Check-in #2

After reading through the texts in the Literary Analysis challenge category and considering your recommendations, the short story The Trespasser by Bonnie Jo Campbell seems to be the best choice for this Challenge. The short story seems very interesting and appears to represent the Gothic throughout.

Through proper analysis of quotes and writing techniques, the representation of the Gothic in this text will be proven and made apparent.

Blog Post #3

http://www.careersprout.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/elon-spacex-mars-featured-1024x430.jpg

The famous person who I find I identify most with is Elon Musk. He is an entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, and businessman who is the CEO of the private space transport company SpaceX, CEO of the electric car company Tesla Motors, and founder of PayPal. With a net worth of 9.2 billion dollars at an age of 43, he clearly has done something right with his life. Ever since I learned who he was years ago, he has been a person I look up to. His beliefs in the potentials of science and technology match that of mine, and he is executing these possibilities through his business activity.

Musk created SpaceX in order to reduce the cost of human spaceflight and further expand human interactivity with space, exploring the possibilities of multi-planetary life for the future. I find this amazing, along with his goal to send humans to mars within 10-20 years, hopefully something I can be involved with when I become an aerospace engineer. I really admire his work in the electric car industry, something I believe will only become increasingly important as our dependence on fossil fuels become obsolete. I also admire another transportation idea he came up with called the Hyperloop. It is a proposal for a new form of rail transportation between LA and San Francisco, developed after Musk was disappointed with the approved California High-Speed Rail system. It would allow people to travel 350 miles in 30 minutes or less at a cost much cheaper than any other mode of transportation. I find it amazing that he would take the time to make such a proposal in response to the original proposed system. His work ethic and dedication to science and technology is something I will always look up to and attempt to match.