Take Action Project
My Take action project is about videoing what my peers are doing for their Take action projects. Through this project for me I hope to inform people that there are different types of people that believe in different things than you or the same thing as you. Also to inform people what Animas High School is about to try and to get more people to come to this school. That I what I am trying to convey through this project to inform people about the world and the differences around everyone and everything.
Energy and Place
For this project what we had to do was to find out that the different types of ways to make energy and how they impact the environment. Then after you did your resurch you had to find where you stand with energy production. Finally you had to form where your favorite place is and combine those two thing into one paper
Ben Clark
Abstract
My sense of place is about the city of San Francisco and what it looks like through the 5 senses. “I feel you San Francisco. I feel the smoothness of the pole that is somewhat sticky and I don’t know why.” The environmental ethic that I think best applies to my “place” is conservationsion. “The city has to work hard to develop sustainable practices to balance these negative impacts through conservationism. For instance, California now has mandatory recycling, there is compost collection, and the state is working towards becoming 50% energy renewable (solar and wind).“
The City vs a Town
Small town Durango; quite a few people that I’ve met over the years wish they could live in a place like that. I’m different though. I’m going to tell you why I would rather live in the big city than a small town like Durango. I’m not going to create a list of pros and cons like you would expect, but instead I’m going to describe the city, San Francisco, through the five senses. I think that it is more impactful to use this method of description because we use our five senses every minute of every day. We all see, hear, smell, taste, and feel our experiences. So prepare your senses to take a ride. My hope is that you will truly understand why I feel drawn to San Francisco. Why San Francisco is my place.
I hear you San Francisco. The sounds of people slamming their cars doors, brakes screeching, people honking their horns at the bus for taking too long,and fire engine sirens going every hour all reach my ears at different times of the day It may seem chaotic, but to me it means the city is alive and I feel alive in it.
I see you San Francisco. You open your eyes to see a landscape, but all you see is wall of buildings. It’s a jail and the only way to escape from it is to go up . It isn’t a jail though, the architecture is beautiful. For the short time that men have actually been on this earth, what they are able to create and build is astounding. The scenery is beautiful in the city.
I feel you San Francisco. I feel the smoothness of a pole that is somewhat sticky and I don’t know why. I feel the hardness of a leather strap on the city bus, even though it appears to have snot on it. It may seem like something that you can’t appreciate, but what I feel when I touch those gross things is history. On that leather strap I feel the anguish of the recently returned Marine from Vietnam that is hated by most of our society.
I smell you San Francisco. You can stand in one spot for hours and smell hundreds of scents pass by. You may smell cooked fish, piss, raw duck, deep fried crab, gasoline, and even fresh laundry, but the smell you try to find is the salty ocean. When you can’t find it, it will find you. What I smell when an old car goes by is a gentleman's memory of the exhaust hitting him in the face as his bride leaves him for the best man in a 1970 Camaro. Every smell tells me a story, it is part of someone’s life.
I taste you San Francisco. I taste dingy smog in the morning and it gets thicker as the day moves on. As the last breeze of the day passes by and the cars leave the roads you can breathe again. That smog tells me that the day has successfully come and gone and tomorrow will be another day. Smog is not all I taste. Also I taste the different cultures. I taste the white Clam Chowder on Pier 39 and it tastes completely different from the white clam chowder on Pier 1. I can always satisfy my cravings in San Francisco, the food is so good I can’t describe it, you have to taste for yourself.
I hear, see, feel, smell, and taste you San Francisco. You might think that I am crazy, but I love it all and not just parts, but all of it. It just gives me a rush that a small town can’t give me. San Francisco is my place. It is also the place for a lot of other people. A ton of the earth’s resources are used daily and the build up of pollution is huge in a major city like San Francisco. The city has to work hard to develop sustainable practices to balance these negative impacts through conservationism. For instance, California now has mandatory recycling, there is compost collection, and the state is working towards becoming 50% energy renewable (solar and wind). So although the big city might not seem enjoyable to most people, I like it a lot, and the technology we are developing to improve the city and the impact on the environment is fantastic.
Ben Clark
Abstract
My sense of place is about the city of San Francisco and what it looks like through the 5 senses. “I feel you San Francisco. I feel the smoothness of the pole that is somewhat sticky and I don’t know why.” The environmental ethic that I think best applies to my “place” is conservationsion. “The city has to work hard to develop sustainable practices to balance these negative impacts through conservationism. For instance, California now has mandatory recycling, there is compost collection, and the state is working towards becoming 50% energy renewable (solar and wind).“
The City vs a Town
Small town Durango; quite a few people that I’ve met over the years wish they could live in a place like that. I’m different though. I’m going to tell you why I would rather live in the big city than a small town like Durango. I’m not going to create a list of pros and cons like you would expect, but instead I’m going to describe the city, San Francisco, through the five senses. I think that it is more impactful to use this method of description because we use our five senses every minute of every day. We all see, hear, smell, taste, and feel our experiences. So prepare your senses to take a ride. My hope is that you will truly understand why I feel drawn to San Francisco. Why San Francisco is my place.
I hear you San Francisco. The sounds of people slamming their cars doors, brakes screeching, people honking their horns at the bus for taking too long,and fire engine sirens going every hour all reach my ears at different times of the day It may seem chaotic, but to me it means the city is alive and I feel alive in it.
I see you San Francisco. You open your eyes to see a landscape, but all you see is wall of buildings. It’s a jail and the only way to escape from it is to go up . It isn’t a jail though, the architecture is beautiful. For the short time that men have actually been on this earth, what they are able to create and build is astounding. The scenery is beautiful in the city.
I feel you San Francisco. I feel the smoothness of a pole that is somewhat sticky and I don’t know why. I feel the hardness of a leather strap on the city bus, even though it appears to have snot on it. It may seem like something that you can’t appreciate, but what I feel when I touch those gross things is history. On that leather strap I feel the anguish of the recently returned Marine from Vietnam that is hated by most of our society.
I smell you San Francisco. You can stand in one spot for hours and smell hundreds of scents pass by. You may smell cooked fish, piss, raw duck, deep fried crab, gasoline, and even fresh laundry, but the smell you try to find is the salty ocean. When you can’t find it, it will find you. What I smell when an old car goes by is a gentleman's memory of the exhaust hitting him in the face as his bride leaves him for the best man in a 1970 Camaro. Every smell tells me a story, it is part of someone’s life.
I taste you San Francisco. I taste dingy smog in the morning and it gets thicker as the day moves on. As the last breeze of the day passes by and the cars leave the roads you can breathe again. That smog tells me that the day has successfully come and gone and tomorrow will be another day. Smog is not all I taste. Also I taste the different cultures. I taste the white Clam Chowder on Pier 39 and it tastes completely different from the white clam chowder on Pier 1. I can always satisfy my cravings in San Francisco, the food is so good I can’t describe it, you have to taste for yourself.
I hear, see, feel, smell, and taste you San Francisco. You might think that I am crazy, but I love it all and not just parts, but all of it. It just gives me a rush that a small town can’t give me. San Francisco is my place. It is also the place for a lot of other people. A ton of the earth’s resources are used daily and the build up of pollution is huge in a major city like San Francisco. The city has to work hard to develop sustainable practices to balance these negative impacts through conservationism. For instance, California now has mandatory recycling, there is compost collection, and the state is working towards becoming 50% energy renewable (solar and wind). So although the big city might not seem enjoyable to most people, I like it a lot, and the technology we are developing to improve the city and the impact on the environment is fantastic.
Happiness and meaning Project
What is the purpose of your existence? How do you define or find happiness? How do you define or find meaning in life?
Project Proposal
Here is my speech that I did about this project that I think best describes the difference between Happiness and Meaning but don't take my word for it it is only a theory.
Good evening, My name is Ben Clark and I am here to share with you my philosophy on the meaning of life as part of Ashley Carruth’s Happiness and meaning project. Through this project I found that I don’t actually know what the meaning of life is or what our existence is for. Because I don’t know, I decided to look for it in other people and experiences. So while I share what happiness is to me, I challenge you to ask yourself what happiness and meaning is to you. It might change when I am talking
I don’t know if I have a meaningful life. I think my life right now is filled more with happiness than meaning. Right now, getting a paycheck from work is one of the most meaningful things to me because I have to work hard for it. As I look toward my future, however, I think that having a good family will be more important to me than a job or career because I would like to care about and protect a family of my own.
I feel like I am a pretty happy person--sometimes I feel down, but most of the time I’m upbeat . I enjoy the time my family spends together, which is a priority to me. My dad provides the greatest examples of this. He travels a lot for work but when he’s home, it’s all about us. We go skiing and have fun experiences together. For instance, I can’t forget the time my dad let me drive when I was 12 years old. I drove a 2009 Chevy Tahoe on a county road in the middle of the day. It was fun because I felt like i could make a prius a new speed bump and have no room to move the car because it took up the whole road.
There was a clog, and a crack, and water and mud went everywhere in our backyard. We always have problems with that same exact spot. Everyone who was there was laughing while we were working, covered and soaked in mud. I felt happy then because we were spending time together and took a boring chore and made it fun. My dad is really good at finding humor in things, but he still gets the job done.
However, the moment that stands out in my mind of when I felt the happiest in my life was when my dad and I were fixing an irrigation pipe. I know, I bet you didn’t see that coming from a 17 year old kid. Well, I’ll explain why something as seemingly boring as an irrigation pipe could produce so much joy.
My dad and my brother represent two extremes in terms of defining happiness.
My brother is objects. What that mean the nicer the object or the object that he wants more he will like you more. He still love people a but that can change. I will not get too deep in that.
My dad finds happiness by spending time with his family. The more time he spends with us, the happier he is. My brother finds happiness with gifts and presents. The more he values a present the more he feels valued by the giver. Since my dad is the happiest person I know, I think that quality time is more important than the quantity of gifts.
Happiness and meaning are different for everyone. A venn-diagram is the best way that I can show this. The two topics that your venn-diagram displays are based on happiness and meaning. Some people may lean towards happiness som towards meaning, and some right in the middle.
For me right now happiness is spending time with my family and working, because hard work can produce results. You can look back at a long day working on an irrigation ditch and see the water flowing, and also know you worked together with a loved one to accomplish the task. You can sit back after slaving away on a speech for your Humanities class, and feel a sense of accomplishment in the words staring back at you from the glow of the computer screen. Those are the reasons accomplishment are I have meaning.
There is a quote by Groucho Marx that always encourages me to find my happiness. “I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.”
Project Proposal
Here is my speech that I did about this project that I think best describes the difference between Happiness and Meaning but don't take my word for it it is only a theory.
Good evening, My name is Ben Clark and I am here to share with you my philosophy on the meaning of life as part of Ashley Carruth’s Happiness and meaning project. Through this project I found that I don’t actually know what the meaning of life is or what our existence is for. Because I don’t know, I decided to look for it in other people and experiences. So while I share what happiness is to me, I challenge you to ask yourself what happiness and meaning is to you. It might change when I am talking
I don’t know if I have a meaningful life. I think my life right now is filled more with happiness than meaning. Right now, getting a paycheck from work is one of the most meaningful things to me because I have to work hard for it. As I look toward my future, however, I think that having a good family will be more important to me than a job or career because I would like to care about and protect a family of my own.
I feel like I am a pretty happy person--sometimes I feel down, but most of the time I’m upbeat . I enjoy the time my family spends together, which is a priority to me. My dad provides the greatest examples of this. He travels a lot for work but when he’s home, it’s all about us. We go skiing and have fun experiences together. For instance, I can’t forget the time my dad let me drive when I was 12 years old. I drove a 2009 Chevy Tahoe on a county road in the middle of the day. It was fun because I felt like i could make a prius a new speed bump and have no room to move the car because it took up the whole road.
There was a clog, and a crack, and water and mud went everywhere in our backyard. We always have problems with that same exact spot. Everyone who was there was laughing while we were working, covered and soaked in mud. I felt happy then because we were spending time together and took a boring chore and made it fun. My dad is really good at finding humor in things, but he still gets the job done.
However, the moment that stands out in my mind of when I felt the happiest in my life was when my dad and I were fixing an irrigation pipe. I know, I bet you didn’t see that coming from a 17 year old kid. Well, I’ll explain why something as seemingly boring as an irrigation pipe could produce so much joy.
My dad and my brother represent two extremes in terms of defining happiness.
My brother is objects. What that mean the nicer the object or the object that he wants more he will like you more. He still love people a but that can change. I will not get too deep in that.
My dad finds happiness by spending time with his family. The more time he spends with us, the happier he is. My brother finds happiness with gifts and presents. The more he values a present the more he feels valued by the giver. Since my dad is the happiest person I know, I think that quality time is more important than the quantity of gifts.
Happiness and meaning are different for everyone. A venn-diagram is the best way that I can show this. The two topics that your venn-diagram displays are based on happiness and meaning. Some people may lean towards happiness som towards meaning, and some right in the middle.
For me right now happiness is spending time with my family and working, because hard work can produce results. You can look back at a long day working on an irrigation ditch and see the water flowing, and also know you worked together with a loved one to accomplish the task. You can sit back after slaving away on a speech for your Humanities class, and feel a sense of accomplishment in the words staring back at you from the glow of the computer screen. Those are the reasons accomplishment are I have meaning.
There is a quote by Groucho Marx that always encourages me to find my happiness. “I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.”
Native American Historical Inquiry
The most sugnificent lesson is that one coture seems different from another the most domonit one one will try and to change that culture.My perspective was not changed from that we should have not intufired with other cultures.
During the seminar the reading that we talk about where saying that the explorers where pillaging the land and the people only for their benefits. The other reading that we talk about was saying that the modern Indian is trying to go back the its rotes a good quote during the seminar "That you were raised one way and thought another way".
How I feel like how we the people can advance fowared in other cultures. First stop wellfair because what it is saying is that you are to pothedic to live that we need to help you.
During the seminar the reading that we talk about where saying that the explorers where pillaging the land and the people only for their benefits. The other reading that we talk about was saying that the modern Indian is trying to go back the its rotes a good quote during the seminar "That you were raised one way and thought another way".
How I feel like how we the people can advance fowared in other cultures. First stop wellfair because what it is saying is that you are to pothedic to live that we need to help you.
Jurnals
The Native American image has change a lot over the last century. During the silent area the Native American was showing their culture. Next area the indian was portrayed as a savige. During the 70 the hippies wanted to be like the indian because they are a free sprite., then it stopped during the 80, and it started up but as the truth about the indian and its culture.
The next paragraph that I am going to talk about is how the modern Native Americans have changed and how the white man has influenced that. I feel like what the authors have in common is that they are talking about how have they have changed to fit into a white man culture
This article that I am going to summarize for you is about Robert Bennett a baseball player for the Stars. A quote that I think that shows that white people have changed the Native Americans “When I first came to New Hampshire, I was at a loss because I could not answer the questions people asked about Native American life”.
There is a chapter in the book Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, that we’re reading and it was called “Indian Education”. A quote that I wound interesting from this story is about the 8th grade and the girls were throwing up in the bathroom: “hear voices from the girls’ bathroom, nervous whispers of anorexia and bulimia. I could hear the white girls forced vomiting”(Alexie 177). That is a white stereotype and not a Native American Stereotype.
I feel like that we should stop making Native Americans and black try and to be like white people and let them be themselves.
This article that I am going to summarize for you is about Robert Bennett a baseball player for the Stars. A quote that I think that shows that white people have changed the Native Americans “When I first came to New Hampshire, I was at a loss because I could not answer the questions people asked about Native American life”.
There is a chapter in the book Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, that we’re reading and it was called “Indian Education”. A quote that I wound interesting from this story is about the 8th grade and the girls were throwing up in the bathroom: “hear voices from the girls’ bathroom, nervous whispers of anorexia and bulimia. I could hear the white girls forced vomiting”(Alexie 177). That is a white stereotype and not a Native American Stereotype.
I feel like that we should stop making Native Americans and black try and to be like white people and let them be themselves.
The Morality and Politics of Justice
Abolish Homeland Security
By Ben Clark
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the main reason that America is getting deeper in debt. I am going to talk about the reason behind why we should keep and get rid of the DHS. Homeland security is a powerhouse of security made up of 22 agencies designed to protect citizens by controlling our borders, implementing TSA (Transportation Security Administration), and preventing terrorist attacks by collecting personal information of individuals without them knowing. This information is being collected through cell phones, GPS in cars, and the internet.This is a abuse of basic rights we have as Americans. The DHS violates American’s rights to privacy and should solely focus it efforts to the TSA and border control.
It is important to acknowledge the positive aspects of the DHS. First it has reduced the the amount of illegal immigrants coming to America by putting in place a more robust form of border control. Joe Davidson stated in Homeland Security: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, “The Border Patrol is better staffed than ever. Seizures of contraband are up, and apprehensions — a key indicator of illegal immigration — have decreased 53 percent in three years and now are less than 20 percent of the peak” (Davidson). Next, the DHS has reduced the amount of terrorist threats on aircrafts traveling America through its placement of TSA (Transportation Security Administration). Lastly, it generates jobs for 250,000 people within its 22 agencies.
The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is unnecessary and expensive. Indeed, DHS has outlived its purpose. When 9/11 happened, the U.S. felt its vulnerability. The President was pressured to create a new, massive agency that would house two dozen federal agencies and departments.
“Bush initially resisted calls to create a new high-level bureaucracy that would be laid on top of current activities. He was right to recognize that coordinating existing agencies would have been smarter and better. Unfortunately, he caved in to pressure to create a massive new department” (Bragg & Gillespie).
The DHS is unnecessary because it is inefficient, expensive, ineffective, and a dictatorship. In addition, to being unnecessary, the DHS is too expensive and is a major reason America keeps on getting deeper in debt. Nick Bragg and Megan Gillespie address this by stating, “Last year, Homeland Security spent a whopping $60 billion, a figure that will doubtlessly increase in coming years. The construction of its new headquarters-the single-largest project ever undertaken by the General Services Administration - will cost at least $4 billion and is already years behind on schedule since breaking ground in 2009” (Bragg & Gillespie). What we should do as Americans is go to DHS and start pounding at their door, asking why are our tax dollars are going to a program that was set up for failure from the beginning and is just putting us in further debt.
The last reason why the DHS should be abolished is that it never gets anything done and is breaking the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. In a recent interview on CNN, Senator Smith, a Colorado senator, explained the inefficiency of DHS as he stated, “He was right to recognize that coordinating existing agencies would have been smarter and better. Unfortunately, he caved in to pressure to create a massive new department.” DHS is also in violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution which states “People and their personal property cannot be searched without a warrant, issued by a judge.” In our constitution we have the bill of rights which states are basic rights as an American. The 4th Amendment states that one officer of the law, military or police may not search a person, property or vehicle without a warrant provided by a judge in a courthouse. This is a clear violation of our rights, we as Americans need to demand that our privacy be protected.
In conclusion I think that we as the American people should reduce the responsibilities of the DHS (Department of Homeland security) to only manage the TSA and Border Control. The DHS as it is is ineffective, expensive, and inefficient. However, The TSA and Border Control have both proven to be effective programs for homeland security. The majority of the DHS should be individualized departments with their own budgets, agendas, and leadership.
It is important to acknowledge the positive aspects of the DHS. First it has reduced the the amount of illegal immigrants coming to America by putting in place a more robust form of border control. Joe Davidson stated in Homeland Security: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, “The Border Patrol is better staffed than ever. Seizures of contraband are up, and apprehensions — a key indicator of illegal immigration — have decreased 53 percent in three years and now are less than 20 percent of the peak” (Davidson). Next, the DHS has reduced the amount of terrorist threats on aircrafts traveling America through its placement of TSA (Transportation Security Administration). Lastly, it generates jobs for 250,000 people within its 22 agencies.
The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is unnecessary and expensive. Indeed, DHS has outlived its purpose. When 9/11 happened, the U.S. felt its vulnerability. The President was pressured to create a new, massive agency that would house two dozen federal agencies and departments.
“Bush initially resisted calls to create a new high-level bureaucracy that would be laid on top of current activities. He was right to recognize that coordinating existing agencies would have been smarter and better. Unfortunately, he caved in to pressure to create a massive new department” (Bragg & Gillespie).
The DHS is unnecessary because it is inefficient, expensive, ineffective, and a dictatorship. In addition, to being unnecessary, the DHS is too expensive and is a major reason America keeps on getting deeper in debt. Nick Bragg and Megan Gillespie address this by stating, “Last year, Homeland Security spent a whopping $60 billion, a figure that will doubtlessly increase in coming years. The construction of its new headquarters-the single-largest project ever undertaken by the General Services Administration - will cost at least $4 billion and is already years behind on schedule since breaking ground in 2009” (Bragg & Gillespie). What we should do as Americans is go to DHS and start pounding at their door, asking why are our tax dollars are going to a program that was set up for failure from the beginning and is just putting us in further debt.
The last reason why the DHS should be abolished is that it never gets anything done and is breaking the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. In a recent interview on CNN, Senator Smith, a Colorado senator, explained the inefficiency of DHS as he stated, “He was right to recognize that coordinating existing agencies would have been smarter and better. Unfortunately, he caved in to pressure to create a massive new department.” DHS is also in violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution which states “People and their personal property cannot be searched without a warrant, issued by a judge.” In our constitution we have the bill of rights which states are basic rights as an American. The 4th Amendment states that one officer of the law, military or police may not search a person, property or vehicle without a warrant provided by a judge in a courthouse. This is a clear violation of our rights, we as Americans need to demand that our privacy be protected.
In conclusion I think that we as the American people should reduce the responsibilities of the DHS (Department of Homeland security) to only manage the TSA and Border Control. The DHS as it is is ineffective, expensive, and inefficient. However, The TSA and Border Control have both proven to be effective programs for homeland security. The majority of the DHS should be individualized departments with their own budgets, agendas, and leadership.