A Letter for a Legislator

The government of Chicago (as well as the government of US) gives us the right to recommend and vote for certain policies/laws to better help our society. However, creating laws takes time and effort over a series of committees that modify the original policy so it could fit for everyone. Before the policy/bill is brought to congress or city council, it is introduced to a committee that will approve for a bill so it could move to the next step. This whole process is what I learned at GCE lab school in the class called "Policy". Besides the information on how the legislative branch works, I also learned about the constitution, WWI, and much more. Me and my class also went to the 40th ward to meet Andre Vasquez and learn about the political system in Chicago.

 What each individual did for this project was creating a letter to our alderma n (or senator) based around a policy we cared about. The policy had to be within the committee our legislator was in and our job was to convince said legislator to approve the policy . I written my letter based around the new chapters on the "Bird Friendly Ordinance" that create guideline for new buildings near wildlife or in migratory paths. I used a combination of logos, ethos, and pathos to convince my reader on the the subject and why it matters.  After writing this paper, I am proud with the work I did because of how smoothly the process of writing this paper went. I am disappoint however that I didn't use any homemade visual to make the AP more appealing. Still, there could always be next year.

Kyle Hanson"Chicago Birds Flying Skyline" fineartamerica.com, FINE ART AMERICA, Web,
No Date, April 26, 2019

RACHEL KAUFMAN "Chicago Introduces Bird-Friendly Building Ordinance"nextcity.org, Next City, Web,February 13, 2019, April 26, 2019

Ruppenthal "Chicago is Most Dangerous City for Migratory Birds, Study Finds" wttw.com ,         WTTW, Web, April 4, 2019, April 26, 2019

Sean Kennedy " Chicago’s Killer View: The Skyline’s Toll On Migratory Birds" wbez.org, Curious City, Web, May 2, 2016, April 26, 2019

And They Tumble Down.

Structure is important when it comes to the safety of people and that is true when these structures are bridges or pathways. This is what my class, Urban Planning, has done at GCE lab school. We learned about the importance of scale, trigonometry, and the science behind tension/compression. We also went with Metropolitan Planning Council to understand what resources could be used under the city and why people are not using those resources at the moment.

For a project, we built a bridge (popsicle sticks) that could withstand ten pounds and also have the lightest amount of sticks, a powerful structure, and compete against the class. I worked on this project with my friend, TM, who did most of the building, slideshow, and so much more while I labeled the drawing and did the calculations. In short, I couldn't have done this without her and she was grand when working on this project. The problem I regret was the reconstruction of the bridge with certain parts that were either too tight in the pressure or didn't fit well.

When looking at this project, I wish I'd done something more visual. However, I'm already planning to create something grand for another project in the year. Still, I wish I could add more structure to the lower bridge so the bridge could gain better support. Even though it would be more stable, my partner believed it wasn't necessary and would be too time consuming/complex for us to be finished. So as always, a factor when dealing with the project is time. So imagine if we had to create a real bridge.

Here is a link to TM