Allan Bakke v Univetrsity of California

This is the final action project for my Humanities class called, “Policy”. In this unit we learned about the different ways the executive branch can affect other branches. One of the things we did in this unit was create a timeline about supreme court cases that happened in the U.S. The case I chose on the timeline was Allan Bakke V University of California. In this action project, we had to create an argument that chooses whether the ruling of the case was justified based on the constitution. One of my struggles during this action project was finding out the other side’s real argument. I eventually learned that they were afraid to seem racist, which is why they needed affirmative action in the first place. Enjoy my project!

Rims(1970's)"Allan Bakke"

Allan Bakke at age 35 tried to apply for college twice and didn’t get in, even though he had data that showed others who we minorities that got in. After taking the case to court the University of California believed it was just following the law through affirmative action. Bake also believed that the case was violating his right to the 14th amendment, therefore the schools perspective of affirmative action was unconstitutional. In the end, the court ruled in Bakke’s favor by banning fixed racial quotas but upholding affirmative action while still allowing schools to consider race.

Some of the history of this case relates all the way back to Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. In this case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled segregation by race in public schools to be unconstitutional. A little over a decade later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI which forbids racial discrimination in any program or activity receiving federal funding. These two cases were important in realizing the constitutionality of the ruling, since the amendments and acts are meant to apply to everyone.

Allan Bakke was the plaintiff and he believed that he deserved a spot in the school. Bakke received 468 points out of a possible 500 on the admissions committee’s rating scale in 1973. Earlier in the year, a rating of 470 had won automatic admission with some promising applicants being admitted with lower scores. Bakke scored in the 97th percentile in scientific knowledge, the 96th percentile in verbal ability, and the 94th percentile in quantitative analysis.

University of California(1868) "The University of California Berkeley"

In the University of California’s defense, they admitted that affirmative action was a large factor in denying Allan Bakke. The issue was that affirmative action automatically fills up space within the schools, which means applicants like Bakke are less likely to get into the schools. At that point in time, the University of California had to fill a quota and set aside room for 16% of its applicants for a minority group.

The court joined with Judge Powell to find affirmative action permissible under some circumstances, though subject to an intermediate scrutiny standard of analysis. They also joined with Powell to reverse that portion of the judgment of the California Supreme Court that forbade the university to consider race in the admissions process. It violated the Equal Protection Clause which is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took was created in 1868, states that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws".

I believe that the ruling of this case was justified. Affirmative action was a big part of this case which means the 14th amendment is automatically tied to this case. Affirmative action is a set of laws, policies, guidelines, and administrative practices "intended to end and correct the effects of a specific form of discrimination.” These include government-mandated, government-sanctioned, and voluntary private programs that tend to focus on access to education and employment, granting special consideration to historically excluded groups, specifically racial minorities or women. During the Reconstruction Era the idea of affirmative action was created to help former slaves gain the knowledge and resources for sustainable living. Even though this case is not about slavery it’s about equal rights to the law.

Today this case is still affecting colleges and keeping our society as unbiased as possible. An example of this is of a recent case was during August 2017 where the Department of Justice tried suing colleges on the behalf of white students. The reasoning for this was based on the Bakke’ decision and was used to stop what they believe is racism against white students. Of course, racism isn’t likely to completely go away for a long time, but this case represents that reverse racism is also not okay.

Works Cited

“The Supreme Court . Expanding Civil Rights . Landmark Cases . Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978) | PBS.” THIRTEEN - MEDIA WITH IMPACT, Educational Broadcasting Corporation, Dec. 2006,

"Regents of the University of California v. Bakke." Oyez, 31 May. 2018

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Bakke Decision.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 31 Jan. 2014,

Little, Becky. “Why the DOJ Is Suing Colleges on Behalf of White Students.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 3 Aug. 2017

“Regents of the Uni v. of Cal. v. Bakke.” LII / Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Health Helps

This is the final action project for my STEAM class called, “Urban Planning”. In this unit we learned about the different ways urban planning can affect a neighborhood and it’s community. One of the things we did in this unit was visit the oldest and newest brown line stops on a field experience. In this action project we had to create a new design for an area that we think can be improved and why they should be. One of my struggles during this action project was focusing on the calculations because I was so focused on the digital design aspect of the project. I ended up deciding to show what I have because I really liked doing the design and I knew I would forget to do the rest of the project. Enjoy my project!

Some of my inspiration came from speakers that we listened to and watched while in school. One of these speakers was named Ellen Dunham-Jones, who talked about the different places that a city should have to be an effective urban area. The first place is your home while the second place is your job or school. One of the most important places though is a place for community in order to speak about issues and successes to keep the urban community functioning. Another speaker named James Howard Kunstler who spoke about the importance of architecture. Architecture is important because it adds beauty and emotion to society through visuals. The last person I want to talk about is Majora Carter. The biggest importance in her opinion about urban planning was about “greening” the area. This means keeping and adding more nature into the city in order to keep the area healthier. With these ideas I was able to easily find the problems and solutions of my neighborhood.

While researching this project I noticed a few problems with my neighborhood. The first issue is that there is not many “third places” or a places to have community in the area. In order to fix this I created a community center where people can have community through religion. There are of course many other ways to have a third place but I know that many people in my area are religious and would most likely want a closer church for their religion. Another decision I made was adding an extension to the 606 that goes down western going North. I thought this would be a good idea since the neighborhood is already pretty nice looking, and there is not enough pathways that take you down western while still keeping a nature aspect. One other thing I changed was adding a gym. I noticed that my neighborhood was lacking in areas to go exercise, so I decided the best place to add would be a gym. Gyms are a great way to stay healthy and having them closer to a neighborhood would motivate people to go more. The last thing I added was a community garden. This is probably the most important thing because organic or fresh food can often be expensive. A community garden can help create a more self sustaining community and help those who can't afford food.

Calculations

Volume of Community Center

Cylinder

V=pi 7^2 x 20

V=980pi

V=3078.76

Rectangular prism

15 x 20 x 10= 3000

Cone

V=pi x 10^2 x 10/ 3

V=1000 x pi/3

V= 3141.49

Total volume= 3141.49+3078.76+3000= 9220.25^3

Volume of Whole Foods

Triangular prism 

B=20 

H=15 

L=25 

25 x 20 x 15/2=3750 ft^3

Area of Neighborhood

width = 1,995.02 ft (608.08 m)

height= 1,083.59 ft (330.28 m)

1,995.02 x 1,083.59= 2161783.72 ft^2

War!

This is the second action project for my Humanities class called, “Policy”. In this unit we learned about the executive branch of our government. One of the things we did in this unit was create a timeline that shows the different cabinets in our government. In this action project we had to create an essay that explains a war that was fought by Americans and find out whether it’s just or not.). One of my struggles during this action project was finding out how the war changed in morality throughout the war. I ended up choosing to World War 2 because I immediately believed that it was a just war but I was interested in going into it further. Enjoy my project!

The beginning of World War II for the United States started with Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and ended after the bombing of Nagasaki on September 2, 1945. This war was right because the United States was trying to protect itself from future attacks from Japan and hopefully any other country. It is possible that there would have been another way to solve the issues between Japan and the United States, but after being attacked it is very human to want to fight back.

The United States got involved in World War II because of the attack on pearl harbor in 1941. This made us declare war on Japan and put us in the world war. Four days later Germany declared war on the United States. During this time Franklin D Roosevelt was the United States president. He delivered a speech that hugely impacted the mindset of the American people called the "Infamy Speech" which was spoken an hour before the United States declared war on Japan. This Speech was his reaction to the Pearl Harbor bombing and previous conflicts with Japan.

The first executive action of the war was the declaration of war on Japan when it was signed by Congress on December 8. Knowing that we were attacked just a day earlier, this set a policy that The United States has to be ready to defend itself if we were ever to be attacked. It was proposed by President Roosevelt because he believed that the attack from Japan on Pearl Harbor was what he called "a date which will live in infamy", meaning that he didn't want the United States to have this embarrassment. This policy was intended to protect the U.S. from future attacks as well as future embarrassment. The end of the war in Japan was fully decided in 1945 when the Japanese signed the Potsdam Declaration on September 2.

This policy was of course applied by sending troops to fight the Japanese. I personally think that the beginning of the war was justified since the Japanese did the first physical attack. Even though this was justified there were still serious consequences. One of them was the bombing of both Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These bombings killed over 129,000 people and is still affecting others with radiation.

The reasoning for this war initially was right but eventually it was taken too far. At first the war was meant to protect the United States from Japan, but eventually it turned into an unfair massacre. I believe that it is pretty logical to fight back if you are being fought. Even though we had to fight back, the bombing on Japan killed hundreds of thousands of people. If you compare that to the initial attack which started with over 2,000 deaths then you start to realize how far United States went to win the war. This was too far because it was more about ending the war instead of protecting the United States. If the United States had kept up with it’s original reasoning for the war then it would have been justified throughout the entire war, but at some point during the war America became too focused on winning.

Amped up

This is the second action project for my STEAM class called, “Urban Planning”. In this unit we learned about electricity and the basics of creating a circuit. We even went to robot workshop in order to have an intro into programming. In this action project we had to create a circuit that we could use to save energy and link it to energy saving appliances or electronics. In order to make an energy saving circuit we had to make our circuit have 5 resistors (anything that uses electricity). One of my struggles during this action project was finding appliances that had energy saving information in the descriptions. I ended up choosing to use Energy Star to find a big list of energy saving products. Enjoy my project!

A letter to legislation

This is the first action project for my humanities class called, “Policy”. In this class we learned about different levels of legislation and more specifically about how a bill gets ratified. We even went to a city council meeting and listened to some of the legislation. In this action project we had to create a business style letter to a representative who works in legislation. This letter had to include a topic or issue that should be resolved and our goal is to show our representatives that our issue is important. One of my struggles during this action project was finding a topic that has I actually believe is important to myself. Eventually I chose to talk about the topic of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg going to trial. Enjoy my project!

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Midgey the Bridgy

This is the first action project for my STEAM class called “Urban Planning”. In this unit we learned about the strength of triangles and how to calculate them. We then used our knowledge to understand the structure of buildings and bridges, which led us into our action project. In this action project we had to create a design for a bridge and go through the process of creating it. After we finished making our bridges we had to test them. Each bridge had to hold at least ten pounds and the strongest bridge got extra credit.

Domino Timer

This is the last action project for my STEAM class called, “Light, Sound, and Time”. In this unit we focused on how time works on earth and in space. This action project we had to create a time telling device and make a promotional video that helps sell our invention. One of my struggles during this action project was choosing a single way of telling time since there are so many different ways. I wanted to show that time could be measured with gravity, light, sound and so much more. I was able to create a device that shows that time is not just something that is in the background, but a lot happens in even just a short amount of time. Enjoy my project!

A Compromise

This is the last action project for my humanities class called, “A Nation’s Argument”. In this action project we had to choose one of our previous action projects and fight for it by creating a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. One of my struggles during this action project was making the argument against my own course. I wanted to show that it's not just about property because GCE encourages it's students as much as possible. I was able to also show that they were worried about the student as well which made their argument more fair. Enjoy my project!

Food is Energy

“Food & Drink: Eating is only allowed in the cafeteria and open concept space downstairs during lunch, after school, and during breaks. Food and drink in those spaces during class time is at the discretion of the instructor and may change depending on daily activities. If food is consumed in the cafeteria or open concept space, students must wipe down the tables. Refusal to clean up can result in loss of privilege.There is to be no food in any carpeted space or upstairs at any time. An approved drink container can be turned upside-down over your personal computer without leaking. Violation of the food and drink policy will be considered insubordination and will result in the consequences aforementioned.” -GCE Code of Conduct

Syllogism for GCE

1. The only rooms without carpet are the cabin, cafe
2. If food is consumed in the cafeteria or open concept space, students must wipe down the tables.
3. Cleanliness is important to GCE

Conclusion: The prohibition of food and drink is based off of protection of property.

This rule is unjust because it focuses on the product of an even bigger issue about cleanliness and property, making it a red herring. Throughout the text there are multiple statements about making sure the space is clean, and not having anything to do with the food itself. It explains the different areas you are allowed to eat which implies that those rooms are easier to clean up, since each of those rooms (like the cafe or the open concept) have hardwood floors. It also explains that there will be consequences if you weren’t to clean up after yourself. This rule also shows the importance of sealed drink containers and even goes as far to say it is only approved when you are willing to hold it upside down over your own computer. From what I’ve noticed, the teachers or other staff of the school are able to have open drink containers in whichever room they want to. Sometimes it even makes sense to have a more open container like a coffee cup to let the heat out.

This is the second action project for my humanities class called, “A Nation’s Argument”. This unit was about different logical fallacies one could use in an argument and how to debunk that. We specifically looked at the Dred Scott case and the contradictions that the decision created. In this action project we had to create an amendment to a rule in the code of conduct for GCE. One of my struggles while making my case against the food policy in the GCE code of conduct, was breaking it down into a syllogism. Every time that I thought it was at it’s core issue I found out that it could be part of something more. Overall I really liked making the project because I learned more about my school. Enjoy my project!

prohibition poster (1900's) domestic violence

This issue has a relationship with the prohibition of the alcohol since it was originally meant to protect housewives from their drunk husbands. This is similar to what GCE did because they are going after a product of an even bigger issue. Instead of banning alcohol they should've focused more on domestic violence. GCE should have focused on the cleanliness instead of eating since it is the most overarching rule.

Syllogism for the Amendment

1. Food is important
2. Some students might be busy during lunch
3. Food gives you energy
4. Energy helps students learn

Conclusion: Food should be allowed to be eaten in any room or class.

This amended argument is more beneficial to the school and the students because more work would be getting done. The students will be more energized in class making it possible to get more done. This of course makes it more beneficial to the teacher since they would be able to have a productive class time.

“I feel that we should be able to eat in class as long as you are mindful of how you are doing so.” -A.A.

No Strings Attatched

This is the second action project for my class called “Light, Sound, and Time”. This unit was about how sound is used in different situations and basically what sound is. We specifically looked how waves travel through different materials. In this action project, we had to create a one-stringed guitar called a diddley bow.  Overall I really liked making the project. I never expected that you can do so much with just one string. Enjoy my project!

Run, Jump, and Land

This is the first action project for my class called “A Nation’s Argument”. This unit was about how a constitution is created. We specifically looked at America’s constitution and how each law affected people in the past and how they affect people now. In this action project we had to declare our own declaration of independent study. My project looks into why we should have a independent study here at GCE about parkour.

Don't be Negative!

This is the first action project for my class called “Light, Sound, and Time”. This unit was about light and more specifically about what light actually is. In this unit we learned about the function of cameras and how each piece can relate to a part of the human eye. In this action project we had to create a pinhole camera, use it to take a picture, and develop it. I’m actually pretty happy with the way my camera turned out since I didn’t really know what to expect in the first place. During the process of making this action project I was able to learn about the process of developing film and why it works.

Morpheus

This is my action project for my STEAM class called "Rocket Science". In this class we learned about aerodynamics, and of course we learned about science behind rockets. When making this AP we used all of our knowledge to make bottle rockets. The goal was to see how high we could make the rockets go. There were different ways we could make our rockets go "higher" without  actually increasing thrust, since we based our information on how long it was in the air. For example I tried to make mine work better by making it glide in the air with bigger wings, while others used parachutes.

This Poem is Torture ( Final Edit)

DSC_0050 from M Finklea on Vimeo.

Artist's Statement

The topic of my poem was about Guantanamo Bay, and the torture that goes on inside it. It’s an important topic to think about, because it’s not talked about as much as it was closer to the events of 9/11. The reason why Guantanamo Bay is important to me is because in my opinion torture is worse than death. In my opinion, if proven to guilty then a criminal it’s at least ethical to take control of the criminals life in order to save others. But it seems unethical to abuse that control and use it to hurt others both mentally and physically.

Whilst writing my poem I decided that I wanted to include a good amount of allusion since Guantanamo Bay was the product of a very important moment in history. Another poetic device I knew I needed to use was lots of imagery because I really wanted the reader to see from the perspective of those who were taken away and thrown into prison. I also knew that I wouldn’t want too much connotation, because the story that I wanted to tell would be too open for outside thought. One of my favorite poetic devices is wordplay, since the english language is so complicated. Even though I really like wordplay I wasn’t able to fit it in.

While making this video I wanted to focus on the final chapter of my poem with hand gestures and facial expressions. I tried to make a certain effect in the audience by slowly growing in intensity. Even though I wanted to start off slowly during the performance I couldn't help but overdue some parts. I ended up rushing at the beginning. At the end I used hand gestures like putting my hands up like a criminal and lifting up my shirt to get tortured. Overall I'm pretty happy with my poem and my performance.

This Poem is Torture (Revised)

This Poem is Torture

1. A Prison

After 9/11 something had to be done

Said Bush

Declare war on terror
Build a prison to hold the enemy

Guantanamo Bay

Built to imprison enemies

But used to hurt people

And it hasn't stopped

How is it even possible for our leaders to make so many bad decisions?
They cut deep into our history like surgical incisions

The US thinks it's superior
and treats other countries like they are inferior

And when this happened

America built mixed nationality monster

And this monster was beat down

While America watched

2. The Monster

29% Afghan

17% Saudi

15% Yemeni

9% Pakistani

3% Algerian

Think about what they have in common

Imagine being trapped and attacked

In Guantanamo Bay

it happens every day

They walk through the halls in fear

Others drip with sweat and blood

They kneel at the feet of soldiers

All they see is the pitch blackness that is blankets over them by hoods & masks

Their hands are bound by cuffs

For the guards enough is not enough

Who’s next?

In this scenario it could be you

But a scenario is not always fake

The day Bush let torture take over

He proved nightmares are real

    3. The Executioners

The Monster was already down

But it needed to stay down

So they  kicked them and didn’t stop

The sounds of military boots thudding could be heard  across the world

It was so bad that the UN stated it was against human rights law

And still soldiers beat them until they're raw

Soldiers were built to torture
Programmed to do it without emotion

A prisoner strapped to a bench and held down
Guards pour water in his face
Until he thinks he's drowning
They strip him down
And repeat the process
Make it ice cold this time


Like a child in a time out
The prisoner faces the wall
For days
When that doesn't work
They are taken away
And slammed back against it repeatedly

Prisoners put their hands up
Better not bring them down
They stay like this for days
The pain is so much they can't sleep

Open hand face slaps
Placed in headlocks
struggle but still held still
Executioners get primitive
The Prisoners are slapped in the face
But with an open hand
Another Guard grabs their head and holds it still
Against their will

Prisoners are grabbed
And forced against a wall
So they can take their next punishment
Their shirts lifted up
And They brace for pain
A guard quickly slaps their stomachs
And the prisoner cries out

Prisoners are starved
No food for Prisoners

Well there is “food”
But food is now liquid for them
After dinner they are locked away again
In a small space

For their sake

I hope they finally know their place

Which is to run away

But sadly they can't cause they're trapped

In Guantanamo Bay

  

This poem is about the problems with Guantanamo Bay and the torture that goes on inside it. For making this poem I tried to focus on the different point of views that people see this issue from. The first chapter "A Prison" was meant to give background to why we started the camp and what was wrong with their reasoning. The second chapter "The Monster" was meant to be seen from the perspective of the prisoners inside the camp. This perspective was meant to show how horrendous it felt to live there. The final chapter "The Executioners" was meant to be from the perspective of the guards that worked there. Even though I don't Focus on a specific thought from the guards I talked about the torture methods that they used against the prisoners.

This poem is Torture

This poem is about the law that restricts the government to use torture. The problem is not that we aren't allowed, the problem is that some of us in America believe that we should so they vote on it. It's important to me because common sense is important to me. And it doesn't make sense to torture each other. In my opinion I think that we are all included in the word "We" when it comes to the world. One analogy I used in the poem was slavery. We used to believe that slavery was not only important, but necessary. When my poem is read I want the reader to think about what is really necessary because it's us who has to give someone or something it's importance.

WE say torture is bad right?
Not when WE use it I guess
And of course WE won't feel bad right?
WE keep putting a vote on it and somehow people say yes
What happened to AMERICA?
WE used to care
WE used to try our hardest to make everything fair
These days WE whine about our feelings
But WE don't pay attention to the lives that we're stealing
While WE still haven't decided if WE would let the military torture humans
Do you think WE want that looming
Over our heads
No
I didn't think so
Our problems are nothing compared to the ones WE create
How can WE spread love of WE only cause hate?
How can WE say we’re number one if WE tear others down to get our way
WE can't
Because WE would all feel regret
And WE try to wash our hands because they are covered in blood, wet
After WE realize that the blood is stained into our skin
And the retaliation
Do you think that WE won't cause any issues?
In the end we'll all be crying And we'll need tissues
And to force a person to torture another is a punishment to OUR own
WE have to remember that the world is not a plot WE own
America turns from a hero a monster
That's a shame
WE used to be a straight shot
But now WE have a twisted aim
How is it even possible for us to make so many bad decisions?
They cut deep into our history like surgical incisions
First trump
Then our schools
And now torture
WE sure are number one
Just shoot at the head and it's done
What happened to sympathy?
Isn't it's psychopathic once WE stop feeling empathy?
Isn't it a bad thing once WE stop feeling regret?
I guess it's easy for us
Because with our own problems WE forget
And how do WE numb the pain?
With our own problems
And I don't think WE'll ever solve them
WE need to stop being selfish and think about the bigger picture
WE need to build a New foundation and build a new fixture
WE need to find compassion in our hearts again
And maybe WE could be forgiven
But honestly history always repeats
And slavery is one of our many feats
Torture has always been around and it has always WEnt wrong
If WE cut the cycle now then WE won't have to say sorry later like WE always do
And with slavery
My ancestors had bravery
Because they WEre forced to be in harsh situation
And somehow that was agreed upon by an entire nation
WE say WE follow God but it sounds like WE follow Satan
That's why other countries will always be hatin'
Once WE learn to stop and restrain ourselves
Them WE won't have to worry about a nuclear war
WE won't have to worry about North Korea trying to "take over the world"

WE need to understand that “WE” doesn’t exist

There is only us and as a unified group we hurt each other

Think about yourself

Because you’re selfish

America is turning into a disease like an allergy to shellfish

That's why we travel we travel overseas

And we wonder how we somehow make so many enemies

Just kidding

We know

Yet we think we grow

Well we grow bigger but we don’t change

We don’t grow in knowledge or compassion

But we grow like a tumor

Sucking the life from the world’s brain

We think we gain wisdom

But we still act primitive today

We act like people don't change but

We are all people

Remember slavery?

Not many people do

What if I reminded you that it was only 150 years ago?

I'm there right now

With my fellow slaves

We’re trying to save ourselves

Someone it's only a matter of time before we run out of options

Torture is the final solution

It feels uncomfortable at the bottom

We cut our way to the top

Now we are the new masters