Why is there traffic in Chicago?

In the third unit of the course Rhetoric we began studying how rhetoric can e used to unite people around a single cause, as the colonist began to do leading up to the Revolution in the America. Our last Action project, we chose a social issue and chose a way to represent it through an art form. I chose the issue of better roads because I am driven every where and there's always traffic because of construction going on around the city. I chose to make a screen print to make stickers, which have a construction sign in the background with words saying, “Expect Delays In Our CITY.” Doing this project was difficult for me because it’s something that I relate to, but there isn’t much information about it. Also the screenprint was something I have never done before, so it was a difficult and precise process. I learned how to screenprint and I enjoyed making art.

KIS. Sticker. 2015

Better Roads
KIS
Screen, Paint, labels, printer, slogan, sign
2in by 3in
October 20, 2015

I am KIS and I am bringing attention to better roads for drivers who use the highway a lot. I chose this topic because I drive a lot on the highways and on many occasions there have been traffic because of construction on an exit, which also causes detours. I don’t like that because I believe we can get to our destination quicker when the roads are fixed, smooth, and fast. Potholes and long construction jobs on the streets create traffic and pollution. This does not apply to everyone, but it does apply to people who drive everyday on the highways. Traffic creates headaches, people get impatient, frustrated and their hypertension can go way up. If the exit you have to take is closed for construction and you have to take a detour, that takes more time and makes you late.

When it comes to potholes, people have to go over them slowly and each car passes,and until it’s your turn you get frustrated and want to get out of the highway and go to the street. But it’s the same maybe even worse because the potholes are bigger or there are more. “Chicago drivers lose an average of 70 hours a year because of traffic” (Medill News). This issue doesn’t just affect individuals, but cost the city a lot of money as a whole “All the congestion on Chicago-area roads sucked up more than $6 billion in fuel in 2011” (WBEZ).

In my project I used the appeals pathos when connecting to my audience and getting them to reflect on it, if they haven't already. Logos when giving facts about the traffic in Chicago and what causes it. My whole project is a hypophora because my title is a question and my project answers it and extends on it.

To express many people's frustrations with city’s streets, traffic and construction work, I decided to use a street artform. I made stickers that have a construction sign in the background and words that say, “Expect Delays In Our CITY.” I used screen printing to print my words on my labels. I chose to make stickers because it’s an easy and powerful way to get my message across by putting in places that are popular and where people won’t miss seeing them. I plan to put my stickers in busy places like malls and bus stops.

KIS. Sticker. 2015

Bentley, Chris. “When is Chicago-area traffic the worst?” WBEZ. Jan 9, 2015. Web. Oct 20, 2015.

Tekippe, Abe. “The Anatomy of a traffic jam.” Medill Reports Chicago. Feb 16, 2011. Web. Oct 20, 2015.

Vanessa's Bike

In the second unit of the course Design and Engineering we studied gear ratios, the power rule, area, volume, slopes, derivatives, potential energy and kinetic energy. We also learned about the parts of a bike, types of bikes and what impact they have on the rider. All of these concepts are hard in their own way, but I was able to pull through with extra help. We focused a lot on bikes because this course is about innovating, meaning that we are going to innovate bikes. The FE's that we had like going to the bike shop, Dyson and Alan were very helpful because we not only learned about bikes, but we learned some history of it, how to make things and the process of building something new. For our action project we worked in partners, and were assigned a person who bikes everyday and that needs a new bike. I got Vanessa who takes her brother every morning to a daycare before going to school. We needed to innovate a bike that fits her needs and make a prototype of it. During this project I had difficulty making the prototype and I learned pre-calculus. If you want to know more about this awesome bike please look down below for more details about it.

KIS & TS. Sketch. 2015

KIS & TS. Vanessa's bike. 2015.

In this unit we studied the wheel in motion, what energy it creates before and after (potential energy and kinetic energy), ratios, velocity, mass, weight, speed and the formulas that go with them. The purpose of this project is to innovate or create a whole new bike for someone. We were assigned people and we got Vanessa.Vanessa is a 17 year old, she lives by the United Center and she bikes 4 miles to school. Everyday when she goes to school she has to drop off her baby brother at a daycare then she goes to school. She takes roads under the train so it’s loud, there are many potholes and she leaves her bike in front of her house locked to a pole because she doesn’t have space to put it in. I am proud of our final design; it meets Vanessa's needs and had some cool upgrades that we added. In the process of making this project I learned that a bike’s frame doesn't have to be traditional, it can be any shape but it just needs to be stable, hold things together and distribute the weight evenly. Also technology is being included into bikes which I didn’t know, but I like. Also the aerodynamic bikes are cool because it makes you gain more speed and the material it’s made out of is comfortable.

KIS & TS. Bike Structure. 2015

The bike that we created for Vanessa has a shield protector for the baby in the back and a comfortable seat. It has mountain bike tires for the potholes she goes through everyday. It has a thick wire inside the frame so it can lock between the bike and the pole so no one can steal it. It also has a basket in front for Vanessa's book bag or anything else. It provides a gel seat and gel handles for the long bike ride and it has three different ways she can grab the handlebar so she can accommodate to however her hands feel. From the interview I conducted my friend said “Bullhorn handles are the most effective but many say drop handles look the best.” Our bike also has a soundproof shield for her baby brother when they ride under the tracks. Vanessa should trust our design because it’s modern, it helps her in her daily routine and it will make her life easier so she can focus on important things. Getting to the math behind a bicycle, Vanessa takes 23 minutes to get to school. Vanesa would take 10.43mph (miles per hour) and 4.66 mps (meters per second). The wheel’s diameter is 28 in. and the circumference of the wheel is 87.92 in. The wheel will rotate 2882 times during her journey and the model that we built is 14 times smaller than an actual bike. For the gears the bike has a small cog in back and big cog in in front because that way she can decide at what speed she wants to go in order to get a smooth ride and the gear ratio is 1:2, there is 30 teeth in the small gear and 60 teeth in the big gear. In terms of energy Vanessa has more potential energy when she is on top of a hill and has more kinetic energy when she goes down a hill. In the process of innovating it was really hard to come up with a way to make the loud train noises go away when a train passes because we didn’t want to transform the bike into a car so I decided that Vanessa can handle the noise but her baby brother can’t because babies have sensitive ears. We created a sound-proof shield around the baby's seat so he doesn’t hear the noises and it protects him.

KIS & TS.Over view. 2015.

High School

In the second unit of the course Rhetoric we sturdied history. We looked at Columbus discovery, we read his diaries and we read some different point of views articles. Some people don't like Columbus day because he treated the Natives brutally and they suggest to change the name to New Discover, Native day and similar things. We also read the doctrine of discovery that allowed people to "discover lands" meaning conquer other lands that aren't Christians. We had an activity where we had to write a paragraph writing if we like Columbus day or not. This is a big controversy and we saw people taking action on how it shouldn't be named Columbus day. For our action project we chose a speech, song or poem and we analyzed it using the rhetorical techniques. I chose a song that focused on isolation because I feel like that is a topic that everyone can connect to and has gone through.