Find an article that relates in some way to the things we have been talking about in class. Summarize the article, then respond to it in some way. Explain the argument you believe they are making? Why did you pick it? How does it connect to our class?
- One paragraph summary of source.
- One paragraph response to source.
Include a link to the text. Should be about 250 words in length. Comment below with your response.
Some of the things we have discussed in class this week:
- Critical Reading
- MLA and citation
- Recycling
- Trash Pick up
- Homelessness
- Solar power
- Energy Net Zero
Professor Ramos' Blog 
Eleanor M
The article I read is called “Homelessness in San Bernardino County jumps 23% in 2019” written by Brain Whitehead from the San Bernardino Sun. For the second year straight a study revealed a growing homeless population in the region. With new data collecting technologies they say they have the most accurate figures to date since the article came out April of this year. They say according to the 2019 point in time count (the annual survey of homeless persons) 2,607 people were without a permanent home. The report showed a 71% jump in homeless persons 55 years and older, from 246 people in 2018 to 422 in this year. According to a man named Don Smith who is apart of Creating Community Solutions which is an independent consulting firm says “we need to shift the narrative to housing, we need to make housing affordable to low income folks.”
I decided to look up articles about the homeless in the area since I’ve grown up, seeing the homeless population increase throughout the years. When I was younger I would try to figure out a way to help even if it meant to give them whatever I had in wallet when I was younger. Since we discussed the homeless in class and we talked about how they are now paying the homeless to help pick up trash in the area and they get paid for it, it’s much more beneficial to pay the homeless and they can eat and save money for their own place to call their own and not have to live on the streets asking for money or wondering around to find a place to sleep.
Article Link: https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/24/homelessness-in-san-bernardino-county-jumps-23-percent-in-2019/
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The article I chose discusses President Trump’s visit here to California this past Tuesday as part of his 2020 campaign and the RNC’s fundraising efforts. Being that California is a deep-blue state, Trump has recently used the homelessness crisis as part of his criticism of California’s policymaker’s and policies. According to the article Trump stated “he is considering the creation of an “individual task force” as a solution to homelessness and has provided no further details as to what that task force is to entail. He is quoted as saying, “We have people living in our … best highways, our best streets, our best entrances to buildings … where people in those buildings pay tremendous taxes, where they went to those locations because of the prestige of the city, and all of a sudden they have tents. Hundreds and hundreds of tents and people living at the entrance to their office building. And they want to leave. And the people of San Francisco are fed up, and the people of Los Angeles are fed up.”
I found this article because I first found the “Letters to the Editor” article which is in response to this original article. I will include links to both if you are interested in the responses. We talked about homelessness in class and some solutions that places are trying to implement like paying the homeless to pick up trash. What made me weary of President Trump’s words, and for me the basis of his entire administration, were there was no actual mention of solutions or ideas. Just talk. My mom used to say stay away from people who are all talk and no action. I agree with Eric Searcy’s response “Trump’s comments about homeless people living on “our best streets” seem to suggest that what bothers him most is not their plight but that he has to look at them.” To me he’s just playing to the elite’s narcissism and continuing to be an ally in their vanity not what’s best for society and the people who are actually homeless.
Original Article: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-17/president-trump-arrives-in-california-after-bashing-the-state-for-its-homeless-problems
Letters to the Editor Response: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-09-18/president-trump-is-right-about-homeless
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In class this week we have been talking about a variety of topics, but one that stood out was when we briefly talked about homelessness. This topic has been prevalent in recent years with the increase of homeless people. We talked about what is being done to combat homelessness and not much was discussed due to lack of information of what is being done. What I do remember is a discussion of how ‘Rent Control’ would be much needed in response to the ever-increasing rent of apartments that has increased more than $300 for the same shitty apartment over the last two or three years. About a week and a half ago California approved statewide rent control and in the article by Conor Dougherty and Luis Ferré-Sadurní called ‘California Approves Statewide Rent Control to Ease Housing Crisis.’ This article goes on to explain how the bill restricts rent from increase more than 5 percent a year. The bill also helps protects the tenant from being evicted those of which are “lower-income and older tenants who are at a high risk of becoming homeless.” This regulation helps ensure stability and lower worries of the future of renting an apartment so that such as when “rent jumped to $1,900 from $1,100, a rise of over 70 percent” because of a change of owners does not happen.
This article just states one of the problems that lead to homelessness. When landlords can raise rent without warning it puts people in an uncomfortable place as if it was done once what is stopping it from happening again. When apartments become out of reach for the working people, such a situation will lead to an increase of people having to live on the streets or cars.
Citation
Dougherty, Conor, and Luis Ferré-sadurní. “California Approves Statewide Rent Control to Ease Housing Crisis.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/business/economy/california-rent-control.html
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Eleanor M
The article I read is called “Homelessness in San Bernardino County jumps 23% in 2019” written by Brain Whitehead from the San Bernardino Sun. For the second year straight a study revealed a growing homeless population in the region. With new data collecting technologies they say they have the most accurate figures to date since the article came out April of this year. They say according to the 2019 point in time count (the annual survey of homeless persons) 2,607 people were without a permanent home. The report showed a 71% jump in homeless persons 55 years and older, from 246 people in 2018 to 422 in this year. According to a man named Don Smith who is apart of Creating Community Solutions which is an independent consulting firm says “we need to shift the narrative to housing, we need to make housing affordable to low income folks.”
I decided to look up articles about the homeless in the area since I’ve grown up, seeing the homeless population increase throughout the years. When I was younger I would try to figure out a way to help even if it meant to give them whatever I had in wallet when I was younger. Since we discussed the homeless in class and we talked about how they are now paying the homeless to help pick up trash in the area and they get paid for it, it’s much more beneficial to pay the homeless and they can eat and save money for their own place to call their own and not have to live on the streets asking for money or wondering around to find a place to sleep.
The link: https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/24/homelessness-in-san-bernardino-county-jumps-23-percent-in-2019/
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https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/09/20/how-to-recycle-plastic
In this article, the writer is stating that although we say we are recycling and we using materials, the real truth is that a majority of it is being burned away. Around seventy-nine percent isn’t being used or reused properly due to too much waste and the fact that the contaminated plastics and cheap plastics that come though are tarnishing the good materials. Also stating that as a country we peaked at nine and half percent back in 2014 and we haven’t gotten there since.
As an individual I can say i have been guilty of “recycling’ cheap plastic or even contaminated plastic due to a lack of knowledge of how to really recycle. Not too many times have people gone into depth of the different types of recycling and that most products can actually be turned into compost which helps grow our plants giving them natural nutrients. Also it was made clear that trash bags and the store bags we receive are considered cheap plastic and shouldn’t be thrown in with the good products because it can damage the machines that process the different waste products and they can also contaminate the actual plastic itself. After being more informed i believe we should be teaching more about compost and the difference between the products we can actually recycle instead of just simply saying to recycle. We have to take it a step further be educating kids at a young age about the different types so that it becomes a habit and just feels natural to compost and properly recycle by the time they are consumers.
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Harnessing Solar power is a great way to save energy which is green. We’ve talked about this in class a few times. Solar power or solar radiation is energy from the sun. This power supports all life on earth and drives the earth’s climate and weather. Solar power is also responsible for resources known as renewable energy.
Solar power also describes technologies that utilize sunlight. The Native Americans, Greeks and Chinese warmed the buildings by orienting them toward the sun. In Europe, during the little Ice Age, farmers used elaborate field orientation and Thermal Mass to increase their yield of crops. Modern Solar Technologies continue to harness the sun to provide heating, water, daylighting and even flight. Generally Solar Power describes the conversion of sunlight into electricity and even thermal or mechanical power.
The first known example of a solar powered mechanical device dates all the way back to 1866 when French engineer Auguste Mouchout successfully powered a steam engine with sunlight. In 1954, researchers at Bell Laboratories developed a photovoltaic cell capable of converting light into energy which fundamentally changed how power is generated.
Since the breakthrough Solar Cell efficiencies have improved from 6 to 15 percent and experimental cells efficiencies reaching 40 percent. Prices in turn fell from $300 per watt to $3 per watt.
The use of Solar energy and Solar power is a step forward and is uniquely modern. The diversity and form of Solar energy are Manifest in a variety of ways. Many technologies use Solar Energy.
A photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light into electricity. The use of this has been limited due to high manufacturing costs until recently. To take advantage of incoming electromagnetic radiation from the sun, Solar panels can be attached to a house or building. Solar panels may also be used to charge batteries or other energy storage devices. Solar panels produce more light during the summer months because they receive more sunlight.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/solar_power.htm
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Tigre Carroll
The article I chose discusses President Trump’s visit here to California this past Tuesday as part of his 2020 campaign and the RNC’s fundraising efforts. Being that California is a deep-blue state, Trump has recently used the homelessness crisis as part of his criticism of California’s policymaker’s and policies. According to the article Trump stated “he is considering the creation of an “individual task force” as a solution to homelessness and has provided no further details as to what that task force is to entail. He is quoted as saying, “We have people living in our … best highways, our best streets, our best entrances to buildings … where people in those buildings pay tremendous taxes, where they went to those locations because of the prestige of the city, and all of a sudden they have tents. Hundreds and hundreds of tents and people living at the entrance to their office building. And they want to leave. And the people of San Francisco are fed up, and the people of Los Angeles are fed up.”
I found this article because I first found the “Letters to the Editor” article which is in response to this original article. I will include links to both if you are interested in the responses. We talked about homelessness in class and some solutions that places are trying to implement like paying the homeless to pick up trash. What made me weary of President Trump’s words, and for me the basis of his entire administration, were there was no actual mention of solutions or ideas. Just talk. My mom used to say stay away from people who are all talk and no action. I agree with Eric Searcy’s response “Trump’s comments about homeless people living on “our best streets” seem to suggest that what bothers him most is not their plight but that he has to look at them.” To me he’s just playing to the elite’s narcissism and continuing to be an ally in their vanity not what’s best for society and the people who are actually homeless.
Original Article: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-17/president-trump-arrives-in-california-after-bashing-the-state-for-its-homeless-problems
Letters to the Editor Response: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-09-18/president-trump-is-right-about-homeless
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The article I have chosen to respond to was written by the Los Angeles Times that deals with the issue of solar power. Interestingly, by next year, all new homes in California will be required to have solar panels. Jack Fleming, the author of the article, goes on to say that the Golden State is the first state ever to pass such a law. There were multiple reasons why the mandate was passed such as California’s commitment in battling climate change and saving money for homeowners: “The Energy Commission estimates that solar panels will save homeowners an average of $19,000 over 30 years” (Fleming). The rest of the article summarizes how solar already has a major impact on society in California, mostly focusing on SoCal.
We have already talked about how critical recycling is to the planet Earth and seeing that California is acknowledging the major issue of climate change is admirable. It is possible that in the future, we might see other states pass such laws but only time will tell. An interesting quote from the article that caught my eye was from the president of DMS Contractors, Dan Spiegel: ““Solar was always considered a luxury item in the past. Now it’s going to be a necessity,” (Fleming). Perhaps Spiegel made this comment because he realizes that people are using more energy. Instead of solar being a luxury item, it is now necessary for California, if not the world.
https://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-solar-mandate-20181214-story.html
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https://www.ocregister.com/2019/09/21/president-trump-shines-a-light-on-californias-disgraceful-homeless-problem/
In class this week we were talking about programs and other ideas we could do about the homeless epidemic in the state of California. This article isn’t so much about the solution to the problem bout how the problem can be used as fuel to further someone else’s agenda that may or may not have a real solution but other than highlighting the situation itself. Trump states that San Francisco as well as Los Angeles community citizens are fed up with the homeless invading the streets of what they pay vast amounts to stay in. Although that may be true that they are fed up with the problem just showing the problem and screaming about how it is one will not solve the actual problem. After Martin v Boise was though the law was that cities cant enforce laws on side walk campers when they don’t have the proper shelters in the city to house said sidewalk campers. California responded by asking the Trump admin to send more money for the solution for this problem but they were denied that request by the admin stating California cant show any proof that they aren’t don’t anything to actively solve the problem other than opening a voluntary shelter that really has no regulations for the homeless. Its my opinion after doing more info searching that although California does account for more than half of the homeless population in the nation but they also are one of the most desired destinations to live in the country.
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I don’t know very much about solar energy so I decided to read about it and make it my topic. In the article I chose it explained that Solar energy is the most abundant, renewable energy source in the world. How does it work? Solar energy converts the suns heat and light to other forms of energy. That being Solar Photovoltaics and Solar Thermal. Solar thermal uses heat from the sun and turns into heat and electricity production. Solar Photovoltaics uses semiconductors to convert sunlight into a direct current of electricity. It concludes with solar energy being positive for the environment, however most don’t think to use it. This is because it is expensive to install and depending on location or season sunlight will vary.
It’s a very interesting and complex subject that I would like to research more about. Learning about it makes me want to go Solar too. I think especially for California it could be something really worth it because of the sunlight and heat we get. It is a really good choice because it doesn’t emit any green house gases into the environment. I think talking about it in class and opening up for discussions is really important because people will learn and make better decisions from it. I think a lot of environmental issues should be talked about in classrooms and educate students or else nothing will ever get done about it.
https://www.studentenergy.org/topics/solar
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This week, after discussing recycling and what our campus can do, I started to do research for my proposal paper regarding this topic. I ended up finding this page which is not so much an article, but more like a comprehensive guide specifically for California schools when it comes to recycling and how students or administration can get informed and involved. It describes some of the laws requiring schools that produce “four or more cubic yards of solid waste per week” to recycle and offers suggestions of how to comply by self-hauling or hiring recyclable pick up. The page also describes how the school or school district can benefit from waste reduction plans including “greenhouse gas emissions reduction,” “increased efficiency of school operation,” and creating opportunities for environmental science education for the students. At the bottom of the page there are several links to help get informed and involved. I think this resource will be helpful for writing my proposal because it can provide inspiration and examples of how our campus can become more green by starting a recycling program. CalRecycle is the short form name for California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery so using their information, guides, and regulations, we can definitely initiate a “Green Team” like we discussed in class. I’m very interested in helping research and organize ways to make our campus cleaner and CalRecycle has great pointers on where to start including how to contact local staff members for assistance and any questions that come up.
https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/ReduceWaste/Schools/
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So in class we discussed homless and this week Trump had a few things to say. He reports that Homless in San francisco and L.A is the reason for our pollution problems. “There’s tremendous pollution being put into the ocean because they’re going through what’s called the storm sewer that’s for rainwater,” Trump said. “And we have tremendous things that we don’t have to discuss pouring into the ocean. You know there are needles, there are other things.” So now he is trying to give them a violation for being homeless.
I disagree, i think if he believes there is an issue with the homeless and polluting our waters he should look into giving them actual shelter so they have somewhere to sleep, shower and live. Provide jobs for them cleaning the streets so they can have money to pay for housing. You cant just kick someone when they are down, he doesn’t know everyones story or why they are homeless.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/462103-trump-says-epa-will-cite-san-francisco-for-pollution-stemming-from
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In the article, “How is College Different From Highschool?”, King’s College talks about what the difference between college and high school. It also talks about class time, time management, homework, the expenses, grading, and requirements for graduation. For example, the difference between college class time and high school class time is in high school “ you spend on average 6 hours each day/ 30 hours a week in class” and in college “you spend 12 to 16 hours each week in class, usually with breaks in between”. Which, i think is a little crazy but, looking back at it high school was nothing; i could have tried much harder. College is very challenging and is the exact discipline some people need in the lives. We can all make the choice on wherever or not we recall wanna be here. K-12, we didn’t have much of a choice. From what i’ve noticed college allows us to make our own decisions and do what we are passionate about. In high school you pretty much learn about things you aren’t going to always remember in a few months, maybe you will.
https://www.kings.edu
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Diana Chicas
https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/preventing-trash-source-0
In this week’s topic discussion during class, we mentioned various examples of how trash is being cleaned up around some of the states. While picking up trash is very effective in cleaning up the ecosystem, the main way we can stop the harmful impacts of landfills or trash is by stopping it at the source. In the article, “Preventing Trash at the Source”, it details how from 1960 to 2013 trash has been raised from 2.68 pounds to 4.40 pounds of trash in a single day in the average American family. This often leads most of the trash to end up in waterways or flow downstream into oceans which later turns into marine debris. It tells us that the most impactful way to stop marine debris is by preventing waste in the beginning. Some examples are by considering the packaging when purchasing items, reusing materials from items we have around the house like cookie containers and also buying reusable items such as water bottles or buying reusable silverware to take to school or work. Finally, we can also continue to recycle our electronics all the way to plastics. We can stop it at the source which helps waste more than recycling or energy recovery. Some states also have put this into effect like Califonia banning plastic bags in order to reduce plastic use. Other countries have also made laws to reduce packaging and promote recycling of the packaging items. By stopping waste at the source, it helps prevents more toxins to the air and allows a cleaner environment for us to live in. This article has very interesting points when it comes to preventing waste. Usually, when we think of reducing trash we automatically think of recycling or reusing items after the waste has already been out. With the methods described in the article, it opens us to realize that we shouldn’t just do something after the trash has been produced but before while it hasn’t impacted us too badly. By preventing it at the source it helps us cause less damage to the environment and to ourselves as well.
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In the most recent years of energy consumption and restoration, humanity has been striving for the rest of society to use solar energy as the main source of power. In an online article, the author states that more and more United States cities are converting to solar energy as their main energy source for power and a better way to save money. These major cities include Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aspen, Colorado, Burlington, Vermont, Georgetown, Texas, Greenburg, Kansas, Kodiak Island, Alaska, and Rock Port, Missouri. The author also stated that the cities of Cincinnati, San Diego, and Kansas City have committed to converting to all solar energy in the following forty years. Even though stated that the United States is doing its best to convert to solar energy, we are still behind on other nations’ solar power and the consumption of it, since we still use fossil fuel as the main source for energy.
As a response to this topic of turning almost every United States city to use solar power as the main source of energy, I fully agree with it. The reason why I totally agree to use this type of energy is that it is renewable energy, instead of having to waste and drill more for fossil fuels until depletion. Other than that, the consumption of fossil fuels can affect the environment in a very negative way. The other reason why I agree with this is that it helps many of the cities save more money than what is usually spent on regular fossil fuels
https://www.newsweek.com/hot-springs-arkansas-switching-over-100-percent-solar-energy-joining-only-6-other-cities-us-1460304
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David L
Municipal Solid Waste
In this archive it states that the EPA make a report called the advancing sustainable materials management. It has information on waste generation, recycling, and disposal. In 2013, American generated about 254 million tons of trash and recycled and composted 87 million tons of it. That is about a 34 percent recycling rate. The archive also provides individual statistics of the type of materials being wasted. The 87 million tons of recycled and competed prevented the release of about 186 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
I chose this article due the fact we were talking about trash picking and recycling. I found it interesting that we have access to such detailed information on so many different materials that are going to the waste as well as being recycled. The information on these archives are great for any research needed for the upcoming essay if I choose to do it on recycling or anything relating to air pollution. It also make me curious of what our 2019 statistics will be like. Questions in regards to the US composting and recycling more in the last 5 years can be answered this way
https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/web/html/
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In class this week we were talking about programs and other ideas we could do about the homeless epidemic in the state of California. This article isn’t so much about the solution to the problem bout how the problem can be used as fuel to further someone else’s agenda that may or may not have a real solution but other than highlighting the situation itself. Trump states that San Francisco as well as Los Angeles community citizens are fed up with the homeless invading the streets of what they pay vast amounts to stay in. Although that may be true that they are fed up with the problem just showing the problem and screaming about how it is one will not solve the actual problem. After Martin v Boise was though the law was that cities cant enforce laws on side walk campers when they don’t have the proper shelters in the city to house said sidewalk campers. California responded by asking the Trump admin to send more money for the solution for this problem but they were denied that request by the admin stating California cant show any proof that they aren’t don’t anything to actively solve the problem other than opening a voluntary shelter that really has no regulations for the homeless. Its my opinion after doing more info searching that although California does account for more than half of the homeless population in the nation but they also are one of the most desired destinations to live in the country.
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