For my capstone project, I restored a bike for someone to have an easier time traveling through the city of Philadelphia. I used many donations which included the bike to restore the bike in the SLA engineering shop over the past couple of months. I decided to do this project because many people don’t have a reliable mode of transportation. Many can’t afford cars or the maintenance to keep them up, and with Septa becoming less reliable over the past few years many people who need to travel across the city have very good options and reliable options to get around. This is why I decided to use a restored bike, to give someone the reliable mode of transportation they need.

This project required me to learn to use many different tools to fix the bike. While also did plenty of research on bikes in collaboration with my local bike shop to get this project done. After 99 hours of work where I traveled gathering parts and information, The bike is finally done and ready to be given away.

Link to bibliography:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GF04IPi2x6D1ygwXjq4_fKbggDU3DUd-tGz3zElNkjE/edit?usp=sharing

Randle McMurphy is always trying to change something, if it’s the way we are or some rule he doesn’t like. This week during the meeting he decided that it’s unfair that he can’t watch the World Series on Friday because of the schedule we have for TV time. He had been wanting to do this for a while and even a few days before he tried to compromise with Nurse Ratched about the schedule so he could watch the World Series in the afternoon. This didn’t change her mind and in the end, she said no. This didn’t surprise him and he moved on to the others.

He moves on to us and asks what we think about this idea (103) “Nobody says a thing”. We don’t want to answer but he continues trying to get us to. We try to ignore it and (104) “Nobody acts like they’ve heard it ”, I want him to move on and leave me alone. But he continues and Scanlon responds with what he thinks and he thinks the schedule should stay the same because he likes watching the news at six o’clock. He continued to ask for a vote and the only ones to raise their hand was Cheswick. I sat there looking around if there was anyone else who raised their hand in support of Randle. No one else does and we sit there looking back and forth at each other.

Randle looks upset and says (104) “Come on now, what is this crap”. He looks towards the doctor to confirm that we can vote to change the rules of the ward and he nods in agreement. I know and everyone else knows they can vote but just don’t want to. We don’t want to know what happens when we vote against the ward. He asks again if we want to watch the series and Cheswick and Scanlon raise their hands. I don’t know why. They should know what happens when we go against the ward. But why doesn’t McMurphy get punished even after breaking all these rules? The meeting still hasn’t started and Nurse Ratched is asking if we could get back onto the meeting. I would also like to get back to the meeting since I’m annoyed with Randle trying to get the rules changed but I shouldn’t say anything now.

We get back to the meeting and Chewick gives us a hard look as he sits down next to McMurphy looking proud and the meeting starts. The meeting goes on and Randle says nothing to any of us because of how mad he is. But I finally have the opportunity to say what I want to him. I walk up to him and say “Some of us have b-been here for fi-fi-five years, Randle”. I’m twisting the magazine that’s in my hands back and forth as I’m talking to him. (104) “And some of us will b-be here maybe th-that muh-much longer, long after you’re g-g-gone, long after this Wo-world Series is over. And… don’t you see…”. As I’m talking to him I’m realizing he probably won’t listen to me or anyone else who says anything to him, he only thinks about himself and probably isn’t even listening to me. At this point, I don’t feel like talking to him anymore so I just throw down the magazine and walk away saying, “Oh what’s the use of it anyway”. I can’t tell him what he doesn’t know or what it is like to be here because he will never understand.

He continues to ask the other guys why they didn’t vote and argues with them but none of them talk to him and he gives up. They don’t want to get in trouble and stay quiet and let Randle do his own thing without dragging them into it. He got mad at us and called us out for being (103) “too cagey-too chicken-shit”. But I do not want to deal with him.

For this perspective, I decided to go with Billy in the scene where they have the meeting and McMurphy asks for the people to vote and have the TV time changed for the World Series. I chose Billy for the fact that he acts timid most of the time and doesn’t speak much and I thought it would be interesting to see what he was thinking. I called McMurphy in this perspective since it’s Bromden and the Nurse who calls him McMurphy I also felt like this scene impacted Billy the most since after the meeting he went on to talk to McMurphy head-on about how he feels. So to get his thoughts and already introduced dialogue would make this scene even more interesting.

The first thing I noticed when reading this chapter was the bathroom sign. This bathroom is very fancy and high-end. The author supports this idea of having a nice bathroom by saying (pg 241) “There’s a rest area, gently lit in pinkish tones, with several easy chairs and a sofa, in a lime-green bamboo-shoot print, with a wall clock above it in a gold filigree frame.” The letters for the sign that says the lady, are made of gold script and give the place a more luxurious style. The bathroom is also a break room for the ladies and has plenty of things in there that they can use. There are even mirrors left in this bathroom that they can still use.

The Next thing I noticed in this chapter is how Moria acted when she was with Offred. It has been a while since Offred and Moira had seen each other since Moria escaped from the school. She has not changed and seems to still have a positive attitude but seems to have lost the fighting spirit she had before. Once she made it out she was caught again and then came here where the Aunts don’t try to fix you now. She stayed running for 9 months and when she was about to finally escape they caught on and stopped her. The author shows Moria getting when, (pg 247) “Whatever it was, they picked us up just as we were coming out the back door to go down to the dock.” Moria tried her best to escape and almost managed to do it but in the end, she was caught. She now stays at the hotel Where she plans on staying and even invited Offred to stay as well.

This chapter also takes place in a ladies’ bathroom just like the scene in chapter 13 where Moira and Offred meet in the bathroom to speak to one another. In both of these scenes, they want to talk to one another without having someone overhearing them and getting in trouble. In chapter 13 they tried to speak away from the Aunts, while in chapter 38 they didn’t want Offred’s Commander to overhear them. The ladies’ bathroom seems to be the only place in this world of Gilead where they can speak to each other. While in the bathroom both scenes are very similar with how they work and how much time they get in there. There are even Aunts outside of both of them to track who goes in and how much they are in there.

Offred is given a cigarette in this chapter and uses it. The cigarette appears multiple times throughout the book and is first introduced, and it’s said that they are banned items that no one should have. All the cigarettes were taken away once the new power took over now the only way to get them was through the dark market. Cigarettes only appear with high-ranking individuals like the commander and Serena Joy. The cigarette could be seen as a metaphor for power and freedom. The only time Offred has a cigarette is when someone in power gives it to her or she is somewhere where she does not have someone who has completely taken away her freedom. The author supports the idea of Offred wanting cigarettes by saying,( pg 73) “God, do I need a cigarette, says Moria. Me too, I say.” Offred says she wants cigarettes because they give her the illusion that she is someone important and free like she was in her past.

When Offred and Moira are in the bathroom Moria asks why she is there and who she is with. Offred says she is with her commander and that he brought her there so they could go out for a little. Offred tells her she will be leaving soon and that she is temporary. The word temporary appeared when (pg 243) “I pull her head over so I can whisper in her ear. “I’m temporary,” I tell her.” The word temporary felt deeper than just staying at the hotel and could mean the commander may replace her soon. Though the commander shows a deep connection to Offred and gives her plenty of what she wants there have been other women besides Offred in his life. Like Serena Joy who was the Commander’s wife whom he does not feel a connection anymore. There was also another Handmaid before Offred who took her own life, so he is fine with replacing one Handmaid with another. Maybe in the end, if Offred escapes the commander will find someone else.

This piece is of the scene in chapter 13, of the bathroom stalls with Moira and Offred. The two of them go into stalls next to each other so they can speak to one another. This scene represents the only safe place at the school where the maids could talk with each other. Without the Aunts hearing in on the conversations. They spent their time there to just be able to talk. With these stalls being one of the only places they could connect; through a small hole in the wall of the two bathroom stalls, a relic of the past. Offred mentions this on (pg.73) “In the wood there’s a small hole, at the back, next to the wall, about waist height, souvenir of some previous vandalism or legacy of an ancient voyeur.” This small hole in the wall is the only reason they were able to connect so I made it the center of the drawing. Though the stalls are next to each other in the book I wanted to put them side to side to be able to see the characters.

There is a slight yellow background since the bathroom is white enamel with yellow stains. To the right is Offred in her red maid outfit waiting in the stall while Moria sits on the stall to the left. Since this place used to be a boys bathroom and the urinals were left there I decided to put one inside the drawing as well. I put a shower in the background of the drawing to show what brought the idea of why Offred thinks why women don’t have to have to prove they are women to one another. Offred exclaims this on,(pg.73) “Why don’t women have to prove to one another that they are women?”. For the same reason in Offred’s thoughts there is a small blue badge with a “W” in it to represent the badge for women.

There are other thoughts going through their minds where Offred is thinking how she needs a cigarette, and Moira is thinking of these random letters to represent how she thinks the school and the people here are loony and are in a loony bin. There is a small symbol in the top right of a ear being crossed out to represent that the Aunts cannot hear them in here and they are able to talk freely. To the top there are windows, one covered with bars and one without. The window with bars represents how Moria sees this place and the other represents how Offred sees the school. Moria sees the school as a prison where she is locked in, while Offred doesn’t see it the same way as Moria so her window has no bars.

To the far left of the drawing next to Moria’s stall there is an imprint of where the mirrors that used to be bathroom used to be. I drew the mirror in the fashion to also represent how Offred saw it as a baby coffin. Though Moira has already lost her clothes and should be wearing the red dress I decided to dress her in the clothes she was wearing when she came in and would usually wear because she does not see this dress as herself and is constantly fighting back against it.

being ruined, but we can stop this. Their sea ice is being melted and less sea ice is forming each year in a steady incline. I go over the species of polar bears and how they are being affected in an earlier post You can check out my resources for my research in my [annotated bibliography.] (https://docs.google.com/document/d/13QkjYnWT__Qj6WRhkwGklubJLEqWO2cYQ9EWsRBVaUk/edit?usp=sharing ) In the end, they need help and we can give it. This is why I decided to write about polar bears because we should help them since we are hurting them.

Many things have been done to help polar bears and many people have been helping to do so. One of the ways I see people trying to help polar bears is volunteer work for organizations that help polar bears. Another way I see help for polar bears is that organizations and people are trying to stop gas cars since they cause the sea ice to melt, people are also trying to produce less smoke by walking and using a bike instead of a car. I also see people doing fundraisers and donations to help polar bears. These are just some of the many things people are doing to help this endangered species and if you want to know more about any of this you can go to [N.F.W.] ( https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Polar-Bear )or the [American Museum Of National History] (https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/earth/ask-a-scientist-about-our-environment/how-can-we-save-polar-bears-from-extiction ), which talks about some of the ways we can save polar bears.

I decided that just writing about them was not good enough, I decided I needed to do more. I wanted to do something that was possible for as a single person could do and that was able to spread the word. So I decided to do a fundraiser and the way I would raise money would be by selling shirts. The shirts I made said “ save the polar bears” in the front with a picture of a polar bear. On the back, it said “donate to Polar Bears International”, which was the organization where I was going to donate the money to help polar bears. My first plan was to sell shirts in person in a busy area on a good day, but after thinking about it I thought that Covid-19 would have gotten in the way. I say this because if I were to sell them in person I could have gotten the Coronavirus or people might not want to buy the shirts because of the same reason of getting the virus. So I decided to sell the shirts online and have them shipped to the house of the buyer after they purchase them.

Picture of my fundraiser on Custom Ink

At last, I decided to sell the shirts through a site called Custom Ink, and it lets make it so once the fundraiser was over I was able to donate straight to the organization of my choice. I let the fundraiser go on for two weeks and I tried advertising on everything I could and try to as many friends and family as possible to buy a shirt. I even have my fundraiser mentioned in the school news. In the end, I was only able to sell 1 shirt out of the 50 I wanted to sell. I guess people didn’t have the time or money to buy a shirt, and that okay because I understand why they didn’t buy any.

Picture of my post to the school newsletter

Picture of my advertisement on Twitter

In the end, I did the best I could to help polar bears and save them and their sea ice. I feel like this project was a good thing to do and shows me that I can do more to help the things I believe in. Something that I learned about myself is that I should put my heart into the thing I want to achieve and that I can’t always do things on my own and it is okay to ask others for help. Something I feel like I could have done better on was my action, I feel like I could have also advertised my fundraiser in person to others too. Even though I failed at raising money I can still try to not use a car all the time and volunteer to help save polar bears, and you can do this too all you need to do is try.

Picture from [National Geographic] (https://www.nationalgeographic/) of a starving polar bear.

What is something that you care about? Do you have any pets at home or care for any? Have you seen something that you felt was wrong and wanted to do something about it? Well, that is what this all is about. I wanted to bring attention to climate change and the effect it’s having on polar bears.

I saw this kind of influence on tv of polar bears starving and even in some cartoons. I didn’t pay it much mind. It was until I actually looked into the topic that I started to care about it. I am a person who loves animals and I care for a cat of my own. I hate seeing animals being mistreated and hate to see animals in poor conditions. Another reason why I care about this subject is that we can do something but a lot of people don’t care. The earth is getting warmer due to climate change and is affecting the animals in the arctic mainly polar bears.

Graph showing the 19 polar bear subpopulation from the [WWF] (https://arcticwwf.org/newsroom/stories/polar-bear-assessment-brings-good-and-troubling-news/) article. From the research I have done about polar bears there are 19 subpopulations of polar bears. About 2 of the 19 subpopulations have a stable population going for the past 8 years. For about 7 of the other subpopulations, we don’t know how they are being The decline in sea ice due to climate change has affected how polar bears reproduce and hunt. There is a time in the year where sea ice is supposed to freeze and make more, but in recent, this process has been shortened and less sea ice has been made due to climate change.

Graphs from the [Carbon Brief website] ( https://www.carbonbrief.org/polar-bears-and-climate-change-what-does-the-science-say) showing the trend of sea-ice from 18 of the 19 polar bear populations in the past 3 decades.

Since the ice caps are melting polar bears are having to move closer to land when their main food source seals are at sea. This causes polar bears to starve for days, have no stamina, and die from starvation. Polar bears also need a lot of food to survive so they wouldn’t even be fine if they found a new source of food on land. Polar bears have been seen to up to a total of 200 pounds of food in one sitting. I also found out from the national geographic study on polar bears that they use about 12,000 calories per day even though they mostly stay still. There was a study on a polar bear for 9 days. By the end of the journey, she had lost the cub she was traveling with and 22 pounds of her body weight.

Picture of polar bear cubs in their den while their mother hunts from [Carbon Brief] (.https://www.carbon brief.org/polar-bears-and-climate-change-what-does-the-science-say)

Greenhouse gases are a major threat to polar bears causing global warming and sea ice to melt. Even though there have been some measures to stop greenhouse gases it is not enough and they are still rising and won’t stop until 2040. But by the time 2040 does come the population of polar bears will be about 40% of what it is now.

There is still time to help. There are ways I can help and so can you. There are sites online where you can [donate] (https://polarbearsinternational.org/donate/us/) to save polar bears. Or even adopt one which I don’t recommend if you don’t have any animal experience or can deal with a 1-ton bear living with you. I have many ideas I can do to help this post. Let’s all work together to save polar bears and stop global warming, all we need to do is try.

Tengo una familia muy pequeña. También vivimos lejos. Tengo cuatro hermanos. Tengo una tía y un tío. Tengo cuatro primos que viven lejos de mi. En la casa de mi mamá, hay mi padrastro. Yo también vivo con mi hermana menor y nuestro gato.

Anthony tiene el pelo largo, liso y negro. Eddie tiene el pelo castaño,corto y liso. Eddie tiene ojos marrones. Anthony tiene ojos marrones. Anthony es alto y un poco gordito. Eddie es pequeño y muy flaco. Anthony es muy divertido e inteligente. Eddie es muy hiperactivo y amable. El rasgo más fuerte de Anthony es su inteligencia. El rasgo más fuerte de Eddie es su hiperactividad. Anthony no es ni malo ni cruel. Eddie no es ni callado ni tímido. Él tampoco es gracioso.

Mi cabello es largo, rizado y castaño oscuro.Tengo ojos marrones. Soy bajo y muy flaco. Soy un poco inteligente y un poco tímido. Yo también soy trabajador y muy torpe. Mi rasgo más fuerte es lo amable que soy. Sin embargo, no soy amable con mi hermana pequeña. No soy muy organizado o social. Tampoco soy muy atlético. Pero soy muy rápido.

Voy a compararme con mi hermano mayor Anthony. Ambos compartimos el rasgo de ser inteligentes. Anthony tiene un cabello diferente al mío. Anthony es mayor y tiene la piel oscura. Yo tengo quince años y él tiene veintitrés años. También Eddie tiene doce años. Las dos no somos tontos.

In Episode 2 of our podcast, we talk about pages 50-110 and our thoughts on it from this point on. We then talked about the soundtracks or sounds we thought fit with the book very well. We explained why we thought these songs were good for this book and the reason why we thought it resonated with the character Christopher. We then talked about our thoughts on the book and what we would like to see happen later on in the book.