For our final art project, we were each assigned an element. I was assigned the element Potassium which has an atomic number of 19. Potassium was discovered by Sir Davy Humprey in England in the year 1807. This was the first element to be isolated using the process of electrolysis. This is a process where an electric current to extract something from a piece of material. Before potassium was formally discovered potassium carbonate and animal fat were combined in order to make soap. This is what gave me the idea to make my print be of soap. I wanted to do something that not many people would know of. To do this, why not go back to the beginning?

Making the actual print took a few steps. The first step was to draft ideas for what our print was going to be. Once we had chosen our design we had to transfer it to a piece of tracing paper. Once this was done we etched the design onto a plate. Then you move onto printing. To do this, you first, roll ink onto your plate. Once this is done you put a paper on top of your plate and use a spoon to transfer the ink from a plate to your paper. After all of the prints are dried you can choose to either matt or not matt them. No matter which way you choose you have to cut out the leftover paper that is around your printed piece. If you do choose to matt you glue your printed square to piece of colored paper. Your final step is to measure out one inch from your image and then cut your paper using that measurement. Below is my final product

Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I think my favorite part was actually making my design- drawing it. I really liked getting to see an idea become more than an idea.

Looking back, if I could do this project over again I would probably want to spend more time working on the actual skill of printing the final product.

In my past two blog posts I spoke about how the Gender Wage Gap is an issue that affects all women no matter their race or sexuality. In preparation for this final post, I looked and thought of some ideas for how to solve this issue rather than just talking about it.

Before I tell you what I did I am going to talk about  I am going to talk about one way another business solved this issue.  On a website called SheCanCode they said that we have to take big steps rather than small ones to solve this issue. They talked about how wage transparency is one option.  Meaning that people in an organization can know how much money there peers are a making. If you do not know how much others are making then it’s hard to know if you are being paid less than others. Also, they highlighted a British company called brainlabs. They are paying their employees of all genders solely based on the work that they do. They found out that women were being paid on average 8.6% less than men. So, they introduced what they  called the “Pay Gap Tax.” This meant that they were going to increase what they paid women so that the average would be the same for all genders. To go along with this, they said that they are going to make people’s salaries equal to the height of there workload. So, if someone’s workload is higher they then that person would be paid more. Just as we thought that things couldn’t get any better they have promised to increased people’s salaries based on their experience and status at Brainlabs. At Brainlabs, they saw that they had an issue and went about solving it.

Now for my change, my original idea had been to host a panel of local experts on the topic. Sadly, I was not able to put this together in time. I was disappointed by this because  it would have been really great. From this experience, I learned that if you want to organize something you have to put down the groundwork pretty early on. Now, I know this for next time I want to put something together that involves other people.

Since my first idea did not work I chose to create a website to tell people about this issue. In this website, I gave an overview of the issue as well as the misconception that all women make 78 cent for every dollar that a man makes.  The image below is of this page

Overall, the website was pretty easy to make. The software took some time to load but after that, it wasn’t all that bad. A website was a good way to get the information I needed to get out in an easy an accessible way.  I do regret not being able to do something more interactive. I hope that this website at least lets people know about this issue; at least starts a conversation.

There is definitely a long way to go on this issue. People have been working on this issue for longer then I have been alive.  It will take 50 more years for white women to have equal pay and women of other races longer. I think that to solve this issue company’s have to be transparent about how much they are paying people. This would make it easier to spot issues when they come up.

This project overall has been really great for me. I got to choose an issue that I was passionate about and then do research and let others know about it. I learned that I like research but am not as good at taking notes. I also learned how to manage my time better and what happens when I don’t. I feel like I could have managed my time better especially in the last section of this project.

To see what you can do to change the gender wage gap in a work setting you can read this article.

Annotated Bibliography

Negative space is what surrounds an object. In my image the negative space is the orange since they were not cut out, therefore, they surround the yellow which was cut out. It helps an artist see in negative space so that they can give their artwork pop. It helps to give there work dimension. Seeing in negative space does help to enhance drawings. It helps to make them jump off of the paper. If something is in negative space it can people will look at it for longer because there is more to think about.

(Dr. Aaron Van Saun enters the stage as audience claps)

Randy: Thank you! Thank you! I appreciate the claps. So today we’re back on the show, Dr. Aaron Van Saun. Today, we have a special guest. Her name is Jeanette Walls. She recently made a book called The glass castle. She is her with her mother, Rosemary Walls. Can we get a round of applause for both of them.

(Round of applause for Jeannette Walls and Rosemary Walls as both enter the stage)

Randy: please sit down here,please sit down here ( shakes hands with Jeanette and Rosemary)

Isabella: I’m very happy to be here

Sarah: Yeah me too

Randy: So, hey Jeannette Walls how are you today?

Sarah: I’m good how are you?

Randy: I’m good. So talk about your book The Glass Castle

Sarah: So basically it’s about my family growing up and how there wasn’t always much money and my mother's free- spiritedness to growing up and kind of letting kids be kids. And learn whatever they want. And end up well in the end

Randy: So today you’re here with your mother. How long have you been seeing each other?

Sarah: Umm..well we see each other on and off. Our relationship growing up was kind of rocky. We kind of made amends a few years back.  

Isabella: yea we put all that stuff in the past.

Randy: so if we are going to continue with the past, growing up, were you ever afraid or ashamed by how other people see you?

Sarah: I think that in a way I was but then I was not. Kinda based on my parent's spirit of we’re gonna raise, or kids, we don’t care what anyone says. Like they can deal with than. So yeah.

Isabella: Yeah we always raised her to not care about what other people think.

Randy: Bouncing off of what Jeanette has said, are you proud of what Jeanette has become? And how she is as a person today?

Isabella: I am very proud of what Jeanette has done with her life. She has a very comfortable living, unlike she did when she was growing up. But I raised her right, I know I did. One thing I feel like she didn’t grasp on was how she shouldn’t care what other people think of her. She is ashamed of me and her father because we chose a lifestyle that wasn't conventional and we didn’t have much money. So you know, we lived on the street.

Randy: Going off of what rosemary just said, is it true about how you think about your parents?

Sarah: I wouldn't say that's totally true. I’d say that yes, there living style is different from mine. And yes growing up I did want to leave that style. And I’m and adult, their adults. I was also taught to respect other people’s ways of living. I would’nt say that I was ashamed, more that I was worried for them. And that’s different from being ashamed

Randy: Any questions from the audience please? Yes, the young man in the gray.

Ethan: Yes I have a question for Jeanette! Why don’t you live by the parents your parents raised you?

Sarah: I actually touched on this question before. I was talking about how I wasn’t exactly unhappy I just wanted more growing up. I wanted to create a better life for myself growing up. That doesn’t necessarily mean I completely forgot about my parents’ ways, I just used some things from them.

Isabella: Yes, I know you kids wish you had more than you got. But look where it got you. One it gave you a great story and you made tons of money off of it. You kids don’t need that physical stuff.

Sarah: So you’re saying I didn’t need food growing up or electricity. I didn’t need new clothes. Yeah, I didn’t need physical stuff at all!?

Isabella: Well obviuosly you guys needed physical stuff like water and food. But me and your father tried!

Sarah: Yeah my father tried

Randy: Woah, Woah calm down

Sarah: He went to bars, he got drunk.

Isabella: And you think that's my fault?

Sarah: Ms. I can’t get a job, I need to focus on my artwork. How does that help your kids?

*Isabella walks out*

Randy: Stay stay! …. Does your mother always act like this?

Sarah: Yea she can’t confront her issues. She’s all happy and go lucky and we’ll figure it out. Well what if we don’t figure it out?

Randy: Well do you think your father has any play into this?

Sarah: Yes,he was drunk all the time, he’d come home, get mad at my mother and things would go south.

Randy: So where is he now?

Sarah: He passed away a few years ago...

Randy: Oh. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for watching the Aaron Van Saun Show. Jeanette ( shakes hand) thank you for coming.

Sarah: Thank you for having me!

In my first post,I discussed how the gender wage gap is different for different types of women. It varies based on both age and race. Some of my research for this post included finding some more statistics about the inequalities between men and women in the workforce. I learned that a woman with a masters degree makes about the same as a man with a Bachelor’s Degree. A woman with a Bachelor’s Degree make around the same amount of money with a man with an Associate’s Degree. Women also tend to go for sub-majors that do not pay as much. For example, women hold 56% of jobs in biological and life science while they only hold 17% of engineering jobs.

For my original research,  I conducted an interview with Laura Mattiacci. She is a partner at Console Mattiacci Law. This is a law firm that focuses on representing people who have been treated unfairly at work. She got into this type of law because she wanted to be able to represent people who could not speak for themselves.

After school on the day of the of the interview, I went down to the office. I get down there and I  told the security guard in the building that I was there to see Ms.Mattiacci, the security guard called up to her office and they said that she is not in the building. I am then told that my interview was supposed to be over the phone. At this point it was around 4:25 (my interview was scheduled for 4:30), so I did not have time to go home and do this interview. After getting some advice I went back into the building and asked if there was office I could sit in to do my interview. They said yes and I went up to their offices. Once I got on the phone with Ms.Mattiacci she said that she had not been notified of this interview, and had no idea what she was supposed to be talking about. Below are my questions as well as a few notes.

In the interview, she told me about how the best way to prevent wage discrimination based on gender is by being transparent about how much people are making.If people know what others are making, they can know if they are being paid fairly.  One way to promote this is through unions. In a union, where everyone is fighting for the same cause. She said that many people do not know that they are being paid unfairly.

She also told me about the Lilly Ledbetter Act which talks about how long you can wait to sue for unfair pay. That was the last law passed about the gender pay gap. Ms. Mattiacci said she does not predict that any new legislation will happen until the current administration is not in power. Sadly, she said that as of now we are going back in time when with wage inequality. After my interview, I am still wondering what I personally can do. It does not seem like there is much of a movement about this issue.

To go with this interview I also read an interview with NPR where a woman from an Icelandic Women’s Rights Organization was talking about a system that they are using to prevent the wage gap. This system involves an audit for businesses that have  25 or more employees. This makes sure that these companies are paying their workers what they deserve based on how much work they are doing for the company. If a company realizes that they are not paying their employees equally they are required to fix it so that their employees are being paid what they deserve. This has surprisingly resulted in raised for men as well as women. Since the program is quite expensive they are starting with the biggest companies and are hoping to make there way down to smaller ones eventually.

For my activism stage of this project, I am considering doing something that is based on awareness towards this issue. This may include creating a website about this issue or maybe creating flyers or posters about this issue. I hope that I will be able to do something that helps the women of tomorrow be paid what they deserve.

Currently, white women make 78 cents for every dollar that a white man makes.. For example, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women make 65 cents for every dollar that a white man makes. Right below them is African American women who make 64 cents to a white man’s dollar.  Below them is Native American and Alaskan Native women who make 59 cents to a white man’s dollar. Latina or Hispanic women make 54 cents to a white man’s dollar. I was surprised to find out that Asian American women make the most a 90 cents for every dollar that a white man makes.

Now, let’s look at this graph that shows the breakdown of the wage gap by race

The definition of the wage gap is the difference between men and women in median wages. This affects most women in the workforce. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), if we keep improving how we have been for 50 years white women will be making the same amount of money as white men by 2059. This is only white women, for women of color there is still a ways to go.

Women also get paid less because employers try to compensate for the time that they may go on maternity leave. This is unfair because women should not be penalized for taking care of their children. If a man were to take time off to take care of his children he would not be penalized payment-wise.

This issue is important to me first of all because I am a young adult coming of age in this society. When I am looking for a job I do not want to be steered towards lower paying jobs when I am perfectly capable of being in a higher paying position. I do not want to be paid less than I deserve because of my gender.  I don’t want my kids to grow up in a world where they are taught that women should be valued less than men.  I am also passionate about this issue because it has been around for as long as women have been in jobs. It’s unfair that women have to be treated as less than equal just because of the their gender. Why is it that more women graduate from college than men, but women still get paid less. Shouldn’t we be basing salary of experience and qualification, not gender?

To solve this is issue, we have to change people’s minds. We have to remind them that women can be just as qualified and capable as men, and that they deserve to be seen as so. Sadly, this may take awhile to change this. People do not like to be told that what they have been taught is wrong. What’s popular is not always right, what’s right is not always popular. To get behind this issue people have to learn to value everything that women have to offer. I hope to learn more about this issue and what people are doing to change it.

See my annotated bibliography here

recently finished reading Macbeth in English Class. Once we were finished with Macbeth we were assigned to do a creative project. For our project we chose to make a playbill. This playbill would be pretty simple so that we would have time and room to add on some extra elements to make it more realistic and convincing.

I mostly did  the written elements while my partner Jasir did the artistic components. To make the cast list I looked for actors who were known for playing characters with similar personalities to those of the characters of Macbeth. One exception to this rule was casting Ian Mckellen as Macbeth. I chose to do this because he is an actor who is known for his spectacular portrayals of Macbeth. The summary of the play is pretty self explanatory, I just gave some background information about the show. I omitted any pieces of information that could ruin the ending of the show. The artwork for the Macbeth playbill came with great ease when picking the cover I wanted to in capture the true meaning of the play and what better way for the title to be the star of the play.

From the critique of  first my slide I learned that less is more. People said that they were overwhelmed. To solve this I made a wordle which turned all of the things I wanted to into a photo graphic that was easier to look at than just a lot of images put onto a slide. My research helped me to see what components go into making a slide visually appealing. I learned that a slide is supposed to accompany the presentation not be the presentation. From a website called Presentation Zen I learned about using colors that look together and how to put together your slide so that you can control what order people see that different components of your image. If I could do this project all over again I would have thought of other ways to express the things that I am passionate about without using too many quotes.