If one doesn't respect oneself one can have neither love nor respect for others-Ayn Rand

If I were released from 'architecture school' I would...
1. travel around the world
If I had the money and time I would love to travel to as many places I could. I want to experience as many different cultures as I can in my life. The world is a beautiful place and I want to see as much of it as possible.

2. do Habitat for Humanity
If I were to only travel around the world I would not be helping the environment. I would not be helping other people or the environment, so I think I would also like to do Habitat for Humanity. If I did this then I could travel to many countries and help build houses of family in desperate need of the help. With this I could go to South Africa, Egypt, Congo, Rwanda, Madagascar, Congo, Kenya, Uganda, or many more places.
In South Africa 57% of the population live in overcrowded urban areas. Habitat for Humanity South Africa has built 1700 houses in 18 communities which has given 10,000 people shelter. It would be a great experience to do Habitat for Humanity because I would be helping many people and be able to do what interests me, travel and architecture.

Here is a Real Life Story of a family that had a house built for them.

Octavia and her family were living with her mother in an overcrowded house with 10 people. Octavia was desperate for a home of her own, so was thrilled when she heard about Habitat for Humanity through a friend and her application was accepted in the Ethembeni project.

Octavia is now living in the new home with her two sons and their two cousins. Nkanyiso (22), the eldest, contributed some of the ‘sweat equity’ required from the families by HFHSA. He celebrated his birthday during the build and says the house is the best present he could have received! “

The house is closer to Octavia's work, cutting down on transport costs. All of the family was looking forward to living in the Ethembeni community. They say they have an even closer bond now than before because of their collective participation in the project. They thank God and Habitat for Humanity for this opportunity to own their own home

This is a video clip of Habitat of Humanity in Uganda
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www.habitat.org
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Stu/atashman/images/santorini.JPG
http://z.about.com/d/honeymoons/1/0/F/z/9uer.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?
http://iwanttobreathe.files.wordpress.com
http://www.intangibility.com

Posted by finnx067 at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education.
Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education. -Jean Jacques Rousseu

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Universal Primary Education is very important and is trying to be achieved by 2015. Every country has achieved different levels of primary education, but some are in desperate need of help. By looking at the map of Africa you can see what areas need more help than others. For example Niger and Chad are in critical condition, so they need the most help. From the pictures you can also see what kind of conditions they have to learn in. Compared to the United States it is easier for children to achieve primary education, but in Africa they do not have the resources to go to school. Also since genders are not equal some women are not allowed to go to school, so they will never get their primary education.
The quote by Rousseu explains why people need to be educated. You can only learn so much from not being in school, but to really succeed in life you need to learn the basics of your education. If all children had their primary education then this world would be a different place. People would begin to realize the harm they are doing to people and will then begin to change the situations people are in.

Posted by finnx067 at 3:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the first questions I asked myself when I came to the University of Minnesota was where do I buy my groceries? I know that there is the Harvard Market, The Centennial Market, and I can always buy groceries through Gopher Groceries. These places are not REAL grocery stores, first off they are over priced and for Gopher Groceries you need to spend at least $75 for your delivery to be free. If there was a REAL grocery store on campus it would save money and be a lot more convenient.
Right now I get my groceries by going to the Super Target in St. Paul. When I do this I have to plan it into my schedule, between going to classes and doing my homework that does not leave a lot of time to go grocery shopping. It would not be that big of a deal if I could make it a quick run to the store, but no, it takes about 20 minutes to get there by bus. So both ways it takes about 40 minutes which does not include the time it takes to actually shop for my groceries. Then another issue is how am I going to get all of my groceries back to my room? I can only carry two bags in my hands and then I have to make sure I don't buy too much so I can fit it on the bus.
It is convenient that Gopher Groceries delivers, but why would I want to pay for delivery when I could just go to a grocery store myself and save my money and not pay for a delivery charge. The only way there would be no delivery charge was if I spent $75 or more on groceries. Most of the time I do not spend $75 dollars at a grocery store, because I have a meal plan and I do not need that much food in my room. So what do I do if I only want to pick up a few things?
Well, I could go to the Centennial Market or Harvard Market, in the off chance they actually have what I need, but most of the time they do not. If they do have what I need the prices are ridiculously high, so I would just save money by going to a grocery store. But I don't want to waste my time spending at least an hour just to go grocery shopping to pick up only a few things. Also, these markets do not have a fruit section, or a deli section. It seems that they only types of food they have is junk food. If I were to only eat the food at the markets, then I think it would be very easy for me to gain the freshman 15... which I would rather not do. And the other option would be to eat at the fast food restaurants which are all over campus. It seems as if the design of the campus was to make people gain weight.
Their are many places where I could eat fast and not spend a lot of money, but they are not the healthiest places. If I could go to a grocery store, then I could buy the healthy food I wanted and not have to worry as much about gaining the freshman 15.
So my choices are, spending more money on something that is more convenient, spending more time on something that is cheaper, or eating out and gaining weight.

Posted by finnx067 at 2:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first thing that came to my mind when I thought of the flow of a city were the roads that go throughout the city. I looked at a map of Paris with all of its roads and rivers flowing through it. After looking at the map it made me think of my art one class from high school when we were learning how to design. I learned that that center of interest is the first place your eye takes you when you look at a piece of art. When I would draw a design I would always have to think where I wanted the movement of my piece to take the eye of the viewer. To bring the eye to the center of interest I would have to make that part more interesting and busy. To do that i would draw more lines or bring other lines into the center of interest, so that every line would bring you to the center of interest. From looking at the map it made me realize that this map did the same thing as the movement throughout pieces of art. All of the roads that were outside of the city lead to the center of interest, or the heart of the city. No mater where I looked on the map my eye would always end up looking at the busiest part of the image. All of the roads outside of the city are farther apart, but as you get closer to the city the roads get closer and closer together and there are also more of them.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/paris_1866.jpg

Posted by finnx067 at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)