Category: Portfolio & Reflection (Page 1 of 6)

Unit 1- Mija: a Love Language

As soon as I get home, I strip myself of any trace of the outside and switch into something comfortable. After a tiring day at school, I just want to lay down.  I throw myself on the couch in the living room and let out a deep sigh. Almost out of habit, I start checking social media on my phone. I can feel my mother’s eyes on me. She’s sitting on the opposite side of the couch, with a massive cup of coffee. My eyes meet her piercing red, wrinkled eyes under her furrowed eyebrows. “She must have had a long day too”, I think to myself . “¿Tienes hambre, mija?” she asks me. “¿Qué hay de comer?” I hesitate. She gets up, makes her way into the kitchen. As I watch her prepare a bowl for me, my stomach rumbles. The hunger I didn’t know I had, is now overwhelming. I meet her at the dinner table as she sets the bowl in front of me. I look at the steam floating from my bowl and I look back at her to say “thank you” with a small smile. She knew exactly what I needed. 

I’m one of the lucky ones. With their green cards my parents were able to find less straining work, as a chef and domestic worker. Don’t get me wrong, our life wasn’t easy but it was enough to make a family of 6 feel secure. Despite rarely being home and missing a lot of school events,(which was basically our entire life at that age ),my parents did what they could to be there for us. I didn’t always feel this way. For a long time, I held a lot of resentment towards them for not being around. My parents aren’t exactly affectionate. The only memory I have of getting hugged by them as an adult, was on new years at midnight, at a family party. They will rarely utter the words “Te quiero”  but I have it written in a few Christmas cards. The hardships they have faced and face everyday as Mexicans in America, have made them tough. On top of this, living in a tiny pueblo in the middle of el campo growing up, my parents and their parents were too busy working and worrying to learn to be emotionally available. Instead of being angry for what we lack, I have to remind myself to be grateful for what we have. They were working all the time to make sure I didn’t have to worry about money when I got older. Now that I’m older, I know to pay attention to the little things. Such as, the delicious home cooked meals and the silent “I see you. I love you. You are a part of me. I’m proud of how far we’ve come.” in the “mija” slipped at the end of a sentence.

Mija is a colloquial contraction of “Mi hija”, meaning my daughter. In Mexico, the word is used as a term of endearment towards younger women by an older figure, not necessarily related. My parents, extended family like aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even strangers refer to me as “mija” sometimes.  In English, there are words like honey and sweetheart but it’s usually strictly used by loved ones. Calling a stranger a word that means “ my daughter” means something more. There’s a closeness, and understanding made between the person using it and the person it refers to. It’s very welcoming and warm coming from anyone, even a stranger. 

As I walk through the Atlantic Barclay station, I pass by several  older women with their carts of cut up fruit, chocolates and churros. They stand there day after day, trying to make a living while countless people with hundreds of dollars worth of technology in their hands, walk by them without giving a glance. I can’t help thinking of my parents when I look at them. No papers to get a real paying job but still working hard. When I get to the  platform for the D train, I see the usual churro lady waiting at her usual spot but this time she has a small child holding chocolate bars with her. I remember selling chocolate in elementary school and my parents having to buy a lot of it because no one else would. My eyes linger at all her options with no sense of hunger at all. “How much for one?” I ask the boy. He gives a worried look to his mother and “ una dollar” she replies. I hand her a $20 and before she can reach in her fanny pack to gather my change, I walk away towards my train that is entering the platform. “Gracias mija” she says behind me. I scan the train cart for a seat but all that’s left are the middle seats everyone avoids. My legs are aching for a break. A short brown man and I are going towards the same empty corner seat. He is in worn down clothes, thick yellow worker boots, and he’s covered in dust. “He must be aching for a break too”, I think to myself.  I offer him my seat but he quickly declines and stands on the side of me. He takes off his bag and there’s a big thump as he sets it down. When the train arrives at his stop, I watch him grunt as he swings the bag bigger than him onto his back. I noticed he dropped a hat he had in his pocket, by my feet. I pick it up and as I put the hat in the man’s crusty swollen fingers, he says “thank you, mija”.

Mexicans in America, like most immigrants, have to sacrifice a lot to make it here. With poor English and sometimes no documentation papers, they don’t have many options to support their new life. They are extremely hard workers and they have no shame because that’s what they’ve known their whole life. This tenacity is passed on for generations. It’s as if being referred to as “mija” means “I see you. You and I are the same. I am proud of us. Thank you for existing.” Their dedication to work is for their loved ones and despite it keeping them busy, they find a way to extend their love in small ways. Despite my parents not knowing how to be there for me the way I wanted them to, they have their own methods of love. All I needed to do was meet them halfway. Relaxing and self-care isn’t something that comes easy to hard workers. They need a loved one or sometimes even a stranger to lend some extra kindness.

Unit 2- Womanly Pains

Lysol is currently used to clean floors, stovetops, toilets. In the 1930’s women were pressured and shamed to douche with Lysol to eliminate odor and bacteria. Similarly, Quest powder deodorant was marketed to women for the same reasons which gave women cervical cancer. Solutions to problems created by misogynistic views on women’s reproductive health created more problems for women because they were made under a male bias.  This bias and lack of knowledge on female anatomy, led to stigmas surrounding very real reproductive health disorders and it has a lasting effect even today.

Women aren’t taken seriously for their reports of pain leaving them misdiagnosed and untreated. This has been happening for years and continues today despite our new understanding of the biological processes women experience. The only way to fix this problem is if you at home listen, believe, and support your fellow women.

The word ‘hysteria’ stems from the Greek word hystera, which means ‘uterus’. Due to male classical thinkers and physicians of the 19th and 20th century, Hysteria became a medical diagnosis for an assortment of complaints made by women, including bad moods, menstrual pain, and even seizures. According to Anouchka Grose, psychoanalysis and writer, Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna all believed the cause of Hysteria to be sexual dissatisfactions. Hippocrates believed if a woman hadn’t been having sex, her womb would dry out, becoming lighter and allowing it to float around the body.  Alternatively, Plato believed hysteria was caused by the mourning womb, which was sad when it wasn’t carrying a child. Avicenna suggested that the best cure to hysteria is an orgasm done by either the husband or a doctor because an orgasm brought by the woman herself makes the symptoms worse. Other treatments included electroshock therapy, exorcisms, and experimental drug doses. Hysterical women were prescribed months-long bed rest with no visits from friends and family and absolutely no mentally strenuous activities, such as reading and writing. It wasn’t uncommon for extreme cases to be admitted into insane asylums or be burned at the stake. At this time there were no female doctors. In fact it is no surprise that the peak of hysteria diagnosis was during the time women were seeking higher education. Women didn’t have the credibility to speak on their own bodies. They had to rely on men with their biases to treat them. This led to a belief that there was something inherently defective with women, further discrediting them. This is a basis for the stereotypes and stigmas women deal with today.

In 1949, The Journal of Clinical Investigation asked the question, “women actually experience pain in childbirth, or are they merely reacting hysterically to a stressful situation?”. Using pain measurements normalized on male subjects, they concluded that childbirth is painful. During the ‘natural childbirth’ movement  of the 1970s, there was still controversy as to why women felt pain during labor. According to Elizabeth Barnes, professor of philosophy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Some researchers suggested factors such as her closeness with her partner, his role in the delivery process, and her emotional stability during pregnancy determined how much pain a woman felt. Women were assured that birth should be enjoyable, if only they could just calm down. She says “Women’s pain, it seems, is hysterical until proven otherwise.” Current scientific research considers whether women’s emotions are a primary cause of the outcomes in the treatment of breast cancer, including pain during and after treatment. She says ”The problem is not that we’re interested in the psychological dimensions of breast cancer pain, but that we’re so much more interested in the psychology of breast cancer than in the psychology of testicular cancer or liver cancer. In just the same way, in the 1970s, we were interested in ‘natural’ childbirth but not interested in ‘natural’ kidney stone passage – or in researching the extent to which men’s emotional stability or closeness with their wives mediated their kidney stone pain. Society seems so much more concerned with the role of emotions when women’s health – and women’s pain – is at issue.”

 In two studies published in Health psychology,  doctors were given identical case descriptions for  hypothetical patients, a 48-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman. They had the same objective probability of a heart attack. In the first case, the patients were described as having chest pain, shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat. The majority of doctors suggested a heart attack diagnosis for both. In the second case, the patients were described with the same physical symptoms, but also experiencing stress. Stress raises the likelihood of a heart attack, regardless of gender. But while the majority of doctors still suggested heart attack for the male patient, a mere 17 per cent suggested it for the female patient. only 30 % suggested cardiology referral, compared with 81% for the male patient. Barnes says “Mentioning psychological factors seems to create a kind of gestalt shift when women are under consideration. Once we start talking about women’s emotions, it’s hard not to summon the spectre of hysteria.”

According to Jean Hailes for women’s health, a national nonprofit organization aimed to improving women’s health, premenstrual syndrome (PMS)  refers  to a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms experienced during the time leading up to a period and the related PMDD ( premenstrual dysphoric disorder) refers to specifically debilitating mood or psychological symptoms that interfere with daily lives. 90% of menstruating women experience at least one PMS symptom most months and 50% of women experience several symptoms each month. Up to 8% of menstruating women experience PMDD on top of physical symptoms. Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, with an estimated 176 million women worldwide having the condition. Keep in mind, these numbers only account for cisgender women that menstruate, leaving out large groups of people. Cara E. Jones, feminist philosopher, argues that “not all endo bodies are female bodies, nor are they necessarily even menstruating bodies: endometriosis has been found in infants, postmenopausal bodies, those who have had hysterectomies, and transgender men”. These disorders are way more common than we think and I didn’t even get into cervical cancer, PCOS, the other less common reproductive health disorders, and chronic pain unrelated to the reproductive organs.

A study of gender bias in health care from  Pain Research and Management, states “compared to men, women have more pain, and it is more accepted for women to show pain, and more women are diagnosed with chronic pain syndromes.” However, “women, compared to men, received less effective pain relief, less pain medication with opioids, more antidepressants, and got more mental health referrals”. Women report more pain than men but are given less adequate treatment, proving they aren’t taken seriously. There is a mistrust between a healthcare provider and a female patient because of the gendered stereotype that women are overly emotional and over complain. Real physical symptoms are often too quickly dismissed as psychic manifestations of stress, resulting in the undertreatment of women or a gap between men and women in healthcare. This is not only dangerous but unfair and wrong.

The pain of primary dysmenorrhea is caused mostly by prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are released from the lining of the uterus during menstruation and they cause the uterus to contract. Prostaglandins are also algesic substances, meaning they prime the nervous system for pain (or heighten pain). Prostaglandins also bring the joy of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that most women get with their periods. In 2016, John Guillebaud, professor of reproductive health at University College London, tells Quartz that  cramping pain is “almost as bad as having a heart attack.” However, Dr Jen Gunter, OB/GYN, pain medicine physician, and blogger, says “ if you need an analogy to describe period pain, use labor or cutting your finger off without an anesthetic. A heart attack is often not painful or only mildly painful, especially for women, so for me that analogy just doesn’t cut it.”

To this day, scientists and doctors don’t really understand if there’s a difference in the way men and women register pain. What we do know is that biologically, women feel more pain and  when women report pain it is usually followed up with questions concerning psychological behaviors. This not only discredits women but also the mentally ill. Pain is pain and since it is very common for women to feel it, why are people doubting it? Dismissing women because they are women is dangerous. It can lead to mistrust with doctors and with themselves. If a doctor cant help them, they fail to take care of themselves leading to further distress that society already blames them for. They build resentment and shame towards a totally natural thing, forced to live with pain they shouldn’t have to and that they feel they can’t talk about. It is important that these cycles are broken.  Let women be emotional and sensitive if that’s what they are but dont use it against them when they are being an inconvenience to you. We must believe women and sympathize with them.

Barnes, Elizabeth. The hysteria accusation. Aeon. June 2020. https://aeon.co/essays/womens-pain-it-seems-is-hysterical-until-proven-otherwise

Chiaramonte, G. R., & Friend, R. Medical students’ and residents’ gender bias in the diagnosis, treatment, and interpretation of coronary heart disease symptoms. Health Psychology, 2026

Gunter, Jen. Comparing period cramps with heart attacks isn’t useful or accurate. March 2018. https://drjengunter.com/2018/03/02/comparing-period-cramps-with-heart-attacks-isnt-useful-or-accurate/

JOHNSTON-ROBLEDO, Ingrid, and Joan C. CHRISLER. “The Menstrual Mark: Menstruation as Social Stigma: Positioning Periods: Menstruation in Social Context.” Sex Roles, vol. 68, no. 1-2, Springer, 2013, pp. 9–18.

Oregon Health & Science University. ”Women, Power, and Reproductive Healthcare.” Historical Collections and Archives. https://www.ohsu.edu/historical-collections-archives/women-power-and-reproductive-healthcare

Samulowitz, Anke, et al. “‘Brave Men’ and ‘Emotional Women’: A Theory-Guided Literature Review on Gender Bias in Health Care and Gendered Norms towards Patients with Chronic Pain.” Pain Research and Management, vol. 2018.

Unit 3- An Evolution of Feminine Hygiene Products

I planned to reveal perceptions and expectations the general public had of women’s reproductive health through the evolution of feminine hygiene product ads in slideshow form. I decided to make a video because it is the best way to see the differences and similarities of the ads through time. For the amount of advertisements I included, a video would be the most efficient way to get my message across. Keeping the ads in chronological order was integral to my video. Although I could not include all the menstrual product ads ever made or even the most important, I included  the most interesting and most repetitive I came across in my search.  I included ads that showed women are valued for their purity but are seen as inherently dirty because of their monthly cycles. Women are shamed and guilted into keeping their period discreet for the sake of men. This has not only put women in danger but can strip them of their confidence. I include ads that  show we have left certain patriarchal aspects behind but we still have a long way to go to give women the freedom and encouragement to be comfortable with their bodies  and to educate men to be kind and supportive to the women in their lives.  I tried to end the video on a positive note with the last ad. It is an example of how ad campaigns run by women can normalize periods and reverse the patriarchal stigmas put in place years ago.

While doing research for the video I learned that women reproductive rights have been controlled by men for centuries and we are still affected by that today. I specifically chose recent ads that show how the patriarchal stigmas enforced back then still linger in today’s society but manifest themselves slightly differently. Despite having better technology and more knowledge on female anatomy, women still get the short end of the stick when it comes to reproductive health care because these stereotypes and stigmas are ingrained into society. I’m a woman and this issue affects me directly. This is why I decided to make this video and include my own thoughts on the way feminine hygiene products are marketed to us. Marketing plays on society’s values and expectations. Unfortunately, the topic is kind of heavy and upsetting but I tried my best to add lighthearted bits throughout. My knowledge and skills on video editing, sound, and animation are very limited but I tried my best. I put the slideshow together on Canva and then recorded the audio on my phone. I Included a transcript in case my words aren’t clear.

At the end of the day, I’m glad to be a woman in the 21st century where we know more about women’s anatomy, anyone can be a doctor, and we have the technology where women can and should be comfortable despite our reproductive health cycles. More women are open about their periods and are comfortable speaking on the trials and tribulations surrounding periods. I believe more ads should encourage this comfortability because periods are a normal part of womanhood. And it not only affects women, it affects all menstruating bodies. Menstrual product ads should be accurate, educational, empowering, and relatable.

here is the link to the video

here is the link to the video transcript

Final Reflection

The first day of this semester was my first time ever on the city tech campus. It was very nerve- wracking. It took me back to my first day of high school. I picked out my outfit the day before and made sure to eat breakfast( a meal I often skipped during high school). I walked around like a lost puppy when I entered the industrial maze until I worked up the courage to ask a man with a shiny bald head for directions( an easy solution I would have avoided in high school). My heart would pound against my ribcage, looking to run and hide every time my name was called for attendance or when I had a thought I wanted to share. This continued for the first week or so of the semester. Although I was shy and anxious all my life, after Covid-19 I was way more socially anxious but dying to connect with people . Being in a school setting after almost 2 years of isolating myself away from the general public was terrifying but wonderful at the same time.  

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with English classes. I enjoy writing and I love having open and honest discussions. However, when those things are attached to a deadline and a grade, it is not so fun. I realized this semester that I can get things done efficiently when under pressure but it leads to extreme burnout. Procrastination and self doubt are nasty habits I’m working on. I have to remind myself that a class is not that serious. I just have to show up and write. It does not have to be a masterpiece  or good or up to my standards( on the first try). The assignment just has to be done. I often lose my motivation and my mindset shifts negatively. I have to remind myself why I enjoy writing in the first place. I like being able to give people a glimpse into my brain and I like getting that from others. Writing is a way to see people and connect to them. English class gave me some of that connection and interaction with strangers that I so desperately longed for. It was a small class with a passionate teacher that genuinely cared about the students. I appreciated that Professor Hall wanted the students’ input in how the class went, the assignment we had, and just went out of her way to get to know her students. She did her best to give everyone a chance to have their voice heard and gave them the space to reveal little quirks about themselves as they shared. I think it was because of this that I was able to make friends in the class easily and my classmates were able to make friends with each other. This helped a lot with my motivation because I felt like I was actually learning. The feedback given by the teacher and the students coupled with the friendly environment made me want to do well on my final papers

In my Unit 1 paper, Mija: a Love Language, I said “the silent ‘I see you. I love you. You are a part of me. I’m proud of how far we’ve come.’ in the ‘mija’ slipped at the end of a sentence.” and “It’s as if being referred to as ‘mija/o’ means ‘I see you. You and I are the same. I am proud of us. Thank you for existing.”. When I read these lines months after writing it, I cringed and asked myself  “Is it really that deep?”. But then I also said “  My parents aren’t exactly affectionate. The only memory I have of getting hugged by them as an adult, was on new years at midnight, at a family party. They will rarely utter the words “Te amo”  but I have it written in a few Christmas cards.”. Although the first 2 lines may be corny and too lovey dovey for me, this paper was about being vulnerable. It was me trying to hear the words I wanted to hear in words I was given by my parents. I  finally was making sense of why they weren’t what I wanted them to be through the big picture of culture, which allowed me to accept them for who they are. This is why I enjoy writing, it teaches me things about myself that I didn’t even know were inside me.

In my Unit 2 paper, Womanly Pain, I wrote “On top of men making up solutions to problems they create with their misogynistic views, men also made up solutions to very real reproductive health disorders and it has a lasting effect even today.” I realize now that I may have a little resentment towards men. Although it’s completely fair, considering America’s patriarchal history, it has also given me a bias. I see writing as a way to improve myself. The writing process, drafts, editing,  revising helps me improve in a technical sense but revisiting my thoughts weeks or months later, gives me a glimpse into the brain of my past self. It gives me a way to self reflect without even knowing i’m doing it and in turn makes me more self aware and puts me on the path of becoming a better person.

Unit 1: You Can’t say that!

Some of you may know that there are some words out there that people from different communities use against others in a context that may be very offensive and sometimes not offensive depending on how the word is being used. One community that experiences this is the Black community. Being a part of the black community there’s some words that we’re allowed to say, and people of other communities aren’t allowed to say because of the meanings behind those words. That specific word that I am talking about is the N-word spelt with er at the end.

For those who don’t know this word, it is an ethnic slur typically used against black people especially African Americans. This word is considered as an extremely offensive word towards black people even if it’s just mentioned without the intention of using it as a slur. This word is also used by black people in a more neutral meaning usually as “nigga”.

The word also has two different spellings, and both of those spellings have their own way of how they’re used. The first one is spelled as “nigger” which is the way that those who aren’t in the black community uses as they would feel the need to say the word and pronounce it with the hard er at the end of it. This way of spelling and pronunciation of the word would mostly help you in a way to tell if someone is a part of the community of those who are considered as racist. The second one is spelled “nigga” which those who are a part of the black community uses in a more neutral way and can refer to those a part of the same community as a friend. For example, if someone asks you if you know a specific person that you are friends with, but they don’t know that some people would respond as “yeah that’s my nigga”.

I think everyone know about this word, but some don’t know or understand the meaning behind it. This word is a word that holds a lot of things that’s related towards the black community, and it should be taught too those who don’t know what this word holds against the black community. The word originated in the 18^th century as an adaptation of the Spanish word negro which means black. Over the time it became a derogatory connotation and then became a racist insult by the 20^th century, and it has never been able to shed that baggage since then. During the late 18^th and early 19^th century the word was used by white people as a derogatory nickname towards African American laborers and their non-standard language.

My first experience of this word was when I first moved to America. Back in the Caribbean this word was never really known, well not that I knew of. First time I heard someone use the word “nigger” I was confused on what it meant and why people got so mad about it being used against black people. My first impression of the word “nigger” was that it sounded like a curse word because people would use it as a add on to their curse words and some people weren’t allowed to use it at all because of their skin color or community. Instead of asking people about what the word meant, out of curiosity I did a little research to understand the word a little better. Doing so I found out that it was a word that whites used against blacks back in the day around slavery time and it was a way of them causing mental and physical harm to the slaves.

Seeing how this word has some much history behind it on how this word developed and the main characters of that are people from the black community, outsiders who are not a part of the black community should not use the word. There’s been so many debates happening between people who aren’t a part of the black community talking about why they can’t say the word but people in the black community are allowed too. Those same people are the ones that takes advantage of the word whenever they can and just doesn’t understand or care to learn about what the word really mean and does to the black community.

When this word is used by people outside of the community it comes off as an insult towards the black community all because of the history of the word and the meaning. Instead, they should try to learn the history of the word and try to understand why people from the black community react the way they do when the word is being used against them. They should try to inform and educate others who tend to just use the word because they hear someone use it and got away with it and think it’s fair for them to also go ahead and use it too.

To those outsiders from other communities besides the black community, I would advise them to learn more about the word and its roots before going out into another community and not caring and just throwing the word around like it doesn’t mean something to other communities. I say this because today in the present world we live in there are heavy consequences for using certain words. People are losing their jobs, being disowned by family because of their word choices, and being labeled as a racist for using those words that are connected to being slurs against different communities not only just the black community. You shouldn’t feel so comfortable to know that a word holds so much hatred against a community and be out here using it like nothing is wrong with it because I do think if the tables were turned, they would act the same way these communities act when their offended using the word.

Unit 2: Are Autonomous Vehicles safe?

We all have seen someone riding around in that brand new Tesla, Genesis g80, or that BMW 740i that you’ve been dreaming of getting one day. From looking at review videos on YouTube to looking up pictures on Instagram, Google, Facebook, Tiktok, etc… all because of the self-driving feature it has with all the high-quality technology that they come with. Well, let’s just say some people aren’t really fans of the self-driving features and all the high-tech stuff that comes with these cars nowadays. Why? Because they rely on if the technology that’s being used for those features are going to be reliable and safe years from now without any issues due to the fact that technology does have failures and isn’t always going to work as you think. You might think that they’re just haters because they’re old school or just use to the old fashion way of how cars were back in the day years ago but they kind of have a valid point about the whole self-driving car thing today.

Car technology nowadays is becoming pretty much higher tech than before. Some people have their own opinions on whether they think self-driving cars are more reliable and safer but let’s not forget the fact that technology doesn’t always function the same all the time and can be unreliable sometimes. The concept of having a self-driving car is for its coolness and its fancy technology but after the amount of money being spent to manufacture these cars and putting high tech technologies that make these cars driverless without anyone operating it still doesn’t ignore the fact that these cars aren’t technology reliable as you think they are.

In today’s world self-driving cars are becoming more popular and another type of transportation. We all know that car companies manufacture new vehicles and release them every year with new technology added and some of those same cars are always on recall for some type of technical hardware or software failure issue that results into those cars being a problem to people’s safety on the street and that can be a con for autonomous vehicles. According to the company Dawn Project that is the world’s leading expert in creating software that never fails and can’t be hacked states that “Hardware and software failures. Complex electronic systems often fail due to false sensors, distorted signals, and software errors. Self-driving vehicles will certainly have failures that contribute to crashes, although their frequency is difficult to predict” (Dawn Project 2022). In this example, the dawn project points out a con about why self-driving cars can have failures as they are being manufactured and, on the streets, and that it’s not always going to be a positive outcome of them all the time. In this case dawn project has a point about hardware and software failures because technology is not always going to be functioning well all the time, sometimes after a while there can be system bugs that can cause failures to these self-driving cars causing them to function in ways they weren’t programmed too.

A big concern about autonomous vehicles is the safety off those cars while there on the street. Researchers believe that autonomous vehicles could be a better solution to putting an end to human error accidents. Do you think that is possible? Knowing that technology has its flaws and isn’t always reliable all the time, autonomous vehicles would most likely add to those human error accidents. According to Teena Maddox an Associate manager editor at TechRepublic’s she states that “DoT researchers estimate that fully autonomous vehicles, also known as self-driving cars, could reduce traffic fatalities by up to 94 percent by eliminating those accidents that are due to human error. Using 2016 numbers as a baseline, and multiplying 37,461 by 10, this means that there could be 374,610 deaths in a 10-year span, and 94 percent of these — or 352,133 — could possibly be prevented through fully autonomous cars by eliminating driver error” (Maddox, 2018). This shows that researchers think that with autonomous vehicles fully on the streets that it would help prevent and reduce most of accidents that are caused by human error and that it could save 94 percent of people’s lives over a decade span. This also shows how researchers see human error as more of risk than autonomous vehicles.

In an article “Driver’s view on driverless vehicles; Public perspectives on defining and using autonomous cars” they conducted an experiment to see people’s perspectives about the pros and cons about autonomous vehicles. They also conducted interviews with questions on the opinions of trust level of autonomous vehicles, are they better than human driven and gave descriptions of how they define autonomous vehicles using different levels. Christophe Schneble a PhD student at the Institute of Bio-and Medical Ethics stated that “Many of the participants agreed that self-driving cars can make faster decisions, either because they have more data at its disposal or because they act rationally rather than intuitively: A human being is out of control, perhaps he or she is too late on the brakes. Or the steering wheel shifts, especially in the case of a deer accident for example. Then you usually end up in jail because you somehow make an action, and I could imagine an AI would bring the car to a halt much more objectively. Should it make these decisions itself or should there be clear rules? So, I would trust the car. Really. I think you would even have to slow down the human being. So that he can’t intervene, and the car can decide where it has control. Like this (ArcInt13).” This explains how the participants in the experiment agreed more with autonomous vehicles more because their programmed to do more and respond faster to things than if a car is being human driven. It does show a point in why people would pick that over human driven but let’s not forget the fact that when those same autonomous cars have a technology failure, they would have to be on standby to take control.

Having trust with the technology of these cars is another point regarding autonomous vehicles. If those who consider having more trust in autonomous vehicles like regular human driven vehicles their most likely to care about the safety of their passengers. Schneble stated that “Participants’ attitudes towards self-driving cars were largely a function of their level of trust. Most of the participants did not have any negative reaction. Some of them expressed doubt especially on the issue of security (both their own and that of pedestrians and other road users), but interestingly, at that time, almost no issues were raised concerning prioritization in crash situations or other ethical aspects.” (Schneble, 2021). This shows that the participants in the experiment gave their opinions based off their trust level of these autonomous vehicles with concerns more about security of themselves and other road users.

It’s clear there have been a lot of growth in autonomous technology, and the move towards it looks very certain given the potential it could very much impact people’s lives. Nevertheless, it also presents many concerns, and addressing those concerns are necessary if the technology is going to be fully accepted by the public.

Reference:

Litman, Todd. “Autonomous Vehicle Implementation Predictions.” Victoria Transport Policy Institute, 3 Mar. 2022, https://vtpi.org/avip.pdf.

Maddox, Teena. “How Autonomous Vehicles Could Save over 350K Lives in the US and Millions Worldwide.” ZDNet, ZDNet, 1 Feb. 2018, https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-autonomous-vehicles-could-save-over-350k-lives-in-the-us-and-millions-worldwide/.

Schneble, Christophe O., and David M. Shaw. “Driver’s Views on Driverless Vehicles: Public Perspectives on Defining and Using Autonomous Cars.” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Elsevier, 12 Aug. 2021, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198221001524.

Unit 3: Infographic

Link to infographic

For this unit 3 project I will be doing an infographic on my research topic which is about the safety of autonomous vehicles. I choose this genre because it would be another way to quickly present my audience which are Cuny students a more detailed way to learn the main points of what my research paper talks about. It also gives them an easier and quicker way to understand or visualize the information given more clearly with the fact that there will be pictures, graphs, charts, and diagrams. As for the design of the infographic I plan to have a design that would be engaging to the readers eyes that they would want to continue to read more.

So far what I have been doing is looking at examples of template based on my research topic and searching for ideas on how I am going to set up the infographic. Other than that, I have been just looking through some of my sources and just browsing for sources with more statistics for information to input into the infographic.

The main point of this unit 3 project is to inform others about how unsafe autonomous vehicles are with their pros and cons. I chose this genre to make this point because it would be an easier way to reach Cuny students by presenting them information with visuals and data that would be appealing to them on a topic that some of them would be interested about. Those students who do own an autonomous vehicle would also be interested because they can learn more about their own vehicles and it can show them another perspective and deeper thinking about the product.

In this process what I have learned is how to maneuver through the Canva website. It’s an easy website to use to create these presentations and using different genres to show your creativity on informing others or just creating something for yourself. Another thing that I learn in the process of this project is that there’s always going to be more information that you never got to explore until you do more research. I hope that my audience learn more than they already know about autonomous vehicles and that it makes them want to do more research for themselves and inform others about what they’ve learn.

 Reflection:

Throughout my years of being in school and having to write about all types of topics, I have always had a love hate relationship with writing. I say that because sometimes it comes so easy for me to write about certain things that I have ideas or questions about and on the other hand it’s like my mind is empty with nothing to say. But I find writing as a good way to get your ideas out, being creative with stories and being able to have others visualize what is going on.

My main assumption at the beginning of the semester about me and my writing was that the topics wouldn’t interest me and that I would procrastinate and not complete the assignments. Even though I still did procrastinate a little I am proud of myself for completing all my assignments thanks to the help of professor hall for keeping my interest with the writing topics we had this semester. I’ve had other English professors in the past around when classes were online, and I would say that class didn’t keep my interest like this one did.

In the start of the semester for unit 1 I wasn’t too sure about the topic we were given to write about. The thought of writing about a word just wasn’t something I thought could be done. Like what is there for you to say so much about a word. But with the help of professor hall going through the process of having us brainstorm ideas and writing down whatever comes to mind it really helped open my mind more to how you can really write about anything if you come up with good ideas that’ll make everything easier.

I’ve learned so much more about writing than I did before or just activities that can help you start somewhere. My favorite thing about this class was that professor hall always had a different activity for each unit for us to get an easy start and understand what is needed to be done. I really loved those activities where we would just write whatever came to mind about our topic or just in general because when you look back at what you wrote it was always something in there that gave you an idea of what you want to write about.

What I learned about myself as a writer, reader and scholar is that overthinking if a piece is good or not is something that I need to not think about. Instead of doing that I think the best solution is to have people I can get feedback from so I am not fighting myself about if something is good or not. I also learned that at nighttime I work best when there’s peace and quiet away from everything with just music in my ears, that’s the best time when my ideas flow the best especially when the music adds a little razzle dazzle to how I am feeling. I believe that there has been progress since the beginning of the semester. Some things from this class would stay with me. In addition, I will save the most useful writing assignment worksheets for future reference. It would also be a useful outline for other classes.