Blog - Bryan

In this presentation we get to learn about a multitude of subjects from gender inequality, climate change , and infrastructure. This knowledge was provided by my peers using information that they researched online and in books. Which also helped a younger audience like me understand each and every topic in a dumbed down way. We first began by learning about gender inequality which opened my eyes to a lot of discrepancies between males and females not only to pay gap but to also social etiquette differences. This was followed by the presentation of climate change which really impacts our daily lives more than expected as seen by air quality or ocean cleanliness. Finally, my group did the presentation on infrastructure which was a super oddball topic but we were able to see flaws in our systems and the upbringing of the infrastructure in America and some parts of the world.

Gender inequality, a very hard topic for me to relay information; as I'm a young guy and don’t really experience much of the hard felt emotions others face. I got fed a lot of information that really opened my eyes to the reality that we live in today. For example, something that really really hits close to home that men don’t engage into the subject. Because of underlying issues like Apathy, Fear of loss, Ignorance. Not including the fact us white men make a percentage more than our female counterparts this percentage gets boosted depending on the ethnicity of the women. Not including LGBT would be unfair so we got also a taste of the harassment they get from opposing crowds. Discrimination levels have been charted and this shows a close discrepentsy with the transgender and people of color. Luckily though the United States with all their qualms we are not at levels of other countries. This can be seen in mostly Arab countries with their treatment of women or LGBT community participants. 

Climate change is a subject that affects not only the United States but the world as whole and we should cherish this as we only have one Earth so let's keep her clean. This should be an important topic for us in Florida because we are a peninsula meaning we are surrounded by water on 3 ways. We are a prime target to increasing ocean levels and higher levels of heat since we are closer to the equator than any other state. In one of the slides that we got presented the ways climate change affects us humans which begins with spots in north America getting a lot drier as years go on, sea levels have been rising and will keep on increasing, plants and animals will start going extinct , and ocean acidification will affect how to ocean provides food for us seeing as 1 billion people use the ocean as their primary source of food. How can we improve? We got given alternatives for energy sources which can be solar energy or bioenergy. Solar energy the worlds best friend it currently not being used to its full potential as the sun is a natural nuclear reactor which means we can harvest its power with no waste. The other type of alternative would be bioenergy which means using sorts of crops or food waste and even sewage to produce a type of energy content. What generates climate change? Energy not just for appliances but food we ingest requires some sort of energy for example cows don’t really require any electrical help but they produce a type of gas that hurts the environment at an accelerated rate ( Cow Farts). We get introduced to certain non-profit organizations trying to help improve climate change. Some of the groups are 350.org, The CLEO Institute, and Alliance for Climate Change. These groups have one thing in common they are working for a better future for the human race and taking control of climate change.

Finally, we get to talk about my group's presentation on infrastructure. For me a super cool subject that affects any who drives or has to commute anywhere in America. But, keep in mind that infrastructure can also mean buildings and things like sewage lines and pipelines. In my section of the presentation I got to speak about how infrastructure has evolved. I first began speaking about how the roman empire began building roads for efficient transportation of goods and troops. Which set the stage for what humanity did in the 18-19th century with the expansions on railroads as an example. Another huge monumental moment for the United State was the Federal-Aid Highway act of 1956 which authorized the building of highways throughout the nation. This highway system provided mobility in urban areas and set the backbone for transportation while reducing traffic congestion. The United States building of waterways and sewer systems allowed the building of new cities and improved certain states. Housing development also grew to accommodate for the growing population. My partners for our presentation provided detailed information regarding The United States ranking over all on infrastructure which we placed 13 in the world overall. Not a bad score but nothing to brag about especially America being the country with the highest GDP. Which comes from the fact that the United States spends far less than any other country on infrastructure. The following question: What Can We Learn From Other Nations?  Can be seen as a blessing in disguise as we can copy and paste what other countries are doing correctly vs what we are doing. We also get an awesome feature of what America has in the works for the future of infrastructure. Starting with the Build Back Better program which provides the funding and establishes programs for the betterment of the United States citizens. We also get a taste of why America lags behind other countries. The main reasoning would be because The United States infrastructure was built 50-60 years ago. Awesome feat due to the fact it has lasted this long but, its time to build bigger and better while we can.