CODES 2027 Research Team 2

Tag: Read (Page 1 of 3)

MC #2

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

ALEJANDRA BELTRAN

CODE 120

DR. JACK

MC #2

Reading the article called “THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN AND SLAVERY” opened my vision as to what is and is not talked about, about slavery in the botanical garden. I am sure that many of us, on the day we had our field trip, had doubts about why there is not a specific place that exposes and tells the stories of the Native Americans and African Americans whom Henry Shaw enslaved.

The article states the following:
Most of what is known about Shaw’s enslaved people comes from archived records that they have such as bills of sale, tax records, census records, newspaper advertisements, and a version of Shaw’s will. There are organizations dedicated to investigating history that have examined these documents before. Knowing this, we can all agree that these documents are of great value for this Project that we are currently undertaking. The stories of these people deserve to be told and although we are lucky to have these documents, there are also cons, such as dealing with a wicked problem that entails not being able to collect as much information as we would like.
Henry Shaw’s interactions were not isolated or hidden, however, this does not excuse Henry Shaw’s actions.
The following document shows a letter written by Henry Shaw after he arrived from England in which he refers to the commitment of Missouri saying: “The present session of the Congress of the United States has admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state, that It is doubtful that slavery is a benefit to the country.” This statement is perfect for debating among us.

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Once again I would like to emphasize that the document we are evaluating mentions that there is not enough information about the people that Henry Shaw owned. It is unfortunate to know that the only information they have is about their name, age, and skin color but there is not a single record of their lived experiences. The daily life and experiences of each of these individuals are unfortunately lost in history and this undoubtedly deserves a moment of reflection as well as giving us motivation to continue working on this Project and at least expose everything to which we have access and a record of.

Peach, Julieta, Bridgette, Coss, Lewis, Jose, Tabita, Sara, and her son, Jim, Esther, and Mary are some names mentioned in the article accompanied by a short description of who they were and what they did. Names that we must keep present and carry positively because I say it again, their stories deserve to be told.

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Tax records still preserved in the botanical garden archives indicate that Shaw last owned slaves in 1855, but US census records showed eight people enslaved by Shaw in 1860. The seven women shown in this document are not recorded in their 1850 tax records or the censuspage4image34026912.

As we have already studied, the Botanical Garden was opened in 1859 but the records do not indicate whether slaves had the task of building the Garden itself.
Finally, the article tells us that the botanical garden is committed to taking advantage of all the documents they have, to tell the stories of those enslaved by Shaw and other marginalized people and groups who helped the Garden become what it is today. It is precisely here that we will take action with the Botanical Garden to reevaluate the signage and display of this topic to give meaning to the term Reparative Justice by making these stories a more prominent part of the visitor experience.

SOURCE ANALYSIS #3

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

ALEJANDRA BELTRAN

CODE 120

DR. JACK

SOURCE ANALYSIS #3

Today I had to analyze the article called “City clears Edwardsville man’s yard deemed out of compliance” published on Sep. 11, 2023, 10:57 a.m. by Penny Weaver through the News Digital Platform called “The Intelligencer”. This Platform informs citizens specifically the residents of Edwardsville and its surrounding areas. Likewise, articles of general interest and news are published at the local, state, national, and international levels.

Penny Weaver is an Award-winning journalist now editor of the Edwardsville, Illinois, newspaper, part of Hearst Newspapers. Communications professional also has used her years of experience in writing, editing, and research as a freelancer. In the last year and a half, also enjoyed sales and excelled from the start. She loves customer service.

She is an experienced leader and editor with demonstrated success in the newspaper and public relations/marketing industries. Skilled in News Writing, Editing, Feature Writing, Journalism, SEO, Social Media Management, Public Relations, Photography, and Copy Editing. Strong media and communications professional with a Bachelor of Arts focused on Journalism from Eastern Illinois University. Minor in Creative Writing.

Despite the property owner’s objections, city personnel intervened in an Edwardsville resident’s yard on September 5 and cleaned the foliage.
Alan Vest was given until August 31 to clean up his yard after losing his appeal regarding ordinance infractions at a municipal hearing on August 3. He didn’t, so city workers filled the gap.

The mayor claims that he also attempted to speak with Alan Vest, the owner of the intervened-in house. He claims that even though he has been directly in charge of the case, Vest has never responded favorably.
He continues to say that he wants to be a part of the city’s pollinator route status, which it received this year. Despite having previously stated that he might file a lawsuit in this regard, he claimed he is unsure about his future move.

This is a tough matter for me because both parties have good points of view and claims. Some regulations must be followed, but there were undoubtedly other steps that could have been taken instead of simply shutting down his entire yard.

Weaver, Penny. City Clears Edwardsville Man’s Yard Deemed out of Compliance, The Edwardsville Intelligencer, 11 Sept. 2023, www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/city- code-violation-leads-forced-yard-clearance-18359352.php fbclid=IwAR2pEl5r8fu3gNM9ALi9RJ0zpjda4i7Yp6pQvLyfSATllXIdErLxj7TZIQQ#tabo ola-3.

MC #1

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

ALEJANDRA BELTRAN CODE 120
RESEARCH TEAM
DR. JACK

INTRODUCTION:
During these last few weeks, I have noticed that things are becoming clearer little by little. I’m sure many of us feel the same way. Even though we are still trying to figure out what this adventure is about, our teachers have been putting great effort into giving us the tools that we are going to need when the day of taking action comes. As we have been studying during these past weeks, the problem we are working on is defined as a “Wicked Problem”. Let’s remember that a “Wicked Problem” is defined as a problem, usually social or cultural, that is challenging or impossible to solve either because not enough is understood about the problem, the number of stakeholders involved, the number of varying opinions, the economic burden, or the impact of these problems with other problems. In class, we defined “Wicked Problems” as problems that have a Vague definition, Undefined Solutions, No endpoint, and Irreversible, Unique, and Urgent.

1. VAGUE PROBLEM DEFINITION:
With “Reparative Justice”, “The Botanical Garden” and “Slavery”, being as complex and extensive as they are, it is difficult to define a specific problem, which is why this becomes vague and confusing. We have been studying the meaning of “Reparative Justice” and we are delving into learning a little more about “The Botanical Garden” so we can know where we can take action.

However, our problem is not clearly defined, is grasped and understood. Our

problem is not clearly defined, grasped, and understood.

  1. UNDEFINED SOLUTIONS:Here we can clearly unite point number one with point number two. When there is no defined problem, it is even more difficult to define a solution. In order to define a solution we need to look for a specific problem to cover and solve but it would be quite difficult knowing the great background of problems that surround “The Botanical Garden “ in terms of slavery and reparative justice.
  2. NO ENDPOINT:
    There are various factors that make it a problem without an endpoint, mainly because it is a problem that has no solution. The project we are currently working on does not have an endpoint because there will always be constant problems that will arise throughout our journey, but also, being a problem that occurred hundreds of years ago, it is impossible to correct or change any of those mistakes that were made. Being a problem without an endpoint, we can count on the fact that there will be many factors that could be against us, just as there will be many that we will have in our favor, but this is quite unpredictable.
  3. IRREVERSIBLE:
    At the end of point number three, I accidentally mentioned a little bit of what I wanted to talk about in this point. Since it is a problem that occurred several years ago, it is impossible to go back and fix everything that was damaged or avoid some of the injustices that were committed. It is impossible to go back and avoid

the harm that was committed against all the slaves who worked for Henry Shaw as well as to go back and talk about this issue with everyone who has visited “The Botanical Garden” since it opened to the public.

  1. UNIQUE: Our project and its problems are unique, mainly because of the historical background it has. What I mean by this is that there are many botanical gardens around the country but the story behind this one, makes me personally feel that there are stories of people who were involved in this, and those stories should be told. Likewise, it seems like a unique problem to me because I never imagined that this place would have a background like this, and I am sure that thousands of people who have visited this place can agree with me. The beauty and immensity of this place hide very well what is really important to know and stories that are worth telling.
  2. URGENT: I know that most of us can interpret this point as an urgency to find a solution, but for me, this means more than that. It means urgency to revoke the ignorance that exists regarding this issue, and the historical background that exists. It is urgent that there are no more people who visit this place without knowing the authors who created this beautiful place with their hands. As the years go by this will become an even more difficult problem to face and it is incredible that this opportunity is presenting itself to us at such an ideal time as it is now. I consider it an ideal moment because there are stories that have been exposed, related to slavery today. There are people who have a great impact on society nowadays, they are talking about this issue and we can use this to our advantage.

SOURCE ANALYSIS #2

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

ALEJANDRA MARIA BELTRAN

RESEARCH TEAM

DR. JACK

SOURCE ANALYSIS #2

 

With this source analysis (reading assignment) being the second that we do for this class, I can notice that the central theme will continue to be sustainability and everything that surrounds it. This time, the main purpose of this chapter is to guide us on problem analysis and solution development. In the past source analysis, I defined the meaning of sustainability and talked about theproblems related to it. This gave me an introduction to what I learned in this reading and helped me to understand everything we are about to talk about on this source analysis. The beginning of the lecture describes how the sustainability problems don’t have a final solution because sustainability is a process. To be able to find a solution and work on it we must organize our mind and our ideas and on page 123 we can find a TSR framework that would helpus to give a detailed and deep answer to the next questions: Where are we (current state), Where are we heading? (Future scenarios), How do we get there? (Sustainable development strategy), and last but not least, where do we want to go? Now, I would like to highlight the following points.
1. Defining the system and classifying drivers.
2. Causal Chain Analysis.
3. Stakeholder Analysis.

To begin with the point number one, it’s important to mention and define Drivers as governing forces that act on a system, either causing it to change or to remain in its current state and it divides on direct and indirect drivers, and they can be natural or human-caused. Direct drivers are drives that clearly and unequivocally influence the behavior of a system and the Indirect Drivers are the ones that influence the behavior of a system in a more diffuse way by altering one or more direct drives. It is important to mention that drivers cannot be classified until the specific system is defined and that one of our first steps. Defining a system means to identify the boundaries, components, processes, and drivers relevant to a problem that is embedded in a specific place, and context. A part that we need and really should not miss is to define the system boundaries, componentsand interactions. System boundaries are significant because they have an impact on how a system is viewed, comprehended, designed, implemented, and managed. Setting clear and suitable system boundaries allows you to concentrate on a system’s crucial components and connections while minimizing needless complexity. It is also possible to specify the interfaces and interactions between a system and its surroundings as well as the sources and sinks of information, energy, and materials that flow into and out of a system. Finally, you can develop standards and metricsfor assessing a system’s effectiveness and efficiency, as well as its results. Just like we say in Mexico: A problem with neither head nor feet will be impossible to resolve, so it’s really important to start with this.

When systems are defined in a way that is specific to a local context, then local drivers can be accurately identified, and appropriate solutions will be found and applied more effectively. The next thing I want to talk about is about classifying Driver scale. “Drivers span many spatial scales” When a system and its drivers are successfully identified, it is essential to take into account scaling at bigger and smaller spatial scales both outside and inside the system’s limits.Given that socio-ecological systems are open systems in which energy, matter, and information can move across system boundaries, this is necessary for a full comprehension of the forces that govern the system. Moving forward a little but still talking about Drivers, we need to classify their influence. “Natural and human drivers can influence socioecological systems either directly and unequivocally, or indirectly and more diffusely. The definition of direct and undirect drivers thatwe described a couple of paragraphs before was defined by the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Now that we are done defining everything about Drivers, we can move forward to talk about Causal chain Analysis. Causality is the relationship of cause and effect, the principle that nothing can happen without being caused. “Cause is complicated, but establishing cause is necessary for finding targeted solutions to sustainability problems”.

Causal chain analysis helps trace cause-effect pathways form the problem back to the drivers regulating the socioecological system and considers the relationship among interacting drivers. I really liked the example on page 147 because it made everything easier to comprehend. “The reason that you have sour milk in your fridge might be because you were so busy this week that you did not have time to go to the grocery store to get fresh milk.” Then the chain will look like this: Hectic week (Indirect Driver), sour milk (Direct Driver), Stomachache (Effect).

(Indirect Driver)——- (Direct Driver)———– (Effect).
Before delving into these aspects of causal chain analysis, one more note on causality must bemade: CORRELATION—CAUSATION. Means that if two variables are correlated, one does not necessarily cause the other. Another great example that helped me to understand this is: In the late 1940s, a nationwide study found a strong correlation between the incidence rate of new cases of polio among children in a community and per capita ice cream consumption inthat community. In other words, as ice cream consumption increased, polio incidence increased. This led some to believe that polio was caused by ice cream consumption. However, other researchers realized that the data sets showing a strong correlation between high icecream consumption and high incidence of new polio cases were gathered in the summer. Data gathered in the winter showed a lower incidence of new polio cases and a lower rate of icecream consumption. We now know that polio is a viral infection that spreads more easily when children gather to play in unsanitary conditions, such as during summer vacation, than when children play together under more sanitary school conditions during the winter. Imagine if policy makers had listened to researcher’s first explanation of causation: “Polio is caused by ice cream consumption.” This could have led to an unnecessary ice cream ban! It also would have delayed the development of a vaccine for the disease.
Our last but not least topic is: Identifying Stakeholders. Stakeholders may be broadly describedas anyone with an interest or investment in a particular policy, dispute, or organizational seek, but are not always easy to identify. There are three general types of methods that can be employed: Focus groups, interviews and snow-ball sampling. There are also types of Stakeholders that are primary, secondary and key Stakeholders. The primary one means the ones who strongly affect others by their actions or are profoundly affected by the actions of other Stakeholders. The secondary one means the ones who are intermediary and indirectly affect others. The key one means that a critical class of them, can be primary or secondary or neither, and have the power to significantly influence or change a given situation.

Stakeholder involvement in and influence over a sustainability issue reveals power dynamics, advantageous alliances, and serious threats. Stakeholder behavior factors lead to actions that have an impact on the sustainability of a system. There is an image of a framework created by sustainability scientist Professor Arnim Wiek on page 166, that describes various factors to take actions that contribute to, and are affected by, a sustainability problem.

“Dictionary Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/dictionary. Accessed 14 Sept. 2023.

“Dictionary Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/dictionary. Accessed 14 Sept. 2023.

Zachary Tobias Source Analysis #4

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

                        UnEarthed Podcast Relation to MBG

       When listening to the UnEarthed Podcast and relating it to the Missouri Botanical Garden,  the author and broadcaster James Wong talks about  the history of inequality and how the garden has history behind it of just plants.  James brings up the idea of what else could be done to make the garden open for everyone. With the Missouri Botanical Garden our focus is how we can represent the history of the garden not just on the looks, but at a more deeper driven focus level. Behind the garden is more than just flowers and plants.  James talks about the Royal Botanical Garden and how they are committed to revealing the true story that often is not been told and making the garden more of a welcoming place as a stomping ground full of knowledge and history. As our team partners with the Missouri Botanical Garden we are working on a collaborative project of making the history come to fruition. 

Source Analysis #2 – TaKara

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Source Analysis #2: Current State Analysis

When I read Sustainable World, Ch. 3: Current Analysis I gained a deeper understanding about approaches to analyzing and resolving wicked problems. This chapter was incredibly easy to comprehend, and I was able to grasp the overall key concepts because of the examples that were explained. The three key concepts that were highlighted in this chapter are defining the system and classifying drivers, casual chain analysis, and stakeholder analysis. All three of these concepts provided me with different strategies that altered my way of thinking about how to approach and perceive a wicked problem.

The first key concept in this chapter is defining the system and classifying drivers. In the beginning of my reading, I was oblivious to what the intent or use of the word “driver” was, when applying it to solving a problem. Sustainable World’s clearest explanation was that “Drivers are the governing forces that act on a system, either causing it to change or remain in itscurrent state,” (pg.124). Within this fact, I realized that drivers are more prominent factors of a system that makes it function in its current state. There are two main types of drivers: direct drivers and indirect drivers. From my understanding, direct drivers influence the behavior of a system more directly. As opposed to an indirect driver that influences the behavior of a system ina way that is more spread out by changing the direction of a direct driver. Sustainable World thenprovides visual representation of systems and drivers through examples found in socioecological systems. These visual representations allowed me to see the rippling effects of how drivers impact systems and the factors in drivers that influence systems.

The next key concept that is introduced in the chapter is casual chain analysis. Sustainable World defines casual chain analysis as “a tool for analyzing socioecological systems by classifying key drivers, establishing the relationships among drivers, and determining their relative influences on a system,” (pg. 123) The visual representation of systems that helped me understand what drivers are, were also examples of casual chain analysis. After reading about causal chain analysis, I was intrigued by the thought of what other ways casual chain analysis is used. I wanted to see more visual representations, so through a google search I was able to witness the different organizations in systems of casual analysis beyond the socioecological perspective. I noticed that some representations used more labeling with tables or graphing, others were simplistic with the causes and effects of a system. With the key concept casual chain analysis, I came to an understand that it is a tool for analyzing any system by classifying key drivers.
The final key concept that is exhibited in this chapter is stakeholder analysis. One of the best ways that I think Sustainable World communicated how stakeholders contribute to problem-solving is “However, the current state of analysis of a system is not complete until the people and organizations with a stake in a sustainability problem are considered. This is where stakeholder analysis comes into the picture,” (pg.161). This fact acknowledges how groups of individuals also play a role in impacting a system other than drivers. Stakeholders are the people that are impacted by the system regardless of how much or how little, some of them have authoritative influence within the system. For example, key stakeholders can be either indirectly or directly affected by a system yet possess the power to drastically impact a system. Sustainable World coherently addresses how important it is to be able to identify the types of stakeholders when problem solving.

Remington – Doucette, Sonya. Sustainable World. 2nd ed., Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2013. pp. 123, 124, 161.

Source Analysis #4

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Cullen Krieg

Dr. Jack

CODES

12 October 2023

Analysis #4

 

In this podcast that we listened to this week, I thought it was hard to understand. They continued to jump from many different main topics. However, I did learn about some information that I usually wouldn’t have learned. 

The Botanical Gardens that they spoke about were used for spiritual redemption. It wasn’t based on plants but more religious type of terms. 

Another one of the people that spoke talked about how gardening doesn’t always have to mean that you have a full fledged garden with many different types of plants. But gardening can be as small as one singular plant on the window sill. He also spoke about how gardening is a peaceful and life saving way to cope. 

The next guy that was up to speak spoke about how gardening is for everyone. He said that everyone can be in botany and having people say that you may not be ready to become a gardener should not stop you from letting you start. 

All in all, I was able to understand a little bit from the podcast but it was also very hard. I liked that I was able to catch the key things that stood out to me. Those few topics have stood out to me a little bit more than others in the podcast because that’s what I feel like I implement in my life and my sports.

Source Analysis #3 – Hunter

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

The man in the article was just trying to have his plants grow by themselves. He tookconstant care of them, and made sure that none of the plants he had were invasive. Despite all ofthis however, the city still gave him violations, even though it is stated that this kind of thing isencouraged. An important part of the article that I saw was that the officer that toured his homesaid that there was no planning involved in the growth of the plants. However, just a line or soabove, it said that Vest took him on a tour around his home, and told him his future plans for thegarden.

One point that I saw was that he has had his yard like this for years now. Only now arethey giving him citations. He is trying to contribute to something that Edwardsville became inJune, the Pollinator Pathway City. This basically states how they are open to the pollination ofnative plans via bees, butterflies, etc. Vest was trying to contribute to that cause, and instead of itbeing helpful to the city, they deemed it a violation. This, to me, seems a little counterintuitive.Edwardsville was the first city in Illinois to become a Pollinator Pathway City, but they are goingagainst it by getting rid of the yards and gardens that people have to contribute to this. He wasable to go along with this for a while, but recently the city noticed and eventually got rid of theyard in its entirety.

I feel that this is not fair to Vest, he was just trying to be a contributor and also trying tohelp the city of Edwardsville. In return, the city got rid of his yard and his native plants.

Source Analysis #3

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Cullen Krieg

Dr. Jack

CODES
5 October 2023

 

Overgrown?

 

In the article, “City clears Edwardsville man’s yard deemed out of compliance” there is a man that wanted to grow out natural vegetation in his yard and keep it maintained. He wanted it to be labeled as a nature preserve so that individuals could come look at the beauty. He told the writers that he wasn’t planting anything invasive, leading the reader to assume that he was taking care of it. 

However, Edwardsville had gotten different news delivered to them. Vest had gotten many complaints from the city telling him that it needed to be taken care of but he never took action. He understood what he needed to do to “maintain” his yard and the regulations that were allowed. Vest feels like he has done everything in his power to keep it contained in his yard. I kind of agree with what Vest says because if he owns his own property he should be able to grow whatever he wants as long as it is nice looking. I can also see how Edwardsville would want the growth cut down. Too much vegetation on a property that is less than .5 of an acre will make it look overgrown even if it is taken care of. 

A key factor in the article that really caught my attention was that when it said: “Risavy said there are many yards and sites such as at the Edwardsville Children’s Museum that have native plants grown with a plan, managed and kept up, and they meet city ordinance requirements. This caught my attention because it shows that other yards are doing just what Vest has done yet they meet the city requirements. Which leads me to believe that Vest must have a neighbor that doesn’t like to look at that many items of vegetation. 

Source Analysis #2 – Hunter

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

To determine system conditions, one must first look at the drivers. As the book states “they are analogous to the driver of a car” (Remington-Doucette 124). Meaning that they are just like the drivers of a car, whenever they drive, they drive forward or toward something. There are two main types of drivers like indirect and direct. Indirect means that it does not deal with the problem specifically, but still affects it somehow. Direct drivers are things that correlate directly to the problem itself and are driving it forward. There are the main types of changes in a problem and those are “critical transitions”. These are basically the “point of no return,” you cannot usually reverse these transitions, and they are very difficult to predict.

There is something called causal chain analysis which helps in finding solutions to problems. This just takes a larger look at the problem at hand, and finds the indirect and direct causes to a problem and the effect. There are also stakeholders in a problem as well. These are people who contribute to the problem, or the ones that are being affected by the problem. As the book states “identifying stakeholders is not a straightforward process.” There are many ways to know about stakeholders, but the main ones are interviews, or focus groups that think about the ways that a stakeholder operates. These include their values and beliefs, while also including their resources and technology.

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