Our group’s topic was College Ed: Food Security and Insurance and we used the medium of a blog. We had initially chosen to make an informal video, however, the people we wanted to interview were not available or the people we thought we would interview were not the right people to answer our questions. We understood that the people we wanted to interview are busy people, so although we set an appointment, it is understandable that they did not show. I wish they would have given us a notice of their cancellation. Students schedules matter just as much as staff and faculty. Our group had some miscommunication on the format of the project, we worked it out and settled on doing a blog. We used the website Anchor to create our blog, and each of us had a section to speak which we self-wrote. The process was interesting because each of us had different understandings of what SNAP is, the food pantry and student insurance. Before starting this project, I was aware of most of the material such as insurance for PSU students and the process for food stamps, however, I had not seen the food pantry and how it works firsthand before. I think that the food pantry is a great resource, student deserve to eat without fear of being broke. I was supervised that so much food could be had for free, this is important because many students are malnourished due to the poverty of being a student. It was challenging to get our group on the same page, I felt steamrolled often, but I think this was due to excitement and eagerness to create a quality project. I would not want to do a group project like this one again though, my standards were much higher than what we created. I think doing group project is difficult when everyone is so busy, and although we had time in class, it felt like a crunch. I would have liked to include fewer personal points of view on the topics, and instead have created a more informal blog. We divided the work between all of us, Anya had a computer and did much of the editing and narrating for our blog. Our project included Roxy’s firsthand experience at the food pantry, Anood’s international student point of view, and I talked about the insurance. I spoke a bit too quickly, and would have liked to have had more time, but our other recording took up the space. I had though that ten minutes would be a long time, however, once we started recording, we had to cut out many sections, and edit the blog to have smooth transition. The software we used allowed us to splice the audio, and link it together. Overall, our project turned out well and I think that someone at least in the room was able to learn something new that they could apply to their lives or information that they could relay to a friend.

Group #1 Herbal Remedies: I loved this groups artwork and project. I used to be into botany and veganism, so it was a refresher to learn about some plants and their medicinal benefits. The pain relief plants being marijuana and peppermint. Many people don’t know peppermint helps with pain, chew gum or sucking on a mint can make your stomach feel better when upset. The first two round answers were quick, but round three everyone was stumped. I thought their game was fun and educational. It is important to give a platform for non-traditional medicines.

Group #2 This was our group.

Group #3 Magazine Article: This magazine article was put together amazingly. The members of this group were passionate about their portions of the project. The first person discussed tenant laws in Portland as well as MLB coming to Portland, thanks Russel and Ciara. The second person discusses artists in band in Portland. The third person discussed their love for adventuring Portland, going to places like the Ace Hotel, and walking the Tillicum bridge. Their article and presentation was engaging and thoughtful.

Group #4 314 Alabama House Bill: Honestly, this project was overwhelming. Although their idea was to show multiple view of abortion, I found it extremely problematic. The room was uncomfortable, and students in the class spoke up and stated things that should have had trigger warnings. I do not think all life is sacred, and there are more than two sides to the abortion debate. The group did a nice job organizing the debate, however, framing it as though both sides had valid points was wrong. Being pro-life is horrific and violent, further, being pro-choice is also hugely problematic and has a racist history. I wish that people would do more research rather than restating the same old rhetoric.

Group #5 Consumerism Zine: This group’s zine was well-crafted. They discussed how the clothing industry is one of the leading polluters in the world. About 20% of the richest people make up 70% of the pollution. I disagree with this conclusion of putting the responsibility on individuals, rather I think that it is actually highly problematic. If the issue is companies and the rich, the collective actions of the rest of the population will not make a significant change. Further, buying sustainably is not an answer, rather just a slight decrease the amount of pollution. In order to change, we need a big systemic change.

Group #6 Social Media and Body Image: This group made a tumblr page and created a tag “nososocialmedia” so that in the future people can share their opinions on the topic. They included an interview of her little sister discussing her relationship with social media and how it affects her body image and self-esteem. From this video, we learned that social media can be a great platform to promote youth into diverse careers, her little sister wants to be a coder. This exposure allows for more youth to have access to knowledges that were limited before. Her little sister did state that also Instagram had been difficult sometimes because the images of beautiful people make us want to dress and look like them. But realistically, most of them are photoshopped or a false representation.

Group #7 Cultural Appropriation: This group covered multiple examples of cultural appropriation. The first example was Japanese women appropriating Cholas. Often, people think only white people can appropriate cultures, however, Japanese women have the privilege of being lighter and do not face the cultural discriminations of cholas, therefore they should not be dressing and acting like cholas. They also mention Ariana Grande’s brown/blackface, however, the person who was talking suggested that weaves are a tradition in African culture. I wouldn’t say tradition, but weaves are culturally from the black people due to hair fragility. They also discussed cornrows on white women, and how white women steal and label hair styles as new. The lastly spoke on mascot specifically native American used as mascots. A mascot should not be another group of people.

Group #8 The Minority Report: All the members of this group were minorities and I think this gave credibility to their project. They discussed how Hollywood whitewashing characters of color, and how this is destructive for youth of color. Once member stated that he was an actor, but would not receive roles despite having more talent than his white peer. Another stated, that there is a white standard and many youths feel as though they are not right because they cannot reach this white standard of beauty. Another member mentions that when dressing up for Halloween, they choose an object or animal because none of the princesses were of color. One other member stated that it is ridiculous that Asian films are seen as horror or indie films, this takes away the credit they deserve.