Thank You for a Great Class

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities

Mill City Museum

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities (FINALS WEEK 2)

Tue 5.21 – Thu 5.23

NO CLASS
Due: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (TUE 5.21, SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M. - BOTH SECTIONS)

Week 17: Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA

The Grand Ole Opry

WEEK 17: Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA (FINALS WEEK 1)

Sec. 2 final exam meeting time-

Wed 5.15 – 8:00-9:30 a.m. (Meet at Whispers, behind the Hammer Theater)             

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (THU 5.16, EMAIL BY 5 P.M. - BOTH SECTIONS)

Sec. 4 final exam meeting time-

Fri 5.17 – 8:00-9:30 a.m. (Meet at Whispers, behind the Hammer Theater)

Upcoming:

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities (FINALS WEEK 2)

Tue 5.21 – Thu 5.23

NO CLASS
Due: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (TUE 5.21, SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M. - BOTH SECTIONS)

City News 5.8

• DENVER: Denver is first US city to decriminalize magic mushrooms (Denver Post)
• PORTLAND: Prison for man who offered ICE agent $4,000 to deport his estranged wife and daughter (The Oregonian)
• BALTIMORE: Gay pride flag burned at LGBTQ-themed shop (Baltimore Sun)
• PHILADELPHIA: New home-buyers may be eligible for $10,000 from city (NBC10 Philadelphia)
• LOS ANGELES: Renowned chef stopped at LAX with 40 vacuum-sealed piranhas (Los Angeles Times)
• NEW YORK CITY: All the looks at the 2019 Met Gala (Vogue)

Week 16: Austin, Texas – Bat City

Lake Austin

WEEK 16: Austin, Texas – Bat City

Tue 5.7/Thu 5.9*             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop; Course review

*Final class meeting of the semester

Upcoming:

WEEK 17: Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA (FINALS WEEK 1)

Sec. 2 final exam meeting time-

Wed 5.15 – 8:00-9:30 a.m. (Meet at Whispers, behind the Hammer Theater)             

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (THU 5.16, EMAIL BY 5 P.M. - BOTH SECTIONS)

Sec. 4 final exam meeting time-

Fri 5.17 – 8:00-9:30 a.m. (Meet at Whispers, behind the Hammer Theater)

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities (FINALS WEEK 2)

Tue 5.21 – Thu 5.23

NO CLASS
Due: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (TUE 5.21, SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M. - BOTH SECTIONS)

City News 5.1

• LONG BEACH: Feds thwart plot to commit SoCal terrorist attack (NPR News)
• PHILADELPHIA: Swarthmore College fraternities disband after sex assault investigation (Philadelphia Voice)
• MEMPHIS: Judge's anti-immigrant social media posts come under scrutiny (Commercial Appeal)
• NEW YORK CITY: Alcohol ads banned on most city property (ABC News)
• SAN JOSE: Sideshow watching is now illegal in San Jose (KRON-TV)
• SEATTLE: City abuzz talk of reviving the SuperSonics (Seattle Times)

Week 15: Washington, D.C. – The Nation’s Capital

The Washington Monument

WEEK 15: Washington, D.C. – The Nation’s Capital

Tue 4.30/Thu 5.2             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop

DUE: ; REFLECTION 5 & 6 (TUESDAY); RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 2—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION)

Upcoming:

WEEK 16: Austin, Texas – Bat City

Tue 5.7/Thu 5.9*             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop; Course review

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (FINAL DRAFT—EMAIL BY 5 P.M.)

*Final class meeting of the semester

WEEK 17: Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA (FINALS WEEK 1)

Sec. 2 final exam meeting time-

Wed 5.15 – 7:15-9:30 a.m. (Location TBD)             

CLASS: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M.)

Sec. 4 final exam meeting time-

Fri 5.17 – 7:15-9:30 a.m. (Location TBD)

CLASS: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M.)

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities (FINALS WEEK 2)

Tue 5.21 – Thu 5.23

NO CLASS

Reflection 6: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?—Reflecting on Our Attitudes Toward Homelessness

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),  there are currently over 500,000 homeless individuals in this country—and it's getting worse. This is most evident in our nation's biggest (and wealthiest) cities, where homelessness has become pervasive. And while many Americans consider homelessness to be a national shame, an increasing number of us are becoming indifferent, even hostile, toward the homeless. In surveys, Americans routinely say they are concerned about people living on the streets, but in practice, suggestions of a homeless shelter in our neighborhoods is often swiftly met with NIMBYism. Meanwhile, many cities, at a loss to deal with the epidemic, have fashioned anti-homeless laws, designed to curb the presence or behavior of homeless people. What are your own views of the homeless. Do you engage  with them? Do they scare you? How empathetic or indifferent do you find yourself being toward them?

Cite from at least two of the following:

• "Study Tracks Changing Perception of Homelessness" (Yale Daily News)
• "Americans Want to Help the Homeless—As Long as They Don't Get Too Close. This Explains Why" (Washington Post)
• "Rethinking Your Encounters With Homeless People" (Psychology Today)
• "Attitudes Toward the Homeless Affect Us All" (Daily Californian)
• "Homeless Deserve Opportunities, Not Contempt" (The Daily Texan)
• "The City That Will Never Let You Sleep" (Topic)

Required:

• MLA Style
• 250 words (one page)
• Works cited 

Due: Tue 4.30 (Note Tuesday due date)

Reflection 5: Talk of the Town—Exploring Local News

In the news landscape, local news is unique. It has, perhaps, the most precise  scope and audience, yet it is among the most important news reported. It is important because it is arguably the news that affects everyday people the most. Sometimes, a region's news concerns stay local. Other times, what concerns New Yorkers can eventually concern Portlanders, Angelinos, even Londoners, as well. For this reflection, pick one metro area from the 100 biggest in the US, outside the Bay Area, and examine 2-3 stories they are currently concerned with. What is this region talking about at the moment? Why is it important to them and might it have any implications for us?

Required:

• MLA Style
• 250 words (one page)
• Works cited 

Due: Tue 4.30 (Note Tuesday due date)
 

Week 14: Seattle, Washington – The Emerald City

The Space Needle

WEEK 14: Seattle, Washington – The Emerald City

Tue 4.23/Thu 4.25

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 1—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION)

Upcoming:

WEEK 15: Washington, D.C. – The Nation’s Capital

Tue 4.30/Thu 5.2             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop

DUE: ; REFLECTION 5 & 6 (TUESDAY); RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 2—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION)

WEEK 16: Austin, Texas – Bat City

Tue 5.7/Thu 5.9*             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop; Course review

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (FINAL DRAFT—EMAIL BY 5 P.M.)

*Final class meeting of the semester

WEEK 17: Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA (FINALS WEEK 1)

Sec. 2 final exam meeting time-

Wed 5.15 – 7:15-9:30 a.m. (Location TBD)             

CLASS: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M.)

Sec. 4 final exam meeting time-

Fri 5.17 – 7:15-9:30 a.m. (Location TBD)

CLASS: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M.)

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities (FINALS WEEK 2)

Tue 5.21 – Thu 5.23

NO CLASS

City News 3.17

• SAN FRANCISCO: Iconic Lombard Street may soon charge drivers a toll (Travel+Leisure)
• SALT LAKE CITY: Amazon opens massive, highly mechanized distribution center in SLC (Salt Lake Tribune)
• LOUISVILLE: Google to pay city nearly $4 million as it pulls out Google Fiber (Geek)
• AUSTIN: Metro Austin seeing record housing prices (Austin American-Statesman)
• LOS ANGELES: Mayor promises to end homelessness in LA by 2028 (LAist)
• JACKSONVILLE: City named the Snoring Capital of America (WJXT-TV)

 

Week 13: Denver, Colorado – The Mile High City

LoDo District

WEEK 13: Denver, Colorado – The Mile High City

Tue 4.16/Thu 4.18           

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT OUTLINE (BRING 2 HARD COPIES)

Upcoming:

WEEK 14: Seattle, Washington – The Emerald City

Tue 4.23/Thu 4.25

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 1—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION); REFLECTION 5 & 6

WEEK 15: Washington, D.C. – The Nation’s Capital

Tue 4.30/Thu 5.2             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 2—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION)

WEEK 16: Austin, Texas – Bat City

Tue 5.7/Thu 5.9*             

CLASS: Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop; Course review

DUE: RESEARCH PROJECT (FINAL DRAFT—EMAIL BY 5 P.M.)

*Final class meeting of the semester

WEEK 17: Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA (FINALS WEEK 1)

Sec. 2 final exam meeting time-

Wed 5.15 – 7:15-9:30 a.m. (Location TBD)             

CLASS: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M.)

Sec. 4 final exam meeting time-

Fri 5.17 – 7:15-9:30 a.m. (Location TBD)

CLASS: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ASSESSMENT (SUBMIT VIA CANVAS BY 5 P.M.)

Week 18: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota – The Twin Cities (FINALS WEEK 2)

Tue 5.21 – Thu 5.23

NO CLASS

City News 4.13 (California Edition)

• SAN JOSE: Upcoming SJC Chick-fil-A will go really "gay" (Delish)
• LOS ANGELES: USC blocks Lori Loughlin's daughters from withdrawing from school (Daily Mail)
• OAKLAND: Four-year-old who accidentally shot himself in the head shows improvement (KGO-TV)
• SAN DIEGO: City named one of the best places to live, though it is not a good value (KGTV)
• SAN FRANCISCO: Here's what a major quake could do to the Bay Area (San Francisco Chronicle)
• SACRAMENTO: State capital takes one step closer to securing an MLS team (Comstock's)

Final Project: Google Comes to Downtown San Jose, Pt. 2

Here is supplemental information to guide your research:

Project Overviews:

• "Inside San Jose’s Deal to Develop a Google Campus—Sans Tax Incentives" (CityLab) 
• "Google Transformed Mountain View, is San Jose Next? (San Francisco Chronicle) 
• "Google’s Growing Empire May Transform San Jose" (Finance & Commerce) 
• "A $220 Million Google 'Village' in the Bay Area's Largest City" (KQED) 
• "Google Could Buy $110 Million Worth of Land, Without Subsidies, for Mega-Campus 15 Miles South of its Headquarters" (CNBC)
• "Google’s Downtown San Jose Village “Main” Construction to Start in 2025, Property Purchases Continue" (San Jose Mercury News)
• "Nearly 70% of Voters Support the Expansion of Google into Downtown San Jose" (The Silicon Valley Organization)
• "Fear of Eminent Domain Leads Downtown San Jose Church to Sell to Google" (KGO-TV) 
• "Google Sets its Sights on One of Silicon Valley’s Most Diverse Cities and Residents are Scared" (HuffPost)
• "Who Gets to Live in Silicon Valley?" (The Atlantic)
• "How Google’s Future Campus Could be a Game-Changer for Silicon Valley" (Curbed)
• "Google’s San Jose Renewal Plan: ‘Grand Central of the West'" (San Jose Mercury News)

San Jose/Silicon Valley News:

• San Jose Mercury News
• San Jose Inside 
• The San Jose Blog
• Silicon Valley De-Bug
• San Jose Spotlight

Google Advocates:

• Mayor Sam Liccardo
• The Silicon Valley Organization
• SPUR San Jose 
• San Jose Downtown Association

Google Opponents:

• Silicon Valley Rising 
• Serve the People San Jose
• Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County

Opinions:

• "Google in San Jose: Viewpoints about the Tech Giant's Big Plan" (Silicon Valley Business Journal)
• "How Google Can Help San Jose Become a Model of Inclusive Urbanism" (CityLab) 
• "Google Bought Land in Downtown San Jose—Now What?" (San Jose Inside)
• "The SVO Voices Support for Agreement with Google for the Diridon Station Area" (The Silicon Valley Organization)

Other National and International Proposed Tech Developments:

• "Amazon Pulls Out of Plan for New York Headquarters" (CBS News)
• "Sidewalk Labs’ Neighborhood of the Future in Toronto is Getting Closer" (CityLab)
• "Google Abandons Berlin Base After Two Years of Resistance" (Guardian)

Discussions:

• "What is your opinion on Google campus?" (Reddit)

Google vs. Amazon:

• "This City Told Amazon and Google: No Incentives for You" (NPR)

Final Project: Google Comes to Downtown San Jose, Pt. 1

In 2017, Alphabet, parent company of Google, and the city of San Jose announced plans for a massive “village” on the western edge of downtown. The plan has since evolved to include up to 25,000 employees in a transit-oriented, mixed-use, tech campus of up to 8 million square feet. Google, keen on a site with multiple transportation options for its employees, chose Diridon Station, which currently services Caltrain, ACE, VTA buses and LRT, and Amtrak—but has plans to accommodate BART and CHSR (maybe) in the next decade, as well.

For San Jose, which has a dramatic job to housing imbalance, Google’s arrival could be a tax revenue boon. The so-called "Google Effect" has already led to a rush of developer land grabs in downtown San Jose, with properties selling for record prices. Additionally, the city’s approach to Google stands in stark contrast to Amazon’s recent HQ2 push, in which the city of New York and state of Virginia offered the tech giant subsidies of over $6 billion to locate in their municipalities. In contrast, Google has spent nearly $320 million on property acquisitions around Diridon, with no subsidies from the city of San Jose.

Though Google’s development plans enjoy the support of the city’s business community and nearly 70% of residents, various interest groups have raised concerns, with some even vowing to block the project. Many residents and advocates are weary of the presence of a company whose median income is a staggering $197,000. Housing and homeless advocates fear it will exacerbate an already critical housing crisis by further inflating prices. Labor advocates, meanwhile, argue that it is the responsibility of Google to guarantee local construction jobs, as well as to maintain high-paying service jobs. Still others are insisting Google invest in everything from the city’s schools to senior citizens. Though Google and the city are determined to see the project through, it will not come to be without overcoming serious objections.

Overview:

For your final research project, you and a partner will examine Google and San Jose’s proposed development in depth. In addition to contextualizing the project, you will examine the impact of the project in three areas of community concern.

Directions:

1. Choose three of the following community concerns:

• Rising housing costs, including rents
• Homelessness
• Traffic mitigation
• Resident displacement
• Gentrification
• Income disparity, including livable wage guarantees for service workers
• Fears of increased density
• Public access to corporate spaces
• A ban on tech campus cafeterias

2. Extensively research these three areas.

3. Create an 18-slide multimedia presentation, using the following guide:

• Slide 1: Cover slide with MLA heading.
• Slide 2: A table of contents
• Slide 3-4: An introduction to the proposed development, this may include timelines, renders, maps, etc.
• Slide 5: An overview of what the city of San Jose stands to gain, financially or otherwise, from the Google development
• Slide 6: A brief overview of community concerns and an introduction to the three you will examine specifically (e.g. housing costs, gentrification, etc.)
• Slides 7-9, 10-12, 13-15: The three areas of community concerns will be explored (including counter positions) in at least two slides each. The third slide should, based upon your team's research, offer a logical solution that both allows the project to proceed and addresses the specific issue.
• Slides 16-17: A conclusion which encapsulates your presentation's main points.
• Slide 18: An MLA Style-formatted works cited slide (or slides)

Your presentation must:

• Have a cohesive design, including illustrations—how does the overall design support the discussion of the issues?
• Contain impeccable spelling and grammar—has your team achieved a professional look?
• Illustrate the benefits of the development to the city of San Jose—why does this project matter to the city so much?
• Contextualize the proposed development—why is what Google and San Jose are proposing so significant?
• Illustrate three specific community concerns—why do these issues matter to the community and what could be down to address them?
• Conclude with a summary of your presentation—why should San Joseans care about this development?

Note: Illustrations and at least two video and/or audio clips are required. No GIFS.

Project Timeline:

Week 13: Thu 4.18
Due: RESEARCH PROJECT OUTLINE (BRING 2 HARD COPIES)

Week 14: Tue 4.23/Thu 4.25
Due: RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 1—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION)

Week 15: Tue 4.30/Thu 5.2
Due: RESEARCH PROJECT (DRAFT 2—BRING ELECTRONIC VERSION)

Week 16: Fri 5.17 (Both Sections)
Due: THU 5.16- RESEARCH PROJECT (EMAIL BY 5 P.M.)

Sec. 2 Teams:

1. Yu Ju L. / Xiaoguang Y.
2. Erin N. / Brizeida C.
3. Parker S. / Jasmine M.
4. Elizabeth O. / Devin R. / Ryan B.
5. Derek N. / Desteny S.
6. Amanda W. / Jerry Y.
7. Edward H. / Joshua K. 
8. Tiffany N. / Ganna M. / Jasmine K.
9. Vy T. / Murisa B.
10. Billy T. / Minh M. 
11. Jenny N. / Zharoui L.

 Sec. 33:

1. Bryan H. / Shannon D. / Michelle T.
2. Brandon V. / Melanie M.
3. Paulina Y. / Jared M.
4. Brianna P. / Zacharia S.
5. Emmanuel Z. / Debasmita R. / Anthony L.
6. Angel R. / Alexander C.
7. Ryan C. / Jennifer R. / Brenda L.
8. Aryssa T. / Vijay S.
9. Jorge G. / Ashley C.
10. Aryssa F. / Kayla P.
11. Pardeep K. / Collin M. / Asrita B.
12. Billy T.