March
PORTFOLIO
2015 FIRST EDITION
PORTFOLIO | 1ST EDITION
STARTING A CREATIVE PROCESS BY YULY GORDILLO
The most difficult part in any creative process is to start. The first problem could be to find the perfect topic. But when you finally get one, the developing of it is easier. Then, you could suffer of lack of concentration and that make all the process harder. Keep in mind that despite the fact that starting is hard, the final results of do not give up are worth it.
SCRAMBLED EGGS: DELICIOUS AND EASY BY YULY GORDILLO
Scrambled eggs is one of the easiest meals we can make, so I will tell how to make it. First, you have to crack the eggs in a bowl. Remember to use fresh eggs. Then, whip the eggs fast and add a pinch of salt. If you want, you can add also a table spoon of milk to make it creamier. After that, put the whipped eggs on a hot pan with butter. Finally, let it cook for ten minutes and enjoy!
Baroque vs Rococo BY YULY GORDILLO
Baroque and Rococo are artistic movements, born in the last 17th and early 18th century. Both movements share some similarities as well as differences. Baroque style is characterized by the use of strong contrast in light and dark and symmetrical compositions, while Rococo style uses soft colors and asymmetrical compositions. Also, there are strong differences in picture’s topics. In Baroque style, for example, religion is represented with realism and drama. Rococo style, instead, wants to represent the playful and witty essence of high society. In art world is common to hear that Rococo is the feminine side of Baroque style.
Baroque and Rococo furniture.
However, they started almost in the same period, so they have some similarities. Both are characterized for having an over-decorated style, which means they use an excessively elaborate style. They use a naturalistic and organic style in paintings and ornamentation. For instance in furniture, their styles are very similar. They both use curvaceous cabriole style legs, sculptural S- and C-scrolls and intricate carvings of leaves and shells.
COMPLAIN LETTERS BY YULY GORDILLO AND DANIEL TORRES
45 Boyacรก Avenue Bogotรก, Cundinamarca February 25, 2015 CLARO S.A. Bogotรก, Cundinamarca Dear Sir or Madam: I acquired your 4G Internet service three months ago, and it is not working as you said it would. Two months ago the Internet started failing. I have a lot of work to do at nights, but it is almost impossible to me to get a good connection. Besides that, when I do have Internet, I cannot work either because it is too slow. I am upset because it is a breach of the contract. I had tried to solve it by the regular way, but your customer service is deficient. The first time I called, they solved the problem, but it worked just for two days before it crashed again. The second time, they promised to lower the cost of the bill, but it never happened. This situation is wearing me down; I really want to cancel the service. Respectfully,
____________________ Mary Parker
ANSWERED BY CRISTINA MARTINES AND THOMAS BAQUERO
Claro S.A. Bogotรก, Cundinamarca February 27, 2015 45 Boyacรก Avenue Bogotรก, Cundinamarca. Dear Mary Parker: We are worried about your situation here at Claro and we have tried to fix your 4G Internet services, we hope that now the service is working without issues and we apologise for any inconveniences. 1. Recently we had have problems with our platforms on your area, now should not be any issue with the service. 2. We apologize because of the confusion about lower the monthly payment, from now on, the payment should be as agreed. 3. If you still want to call off or change the service, you have to go personally to our Principal Office located at St. 68A # 24B - 10, they will help you. Our best wishes for you, thank you for your patience and Claro S.A. has decided to compensate you with an internet speed increase from now on to 7mb/s. Respectfully, Claro S.A
mayo 8
PORTFOLIO
2015 Second Edition
Why gay adoption must be approved Last month, the Colombian court takes the decision of keeping limits for same-sex adoption, allowing them to adopt a kid only if it was the biological child of one of the partners. This caused different opinions among Colombian people. On one side, the LGBT community expressed their disappointment, saying the decision was not enough for them. On the other side, traditional people think that gay couples are not able to raise a child. All this opens the discussion: Should same-sex couples be parents? Have they the ability to be? Here are some arguments in favor of gay parenting. A research made by sociologists Stacey and Biblarz (2001), has shown that kids of same-sex couples, adopted or biological kids, do as well as the kids of straight couples on mental health, social functioning, school performance and, basically, well-being. Stacey and Biblarz found no differences between children raised in homes with two heterosexual parents and children raised with lesbian parents. Stacey affirms that the fact of having two parents is the key to good parenting, no matter if it is a same-sex couple or a heterosexual one. Another piece of research, made by Abbie Goldberg psychologist of Clark University
in
Massachusetts
(cited
on
Pappas, 2012) , shows that same-sex couples are more committed to take care of a child than the heterosexual ones. This is because they, actually, plan to have a child, while most of the heterosexual couples do not. According to PROFAMILIA (cited on El Heraldo, 2010), in Colombia only 48% of pregnancies are planned, and almost the 44% of this pregnancies ends in induced abortion. Also, psychological studies say that
the fact of being not planned could affect the personality and self-esteem of the child. So, why not to allow people, who really want to be parents, to adopt kids? The principal obstacle to allow gay adoption is the belief that children of lesbian and gay parents suffer higher levels of emotional and psychological harm. But, several researches prove that it is not true. In Stacey and Biblarz’s study (2001) says that they “found no significant differences between children of lesbian mothers and children of heterosexual mothers in anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and numerous other measures of social and psychological adjustment” (p. 171). Also, children raised by same-sex couples showed lower social problems, such as rule-breaking, aggressiveness or delinquency, than children raised by heterosexual couples (Gartrell & Bos, 2010). In fact, most of the kids, who had been raised with same-sex parents, grow up more tolerant and open-minded than their counterpart (Dempsey, 2013). Finally, I would like to add that the most important thing here is children. They have the right to be in a family that looks after them and that can give them the love they deserve. In Colombia, almost 6000 children are placed for adoption each year. So, if there are people who want to take care of them, we must allow it. Same-sex couples are as able to raise a child as heterosexual couples, and sometimes are even better than a single mother or father. By Yuly Andrea Gordillo
REFERENCES Dempsey, D. (December, 2013). Same-sex parented families in Australia [Electronic version]. Child Family
Community Australia Paper, No. 18 (2013) pp. 26 Embarazos No Deseados [Electronic version]. (2011) El Heraldo: Editorial. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.elheraldo.co/editorial/embarazos-no-deseados-30367 Gartrell, N. & Bos, H. (July 1, 2010) US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents [Electronic version]. Pediatrics, Vol. 126, No. 1 pp. 28 -36 Pappas, S. (2012) Why gay parents may be the best parents. In Livescience: Health. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/17913-advantages-gay-parents.html Stacey, J. & Biblarz, T. (April, 2001) (How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter? [Electronic version]. American Sociological Review, Vol. 66, No. 2 (2001), pp. 159-183
New Urbanism: A way to improve quality of life
Urban sprawl is a problem that now is affecting our environment. As a consequence of this, a new movement, called New Urbanism, was created. New Urbanism pretends to finish the urban sprawl problem by putting in practice some principles. Celebration, Florida, has adopted this movement in order to create a city friendly with the environment. The first principle is to protect the ambience. For this, New Urbanism says cities must have green zones protected for native wild life and animal. Celebration, for instance, has a greenbelt of 4700 acres to preserve wild life. The second principle is house accommodation. The movement says that is better to have multi-family houses instead of single ones spread all over the city. For this, they recommend to have the apartments close to downtown and the multi-family houses all in the same part of the city. In Celebration, the application of this principle encouraged people to socialize and also reduced traffic jams. The third principle is about transportation. For New Urbanism movement is important to create a complete transportation system to improve traffic in the city. For instance, Celebration has a public transportation system that allows people to go through the city by buses or walking. New Urbanism is a movement that should be taken in to account in the organization of a new city. This movement is good to protect the environment and help people to live better. Maybe in the future more cities could develop New Urbanism, and in that way improve the quality of live.
Why is better to growing up with siblings
I strongly believe that growing up with siblings is better than being an only child. I have three younger siblings and I think that most of who I am now is thanks to them. Having siblings makes people more responsible and solidary. People who grow up with siblings show better social skills. They interact better with other people. For instance, only children sometimes isolate themselves. And this is because they are not used to share with more people. Another reason for me to think that is better to growing up with siblings is that you will have always someone to your side. Siblings are, in most of the cases, used to support each other. They create a special bond, so they can trust each other. For instance, siblings with lower differences in ages tend to create friendship bonds; and in ones with bigger differences in age the younger sibling tend to see the elder sibling as a hero or role model. Brothers and sisters are, also, used to share their own things with other people. Only children, instead, are more selfish than people with siblings. Growing up in an environment where they have to share almost everything, make siblings solidary and generous.
June 11
PORTFOLIO
2015 Third Edition
EFFECTS OF SPANGLISH IN USA Due to the growth of the Hispanic population in the United States, Spanglish is becoming a bridge to join Hispanic and Anglo culture. The use of Spanglish started in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico since the USA government tried to impose English as the official language. Subsequently, Puerto Ricans started to mix their native language with the new one, English. However, not only Puerto Ricans are speaking Spanglish, Mexican, Cuban, and in general any Spanish speaker are now spread all over USA using Spanglish as way to communicate their Latino roots. But, what could be the effects of this mixture in the future? There are some possible consequences of the growth of people using Spanglish.
A first possible effect could be that Spanglish will become the language of the future. According to a research made by the Pew Research Center, Latinos will make up 29% of the U.S. population in 2050, compared with 14% in 2005 (Cited on Passel & Cohn, 2008). This clearly shows that the theory is not impossible. For Ilรกn Stanvas, lexicographer, Spanglish is here to stay (Cited on Artze, 2001). He assures that, in the future, Splanglish will be accepted as a language itself and not just as a mixture; and this acceptation will take Spanglish to be the lingua franca of the United States or, why not, of the world. Secondly, there is a possibility for the Spanglish to be extinct. Several people say that Spanglish is just a transitory variation of Spanish speakers in an English learning
process. Linguist John M. Lipski stated that Spanglish is a “transitory jargon� in the Latin culture (Cited by Vasquez, 2010). In the article it is explained that someone who knows the two languages proficiently would not make up or invent words that do not already exist (Vasquez, 2010). Consequently, when the Spanglish speaker reaches a high command of the English language, he will stop using Spanglish. To conclude, Spanglish is a mixture of Spanish, and English that has been growing in the United States since its beginning. Nowadays, Latinos is the largest minority community living in USA, and their growing will lead significant changes to Spanish and English languages.
By Yuly Andrea Gordillo
REFERENCES Passel, J. & Cohn, D. (2008) U.S. Population Projections: 2005-2050. Pew Research Center. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2008/02/11/us-population-projections-2005-2050/ Artze, I. (2001) Spanglish is here to stay. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic562419.files/Spanglish%20is%20Here%20to%20St ay.pdf Vasquez, B. (2010) Is Spanglish a Language?. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/5731im/models/rp/rp10/rp2/rp2vasquez.html
Ways to Improve Transportation
Nowadays, the development of forms of transport is affecting our environment. During the last century, the industrialization has been leading us to look for better means of transportation, which are not good for the nature. This has risen the damage that we cause to the atmosphere and to our planet. It is important that our governments think about what our future could be if they do not create laws to control their use and stimulate the use of ecological means of transportation. Taking into account the fact that a lot of people have several cars, the government should create a law that forbid to have more than one car per family. This could diminish the pollution and improve the traffic in big cities. Additionally, they could establish a schedule to limit its use. Another step to control car ownership could be the implementation of efficient mass transportation in cities. This will encourage people to use the public transportation instead of private cars and, in this way, the traffic will be enhanced too. Regarding to ecological means of transportation, governments should finance the production of these new forms of transport, to decrease its price. In that way, many people will be able to change their old car to a new ecological mean of transport. This will help our environment and some of the economic problems of our society. To conclude I would like to add that it would not be necessary to have laws to control car ownerships if we were conscious of the damage that we are doing to our planet. Simple changes could improve our lives, like taking the bus or using our car to carry more people.
Computer Ownership Percentage
The graphs shows the percentage of people who have a computer from 2002 to 2010, and also the percentage according to their education level in years 2002 and 2010. It is clear that the computer ownership increased gradually in approximately 8% year by year. In 2002, the percentage of computer ownership was of 56% approx., while in 2010 the percentage was of almost 80%. This means an increase of 30% in people who own a computer in just 5 years. Regarding to the computer ownership by education level, the graph illustrates a significant difference between people without a high school diploma in 2002 and 2010, and people with postgraduate qualification in the same years. The difference decrease with people of postgraduate qualification, who have just a 15% of difference approx. The graph also shows that the difference in the percentage of computer ownerships with the same educational level from 2002 to 2010 decrease according to their educational level. In general terms, the acquisition of computer increased in all education levels, and presents a differentiate percentage range of 30%, more or less.