Priscila Garcia Blog #2

Hello, my name is Priscila Garcia and this is my reflection on our second theme presentation. I’m part of group three and my group’s topic was infrastructure. The outcome of our presentation was that our audience clearly understood what infrastructure is; learn the troubles the United States faces against infrastructure compared to more developed countries; lastly, learn of some solutions that can help strengthen infrastructure. 

My group first started by creating subtitles that we would be emphasizing. Like what is infrastructure and why is it important? The current state of the US infrastructure? How is the USA's infrastructure compared to other countries? What can we do to help strengthen the infrastructure? Then everyone got to pick which subtitle they would like to do. Every subtitle had two people presenting it. 

I will give a brief statement of each subtitle. Let’s start with “What is infrastructure?” Infrastructure development is the process of constructing basic foundational services to boost economic growth and improve people's quality of life. The majority of modern economies have gone through periods of significant infrastructure construction, which has enhanced regional efficiency and competitiveness. Second “ What is the current state of the US infrastructure?” Our current US infrastructure is slowly decreasing. Bonds are a type of debt that governments and businesses use to borrow money. The state sells bonds to investors to obtain "up-front" funding for projects and then repays the investors over time with interest. Bonds were used to financing more than 60% of the state's infrastructure investment. The state's General Fund, which is its principal operating account, is used to repay the majority of these bonds. Our next subtitle was “ How is the USA's infrastructure compared to other countries?” In the developed world, the United States generally lags behind its peers. France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom have all ranked ahead of the United States. The last subtitle we talked about was “What can we do to help strengthen the infrastructure?” Some that we can do to strengthen it is to adequately plan, deliver, operate, and maintain quality infrastructure. Also, partnering with some connected parties to achieve improved shared outcomes. And most importantly identify and secure funding and financing of infrastructure. After the information slides, we included the interview my group partner Valery Butto had with Rita Carbonell who works in public services in the City of Doral. To get everyone engaged in the topic Maria created a jeopardy game based on our presentation. I am always pleased to work with my team. They are all so great and responsible for finishing their work on time and in an efficient way. 

The second group to present their theme presentation was group two and their topic was on Gender Inequality. I loved everything about their presentation. All the information they had plus videos and descriptive images. They first started by giving us the definition of “gender inequality” and “gender.” Gender refers to the socially constructed qualities of women, men, girls, and boys. This covers the standards, behaviors, and roles that come with being a woman, man, girl, or boy, as well as interpersonal interactions. Gender as a social construct differs from one society to the next and can change through time. Society has changed and now women can be with another woman or a man with another man and not be in hiding. Society has acknowledged that were are “lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and queer” known as the LGBTQ community. They also talked about the inequality women have compared to men in their jobs and the wages they earn. I learned that women in nearly all the United States earn less than men. For every 83 cents a woman gains, a man would gain a dollar. This is very unfair and especially now in this generation that more women are leaving their homes seeking a career and workforce instead of marrying at a young age. However, their presentation was not only about women solely but about men as well. Group two provides a very good slide on how society reacts when a woman is being sexually harassed compared to when a man is sexually harassed. Other girls defend the girl being harassed by her boyfriend while they laugh when the boyfriend is the one getting sexually harassed. After their presentation it made me think that there are a lot of norms that need to be fixed in society. Maria also included a jeopardy game at the end of this theme presentation and it got intense. Everyone had some opinion and something to say. There were several discussions when the question “what are the advantages of being a woman” and “what are the advantages of being a man.” It was a great discussion. 

The last group that presented was group one and their theme topic was climate change. In my belief, I think this is one of the scariest topics to talk about. Just to imagine that in 50 years Florida may be underwater. Forest fires will happen more frequently. As group one states you first need to understand what climate change is and what causes it. Long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns are referred to as climate change. Although these changes are natural, human activities have been the primary driver of climate change since the 1800s, owing to the burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and gas), which produces heat-trapping gasses. Climate change is caused when the heat of the sun is trapped as greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth. I also learned from group one’s presentation some solutions for climate change. One is starting by leaving the car at home reducing gas emissions that are released into the air. Also cutting back on air flying and respecting and protecting green spaces. Another big help we can do is cutting down on consumption and waste. We are using perfectly good green land to dump waste. Group one has taught me that we humans are not well educated on the subject of climate change and do not know the dangers that it will cause in the future.