Mapping for social justice

The problem: Looking at wheelchair statistics and noticing how many buildings on Rollins College campus do not have ramps or elevators to the second floor led our group to realize how difficult it is for wheelchair users to know where they will be able to gain access. To me is does not appear that Rollins College has much of an outreach program to those with physical disabilities. For example, on the Rollins web site there is a link to a page entitled “Crime prevention for those with physical disabilities,” but the link is outdated and leads to an expired page. ( not working website)
After visiting the Winter Park welcome center, we realized that there is no map or list providing information on wheelchair access in Winter Park.

Our solution: Our group came together to create a list of the places we go to most in Winter Park and on Rollins Campus, we then set out to discover which of these locations had complete wheelchair access. Pulling this information together in a public google map will give this access to all wheelchair users in Winter Park, or anyone visiting Winter Park.

Next Step: To take our mapping project to the next step we would like to add buildings that have a button to open doors. The woman in the Welcome Center informed me that this is the biggest area Winter Park is lacking in, in regards to disability services. We would also like to approach CAPS and see if there is any way to get out map incorporated into the Rollins web site. It may also be useful for admissions to provide to prospective students.

Check it out!

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Kiva

This is the woman I made a loan to on Kiva

Hab Thorn

Since I made my load her goal amount was reached!!

Mapping Project

For our final project we are going to use google maps in order to mark all of the wheel chair accessible restaurants on Park Avenue and buildings on Winter Park. Our project idea originated after we realized how many buildings on Rollins Campus are not wheel chair accessible. This is a problem that many older establishments have. Our map will not only provide useful information for the handicap but it may also raise awareness of the locations that are not accessible to everyone, hopefully inspiring change. This is an outline of our schedule:

Week 1 (April 5-9): Conduct general research on the topic of wheel chair accessibility as a social justice issue

Week 2 (April 12-16): Conduct more in-depth research about the issue in the Winter Park community. This weekend go around in Winter Park and photograph wheel chair accessible places and/or conduct interview(s) with a handicapped person or persons.

Week 3 (April 19-23): Have several group meetings in which we will work on putting all of our information together onto our google map. Have a final meeting where we make sure we have everything we wanted to have and make any final adjustments to our map.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Recently I read the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The book provides an interesting look into the world of industrial farming vs. organic farming. A specific quote I would like to respond to:
“Our food system depends on consumers’ not knowing much about it beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner. Cheapness and ignorance are mutually reinforcing” (Pollan 245).
Food is such a fascinating topic because it is something that affects everyone. We put food into our bodies without question. Our culture has placed a higher importance on price than the reassurance that what we are eating is clean and beneficial to our wellbeing. A problem with food is that besides a slight difference in taste the difference between organic food and industrial food is not immediate. Our culture is obsessed with instant gratification, which we receive when we buy the food item with the lowest price. This instant gratification is also achieved when we get a food product that we have seen in advertisements. Just like any other products, food is a commodity that marketers make us desire. Focusing on the second part of this quote, cheapness and ignorance are mutually reinforcing, I would like to recognize the portion of our culture who does know more about the products they are buying beyond the price, but can not afford a healthier option. The structural composition of our culture does not make eating organic easy. The government and large corporations in the food industry have collectively made organic food inconvenient. It is not as readably available and it is more expensive.

My Google Map

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FourWhere

Am I the only one who is just learning about  foursquare ?  I just read an article on mashable about how foursquare has joined google maps to create a new location based social search tool called FourWhere . It allows you to use google maps to find an area you plan on going. Once you find the area you can click around and see what kinds of thinks other people are doing around there.  I tried this application for Park avenue and there were a bunch of hits.  Seems like it could be a pretty useful tool if you are headed somewhere new.

Hotel Prices in Google Maps

I thought all you guys in 350 would like this article on a new feature google maps is trying out since we are beginning to think about our own mapping projects. It is a feature that shows you hotel prices when you look in a certain area.  It seems really convenient because you can see the exact location of the hotel and the price at the same time.   Technology is always making things so much simpler. What do you guys think, convenient or unnecessarily?