Sunday, January 23, 2011

Well, when I was first told about the assignment, the first thing that came to my mind was something we did the first day of school in my science class when I was in 8th grade. We were told we had to support a plastic cup off the ground with two other plastic cups and a dollar bill without any of the cups having contact. The solution? Fold the dollar bill back and forth so it was zig-zagged. It was sturdier that way, the same way heavy duty cardboard was made. So, at first I thought that if i used this technique with several newspapers and stacked them, it could hold. After doing this to one, I rolled a few newspapers and coated them with glue as support at the bottom. Once this was done, I stacked some of the newspapers on top to see if it was sturdy....fail. It smooshed under pressure. At this, I glanced around the room for ideas. A girl nearby my table made a billion giant crumbled balls and stacked them up. I saw her test it. It wasn't perfect, but it supported the weight. As I looked around, I saw other great ideas. One girl rolled her papers and stood them up in multiple bunches. Someone else stacked like Lincoln Logs. These all seemed like wonderful ideas, but I didn't want to steal someone else's idea. Then I thought what if I combine all of these ideas and do different layers in different ways? It's bound to be strong then! Combining them all to make one seemed like a good idea. Kind of like an Asian restaurant. No, not like the buffets, but like the hole-in-the-wall places where the menu has different sections. One labled Japanese, another Chinese, the next Thai, and so on (in case you haven't noticed, I LOVE Asian cuisine, so naturally, this seemed like a wonderful idea, seeing that it seemed to work well in the restaurant business). So, this is what I proceded to do. As I did it, I built it up like a pyramid. I started large at the bottom, but got smaller as it went up. I was hoping this would keep balance better. Afterall, it seemed to work for the Egyptians. Half a stack of newspapers and two bottles of glue later, I stepped back and took a look at my creation (mainly because I was about to walk to the bathroom because I couldn't stand the glue all over my hands anymore). Frankly, it looked like a pile of garbage. Random crumbled layers, along with some folded ones and a few random piles filled in, and it wasn't as tall as it seemed while building it, lame sauce. But it was too late, only a few minutes left on the clock and people were cleaning up for lunch break. I carried my pile to line up with the other designs. I felt a little better when I saw a few that were just wrapped up stacks, but a little worse when I saw some of the intricate designs, such as the basket weaving and the stool look-a-like. I tested my "design," delicately balancing the block on my newspaper. Eight inches was the official measurement. Not too shaby for a pile of blah, I thought to myself. When other pieces were tested, some of the ones that looked the best performed the worst, and some of the ones that looked like piles of nothing were the most durable. I realized that yes, looks are important, people are more attracted to the things that are more pleasant to the eye, but the assignment was to make something that worked, not something pretty. But in life, not just with the newspaper, but with anything, from products to life situations, people want both. Not only do they want their products to work, but they want it to look good. So next time, not only will I use a different tactic, but I will also be more organized in my structure so it's more pleasing to the eye.