charissa-chan · charissa-chan · Mar 30, 2026 · Mar 30, 2026 · Mar 31, 2026 · Mar 31, 2026
diff --git a/02_activities/assignments/DC_Cohort/Assignment1.md b/02_activities/assignments/DC_Cohort/Assignment1.md
@@ -209,5 +209,30 @@ Consider, for example, concepts of fariness, inequality, social structures, marg
 
 
 ```
-Your thoughts...
+As I read the article, I realized that I have encountered friction when interacting with databases. It makes sense that
+databases are encoded in ways that reflect a society's values and ways of living, which means that those who most conform to
+society's rules receive easiest access to services by virtue of fitting into the right categories. Those who don't fit into
+predefined and accepted categories face greater friction when trying to access such services. While I am fortunate enough to
+not face very serious issues (like being denied access to identification, for example), databases have still caused some problems in my day-to-day life.
+
+My full legal name, which includes my Chinese name, has caused friction in the past when I tried to create profiles and
+accounts with institutions like schools and credit agencies etc. In the Western world, naming conventions commonly include
+categories of "first name" and "last name" (and sometimes "middle name"). It seems to be assumed that each name is a single
+word, that is, a string without spaces. Unfortunately, my first name contains 3 separate 'words' (with my English name coming
+last). As a result, I appear in many institutional databases simply under my last name and the the first character (the first
+'word') of my Chinese name, even when I try to input my full name when creating my profile. Unfortunately, it is also common
+for Chinese families to follow a pattern in naming their children and I share the first character of my Chinese name with my
+sister, whose name faces similar treatment in various databases. As such, it seems that my sister and I are barely
+distinguishable from each other as legal and financial entities.
+
+Western naming conventions are assumptions that have been encoded into databases, and though this seems like a minor issue, it
+can lead to major problems. In my case, the problem came to light when my sister and I attempted to rent an apartment together.
+Because we shared the same address for the vast majority of our lives, our credit profiles were mixed/spliced together by
+TransUnion, and all our individual financial accounts appeared under my name (or rather, the partial version of my name that
+was stored in their database). According to TransUnion, my sister did not exist. Although we called them and attempted to fix
+the problem by explaining that we two different individuals, in a country that relies so heavily on credit profiles and credit
+scores to gain access to financial products like mortgages, this experience has remained a worry at the back of my mind. It has
+shown to me how databases and their design can encode assumptions and values that results in individuals having
+unequal access to government and financial services.
+
 ```
diff --git a/02_activities/assignments/DC_Cohort/assignment1.sql b/02_activities/assignments/DC_Cohort/assignment1.sql
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 /* 1. Write a query that returns everything in the customer table. */
 --QUERY 1
 
-
+SELECT *
+FROM customer
 
 
 --END QUERY
@@ -17,7 +18,10 @@
 sorted by customer_last_name, then customer_first_ name. */
 --QUERY 2
 
-
+SELECT *
+FROM customer
+ORDER BY customer_last_name, customer_first_name
+LIMIT 10
 
 
 --END QUERY
@@ -28,7 +32,11 @@ sorted by customer_last_name, then customer_first_ name. */
 Limit to 25 rows of output. */
 --QUERY 3
 
-
+SELECT *
+FROM customer_purchases
+WHERE product_id = 4
+OR product_id = 9
+LIMIT 25
 
 
 --END QUERY
@@ -43,6 +51,11 @@ Limit to 25 rows of output.
 */
 --QUERY 4
 
+SELECT *
+, quantity * cost_to_customer_per_qty AS price
+FROM customer_purchases
+WHERE customer_id BETWEEN 8 AND 10
+LIMIT 25
 
 
 
@@ -56,7 +69,13 @@ columns and add a column called prod_qty_type_condensed that displays the word
 if the product_qty_type is “unit,” and otherwise displays the word “bulk.” */
 --QUERY 5
 
+SELECT product_id, product_name
 
+,CASE WHEN product_qty_type = 'unit' THEN 'unit'
+	ELSE 'bulk'
+	END AS prod_qty_type_condensed
+
+FROM product
 
 
 --END QUERY
@@ -67,6 +86,17 @@ add a column to the previous query called pepper_flag that outputs a 1 if the pr
 contains the word “pepper” (regardless of capitalization), and otherwise outputs 0. */
 --QUERY 6
 
+SELECT product_id, product_name
+
+,CASE WHEN product_qty_type = 'unit' THEN 'unit'
+	ELSE 'bulk'
+	END AS prod_qty_type_condensed
+
+,CASE WHEN product_name LIKE '%pepper%' THEN 1
+	ELSE 0
+	END AS pepper_flag
+
+FROM product
 
 
 
@@ -79,7 +109,18 @@ vendor_id field they both have in common, and sorts the result by market_date, t
 Limit to 24 rows of output. */
 --QUERY 7
 
+SELECT
+vendor.vendor_id,
+market_date,
+vendor_name
+
+FROM vendor
 
+INNER JOIN vendor_booth_assignments
+ON vendor_booth_assignments.vendor_id = vendor.vendor_id
+
+ORDER BY market_date, vendor_name
+LIMIT 24
 
 
 --END QUERY
@@ -93,6 +134,10 @@ Limit to 24 rows of output. */
 at the farmer’s market by counting the vendor booth assignments per vendor_id. */
 --QUERY 8
 
+SELECT vendor_id,
+COUNT (vendor_id) AS times_booth_rented
+FROM vendor_booth_assignments
+GROUP BY vendor_id
 
 
 
@@ -105,6 +150,20 @@ of customers for them to give stickers to, sorted by last name, then first name.
 
 HINT: This query requires you to join two tables, use an aggregate function, and use the HAVING keyword. */
 --QUERY 9
+SELECT
+customer_last_name
+,customer_first_name
+,c. customer_id
+,SUM(quantity * cost_to_customer_per_qty) as total_spend
+
+
+FROM customer AS c
+INNER JOIN customer_purchases AS cp
+ON cp.customer_id = c.customer_id
+
+GROUP BY c.customer_id 
+HAVING total_spend > 2000
+ORDER BY customer_last_name, customer_first_name
 
 
 
@@ -125,7 +184,16 @@ VALUES(col1,col2,col3,col4,col5)
 */
 --QUERY 10
 
+CREATE TABLE temp.new_vendor AS
+SELECT *
+FROM vendor;
 
+INSERT INTO temp.new_vendor (vendor_id, 
+	vendor_name, 
+	vendor_type, 
+	vendor_owner_first_name, 
+	vendor_owner_last_name)
+VALUES (10, 'Thomass Superfood Store', 'Fresh Focused', 'Thomas' , 'Rosenthal')
 
 
 --END QUERY
@@ -139,6 +207,11 @@ and year are!
 Limit to 25 rows of output. */
 --QUERY 11
 
+SELECT customer_id,
+STRFTIME ('%m', market_date) as month_of_purchase,
+STRFTIME ('%Y', market_date) AS year_of_purchase
+FROM customer_purchases
+LIMIT 25
 
 
 
@@ -153,7 +226,12 @@ but remember, STRFTIME returns a STRING for your WHERE statement...
 AND be sure you remove the LIMIT from the previous query before aggregating!! */
 --QUERY 12
 
+SELECT customer_id,
 
+SUM(quantity * cost_to_customer_per_qty) AS total_spend
 
+FROM customer_purchases
+WHERE STRFTIME ('%Y-%m', market_date) = '2022-04'
+GROUP BY customer_id
 
 --END QUERY
diff --git a/...vities/assignments/DC_Cohort/farmers_market_ERD(product_customer_purchases).png b/...vities/assignments/DC_Cohort/farmers_market_ERD(product_customer_purchases).png