Tuesday, December 14, 2010
GM FOOD: THE CON SIDE
THE SOYBEAN RESISTS, BUT DOES THE HUMAN LIFE ALSO RESIST?
Maria Elisa d’Almeida Harger
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan that had stolen fire from the Gods and was punished by them with an eternal torture. Stuck to a rock, an eagle ate his liver every day. This myth can be easily adapted for our time. The fire refers to knowledge, the technique. By this knowledge, by this technique, the human being can pay a heavy price. This is particulary true in the transgenic topic.
Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are a reality invented to improve agriculture. These seeds were developed to survive sprayed with glyphosate herbicide, which kills weeds. The companies that manufacture this herbicide also produce GM seeds. They are gigantic industries that hold this intellectual property. The rapid growth in the use of GM seeds have led consequently to the increasing use of glyphosate. For 10 years several studies has showed that this herbicide causes serious toxic effects on health and the environment, even in much lower rates than those at which they are used in agriculture, making it a powerful poison.
In 2009 Andrés Carrasco – one of the largest Latin American connoisseurs in embryo development, with international recognition - found that glyphosate causes malformations in frog and chicken embryos at doses far lower than those used in agricultural spraying. These lab findings were compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to this herbicide during pregnancy (http://www.gmwatch.org/component/content/article/12479-reports-reports). In 2010 Gilles Eric Séralini - a French governmental expert in genetic engineering - published an article proving that glyphosate is toxic for hepatic human cells (http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/1279281/Gilles-Eric_Séralini). In this year a group of scientists from the U.S., the U.K., Argentina and Brazil produced together a document reporting the harmful effects from glyphosate in placental, embryonic and endocrine human cells. Prejudicial action like skeletal malformations also were observed in female rats fetuses. (http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/conference2010/press.html). Another risk that also needs be recognized is that from seeds that genetically have been manipulated. This process can cause others mutations and leads to problems in the functioning of other genes, reported others scientists[1],[2] .
GM food advocates say the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed GM food in markets since 1990 and, therefore, GM food is safe. Yes, it is true that GM food has been consumed in the U.S.A. for 20 years; however, the FDA never approved GM food. The FDA considers GM food equivalent to non-GM food. Thus for the FDA, GM food doesn’t require a safety test. The FDA has made a political decision, not a scientic resolution. There is research showing ill effects in laboratory animals fed with GM food, such as cellular changes in the liver and pancreas of mice[3]; disturbances in kidney and heart funcions in rabbits[4]; changes in uterus and ovaries in female rats; and hamsters that lost the ability to reproduce by the third generation[5]. These studies suggest GM food could cause health problems in human beings and also prove that GM food isn’t equivalent to non-GM food, contradicting the “equivalence” claimed by the FDA.
That doesn’t mean to execrate genetic manipulation, which can be helpful in curing diseases, but to take precaution and responsibility when using their findings. We know the companies producing GM seeds invest in research and only put on the market GM seeds and herbicides “that are safe”. But, why don’t theses corporations usually spread their findings? Monsanto was forced to reveal some of its research data per one European court (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MON_853). The safety of GM foods should also be proven by independent researchers, not by research from the companies themselves that manufacture.
GM plants are stronger and mature faster, making farmers want to plant them. Unfortunately, the price of GM seeds in the US has increased dramatically when compared to non-GM seeds. In 25 years, the non-GM soy seeds’ price rose 63 per cent. In contrast, in10 years the GM soy seeds’ price rose 230 per cent (http://www.infomg.ro/web/en/Resources/Scientific_studies/). If a few big companies produce GM seeds, these industries may set high prices for their products and hunger may become a hostage of these companies, being treated as merchandise and used for the purpose of profit. Who ever has power over food, has power over life! This is very critical when using the argument of GM crops to end world hunger.
GM seeds are recommended to eliminate the need for rotation of the ground, protecting the soil against erosion. This is commendable, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of using herbicides such as glyphosate – which isn’t biodegradable and pollutes the soil and water. Glyphosate in contact with soil turns into a more toxic substance called AMPA (aminomethyphosponic acid). AMPA causes genomic instability and has the possibility to develop cancers in humans. (http://www.gmwatch.org/component/content/article/12479-reports-reports).
Being guided by these above described facts it is a mistake to be safe with the idea that the environment and human life will resist against GM crops without negative impact. Science should be used for the benefit of all people, not only for the benefit of companies’ profit. For the final reflection, I’ll use the words of a Viviana Peralta, farmer who lived closely with this issue. She said: “ I do not know about chemistry, I did not go to university, but I know what my whole family has suffered. To people who are not familiar with this model of agriculture, I say: Do not trust these companies. Reject agrochemicals. Do it for the life of your children” (http://gmwatch.eu/índex.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12486:reports-viviana-peralta-interview).
[1] Latham, J.R. Wilson, A.K., Steinbrecher, R.A. 2006. The mutational consequences of plant transformation. J. of Biomedicine and Biotechnology 2006, 1–7.
[2] Wilson, A.K., Latham, J.R., Steinbrecher, R.A. 2006. Transformation-induced mutations in transgenic plants: Analysis and biosafety implications. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews 23, 209–234.
[3] Malatesta, M., Biggiogera, M., Manuali, E., Rocchi. M.B., Baldelli, B., Gazzanelli, G. 2003. Fine structural analysis of pancreatic acinar cell nuclei from mice fed on GM soybean. Eur J Histochem. 47, 385–8.
[4] Tudisco, R., Lombardi, P., Bovera, F., d’Angelo, D., Cutrignelli, M. I., Mastellone, V., Terzi, V., Avallone, L., Infascelli, F. 2006. Genetically modified soya bean in rabbit feeding: detection of DNA fragments and evaluation of metabolic effects by enzymatic analysis. Animal Science 82, 193–199.
[5] Brasil, F.B., Soares, L.L., Faria, T.S., Boaventura, G.T., Sampaio, F.J., Ramos, C.F. 2009. The impact of dietary organic and transgenic soy on the reproductive system of female adult rat. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 292, 587–94.
Argumentative Essay by Petra Heidl
GM Foods: Is it worth the risks?
In former years, the supply of food was one of the most important things, not only because of its nutrition but also its sourcing. Independent of the status of people, eating has always been important for anyone. It provides you with all the vitamins and proteins your body naturally needs. Before industrialization arrived in our lives, food was always organic and was sold and often eaten right after harvest; it is however very different today. Meanwhile, today it has to have a good taste and should be as natural as possible. Food is traveling all over the world and more often is grown with the assistance of fertilizers and is contaminated with pesticides. It is often picked unripe and ripens on its way to the destination. Not only is there a correlation between a good taste and natural origin, but unnatural food is also less nurtitious, meaning that the good taste and healthy ingredients often vanish into thin air on its long journey. We cannot speak of natural food anymore! In addition to this loss of taste and nutrition, new sorts of plants are created in a very artificial way.
In view of the growth of the world´s population, climate change and the decrease of resources, agriculture and also plant breeding are faced with new challenges. Therefore plants are cultivated which can grow under the worst conditions or be produced using new ingredients. Gentechnical methods are playing a big role in that issue. Right now there are plenty of methods being used or in development like insectiscide-building corn and cotton, soy or more starch-building potato and drought-resistant seeds, not to mention all the other at least 90 sorts of plants and fruits on which gentechnology is used or is in progress www.transgen.de/datenbank). Some people declare that, in fact, at first glance, it seems that GM food is the answer to a lot of problems. They can supply developing countries with more food, fruits and vegetables have longer durability, they provide advantages in the quality of soil, they use fewer chemicals on plants and can therefore liberate people in the third world, especially children.
Wouldn´t it be wonderful to prevent all the children from blindness if they could eat the specified rice with more Vitamin A? But on the second sight we cannot ignore the risks of GM foods. Right now the situation is that we don´t know what health problems could occur in eating this rice and what danger could be held in its cultivation. What if the people eating this rice became sick in the worst case? Maybe allergies could errupt in a high amount or even worse, liver or spleen problems could rise . As a study of the University of Piacenza in 2005 ("Assessing the transfer of genetically modified DNA from feed to animal tissue", 2005) showed we can find pieces of gentechnically modified information in the blood and both in the liver and spleen of pigs. And it is not a secret that pigs and humans are physiologically related in the structure and consistency of the flesh and fat tissue. What would happen if these residuals as a result lead to liver or blood diseases? Could we ever face such catastrophies? And who will be charged for those problems? The big companies credit themselves with helping the Third-World countries to prevent hunger - which is of course very magnanimous. Nobody can really say anything against that proposal.
But what would be the price? The people in the third world are happy with the idea of not being hungry anymore, but do they have the choice? No they don´t . We here in the industrial nations maybe have a chance to control what we eat if we buy organic or from a retailer we trust. But they don´t. Some people say that GM Food does not harm anyone. Isn´t it rather the case that we all definitly do not know what long-term risk this GM Food involves? We do not know the consequences in detail for our genes or immune system. Genetically modified food carries a lot of risks and long-term consequences to the health of people and also animals. Health problems could be, for example allergic reactions and reduction of the effectiveness of anitbiotics. The herbicides used on GM crops can cause miscarriages and infertility.
This is a very high risk and it is the responsibility of the companies and also govern-ments to ensure the harmlessness of GM foods. The biggest producers of GM Foods are doing a lot of research regarding the development of new seeds which could be used in the third world countries, which are also countries with a bad climate for agriculture. Or should I say research regarding making more money? It is obvious that the profit will grow instantly as soon as these for example drought-resistant seeds are everywhere on the market. Unfortunately, it is difficult right now to find independent studies because the big companies have the power and the money to create them and then they can decide which study would be published because they financed them. Interestingly there exists a study by Monsanto about its modified corn MON863 in 2005. Within an attempt of feeding rats during the process of approval conducted by Monsanto, some clues to health effects showed up. The animals exposed showed signs of liver and kidney damage as well as differencies in weight gain. The results were released first after Greenpeace forced Monsanto by law to publish this study. To summarize, a German law court in Cologne, Germany had ordered the biotechnology giant Monsanto to make one of it's confidential reports public after the company tried to prevent the dissemination of its own study. The 1000-page document is now viewable on different webpages as a pdf. (http://www.greenpeace.org/)
As a result, we should be very careful developing and using GM foods as long as they have not been proved to be harmless. It remains to be seen if we and, for us, the environmental protection organisations could help to protect us from the problems which could occur. We should be very conscientous and observant of what kind of food we buy. Otherwise we, and eventually all of nature will pay a very high price with our health.
Maria Elisa d’Almeida Harger
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan that had stolen fire from the Gods and was punished by them with an eternal torture. Stuck to a rock, an eagle ate his liver every day. This myth can be easily adapted for our time. The fire refers to knowledge, the technique. By this knowledge, by this technique, the human being can pay a heavy price. This is particulary true in the transgenic topic.
Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are a reality invented to improve agriculture. These seeds were developed to survive sprayed with glyphosate herbicide, which kills weeds. The companies that manufacture this herbicide also produce GM seeds. They are gigantic industries that hold this intellectual property. The rapid growth in the use of GM seeds have led consequently to the increasing use of glyphosate. For 10 years several studies has showed that this herbicide causes serious toxic effects on health and the environment, even in much lower rates than those at which they are used in agriculture, making it a powerful poison.
In 2009 Andrés Carrasco – one of the largest Latin American connoisseurs in embryo development, with international recognition - found that glyphosate causes malformations in frog and chicken embryos at doses far lower than those used in agricultural spraying. These lab findings were compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to this herbicide during pregnancy (http://www.gmwatch.org/component/content/article/12479-reports-reports). In 2010 Gilles Eric Séralini - a French governmental expert in genetic engineering - published an article proving that glyphosate is toxic for hepatic human cells (http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/1279281/Gilles-Eric_Séralini). In this year a group of scientists from the U.S., the U.K., Argentina and Brazil produced together a document reporting the harmful effects from glyphosate in placental, embryonic and endocrine human cells. Prejudicial action like skeletal malformations also were observed in female rats fetuses. (http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/conference2010/press.html). Another risk that also needs be recognized is that from seeds that genetically have been manipulated. This process can cause others mutations and leads to problems in the functioning of other genes, reported others scientists[1],[2] .
GM food advocates say the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed GM food in markets since 1990 and, therefore, GM food is safe. Yes, it is true that GM food has been consumed in the U.S.A. for 20 years; however, the FDA never approved GM food. The FDA considers GM food equivalent to non-GM food. Thus for the FDA, GM food doesn’t require a safety test. The FDA has made a political decision, not a scientic resolution. There is research showing ill effects in laboratory animals fed with GM food, such as cellular changes in the liver and pancreas of mice[3]; disturbances in kidney and heart funcions in rabbits[4]; changes in uterus and ovaries in female rats; and hamsters that lost the ability to reproduce by the third generation[5]. These studies suggest GM food could cause health problems in human beings and also prove that GM food isn’t equivalent to non-GM food, contradicting the “equivalence” claimed by the FDA.
That doesn’t mean to execrate genetic manipulation, which can be helpful in curing diseases, but to take precaution and responsibility when using their findings. We know the companies producing GM seeds invest in research and only put on the market GM seeds and herbicides “that are safe”. But, why don’t theses corporations usually spread their findings? Monsanto was forced to reveal some of its research data per one European court (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MON_853). The safety of GM foods should also be proven by independent researchers, not by research from the companies themselves that manufacture.
GM plants are stronger and mature faster, making farmers want to plant them. Unfortunately, the price of GM seeds in the US has increased dramatically when compared to non-GM seeds. In 25 years, the non-GM soy seeds’ price rose 63 per cent. In contrast, in10 years the GM soy seeds’ price rose 230 per cent (http://www.infomg.ro/web/en/Resources/Scientific_studies/). If a few big companies produce GM seeds, these industries may set high prices for their products and hunger may become a hostage of these companies, being treated as merchandise and used for the purpose of profit. Who ever has power over food, has power over life! This is very critical when using the argument of GM crops to end world hunger.
GM seeds are recommended to eliminate the need for rotation of the ground, protecting the soil against erosion. This is commendable, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of using herbicides such as glyphosate – which isn’t biodegradable and pollutes the soil and water. Glyphosate in contact with soil turns into a more toxic substance called AMPA (aminomethyphosponic acid). AMPA causes genomic instability and has the possibility to develop cancers in humans. (http://www.gmwatch.org/component/content/article/12479-reports-reports).
Being guided by these above described facts it is a mistake to be safe with the idea that the environment and human life will resist against GM crops without negative impact. Science should be used for the benefit of all people, not only for the benefit of companies’ profit. For the final reflection, I’ll use the words of a Viviana Peralta, farmer who lived closely with this issue. She said: “ I do not know about chemistry, I did not go to university, but I know what my whole family has suffered. To people who are not familiar with this model of agriculture, I say: Do not trust these companies. Reject agrochemicals. Do it for the life of your children” (http://gmwatch.eu/índex.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12486:reports-viviana-peralta-interview).
[1] Latham, J.R. Wilson, A.K., Steinbrecher, R.A. 2006. The mutational consequences of plant transformation. J. of Biomedicine and Biotechnology 2006, 1–7.
[2] Wilson, A.K., Latham, J.R., Steinbrecher, R.A. 2006. Transformation-induced mutations in transgenic plants: Analysis and biosafety implications. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews 23, 209–234.
[3] Malatesta, M., Biggiogera, M., Manuali, E., Rocchi. M.B., Baldelli, B., Gazzanelli, G. 2003. Fine structural analysis of pancreatic acinar cell nuclei from mice fed on GM soybean. Eur J Histochem. 47, 385–8.
[4] Tudisco, R., Lombardi, P., Bovera, F., d’Angelo, D., Cutrignelli, M. I., Mastellone, V., Terzi, V., Avallone, L., Infascelli, F. 2006. Genetically modified soya bean in rabbit feeding: detection of DNA fragments and evaluation of metabolic effects by enzymatic analysis. Animal Science 82, 193–199.
[5] Brasil, F.B., Soares, L.L., Faria, T.S., Boaventura, G.T., Sampaio, F.J., Ramos, C.F. 2009. The impact of dietary organic and transgenic soy on the reproductive system of female adult rat. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 292, 587–94.
Argumentative Essay by Petra Heidl
GM Foods: Is it worth the risks?
In former years, the supply of food was one of the most important things, not only because of its nutrition but also its sourcing. Independent of the status of people, eating has always been important for anyone. It provides you with all the vitamins and proteins your body naturally needs. Before industrialization arrived in our lives, food was always organic and was sold and often eaten right after harvest; it is however very different today. Meanwhile, today it has to have a good taste and should be as natural as possible. Food is traveling all over the world and more often is grown with the assistance of fertilizers and is contaminated with pesticides. It is often picked unripe and ripens on its way to the destination. Not only is there a correlation between a good taste and natural origin, but unnatural food is also less nurtitious, meaning that the good taste and healthy ingredients often vanish into thin air on its long journey. We cannot speak of natural food anymore! In addition to this loss of taste and nutrition, new sorts of plants are created in a very artificial way.
In view of the growth of the world´s population, climate change and the decrease of resources, agriculture and also plant breeding are faced with new challenges. Therefore plants are cultivated which can grow under the worst conditions or be produced using new ingredients. Gentechnical methods are playing a big role in that issue. Right now there are plenty of methods being used or in development like insectiscide-building corn and cotton, soy or more starch-building potato and drought-resistant seeds, not to mention all the other at least 90 sorts of plants and fruits on which gentechnology is used or is in progress www.transgen.de/datenbank). Some people declare that, in fact, at first glance, it seems that GM food is the answer to a lot of problems. They can supply developing countries with more food, fruits and vegetables have longer durability, they provide advantages in the quality of soil, they use fewer chemicals on plants and can therefore liberate people in the third world, especially children.
Wouldn´t it be wonderful to prevent all the children from blindness if they could eat the specified rice with more Vitamin A? But on the second sight we cannot ignore the risks of GM foods. Right now the situation is that we don´t know what health problems could occur in eating this rice and what danger could be held in its cultivation. What if the people eating this rice became sick in the worst case? Maybe allergies could errupt in a high amount or even worse, liver or spleen problems could rise . As a study of the University of Piacenza in 2005 ("Assessing the transfer of genetically modified DNA from feed to animal tissue", 2005) showed we can find pieces of gentechnically modified information in the blood and both in the liver and spleen of pigs. And it is not a secret that pigs and humans are physiologically related in the structure and consistency of the flesh and fat tissue. What would happen if these residuals as a result lead to liver or blood diseases? Could we ever face such catastrophies? And who will be charged for those problems? The big companies credit themselves with helping the Third-World countries to prevent hunger - which is of course very magnanimous. Nobody can really say anything against that proposal.
But what would be the price? The people in the third world are happy with the idea of not being hungry anymore, but do they have the choice? No they don´t . We here in the industrial nations maybe have a chance to control what we eat if we buy organic or from a retailer we trust. But they don´t. Some people say that GM Food does not harm anyone. Isn´t it rather the case that we all definitly do not know what long-term risk this GM Food involves? We do not know the consequences in detail for our genes or immune system. Genetically modified food carries a lot of risks and long-term consequences to the health of people and also animals. Health problems could be, for example allergic reactions and reduction of the effectiveness of anitbiotics. The herbicides used on GM crops can cause miscarriages and infertility.
This is a very high risk and it is the responsibility of the companies and also govern-ments to ensure the harmlessness of GM foods. The biggest producers of GM Foods are doing a lot of research regarding the development of new seeds which could be used in the third world countries, which are also countries with a bad climate for agriculture. Or should I say research regarding making more money? It is obvious that the profit will grow instantly as soon as these for example drought-resistant seeds are everywhere on the market. Unfortunately, it is difficult right now to find independent studies because the big companies have the power and the money to create them and then they can decide which study would be published because they financed them. Interestingly there exists a study by Monsanto about its modified corn MON863 in 2005. Within an attempt of feeding rats during the process of approval conducted by Monsanto, some clues to health effects showed up. The animals exposed showed signs of liver and kidney damage as well as differencies in weight gain. The results were released first after Greenpeace forced Monsanto by law to publish this study. To summarize, a German law court in Cologne, Germany had ordered the biotechnology giant Monsanto to make one of it's confidential reports public after the company tried to prevent the dissemination of its own study. The 1000-page document is now viewable on different webpages as a pdf. (http://www.greenpeace.org/)
As a result, we should be very careful developing and using GM foods as long as they have not been proved to be harmless. It remains to be seen if we and, for us, the environmental protection organisations could help to protect us from the problems which could occur. We should be very conscientous and observant of what kind of food we buy. Otherwise we, and eventually all of nature will pay a very high price with our health.
GM FOOD: THE PRO SIDE
GM Food: The Newest Promised Land
By Ivete dos Santos
Organic food is an oasis among a huge number of foods that were grown with the use of fertilizers and pesticides. No doubt the taste is better and whoever can afford those expensive products usually buys them. Nonetheless, how can we feed seven billion people in the world without enough productive land available? The World Health Organization predicts that, in 2025, the population in the world will increase by 38% while the good productive land will remain in only 1% of the total land in the world. In the past, when people in some countries in Europe - Italy, Ireland, Germany - were dying of hunger, they had a possibility to try a trip to the “New World”, such as South America and North America, and found good soil to plant and harvest their food. However, nowadays, there is no more wild and undiscovered land. Each corner of the Earth and its potential natural riches are known. Thus, scientists, governments and big private groups, as Monsanto, Bayer, Novartis, Basf, just to mention some of them, have started research to find other kinds of solutions to avoid world-wide starvation. Genetically modified crops have appeared to solve this foretold tragedy.
Although some groups such a Greenpeace are radically against GM food because, according to them, among other reasons, it might create unpredicted allergies, toxins, antibiotic resistant diseases and nutritional problems, the fact is that there is no relevant event that justifies the prohibition of those products. Just to mention the USA, three agencies are involved in the regulation of food crops - the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). GM crops have been commercialized since 1994 without serious disease problems and the truth is that mankind has never lived so well. The life expectancy has increased in the world, even in Africa, the poorest continent, according to the economist Indur M . Gloklany in his book The Improving State of the World, which mentions that not only are people living longer but healthier in old age. Moreover, the history of agriculture shows that in 1900 the USA consumed about three million and seven hundred tons of fertilizer per year (www.j3sael.blogspot.com/). Therefore, at least, these products didn’t cause a catastrophe in human health as the research shows about the improvement of life expectancy in the world.
Despite the GM opponents’ beliefs that the use of GM crops can cause social problems like losing jobs in farming, the fact is that the use of these techniques is helping to improve the quality of life of people directly involved in the cultivation and harvest: “We could liberate so many people if our crops were resistant to herbicides that we could then spray on the surrounding weeds. Weeding enslaves Africans; it keeps them out from school.” – said Florence Wambugu, a Kenyan plant scientist. Furthermore, in Delmas, South Africa, the landscape that before served gold mines, now is used to cultivate Bt corn crops with success (www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article). Another good example of the success of Bt corn crops comes from Malawi. From 2005 to 2007, this country tripled its production and became the major food exporter in Southern Africa, which improved the life of its citizens(wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism). If GM food improves life of poorest countries, it means that they will become wealthier. As a result, their people will not move to another country looking for a better life. Consequently, illegal immigration can decrease, avoiding social problems in countries such the USA, which is facing illegal immigration issues.
“Responsible biotechnology is not the enemy; starvation is.” – said the former US president Jimmy Carter. In fact, starvation is still killing a huge number of people around the world. Because of the lack of Vitamin A, one million children die every year and malnutrition contributes to 53% of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five in developing countries (Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, UNICEF). Against facts, nobody can fight. However, there is hope: GM foods can help to change this terrible reality. They have success in growing crops in poor soil; there are GM crops that can improve the nutrients in food - rice with Vitamin A; there are drought-resistant seeds that can help countries in Africa that suffer from lack of water. Definitely, GM crops can help end world hunger!
Unlike the way some people believe, there are serious and large nonprofit groups that are embracing the GM food idea. The Bill & Mellinda Gates Foundation, recognized for its philanthropic work around the world, is directly involved with the use of GM food as a solution against starvation. Recently, it has been funding research that is using technology from biotech giant Monsanto Co. to engineer corn that is much more resistant to drought. Moreover, this foundation has financed the research of rice, with the Rockefeller Foundation and biotech firm Syrgenta. Although some people are condemning Bill Gates because of his support of these two big groups, he says that he is thinking about saving lives. (http://www.gaia-health.com/articles101/000107-Gates-GMO-Children-Guinea-Pigs.shtml). Additionally, Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred are working with scientists to increase production of wheat and corn, at the research center that has been associated with Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Norman Borlaug, who is considered the father of the Green Revolution. http://groups.google.com/group/dcfoodforall/browse_thread/thread/4a6a8e21f56121f1
Some people are against GM food because they argue that the industry is monopolized by big groups that can control the food in the world. Nevertheless, we cannot turn our back on starvation due to the fear of the hypothesis that food would be control by a few hands. There are special departments in each country responsible for conducting the regulation and approval of those foods, and there are nonprofit organizations that oversee those groups as well. Moreover, if it were a good reason, what could one say about the big medicine laboratories that manipulate drugs? Should we ask them to stop researching because they can control the medicine in the world? Thus, the solution is not to be against GM food; instead, people have to take heed, and governments must create laws to protect the public interests.
In conclusion, although “the new” has always scared people, step by step, they will understand that GM food helps to avoid the death of billions of people that do not have the same opportunity to eat a delicious vegetable from an organic farm or drink its milk. For them, GM food is synonymous with life; it is the “New World”; the Promised Land, as it was for our ancestors when they came to North and South America. Had they not believed in the New World, most of us would not be here. Now, history repeats itself but on a large scale for those billions of people who have nothing but hope “…that perches in the soul” and in the soil. Who dares to deny it to them?
By Ivete dos Santos
Organic food is an oasis among a huge number of foods that were grown with the use of fertilizers and pesticides. No doubt the taste is better and whoever can afford those expensive products usually buys them. Nonetheless, how can we feed seven billion people in the world without enough productive land available? The World Health Organization predicts that, in 2025, the population in the world will increase by 38% while the good productive land will remain in only 1% of the total land in the world. In the past, when people in some countries in Europe - Italy, Ireland, Germany - were dying of hunger, they had a possibility to try a trip to the “New World”, such as South America and North America, and found good soil to plant and harvest their food. However, nowadays, there is no more wild and undiscovered land. Each corner of the Earth and its potential natural riches are known. Thus, scientists, governments and big private groups, as Monsanto, Bayer, Novartis, Basf, just to mention some of them, have started research to find other kinds of solutions to avoid world-wide starvation. Genetically modified crops have appeared to solve this foretold tragedy.
Although some groups such a Greenpeace are radically against GM food because, according to them, among other reasons, it might create unpredicted allergies, toxins, antibiotic resistant diseases and nutritional problems, the fact is that there is no relevant event that justifies the prohibition of those products. Just to mention the USA, three agencies are involved in the regulation of food crops - the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). GM crops have been commercialized since 1994 without serious disease problems and the truth is that mankind has never lived so well. The life expectancy has increased in the world, even in Africa, the poorest continent, according to the economist Indur M . Gloklany in his book The Improving State of the World, which mentions that not only are people living longer but healthier in old age. Moreover, the history of agriculture shows that in 1900 the USA consumed about three million and seven hundred tons of fertilizer per year (www.j3sael.blogspot.com/). Therefore, at least, these products didn’t cause a catastrophe in human health as the research shows about the improvement of life expectancy in the world.
Despite the GM opponents’ beliefs that the use of GM crops can cause social problems like losing jobs in farming, the fact is that the use of these techniques is helping to improve the quality of life of people directly involved in the cultivation and harvest: “We could liberate so many people if our crops were resistant to herbicides that we could then spray on the surrounding weeds. Weeding enslaves Africans; it keeps them out from school.” – said Florence Wambugu, a Kenyan plant scientist. Furthermore, in Delmas, South Africa, the landscape that before served gold mines, now is used to cultivate Bt corn crops with success (www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article). Another good example of the success of Bt corn crops comes from Malawi. From 2005 to 2007, this country tripled its production and became the major food exporter in Southern Africa, which improved the life of its citizens(wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism). If GM food improves life of poorest countries, it means that they will become wealthier. As a result, their people will not move to another country looking for a better life. Consequently, illegal immigration can decrease, avoiding social problems in countries such the USA, which is facing illegal immigration issues.
“Responsible biotechnology is not the enemy; starvation is.” – said the former US president Jimmy Carter. In fact, starvation is still killing a huge number of people around the world. Because of the lack of Vitamin A, one million children die every year and malnutrition contributes to 53% of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five in developing countries (Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, UNICEF). Against facts, nobody can fight. However, there is hope: GM foods can help to change this terrible reality. They have success in growing crops in poor soil; there are GM crops that can improve the nutrients in food - rice with Vitamin A; there are drought-resistant seeds that can help countries in Africa that suffer from lack of water. Definitely, GM crops can help end world hunger!
Unlike the way some people believe, there are serious and large nonprofit groups that are embracing the GM food idea. The Bill & Mellinda Gates Foundation, recognized for its philanthropic work around the world, is directly involved with the use of GM food as a solution against starvation. Recently, it has been funding research that is using technology from biotech giant Monsanto Co. to engineer corn that is much more resistant to drought. Moreover, this foundation has financed the research of rice, with the Rockefeller Foundation and biotech firm Syrgenta. Although some people are condemning Bill Gates because of his support of these two big groups, he says that he is thinking about saving lives. (http://www.gaia-health.com/articles101/000107-Gates-GMO-Children-Guinea-Pigs.shtml). Additionally, Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred are working with scientists to increase production of wheat and corn, at the research center that has been associated with Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Norman Borlaug, who is considered the father of the Green Revolution. http://groups.google.com/group/dcfoodforall/browse_thread/thread/4a6a8e21f56121f1
Some people are against GM food because they argue that the industry is monopolized by big groups that can control the food in the world. Nevertheless, we cannot turn our back on starvation due to the fear of the hypothesis that food would be control by a few hands. There are special departments in each country responsible for conducting the regulation and approval of those foods, and there are nonprofit organizations that oversee those groups as well. Moreover, if it were a good reason, what could one say about the big medicine laboratories that manipulate drugs? Should we ask them to stop researching because they can control the medicine in the world? Thus, the solution is not to be against GM food; instead, people have to take heed, and governments must create laws to protect the public interests.
In conclusion, although “the new” has always scared people, step by step, they will understand that GM food helps to avoid the death of billions of people that do not have the same opportunity to eat a delicious vegetable from an organic farm or drink its milk. For them, GM food is synonymous with life; it is the “New World”; the Promised Land, as it was for our ancestors when they came to North and South America. Had they not believed in the New World, most of us would not be here. Now, history repeats itself but on a large scale for those billions of people who have nothing but hope “…that perches in the soul” and in the soil. Who dares to deny it to them?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Meet a New Student!
Cool Guyby Ahmad Alnadi
I met a new guy in the University of Miami. His name is Tatsunori Miyoshi; he is from Japan. Also, he is 21 years old. He is just here for three weeks and he is studying English here in the University of Miami to improve his English. As a result, he plays golf at IMG Academies. His favorite things are first, cars. He likes fast cars. Second, music; he likes R&B music like Chris Brown songs. According to him, he is going to leave the USA next week, which is the sad part for us as friends. He told me he goes to university in Japan so I wish for him the best in his life, hoping to meet him again.
Monday, November 22, 2010
PANEL DISCUSSION REPORTS
Illegal Immigration in the USA
By Ivete dos Santos
The American Dream was the goal of millions of people around the world who wanted to come to the USA to improve their life. Immigrants from all parts of the world entered here; however, they were not only legal immigrants but illegal as well. The American government has attempted to solve the problem, but not as efficiently as the American people would like. Illegal immigration has become a big deal, especially after the economic crisis. Even though the number of these immigrants has decreased lately, they have become scapegoats for Americans that blame them for the increase in unemployment, for the public education problems, for the health insurance trouble.
The Arizona government created a law that any person in the street can be stopped by police and if he/she does not have documents with him/her, the policemen can arrest this person. It is a very controversial law, and people not only from the US, but from other countries are talking about it. Thus, I decided to bring up this discussion in our English class because we are eight mixed- generation students from different countries, and five of us are from countries where the rate of illegal immigration to the US is high.
The USA has more than 11 million illegal immigrants and more than six million are from Mexico, two and half million are from other Latin America countries, one and half million are from Asia, 0.6 million are from Europe and Canada and 0.4 million are from Africa and other countries(www.youtube.com/watch - USA: Illegal Immigrants – CNN). Thus, do you think it is a big problem? It was unanimous among the classmates that it is not correct to enter into another country illegally, but one student said that if they were allowed to enter here legally, it would be better. Unfortunately, it is not simple, owing to the fact that the USA has a limitation on the number of immigrants and it cannot just open the border for all people who want to come here. Another classmate said that each country has the right to accept aliens or not, due to the cost that they can cause for the government.
How does it work in your country? Especially in Germany and France they are facing problems from immigration, because of governmental measures that give health care, schools and some money for these aliens. In these days when the economy is not in good shape, it can provoke racism and xenophobia, according to all the students.
Definitely, it is a complex issue and there is no simple answer. Why do people put their life at risk to enter illegally into another country? The students’ answer was: because of the poverty that they live in their own country, they follow the American dream, according to which anyone has the opportunity to improve their life and their families’ life too. Therefore, they take the risk to make their dreams come true. Although some happy endings happen, the statistics show that there are a huge number of misfortunate among these aliens. Even though some Americans believe that these immigrants compete for the same job, this does not reflect the reality, as these people, who have a little formal education and training, usually work in farming, construction, food preparation, cleaning: jobs that Americans do not like to do. For these reasons, although they are illegal here, they help the USA’s development. If they are here, it is because the USA needs them. The majority of the students agreed that there are great businesses behind these aliens. Big groups take advantage of their irregular situation and pay less money. Thus, they are cheaper workers who are exploited.
On the other hand, there are other businessmen that see profit in creating private prisons for illegal immigrants. Can it be one of the reasons for the creation of Arizona’s immigration law? Yes, answered the students. When the question was about the kind of punishment for these aliens, most of my classmates said that they do not believe they should receive any punishment, and instead, the government should give amnesty for them, because if they were legalized they would pay taxes and it would increase the basic public services. Only one of them said they should be deported. No one agrees with prison.
When the subject is criminality, some of the students said they believed that illegal immigration has a close connection with the increase of crimes, but others do not agree with this, since, according to them, the aliens come here to work hard.
After this panel discussion, we can conclude that illegal immigration is indeed a big problem which has no simple solution, especially because there are a great number of people that benefit from their work. Actually, these immigrants cannot be blamed for the economic crisis in the USA, and they are the biggest victim of this system. Moreover, for many of these illegal immigrants, the American dream has become a nightmare.
EUTHANASIA
Maria Elisa d’Almeida Harger
INTRODUCTION: In some aspects, the technology advance has facilitated living and complicanted dying. The evolution of human knowledge should be guided not only for the good life, but also the good death. Intense analgesia is used to relieve pain only when other actions are not effective, resulting in hypotension and respiratory depression. One action can have two effects: a good and a bad effect. For it to be lawful it needs to have as a primary goal the practice of the good effect, which in this case is the suppression of uncontrollable pain. This is the ethical principle of dual effect. It’s not considered euthanasia for most people. The aim of this panel discussion was to know what the students think about euthanasia.
PROCEDURE: Initially the concepts of different types of death were presented. Orthotanasia: natural death or discontinuation of treatment that prolongs the life of terminally ill patients; dysthanasia: slow and painful death; voluntary euthanasia (the patient takes part in the decision), involuntary (the action is praticed without the patient’s consent), passive (the patient stops receiving food or the equipment is turned off), active (the patient receives a lethal dose of drugs) and double effect (intense analgesia, for the people who see it as euthanasia). Twelve questions about death (see attachment) were asked to seven students (four males and three females), with different ages (four young and three adults) and from different countries – Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Colombia, France, the USA and Jordan.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS: All students agreed that only God can take the life of a person, but one of them considered the possibility of life being abbreviated by intense analgesia, only when other actions are not effective to take the pain and the patients are in the end-of-life. Three students consented that a person has the right to choose the time of his death, one didn’t consent and three didn’t answer. All students answered that to die with dignity is to die well, without pain and without bothering anyone. When one person is living in a vegetative state for long time, the doctors testified there isn’t chance of cure and he/she is in old age, three students concurred that it is possible to turn off the equipment and four didn’t respond. Two of three who answered this question also agreed if the person in a vegetative life is a child, the equipment couldn’t be turned off, because in the future the cure for this patient may appear. Three students accepted euthanasia may be a merciful action when the patient is in the-end-of life, with incurable disease, with uncontrollable pain and suffering greatly and four didn’t respond. All students knew euthanasia is illegal in their countries, but in Germany the life support treatment can be removed from terminally ill patients when allowed by the patient or the patient’s family. In the USA – Washington and Oregon - the physician aid-in-dying is legal and in these states there is an organization that provides information and education for the promotion of death with dignity. All students said that their religions are against euthanasia. Three students admitted that euthanasia could become an instrument to contain the cost of health care/plans and could be a means for physicians to hide a diagnostic error or to discourage the search for better results. Three students assented that euthanasia is a practical feature of modern life. Note: the three people who answered more questions are adults.
CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the questions were answered by three students, who are adults. The young students didn’t participate so much. Although euthanasia is a controversial issue, most of the answers had consensus - only one had disagreement with regard to a person having the right to choose the time of his death. All interviewed knew about the legality or illegality of euthanasia in their country and their religion.
NOTE: Euthanasia is a complex and challenging issue, for which there aren't simple and satisfactory solutions. I have been a doctor for twenty-one years. I didn’t face this situation because I work in neuroradiology. I have only examined some patients in order to determine whether or not brain death had occurred. But this issue has been intensely discussed in Brazil, my country, because in this year entered into force the new Code of Medical Ethics.
We have tended to not talk about mortality. We have lived as if we were immortal. Departing from of life with dignity is an ideal to be sought by all healthy professionals. The challenge is to ally the technical-scientific competence with the humanism. Death is not enemy of human beings, but inhumanity is. In my opinion, life can’t be abbreviated or much less prolonged pointlessly. It should be treated carefully with ethical and scientific sense and tenderness until we have reached the boundaries of our possibilities, always respecting the vulnerable person with chronic disease or in the imminence to take leave of life. The patients should be kept free of pain as much as possible and receive care, not be abandoned or suffer loss of their personal identity and dignity. The patients should have as much control as possible regarding the decisions about their care and be given the chance to refuse any technological intervention prolonging life. And finally, the patients deserve to be heard as a person in their fears and hopes, dying where and when they want to die.
Law Against Computer Games
By Petra Heidl
Introduction
The first computer games were developed in the 1970´s. It started with games on TV like “Tennis,” where you try to hit the ball either right or left to bounce it back. Nowadays, due to the fast development of computer technology, the games have acquired a huge variety of special effects and impressive realistic graphics. On the other hand the game industry would surpass itself developing the next generation of games – even more realistic and unique, faster and finally with a lot more violence in most games. It seems like a race between the companies naturally to get the most millions out of the sales. Behind this game industry there hides a very huge economy with billions of dollars in sales.
Studies attest that the number of children playing computer games is increasing steadily and especially boys are much taken with not only military influenced and war games but also racing games. Additionally they show a correlation between the educational background of the testimonials and the play behavior. That means the less the education and parental attendance, the more time the child sits on a computer playing games. The children are often left to their own devices. Parents should show a variety of activities for the free-time.
Actually soldiers were and still are trained by computer-animated situations for tactical reasons and the reenactment of military operations. They do this in order to learn how to target the enemy. These are the same games which were the antecedent of the pc-games and which are sold in a different form to our children today.
Process
I handed out 12 questions to every participant in the discussion. The discussion forum was composed of three young men aged 17, 18 and 20 and besides me 3 other mothers and a 17 –year old girl. None of the participants are or were addicted to computer games, nor do they play very often. They were raised by responsible parents who showed them other activities like arts or sports or reading books. The mothers in the group are very responsible and have a concept that young people should have enough possibilities to do other activities like sports, arts or music.
Discussion
All boys in the group have played war games with military influences and racing games, while the girl plays sometimes a racing game. The mothers don´t play those games at all but tell us that their sons do not play that much or they hardly know what game in particular they play. Besides that, one mother pointed out that for example Counter Strike (a short demonstration of this game was shown at the beginning of the discussion) is “real,” like the war pictures shown in movies, documentations or in the news every day on TV. Therefore the game might be not so dangerous and damaging for children because they should be used to these images of war or violence. It seems that all young men agree with this point of view. It is nothing special to play shooting or killing other people in the game. They do not even think of a human being while hitting them.
In fact, there is a big disparity between the genders, so playing violent games is most likely gender dependent. Boys in general play computer games for recreation and that is the main reason – every youth confirmed that strongly – for the challenge. They want to get high scores or want to win against others. Not one of them thinks about “real” killing or feels in a way like a “killer.” I must assume the majority of boys who play, are not thinking of a real human while shooting at them on the computer.
The adults in the panel have not surprisingly a totally contrary opinion about this point. Parents and the mothers in our discussion in general are very concerned about the “virtual” world kids are in. They have the feeling that they could be totally smitten in this world where parents have no admittance. In that case they are excluded and feel helpless.
The Internet provides many games for children and obtaining them without ID or age-approval is easy for them to bypass the age restrictions. The mothers were really shocked about that fact and that there are obviously no possibilities to control this grievance. It is definitely too easy for children to get at violent games. That is what the mothers and the girl´s opinion are. The boys do not find it too bad or dangerous.
It is apparent to all panel members that there is a connection between the newest cases of shooting sprees and the Ego-Shooter games. Especially socially isolated pupils are very predisposed to get addicted to Ego-Shooter games. They lose the bonding with the real world- which is evidently bad when they are isolated- and find a way in a virtual world – which is evidently good – where they can determine everything, even without any consequences. The violent games and war games deliver no other solution to a problem than death of the enemy or total destruction. This fact is totally different from the real life and everybody in the discussion agreed that an overconsumption of playing games can cause a disappearance of the desire to participate in reality.
All participants agreed a law to prohibit violent games will not forestall the use at all because there are many other possibilities to get them (Internet, friends). In conclusion I must say that we – the society, government and also the game industry – have to evaluate possibilities of restraints so that our children could be raised without violence. Young people and children who are having a psychological problem send out signs. It is our responsibility to recognize them and to help before it comes out in a big outburst like shooting sprees or totally lost youths with no prospect in life.
Maybe a law can at least help to limit the most violent games and the government could react with more concern?
Parents should have learned to be more involved in what their children play. Precise information on game packages and observation of children while they play could help. In addition, should the computer industry be ensured accountability about the content of the computer games? This huge developing industry can be used to create exciting games without war, blood and death.
What about schools?
They have projects about how harmful cigarettes and alcohol can be. But they haven´t thought about violent games yet. The schools and also parents should show and teach the children to reach every goal without violence and that that is a smarter way. Enlightenment is very important and it is everyone’s responsibility to protect our precious children, the future of our civilization.
MARIJUANA, A HEADACHE IN THE 21st CENTURY
by Andrea Rangel
My panel discussion topic was marijuana. Nowadays, people have increased the rate of consumption of this drug. It has become a really big issue in our times because of the fact that it is easier to get it now. The purpose of my choosing this topic was to make people (at least those that I know) understand the reality of it, show them the consequences of a bad management of publicity, discuss possible solutions for it, and analyze why is this a big issue in the USA now. The discussion took place during November. We were nine people from different parts of the world (South America, the USA, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Jordan, Brazil, France and Colombia), with different generations and both genders.
For the question, “Which country do you think is the largest producer of marijuana?” 5 out of 7 participants said that it was Mexico, 1 out of 7 said it was Colombia and 1 out of 7 said it was the USA. The reasons they gave for why they said that were because of the poverty, the weather, the temptation of the big market in the USA, and the fact that they can grow it easily; also, due to the fact that those are the countries that are always in the news and the media as a whole because of it.
All participants were able to answer the question about marijuana in their own countries:
· France (Richard): He said that people are allowed to have marijuana for their own consumption in their gardens; nevertheless it is illegal to sell it.
· Mexico (Jose): He argued that Mexico is a great producer due to the poverty of most of the population in the country. Also, Mexico is not only a great producer but a great transshipment point for the drugs from South America.
· Brazil (Elisa and Ivette): Brazil is not a good producer (at least not like Mexico or Colombia) but it’s an important transshipment point for drugs from the entire continent to Europe and the USA.
· Jordan (Ahmad): As a result of their religion, the country is neither a good producer nor a good consumer.
· The USA (Christine): The country is the largest consumer; there are not so many laws to control its consumption due to the fact that some states have legalized its use for “medical purposes.” This is a concern, as it is relatively easy in some states like California, to get a doctor’s prescription for marijuana.
· Venezuela (Drayenko): He said that probably they are a key route for the transshipment of marijuana to the USA and Europe.
Talking about the largest consumer of marijuana, all participants agreed that it is the USA. The answers for the tenth question were:
· There is a relationship as a result of the border between Mexico and the USA. The border is not easy to pass, but people have found ways to avoid it.
· The immigrants from Mexico play a big role because they “introduce” more and more the idea of the drug to the country. –Not all the participants answered the question; one disagree-
6 out of 7 agreed that marijuana should not be legal because it would be harder to control its consequences. Alcohol was an example for the bad consequences of its legalization. As alcohol is legal, some people do not understand the border of what is normal or enough and what is extreme and dangerous, so it is hard to find a balance between what is good or bad not only for the person but for the society in general. On the other hand, Ivete dos Santos said that the criminality might increase in a way that would be hard to stop. Nevertheless, she said that prohibition does not work always and it might be better to legalize it in order to reduce costs and stop its production. There was a discussion about the fact that alcohol is legal even when it can damage the neurological system.
Petra argued that there is no way to have a border between what is enough or not for alcohol or drugs. Ivete said, “Alcohol is terrible.” Christine asked if there is enough knowledge about legalization of alcohol or marijuana for the entire world and its consequences. In addition, talking about the legalization of marijuana, all participants agreed that the society would be different (in a bad way) if it were legal because what would happen to a teacher that is consuming the drug? What about a doctor, a heavy machine driver, and students? As Drayenko said, it could be cool for teachers, but not always. The consequences of its legalization can damage the whole society.
A big part of the discussion was focused on the question: “Should marijuana be used for medical purposes instead of conventional medicine?” As in the class there is one doctor (Elisa), she cleared the ideas for everybody. She said that marijuana can be used to treat patients with AIDS, to ameliorate nausea, to increase the appetite of patients during chemotherapies, to calm pain, and to treat multiple sclerosis. Additionally, she said that most of the time marijuana is not better than conventional medicine because it is not well treated or produced. Nevertheless, some doctors may prefer to use it in some extreme cases. Most of the participants agreed that marijuana should not be legal due to the fact that it would be impossible to control its consumption; it is a big issue to legalize marijuana for medical purposes because it can be abused and it can create a big damage to the society. On the other side there are some cases, like people with AIDS or chemotherapy patients, where marijuana is a really good choice because it can increase the appetite of the patient. The point here is that it is a bad idea to legalize its free consumption but it is OK if a doctor is giving it using a good quantity and purified marijuana (Petra).
A big conclusion was that the media play a big role in the process. Marijuana is a bad drug; everybody knows that, but the media is selling it with movies (Jose) “where people seem to be happier than ever.” 7 out of 7 agreed that the media play a big role not only inducing people to consume it, but also tagging countries as producers or consumers of it. The media sells an image of happiness with drugs using advertisements, movies, news, newspapers, music, videos, etc.
The final question was a really good discussion topic because of the fact that we have an intergenerational classroom. The result was great. As mothers the 4 participants agreed that if a son or daughter ever consumes it and they noticed they would be shocked, furious and probably disappointed, yet after all they would try to help him or her to move up, try to understand them, and help them to get out of it. Petra said that she always tries to make her children understand the world, and she said it is not about being scared; they don’t have to feel fear, but they must know the facts to be careful. The boys in the class as they are younger, said that people start consuming to be “in,” to feel something different, to have more friends or not to lose their friends; in other words, it is because of “peer pressure” summarized Christine.
As a personal conclusion, I think Colombia is tagged as the largest producer of every possible drug in the world because of the media. All the people that I have met in these months ask me: “Do you have cocaine? Is Colombia dangerous? Is it easy to get?” And that is a result of all the movies that there are about this issue. It is not that Colombia is a bad country; actually, Colombia has improved in so many ways. It is more secure, more organized, and more people are coming to visit. Nevertheless, some cinema directors do not think about what the consequences of their movies might be for society. They only care about the ratings, so they do whatever they need, regardless of the fact that it involves a whole nation and its people.
As a result of this panel discussion project, I would like to conduct further research on the topic of alcohol and the legalization of marijuana, where the border is between what is enough and what is too much.
Panel Discusssion: Bullying
by Richard Jouven
I am going to talk about something very significant about which all people are concerned, mostly the teenagers. What is bullying and what can be the consequences? In fact, bullying is a form of abuse which involves repeated acts over time to create one person’s power over another. Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse: it can be emotional, verbal and physical. To introduce my topic, young people are the bigger target. In fact, bullying can occur within a group. In general, bullying starts from the age of ten until fifteen years old, mostly in the high school. My classmate Jose Guzman and I chose this topic because it is very interesting to talk about it. We designed ten questions about this topic.
Seven of seven classmate participants agreed that bullying is not a good way to manage problems. They think that nobody has this right to disturb other people. Causes of bullying are mostly revenge or emotional effects. It’s like one person against another. Consequently, it can cause a lot of damage for the loser. For instance, suicide and psychological destruction are the greatest effects.
The bully doesn’t remember the action while the person who is the victim keeps this in his mind. For most of the discussion, particpant expressed the idea that prevention is the best way to reduce bullying. However, for one participant the best punishment for the bullying could be to do the same thing against him. That is to say, that bullying people must have this terrible feeling. Furthmore, when people are the sufferers, they can be embarrassed, shy and psychologically disturbed. For example, a young guy killed himself because his roommates showed videos of him on the Internet with another man. In my opinion, it’s like a crime because people’s reactions can be very different.
When people are bullied, they might feel angry or depressed so they want to hurt someone else. For me and the group, we thought that parents are the biggest influence for children. It came from the education, and they didn’t give it to them. Young children can’t realize what they are doing. Children at a young age need to respect and be more empathetic with another person. For sure, parents need to take care about and try to understand the damage that can cause. Parents need to speak with their children and learn also their perspective. They need to help them, not to destroy them.
To conclude, we can see that bullying is terrible for children. They act at a young age so it comes from the education. It’s very terrible to have this type of education in our world. I think parents need to have more responsibility and help their children to find a good way.
Panel Discussion: Japanese Animation / Anime
by Drayenko Marin
The word anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word's used to refer to all animation. Outside of Japan, it's become the “catch all term” for animation from Japan. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime) For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan. Over the last forty years, though, it's become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans and being translated into many languages.
My Panel Discussion was about Anime/ Manga / Japanese Animation, for the simple reason that I’m a big fan of it, so I wanted to see what people thought about “The Anime World.”
My discussion was realized in a classroom with students from all over the world: Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Jordan, France, Mexico, and a special guest from Japan! There was also an age range from 17 to 21 and another different generation that we could just call the “moms.” I started my panel by giving background information on the topic (see Appendix 2.) After, I showed the class an Anime Music Video, also known as: “AMV” by the Anime fans. The AMV was about a bunch of Anime (Hikaru no Go, Naruto, Bleach, etc.) to show the class what “The Anime World” was about. Afterwards, I started asking questions (see Appendix 1) such as: Have you seen anime? Or, is anime known in your country? To which the answers where yes for both. When I was on the third question, I showed the class a video of a violent anime (Gantz) to see what their reactions would be. They said that it was really violent but I explained that even though it contained violence it had a good message. After I gave my explanation the moms (specifically) changed their mind about that kind of show. To a positive way, of course.
Everybody in the class has watched Anime (Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Naruto, and Yu Gi-Oh! Among others,) but they haven’t gotten too deep into it. It is known around the world and has grown even bigger! When I asked if some shows could be too violent, some said that they can; therefore (moms) watch it with their children to see what they are getting into and to prevent them from watching something inappropriate, although most of the times they (moms) have difficulties understanding what’s going on. I also asked if they thought it could affect a child’s personality, and they said agree that it depended on the age and the level of addiction they have got with certain shows. The moms were concerned about the rating system for both anime and manga, so I showed them a “rating system” (see Appendix 3) and explained it.
Overall the responses were positive towards watching anime. Also all the moms seemed really interested in good anime and manga; therefore, they asked me for some good titles. I gave them some of my favorites, such as: Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball, Case Closed, among others. I told them that I had been practicing English by reading manga, and they got even more interested! That was nice =)
By Ivete dos Santos
The American Dream was the goal of millions of people around the world who wanted to come to the USA to improve their life. Immigrants from all parts of the world entered here; however, they were not only legal immigrants but illegal as well. The American government has attempted to solve the problem, but not as efficiently as the American people would like. Illegal immigration has become a big deal, especially after the economic crisis. Even though the number of these immigrants has decreased lately, they have become scapegoats for Americans that blame them for the increase in unemployment, for the public education problems, for the health insurance trouble.
The Arizona government created a law that any person in the street can be stopped by police and if he/she does not have documents with him/her, the policemen can arrest this person. It is a very controversial law, and people not only from the US, but from other countries are talking about it. Thus, I decided to bring up this discussion in our English class because we are eight mixed- generation students from different countries, and five of us are from countries where the rate of illegal immigration to the US is high.
The USA has more than 11 million illegal immigrants and more than six million are from Mexico, two and half million are from other Latin America countries, one and half million are from Asia, 0.6 million are from Europe and Canada and 0.4 million are from Africa and other countries(www.youtube.com/watch - USA: Illegal Immigrants – CNN). Thus, do you think it is a big problem? It was unanimous among the classmates that it is not correct to enter into another country illegally, but one student said that if they were allowed to enter here legally, it would be better. Unfortunately, it is not simple, owing to the fact that the USA has a limitation on the number of immigrants and it cannot just open the border for all people who want to come here. Another classmate said that each country has the right to accept aliens or not, due to the cost that they can cause for the government.
How does it work in your country? Especially in Germany and France they are facing problems from immigration, because of governmental measures that give health care, schools and some money for these aliens. In these days when the economy is not in good shape, it can provoke racism and xenophobia, according to all the students.
Definitely, it is a complex issue and there is no simple answer. Why do people put their life at risk to enter illegally into another country? The students’ answer was: because of the poverty that they live in their own country, they follow the American dream, according to which anyone has the opportunity to improve their life and their families’ life too. Therefore, they take the risk to make their dreams come true. Although some happy endings happen, the statistics show that there are a huge number of misfortunate among these aliens. Even though some Americans believe that these immigrants compete for the same job, this does not reflect the reality, as these people, who have a little formal education and training, usually work in farming, construction, food preparation, cleaning: jobs that Americans do not like to do. For these reasons, although they are illegal here, they help the USA’s development. If they are here, it is because the USA needs them. The majority of the students agreed that there are great businesses behind these aliens. Big groups take advantage of their irregular situation and pay less money. Thus, they are cheaper workers who are exploited.
On the other hand, there are other businessmen that see profit in creating private prisons for illegal immigrants. Can it be one of the reasons for the creation of Arizona’s immigration law? Yes, answered the students. When the question was about the kind of punishment for these aliens, most of my classmates said that they do not believe they should receive any punishment, and instead, the government should give amnesty for them, because if they were legalized they would pay taxes and it would increase the basic public services. Only one of them said they should be deported. No one agrees with prison.
When the subject is criminality, some of the students said they believed that illegal immigration has a close connection with the increase of crimes, but others do not agree with this, since, according to them, the aliens come here to work hard.
After this panel discussion, we can conclude that illegal immigration is indeed a big problem which has no simple solution, especially because there are a great number of people that benefit from their work. Actually, these immigrants cannot be blamed for the economic crisis in the USA, and they are the biggest victim of this system. Moreover, for many of these illegal immigrants, the American dream has become a nightmare.
EUTHANASIA
Maria Elisa d’Almeida Harger
INTRODUCTION: In some aspects, the technology advance has facilitated living and complicanted dying. The evolution of human knowledge should be guided not only for the good life, but also the good death. Intense analgesia is used to relieve pain only when other actions are not effective, resulting in hypotension and respiratory depression. One action can have two effects: a good and a bad effect. For it to be lawful it needs to have as a primary goal the practice of the good effect, which in this case is the suppression of uncontrollable pain. This is the ethical principle of dual effect. It’s not considered euthanasia for most people. The aim of this panel discussion was to know what the students think about euthanasia.
PROCEDURE: Initially the concepts of different types of death were presented. Orthotanasia: natural death or discontinuation of treatment that prolongs the life of terminally ill patients; dysthanasia: slow and painful death; voluntary euthanasia (the patient takes part in the decision), involuntary (the action is praticed without the patient’s consent), passive (the patient stops receiving food or the equipment is turned off), active (the patient receives a lethal dose of drugs) and double effect (intense analgesia, for the people who see it as euthanasia). Twelve questions about death (see attachment) were asked to seven students (four males and three females), with different ages (four young and three adults) and from different countries – Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Colombia, France, the USA and Jordan.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS: All students agreed that only God can take the life of a person, but one of them considered the possibility of life being abbreviated by intense analgesia, only when other actions are not effective to take the pain and the patients are in the end-of-life. Three students consented that a person has the right to choose the time of his death, one didn’t consent and three didn’t answer. All students answered that to die with dignity is to die well, without pain and without bothering anyone. When one person is living in a vegetative state for long time, the doctors testified there isn’t chance of cure and he/she is in old age, three students concurred that it is possible to turn off the equipment and four didn’t respond. Two of three who answered this question also agreed if the person in a vegetative life is a child, the equipment couldn’t be turned off, because in the future the cure for this patient may appear. Three students accepted euthanasia may be a merciful action when the patient is in the-end-of life, with incurable disease, with uncontrollable pain and suffering greatly and four didn’t respond. All students knew euthanasia is illegal in their countries, but in Germany the life support treatment can be removed from terminally ill patients when allowed by the patient or the patient’s family. In the USA – Washington and Oregon - the physician aid-in-dying is legal and in these states there is an organization that provides information and education for the promotion of death with dignity. All students said that their religions are against euthanasia. Three students admitted that euthanasia could become an instrument to contain the cost of health care/plans and could be a means for physicians to hide a diagnostic error or to discourage the search for better results. Three students assented that euthanasia is a practical feature of modern life. Note: the three people who answered more questions are adults.
CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the questions were answered by three students, who are adults. The young students didn’t participate so much. Although euthanasia is a controversial issue, most of the answers had consensus - only one had disagreement with regard to a person having the right to choose the time of his death. All interviewed knew about the legality or illegality of euthanasia in their country and their religion.
NOTE: Euthanasia is a complex and challenging issue, for which there aren't simple and satisfactory solutions. I have been a doctor for twenty-one years. I didn’t face this situation because I work in neuroradiology. I have only examined some patients in order to determine whether or not brain death had occurred. But this issue has been intensely discussed in Brazil, my country, because in this year entered into force the new Code of Medical Ethics.
We have tended to not talk about mortality. We have lived as if we were immortal. Departing from of life with dignity is an ideal to be sought by all healthy professionals. The challenge is to ally the technical-scientific competence with the humanism. Death is not enemy of human beings, but inhumanity is. In my opinion, life can’t be abbreviated or much less prolonged pointlessly. It should be treated carefully with ethical and scientific sense and tenderness until we have reached the boundaries of our possibilities, always respecting the vulnerable person with chronic disease or in the imminence to take leave of life. The patients should be kept free of pain as much as possible and receive care, not be abandoned or suffer loss of their personal identity and dignity. The patients should have as much control as possible regarding the decisions about their care and be given the chance to refuse any technological intervention prolonging life. And finally, the patients deserve to be heard as a person in their fears and hopes, dying where and when they want to die.
Law Against Computer Games
By Petra Heidl
Introduction
The first computer games were developed in the 1970´s. It started with games on TV like “Tennis,” where you try to hit the ball either right or left to bounce it back. Nowadays, due to the fast development of computer technology, the games have acquired a huge variety of special effects and impressive realistic graphics. On the other hand the game industry would surpass itself developing the next generation of games – even more realistic and unique, faster and finally with a lot more violence in most games. It seems like a race between the companies naturally to get the most millions out of the sales. Behind this game industry there hides a very huge economy with billions of dollars in sales.
Studies attest that the number of children playing computer games is increasing steadily and especially boys are much taken with not only military influenced and war games but also racing games. Additionally they show a correlation between the educational background of the testimonials and the play behavior. That means the less the education and parental attendance, the more time the child sits on a computer playing games. The children are often left to their own devices. Parents should show a variety of activities for the free-time.
Actually soldiers were and still are trained by computer-animated situations for tactical reasons and the reenactment of military operations. They do this in order to learn how to target the enemy. These are the same games which were the antecedent of the pc-games and which are sold in a different form to our children today.
Process
I handed out 12 questions to every participant in the discussion. The discussion forum was composed of three young men aged 17, 18 and 20 and besides me 3 other mothers and a 17 –year old girl. None of the participants are or were addicted to computer games, nor do they play very often. They were raised by responsible parents who showed them other activities like arts or sports or reading books. The mothers in the group are very responsible and have a concept that young people should have enough possibilities to do other activities like sports, arts or music.
Discussion
All boys in the group have played war games with military influences and racing games, while the girl plays sometimes a racing game. The mothers don´t play those games at all but tell us that their sons do not play that much or they hardly know what game in particular they play. Besides that, one mother pointed out that for example Counter Strike (a short demonstration of this game was shown at the beginning of the discussion) is “real,” like the war pictures shown in movies, documentations or in the news every day on TV. Therefore the game might be not so dangerous and damaging for children because they should be used to these images of war or violence. It seems that all young men agree with this point of view. It is nothing special to play shooting or killing other people in the game. They do not even think of a human being while hitting them.
In fact, there is a big disparity between the genders, so playing violent games is most likely gender dependent. Boys in general play computer games for recreation and that is the main reason – every youth confirmed that strongly – for the challenge. They want to get high scores or want to win against others. Not one of them thinks about “real” killing or feels in a way like a “killer.” I must assume the majority of boys who play, are not thinking of a real human while shooting at them on the computer.
The adults in the panel have not surprisingly a totally contrary opinion about this point. Parents and the mothers in our discussion in general are very concerned about the “virtual” world kids are in. They have the feeling that they could be totally smitten in this world where parents have no admittance. In that case they are excluded and feel helpless.
The Internet provides many games for children and obtaining them without ID or age-approval is easy for them to bypass the age restrictions. The mothers were really shocked about that fact and that there are obviously no possibilities to control this grievance. It is definitely too easy for children to get at violent games. That is what the mothers and the girl´s opinion are. The boys do not find it too bad or dangerous.
It is apparent to all panel members that there is a connection between the newest cases of shooting sprees and the Ego-Shooter games. Especially socially isolated pupils are very predisposed to get addicted to Ego-Shooter games. They lose the bonding with the real world- which is evidently bad when they are isolated- and find a way in a virtual world – which is evidently good – where they can determine everything, even without any consequences. The violent games and war games deliver no other solution to a problem than death of the enemy or total destruction. This fact is totally different from the real life and everybody in the discussion agreed that an overconsumption of playing games can cause a disappearance of the desire to participate in reality.
All participants agreed a law to prohibit violent games will not forestall the use at all because there are many other possibilities to get them (Internet, friends). In conclusion I must say that we – the society, government and also the game industry – have to evaluate possibilities of restraints so that our children could be raised without violence. Young people and children who are having a psychological problem send out signs. It is our responsibility to recognize them and to help before it comes out in a big outburst like shooting sprees or totally lost youths with no prospect in life.
Maybe a law can at least help to limit the most violent games and the government could react with more concern?
Parents should have learned to be more involved in what their children play. Precise information on game packages and observation of children while they play could help. In addition, should the computer industry be ensured accountability about the content of the computer games? This huge developing industry can be used to create exciting games without war, blood and death.
What about schools?
They have projects about how harmful cigarettes and alcohol can be. But they haven´t thought about violent games yet. The schools and also parents should show and teach the children to reach every goal without violence and that that is a smarter way. Enlightenment is very important and it is everyone’s responsibility to protect our precious children, the future of our civilization.
MARIJUANA, A HEADACHE IN THE 21st CENTURY
by Andrea Rangel
My panel discussion topic was marijuana. Nowadays, people have increased the rate of consumption of this drug. It has become a really big issue in our times because of the fact that it is easier to get it now. The purpose of my choosing this topic was to make people (at least those that I know) understand the reality of it, show them the consequences of a bad management of publicity, discuss possible solutions for it, and analyze why is this a big issue in the USA now. The discussion took place during November. We were nine people from different parts of the world (South America, the USA, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Jordan, Brazil, France and Colombia), with different generations and both genders.
For the question, “Which country do you think is the largest producer of marijuana?” 5 out of 7 participants said that it was Mexico, 1 out of 7 said it was Colombia and 1 out of 7 said it was the USA. The reasons they gave for why they said that were because of the poverty, the weather, the temptation of the big market in the USA, and the fact that they can grow it easily; also, due to the fact that those are the countries that are always in the news and the media as a whole because of it.
All participants were able to answer the question about marijuana in their own countries:
· France (Richard): He said that people are allowed to have marijuana for their own consumption in their gardens; nevertheless it is illegal to sell it.
· Mexico (Jose): He argued that Mexico is a great producer due to the poverty of most of the population in the country. Also, Mexico is not only a great producer but a great transshipment point for the drugs from South America.
· Brazil (Elisa and Ivette): Brazil is not a good producer (at least not like Mexico or Colombia) but it’s an important transshipment point for drugs from the entire continent to Europe and the USA.
· Jordan (Ahmad): As a result of their religion, the country is neither a good producer nor a good consumer.
· The USA (Christine): The country is the largest consumer; there are not so many laws to control its consumption due to the fact that some states have legalized its use for “medical purposes.” This is a concern, as it is relatively easy in some states like California, to get a doctor’s prescription for marijuana.
· Venezuela (Drayenko): He said that probably they are a key route for the transshipment of marijuana to the USA and Europe.
Talking about the largest consumer of marijuana, all participants agreed that it is the USA. The answers for the tenth question were:
· There is a relationship as a result of the border between Mexico and the USA. The border is not easy to pass, but people have found ways to avoid it.
· The immigrants from Mexico play a big role because they “introduce” more and more the idea of the drug to the country. –Not all the participants answered the question; one disagree-
6 out of 7 agreed that marijuana should not be legal because it would be harder to control its consequences. Alcohol was an example for the bad consequences of its legalization. As alcohol is legal, some people do not understand the border of what is normal or enough and what is extreme and dangerous, so it is hard to find a balance between what is good or bad not only for the person but for the society in general. On the other hand, Ivete dos Santos said that the criminality might increase in a way that would be hard to stop. Nevertheless, she said that prohibition does not work always and it might be better to legalize it in order to reduce costs and stop its production. There was a discussion about the fact that alcohol is legal even when it can damage the neurological system.
Petra argued that there is no way to have a border between what is enough or not for alcohol or drugs. Ivete said, “Alcohol is terrible.” Christine asked if there is enough knowledge about legalization of alcohol or marijuana for the entire world and its consequences. In addition, talking about the legalization of marijuana, all participants agreed that the society would be different (in a bad way) if it were legal because what would happen to a teacher that is consuming the drug? What about a doctor, a heavy machine driver, and students? As Drayenko said, it could be cool for teachers, but not always. The consequences of its legalization can damage the whole society.
A big part of the discussion was focused on the question: “Should marijuana be used for medical purposes instead of conventional medicine?” As in the class there is one doctor (Elisa), she cleared the ideas for everybody. She said that marijuana can be used to treat patients with AIDS, to ameliorate nausea, to increase the appetite of patients during chemotherapies, to calm pain, and to treat multiple sclerosis. Additionally, she said that most of the time marijuana is not better than conventional medicine because it is not well treated or produced. Nevertheless, some doctors may prefer to use it in some extreme cases. Most of the participants agreed that marijuana should not be legal due to the fact that it would be impossible to control its consumption; it is a big issue to legalize marijuana for medical purposes because it can be abused and it can create a big damage to the society. On the other side there are some cases, like people with AIDS or chemotherapy patients, where marijuana is a really good choice because it can increase the appetite of the patient. The point here is that it is a bad idea to legalize its free consumption but it is OK if a doctor is giving it using a good quantity and purified marijuana (Petra).
A big conclusion was that the media play a big role in the process. Marijuana is a bad drug; everybody knows that, but the media is selling it with movies (Jose) “where people seem to be happier than ever.” 7 out of 7 agreed that the media play a big role not only inducing people to consume it, but also tagging countries as producers or consumers of it. The media sells an image of happiness with drugs using advertisements, movies, news, newspapers, music, videos, etc.
The final question was a really good discussion topic because of the fact that we have an intergenerational classroom. The result was great. As mothers the 4 participants agreed that if a son or daughter ever consumes it and they noticed they would be shocked, furious and probably disappointed, yet after all they would try to help him or her to move up, try to understand them, and help them to get out of it. Petra said that she always tries to make her children understand the world, and she said it is not about being scared; they don’t have to feel fear, but they must know the facts to be careful. The boys in the class as they are younger, said that people start consuming to be “in,” to feel something different, to have more friends or not to lose their friends; in other words, it is because of “peer pressure” summarized Christine.
As a personal conclusion, I think Colombia is tagged as the largest producer of every possible drug in the world because of the media. All the people that I have met in these months ask me: “Do you have cocaine? Is Colombia dangerous? Is it easy to get?” And that is a result of all the movies that there are about this issue. It is not that Colombia is a bad country; actually, Colombia has improved in so many ways. It is more secure, more organized, and more people are coming to visit. Nevertheless, some cinema directors do not think about what the consequences of their movies might be for society. They only care about the ratings, so they do whatever they need, regardless of the fact that it involves a whole nation and its people.
As a result of this panel discussion project, I would like to conduct further research on the topic of alcohol and the legalization of marijuana, where the border is between what is enough and what is too much.
Panel Discusssion: Bullying
by Richard Jouven
I am going to talk about something very significant about which all people are concerned, mostly the teenagers. What is bullying and what can be the consequences? In fact, bullying is a form of abuse which involves repeated acts over time to create one person’s power over another. Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse: it can be emotional, verbal and physical. To introduce my topic, young people are the bigger target. In fact, bullying can occur within a group. In general, bullying starts from the age of ten until fifteen years old, mostly in the high school. My classmate Jose Guzman and I chose this topic because it is very interesting to talk about it. We designed ten questions about this topic.
Seven of seven classmate participants agreed that bullying is not a good way to manage problems. They think that nobody has this right to disturb other people. Causes of bullying are mostly revenge or emotional effects. It’s like one person against another. Consequently, it can cause a lot of damage for the loser. For instance, suicide and psychological destruction are the greatest effects.
The bully doesn’t remember the action while the person who is the victim keeps this in his mind. For most of the discussion, particpant expressed the idea that prevention is the best way to reduce bullying. However, for one participant the best punishment for the bullying could be to do the same thing against him. That is to say, that bullying people must have this terrible feeling. Furthmore, when people are the sufferers, they can be embarrassed, shy and psychologically disturbed. For example, a young guy killed himself because his roommates showed videos of him on the Internet with another man. In my opinion, it’s like a crime because people’s reactions can be very different.
When people are bullied, they might feel angry or depressed so they want to hurt someone else. For me and the group, we thought that parents are the biggest influence for children. It came from the education, and they didn’t give it to them. Young children can’t realize what they are doing. Children at a young age need to respect and be more empathetic with another person. For sure, parents need to take care about and try to understand the damage that can cause. Parents need to speak with their children and learn also their perspective. They need to help them, not to destroy them.
To conclude, we can see that bullying is terrible for children. They act at a young age so it comes from the education. It’s very terrible to have this type of education in our world. I think parents need to have more responsibility and help their children to find a good way.
Panel Discussion: Japanese Animation / Anime
by Drayenko Marin
The word anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word's used to refer to all animation. Outside of Japan, it's become the “catch all term” for animation from Japan. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime) For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan. Over the last forty years, though, it's become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans and being translated into many languages.
My Panel Discussion was about Anime/ Manga / Japanese Animation, for the simple reason that I’m a big fan of it, so I wanted to see what people thought about “The Anime World.”
My discussion was realized in a classroom with students from all over the world: Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Jordan, France, Mexico, and a special guest from Japan! There was also an age range from 17 to 21 and another different generation that we could just call the “moms.” I started my panel by giving background information on the topic (see Appendix 2.) After, I showed the class an Anime Music Video, also known as: “AMV” by the Anime fans. The AMV was about a bunch of Anime (Hikaru no Go, Naruto, Bleach, etc.) to show the class what “The Anime World” was about. Afterwards, I started asking questions (see Appendix 1) such as: Have you seen anime? Or, is anime known in your country? To which the answers where yes for both. When I was on the third question, I showed the class a video of a violent anime (Gantz) to see what their reactions would be. They said that it was really violent but I explained that even though it contained violence it had a good message. After I gave my explanation the moms (specifically) changed their mind about that kind of show. To a positive way, of course.
Everybody in the class has watched Anime (Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Naruto, and Yu Gi-Oh! Among others,) but they haven’t gotten too deep into it. It is known around the world and has grown even bigger! When I asked if some shows could be too violent, some said that they can; therefore (moms) watch it with their children to see what they are getting into and to prevent them from watching something inappropriate, although most of the times they (moms) have difficulties understanding what’s going on. I also asked if they thought it could affect a child’s personality, and they said agree that it depended on the age and the level of addiction they have got with certain shows. The moms were concerned about the rating system for both anime and manga, so I showed them a “rating system” (see Appendix 3) and explained it.
Overall the responses were positive towards watching anime. Also all the moms seemed really interested in good anime and manga; therefore, they asked me for some good titles. I gave them some of my favorites, such as: Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball, Case Closed, among others. I told them that I had been practicing English by reading manga, and they got even more interested! That was nice =)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAYS
RACISM IS A VICIOUS CIRCLE
by ANDREA CAROLINA RANGEL GUEVARA
The first thing that comes to my mind when I am thinking about the world is the planet, animals, the ocean, Colombia, and beautiful landscapes such as the Amazon, the Caribbean, Antarctica, Africa, and those all over the world. I have realized about the fact that always when I start thinking of the planet, I think about wonders of nature. What is the first thing that comes to your mind? It probably will be a good thing. However, I have forgotten that humans are part of nature. In my idea of the world there are no people but me and a few more. And that is because I am thinking of good, balanced aspects of the world. After all, I am wondering if I have memory, why do I not think about wars, deaths, pollution, or racism. Those are aspects of “the world” and I do not even think about them.
Are you aware of the percentage of people that are affected by racism? Do you know how many wars in the world were and still are part of a complete program to erase a race? Have you ever realized about the fact that we do not see far from what is in front our eyes? Why, if we are in the 21st century, are there still people killing each other because of the absence or production of melanin? The purpose of this essay is to analyze the causes and effects of racism throughout history.
Racism is a behavior created as the result of history. There have been crazy people trying to eliminate races. From the beginning of civilization there were wars between kingdoms for land but also due to race. Moreover, Rome and Greece were trying to be the most influential races and the most important culture in the time. During the Middle Ages, as a result of Christianity, the Catholic Church was trying to eradicate all races in order to convert everybody to Catholicism. Besides, Spain and England in order to get more land were eliminating people from the “New World” and in some parts they eradicated the culture and the natives. Likewise, during the Modern Age, Africa became popular for its diamonds and cheap manual labor for the industrial revolution. Therefore, colonialism was a time when big countries were killing and overexploiting Africans. Due to the establishment of apartheid, some differences between races were bigger than ever. Finally, when there were no more ways to cause more damage to the culture of a non-ethical world, a man was born in Austria, Adolf Hitler, who wanted to eradicate Jews, to get more land for Germany, and to “purify the world.” He almost eradicated Jews; consequently, he caused more racism; thus, it is a vicious circle.
As a result of the historical situation during the mid-20th century in United States, Malcolm X tried to stop the racism against black people. He fought for their rights and was assassinated because of that. Malcolm X had injustices to fight against and good reasons to do it. He was trying to create consciousness about the rights that black people should have always but he used methods that induced people to a racism against white people. He was blinded because of his religion. Consequently, he created racism against white people. He did not let a white man or woman help their organization; actually, he looked at them with anger. He respected them but he did not include them in his plans. He was fighting for black rights but at the same time he was creating a deep gap between blacks and whites. Hence, he was creating racism too. Only after his pilgrimage to Mecca did he start to think differently. He realized about the fact that he should not have tried to separate people because of races and that blacks and whites are the same. At the end, the Nation of Islam assassinated him because of the power and the new ideas that he had.
The point is that racism was created as the result of historical wars for land, ideas, riches, and religion. It has a lot of effects: more racism, dead people, economical losses, sadness, segregation, madness, anger, resentment. The reason why we are not able to think about it deeply is because even when we study history in school, we do not understand it. If we had understood it, we would not have made the same mistakes again. Because of the fact that history is vital for the future, schools should have had a better way to teach it. Learning it should have been fun. People should have understood the importance of knowing it well; therefore, a solution for racism is to teach history in a didactic, real, non-conventional way. Unfortunately, the reality is that we do not care about it. People do not care about things when they do not directly affect us. Finally, another solution for racism that I can figure out is to stop thinking about differences of races. It does not make any sense to separate people because of skin color. It is not possible to create a gap between people because of a hormone that we are not even able to regulate.
Pollution of the Music Industry
by Drayenko Marin
With the invention of the Internet we have almost everything available for us. Just one click and “Ta-DAH! You got it!” In the last couple of years, it has become really easy to just go online or simply download software for free, and start downloading music for free without paying anything… which is illegal!!
One of the main causes of this problem is that people are too lazy to go to a music store and buy their CDs - which is totally cool! Buying a CD and having it for the rest of your life is amazing - or that they actually feel like paying $10 is too much for an album, when you can actually download for free. Others do not like the whole album; therefore, they say: “Why buy it if I only like one song?” Well, you know what? There is something called iTunes, where you can actually buy one, two, three, or however many songs you like from a specific album. You did not know that? Of course you do! The only thing that keeps you from doing it is that you think that the artist doesn’t need that dollar you are not paying.
I have got a pretty good analogy that will show you the importance of this issue. Imagine your dad goes to his job and spends all day long working in a company where he is underpaid, just because the owners of the company think that he does not need more money than what he is being given. How would you feel? What I am trying to say is, picture a situation where your father is a musical artist (which is actually a job!) and people are downloading his “masterpieces” for free. You barely have any money to eat because some “guy(s)” think that your father’s job does not deserve any reward. Do you understand what I mean? I am not saying that music download should be stopped at all; I’m just saying that people should be more conscious of what they are doing. You can go and download an album and listen to it – even I do it. I wouldn’t buy an album without listening to it first – but if you actually like it, go and buy it! It is not so hard, is it? You actually feel good when you buy an album, for these simple reasons: you are supporting your artist to keep making great music, you are helping musicians to stay alive, and also buying an album is cool. You have the little book that comes with it, the case, and you have the album!
One idea that comes to mind to stop this issue is that there could be laws created to protect the artists’ rights and what belongs to them. There could be also something created via Internet that could be inserted into the songs you download so then can only be “used” for thirty days and then they can’t be listened to anymore. You either buy it or you won’t listen to it, as simple as that. The main problem with this is that the majority of the people really don’t care about this. I mean it’s too easy to go online and download whatever you want, but this doesn’t mean that it can’t be stopped. I’m sure that musical artists can come to a solution for this problem someday.
If people keep downloading music without any concerns probably the artists will stop making CDs or who knows what could happen to the music industry! It may be doomed (Which I hope doesn’t happen).
So please! Try to support your artist the right way and respect other people’s job. Try not to “destroy” the music industry. Let’s keep the music that we love coming up. We all need music in life, or that is what I believe.
Well, actually I do. Do you?
POLYETHYLENE
by Maria Elisa d’Almeida Harger
I live in an apartment. It’s small but nice. In the living room there are two armchairs and a big TV; in the kitchen there is a great formica counter, where there are a microwave, toaster, water filter and eletric water heater. I like to cook in a saucepan coated with Teflon. I have many tupperware containers that go directly from freezer to microwave. It’s very practical. I also like those plastic bags with zippers to save food. Wonderful, the insects don’t enter. I always buy fruit juice and milk in plastic gallons and keep them in the refrigerator. My apartment has beige carpet and white curtains. In the bath I put a simple curtain of white plastic. I sleep on an amazing mattress and in my bedroom I also have two computers and one printer. Throughout the house I have things made of polyethylene, which didn’t exist one hundred years ago.
Plastic has invaded our lives. How can we live without it? If you live in a city, I think it’s impossible. We can’t forget that plastic is derived from petroleum - a non-renewable resource. Nowadays, it’s produced and used twenty times more than fifty years ago. It was a brilliant invention which made our lives much better, especially in quality. I’m a fan of polyethylene. However, do you know that plastic is one of the major sources of waste on the planet? When I throw the plastic in the trash my problem is finished. But for nature a long battle is only starting.
Plastic can take four hundred years to decompose. Where will all the plastic consumed end up? Most of it goes to landfills. As plastic awaits decomposition, it occupies a precious space in these places. This is aggravated by the fact that plastic retards degradation of residues around it; consequently, the landfills fill up faster.
People shouldn’t have dumped waste on the street. A considerable portion of plastic ends up in the sea, but before that it clogs drains and plumbing; as a result, floods occur causing despair to the people, financial losses and diseases. Puddles of water are also breeding sites for mosquitoes.
Due to the fact that sea animals may confuse plastic bags for food, many marine animals can die. Likewise, because microscopic plastic particles may enter in the food chain, the wildlife can be harmed. Owing to the fact that many plastic bags are composed of toxic materials, the soil and water may be contamined. Still due to the fact that the ciliar vegetation in the river margins usually retains part of the plastic improperly discarded, the landscape becomes ugly. All these things are disasters that shouldn’t have happened.
The human race is able to cause big trouble for the environment, but also has the ability to solve it. Biodegradable plastic has been invented. By adding starch particles to the conventional plastic, it can be decomposed by microorganisms and become an organic compound, which may be used as humus in fertilization! Those plastics that are produced by conventional methods can be recycled endlessly. The solutions already exist! What don’t yet exist are laws to oblige the industry to manufacture only biodegradable plastic plus the awareness and determination of consumers to conduct the correct disposal; consequently, plastic isn’t a villain, but the solution for modern life! And I continue living in a nice apartment, in a residential area that doesn’t recycle; for this reason, you can see me riding my bicycle loaded with plastic going to do what my conscience commands.
Will Marriage Go Out Of Business?
By Ivete dos Santos
Are you the kind of person that believes marriage is not as popular as it used to be in your parents’ or even in your grandparents’time? There is a popular riddle that asks: What is something that everybody who is outside would like to be inside, but everybody who is inside would like to leave? And the answer is obviously “marriage.” There are an infinitive number of jokes about this subject, and just to mention one of them: Why do some men choose dogs instead of wives? Who can guess the answer? However, there is evidence beyond these deceived concepts against marriage, which demonstrate that marriage is not a failed institution. In fact, marriage affects people greatly, although some skeptical people can’t accept it.
First of all, there is a close connection between marriage and financial well-being, because a man and woman who are married are usually more responsible and conscious about their money. They know the value of having a house rather than changing cars every year. They save more money and take care of their future instead of spending all their money on discotheques, on going out with friends, or shopping for worthless goods. Furthermore, married couples can share many household goods and services, such as televisions, washing machines, sofas, heat. Thus, this sort of cost is lower than if each one purchased and used the same items individually. They spend less than they would for the same style of life if they lived separately. Consequently, they are usually wealthier than single people.
One research study that examined American people, which was published by USA Today in 1999, shows that married people typically drink, smoke and use drugs less than single, divorced or widowed men or women. University of Texas sociologist Debra Umberson examined a series of negative health behaviors, such as marijuana use, drinking and driving, substance abuse, and failure to maintain a tranquil lifestyle. She concludes that “divorced and widowed men and women are more likely than their married counterparts to engage in unhealthy behaviors and less likely to lead an orderly and healthy life. “ (The Communitarian Network – Social Science Finds: “Marriage Matters.”) In addition, husbands and wives offer each other moral support that helps in dealing with stressful situations. These are some reasons for the increase in health and longevity of married people.
Additionally, in the same article mentioned above, sociologists Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur compared children that were born and live with both parents and children that were born and live in one parent families. According to these sociologists, twice the number of teenagers that had grown up in single parent families drop out of high school without finishing it. Sociologists found high rates of poverty amid these one parents families. One effect of that is the increase in the use of drugs and increase of criminality.
On the other hand, women’s social, cultural, financial and sexual liberation have menaced traditional marriage. At the beginning of this liberation, both men and women were confused, and it affected their relationship. Men did not accept the idea of “new” women. Actually, they felt a mix of desperation and fear owing to their inability to deal with that change. In a different manner, women, after having conquered their space in the world, did not know exactly how to handle this situation. Both needed time to digest the woman’s ”metamorphosis.” Perhaps, some women should not have been so radical. They could have understood men’s reaction better. However, men should not have reacted so negatively to this women’s revolution. They could have been more mature and empathetic with women’s transformation. The fact is that after a turbulent period of adaptation, men and women have found a balance point. Nowadays, couples get married later, have fewer children and get divorced more than in the past. Undoubtedly, the concept of marriage has been modified, but it does not mean that it is going away. Statistics prove that there are more than two million people who get married each year in the USA. What is happening in modern is the increase of divorce.
Furthermore, modern life demands much time working, studying, making money, which, sometimes, makes people forget the communication between themselves, the kinship. Currently, people have difficulty dealing with obstacles. When problems appear in the marriage, couples usually do not have patience and maturity to discuss and find a solution. Thus, marriage becomes an easily disposable issue.
For the sake of the family, people should try to find a solution before getting divorced. Husband and wife should manage with their matrimony more seriously. Couples could give more time to each other. If each one avoided being selfish and took care of the other, the relationship would improve and the rate of divorce could decrease, because, despite the high rate of divorce, the majority of people who get divorced do not want to stay single, but rather find another spouse.
Therefore, the joke about having dogs instead wives does not affect the desire of most people who like to be married and dream of having a happy ending in their marriage. Nevertheless, in the interest of your well -being, think about buying at least two dogs if you are married, just in case you get divorced! In the assets to be distributed you can stay with one of them!
Civil Courage: To Stand Up For One´s Beliefs
By Petra Heidl
One day in September 2009 in Munich, a group of four kids aged 13 were riding on a suburban train to Munich. They were happy, laughing. Then, two young 19-year-old men appeared and abused the kids verbally and started to beat them. The men did it just on a whim. A 50-year-old man helped the kids, didn´t let them get abused and rotected them.
At the final destination they all left the train. The two young men suddenly ssailed the helper of the kids, beat and kicked him incessantly in a rage of fury. It must have been unbelievable viciousness. He died after two minutes of incredible power of hate. The perpetrators fled and the police tried to get them, which they fortunately did. The ambulance couldn´t rescue the savior of the kids. Other witnesses should have helped earlier. They were in fear and totally in shock! If they had helped earlier; the helper might have been still alive.
The man died because he did what we all should do: we should help other people in sore distress. Or had we better not? We could die in the end, couldn´t we? This example has shown us that it could happen. And it has happened not just only in Germany but also in other countries. I would help for sure, even if I could not help physically; then I could call the police or try to get other witnesses as helpers.
Civil courage (also referred to as "Social courage") is defined by many different standards. In general, the term usually refers to when civilians stand up against something that is deemed wrong and evil, knowing that the consequences of their action might lead to their death, injury or some other form of significant harm.
In some countries (France, Brazil and Germany) civil courage is enforced by law; this means that if a crime is committed in public; the public is obliged to act, either by alerting the authorities, or by intervening in the conflict. If the crime is committed in a private environment, those who witness the crime must either report it to the authorities or attempt to stop it.
In conclusion the helper of the children in Munich did the right thing but he paid with his life to protect them. In Germany he is now a hero, THE hero who stands for Civil Courage. The two men were rightfully charged with murder. The prosecutor charged them for at least 10 years in prison, which finally at least one of them got. The second perpetrator got seven years.
After this horrible incident all people in Germany were in shock! Me too, and I thought about the background of this disaster. What kind of society are we? What can we do in such a serious matter? Would we help in that situation? Or are we a society of turning our eyes away from something? What are the thoughts of the two young men? Why do they have such big hate potential to batter somebody to death?
There are so many questions on this theme but there is no possibility of a simple answer. In times of economic crisis we all have fears, for example losing our job and our home. Therefore we couldn´t afford the money for food, clothes or the school costs for the children. In times like these a lot of young people have fears as well. Most of them started right after school in unemployment. That circumstance made them feel useless and frustration develops. They actually want to start in the working life but they can´t.
In our current two-class society situation, which means either well to-do or poor, they feel baseless. They cannot be wealthy so far due to educational and background reasons. Most of them came to Germany with nothing besides themselves out of conflict areas and looked forward to a worry-free land and a safer life. But there are a lot of difficulties to overcome in a foreign country, like the differences in for example culture, language and the legal system. Because of that, their frustration increases more and more.
On the other side, there are young people with migration backgrounds, with a lack of knowledge of the language. For this reason they are not very successful in school and often start an ambiguous career as a drug dealer or small-time criminal. Until then they had often had a lot of experience with continuing fighting. As a result, they have a high propensity towards violence. Consequently, they need a valve to vent their rage onto somebody. They will even find somebody to cause trouble with or even beat.
To protect the community from the criminals, we need to install cameras in public areas. Furthermore, the perpetrators should get very high punishments as deterrence but this will not get the problem at its root. In my opinion, we can´t stop all crime but we can try to prevent the crime. Violence prevention sessions in classes of the schools might be an idea, also in secondary schools. Another possibility is to reduce the overexposure of violence in the media and a law to prohibit extreme misanthropic pc games. I think if children and youth see such films and play those games again and again they could become brutal. The players become addicted to those games and are all the time in a virtual world so far. Therefore, they have no real contact with people and as a result cannot solve problems on a verbal basis. Since they lost the connection with other people and the capability to communicate, the ability of compassion for other people will increase to a dangerous level.
Parents also should have influence on their children not to play all the time, but if a child or youth really wants to have a game on the computer, there are a lot of possibilities to get it without parents knowing. We have to show our children and youth other recreation activities like sports or hobbies. In addition, young people with a migration background have lots of difficulties to integrate in our society and are often left to their own devices. They often struggle in the doom loop of no job, no money and afterwards get stuck in criminal acts. To minimize the problems, the local authorities should offer more integration projects to socialize the immigrants. In those programs they should be made familiar with the new language, the culture, the history and finally the legal system of the country. Moreover, this will reinforce and strengthen the relationships between the immigrants and citizens.
In fact, it is clear for everybody who is well-informed by the news that the increase in violent computer games and the almost overall presence of the Internet are associated with the increase in youth crime nowadays. Because of this new media, the government and communities have the responsibility to find ways how to avoid and prevent difficulties which result from the collaboration of new (brutal) media, immigration processes and also youth unemployment.
The name of the 50 year-old man is Dominik Brunner. He was a senior manager of a brick company in Southern Germany. Colleagues in the company, his friends and relatives founded an organization called “The Dominik Brunner Foundation”. This foundation mobilizes the public awareness and helps other people who get in distress due to their help for others. Additionally, they give you instructions about how to react in a case of Civil Courage. Their goal is that society should not be discouraged by crime and brutality. It should set an example that in our society there should not be disregard but rather philanthropy, charity, public spirit and at the end Civil Courage should be reinforced as the most important values.
See: www.dominik-stiftung-brunner.de
The Strike in France: Causes and Effects
by Richard Jouven
I am going to talk about a terrible problem that all the countries are concerned about. In fact, France is a huge state with a lot of responsibility, because it is the 5th powerful country in the world. I think the governments are going in a wrong way. At this time, in France people don’t want to work for many reasons, and for sure it stops a lot of things, such as the economies and more. In France we call this a strike, and for me it is very difficult to listen to this strong word. I feel sad and also disgraced.
The strike began one week ago with a lot of new reforms. This type of strike is very unpleasant for most of the people, but we have one almost every year. In my opinion, this is the most catastrophic action that I have seen. I think you can’t imagine this outside the country; you need to be In the place. Nowadays, with the financial crisis it Is very essential to work and cooperate . We have this strike in France for several reasons.
For a year, people, teachers, and other workers have been very angry about the retirement age and they also said that they aren’t getting paid enough . Consequently, you can conceive that it can be a dreadful altercation between the state and people because they realize that the government can steal by giving more hours of work. For example, during the week they don’t want to work, so all the city is infected by the smell of the trash. We have a rubbish dump in the city, so for me it is a serious problem. We give a bad example for the rest of the world.
Secondly, now teachers’ opinions are in the same way; they don’t want to work so the students can’t work because the schools are almost all closed until the end of the strike. It can have a big effect on our country; it can destroy or damage the economies and also close some industries . Even if it is for a small time , it can be very dramatic. People become crazy; they walk in the street and they lock all the roads, with cars and some other vehicles. They bring also streamers to reach the government and to say what they want. For me, I don’t like this type of thinking, because I love to work and to help my country to be among the most powerful countries in the world. I’m sure we are taking the wrong road. We need to take care about what the consequences are for the future. With this, we lost plenty of money and also our credibility. Nowadays, we need to earn money, so we are taking the opposite way. The workers should not have gone on strike. They could have found a positive solution.
Workers need to collaborate with management and with the government to find solutions and reach agreements without stopping services and production. President Kennedy said: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." This sentence is very important and in France people or workers need to have the same mentality. Perhaps workers need to take pay cuts in these times of economic crisis. People who have jobs are lucky. They should sacrifice a little for the greater good. If we don’t all share the burden, we’ll lose everything in the end. In these times we need to work even harder for less pay if we want a better future.
To conclude, the strike is an awful subject which is more and more frequent in France.It’s not a good image for the country but it is the reality. During the world cup in Africa the French team was having a strike during the practice. And the result was terrible. For me, it isn’t a team;it was a self destruction. I am very sad and I hope it will be better in a few years. But for sure we need to change. Without work we are nothing and we will stay nothing for a long time.
by ANDREA CAROLINA RANGEL GUEVARA
The first thing that comes to my mind when I am thinking about the world is the planet, animals, the ocean, Colombia, and beautiful landscapes such as the Amazon, the Caribbean, Antarctica, Africa, and those all over the world. I have realized about the fact that always when I start thinking of the planet, I think about wonders of nature. What is the first thing that comes to your mind? It probably will be a good thing. However, I have forgotten that humans are part of nature. In my idea of the world there are no people but me and a few more. And that is because I am thinking of good, balanced aspects of the world. After all, I am wondering if I have memory, why do I not think about wars, deaths, pollution, or racism. Those are aspects of “the world” and I do not even think about them.
Are you aware of the percentage of people that are affected by racism? Do you know how many wars in the world were and still are part of a complete program to erase a race? Have you ever realized about the fact that we do not see far from what is in front our eyes? Why, if we are in the 21st century, are there still people killing each other because of the absence or production of melanin? The purpose of this essay is to analyze the causes and effects of racism throughout history.
Racism is a behavior created as the result of history. There have been crazy people trying to eliminate races. From the beginning of civilization there were wars between kingdoms for land but also due to race. Moreover, Rome and Greece were trying to be the most influential races and the most important culture in the time. During the Middle Ages, as a result of Christianity, the Catholic Church was trying to eradicate all races in order to convert everybody to Catholicism. Besides, Spain and England in order to get more land were eliminating people from the “New World” and in some parts they eradicated the culture and the natives. Likewise, during the Modern Age, Africa became popular for its diamonds and cheap manual labor for the industrial revolution. Therefore, colonialism was a time when big countries were killing and overexploiting Africans. Due to the establishment of apartheid, some differences between races were bigger than ever. Finally, when there were no more ways to cause more damage to the culture of a non-ethical world, a man was born in Austria, Adolf Hitler, who wanted to eradicate Jews, to get more land for Germany, and to “purify the world.” He almost eradicated Jews; consequently, he caused more racism; thus, it is a vicious circle.
As a result of the historical situation during the mid-20th century in United States, Malcolm X tried to stop the racism against black people. He fought for their rights and was assassinated because of that. Malcolm X had injustices to fight against and good reasons to do it. He was trying to create consciousness about the rights that black people should have always but he used methods that induced people to a racism against white people. He was blinded because of his religion. Consequently, he created racism against white people. He did not let a white man or woman help their organization; actually, he looked at them with anger. He respected them but he did not include them in his plans. He was fighting for black rights but at the same time he was creating a deep gap between blacks and whites. Hence, he was creating racism too. Only after his pilgrimage to Mecca did he start to think differently. He realized about the fact that he should not have tried to separate people because of races and that blacks and whites are the same. At the end, the Nation of Islam assassinated him because of the power and the new ideas that he had.
The point is that racism was created as the result of historical wars for land, ideas, riches, and religion. It has a lot of effects: more racism, dead people, economical losses, sadness, segregation, madness, anger, resentment. The reason why we are not able to think about it deeply is because even when we study history in school, we do not understand it. If we had understood it, we would not have made the same mistakes again. Because of the fact that history is vital for the future, schools should have had a better way to teach it. Learning it should have been fun. People should have understood the importance of knowing it well; therefore, a solution for racism is to teach history in a didactic, real, non-conventional way. Unfortunately, the reality is that we do not care about it. People do not care about things when they do not directly affect us. Finally, another solution for racism that I can figure out is to stop thinking about differences of races. It does not make any sense to separate people because of skin color. It is not possible to create a gap between people because of a hormone that we are not even able to regulate.
Pollution of the Music Industry
by Drayenko Marin
With the invention of the Internet we have almost everything available for us. Just one click and “Ta-DAH! You got it!” In the last couple of years, it has become really easy to just go online or simply download software for free, and start downloading music for free without paying anything… which is illegal!!
One of the main causes of this problem is that people are too lazy to go to a music store and buy their CDs - which is totally cool! Buying a CD and having it for the rest of your life is amazing - or that they actually feel like paying $10 is too much for an album, when you can actually download for free. Others do not like the whole album; therefore, they say: “Why buy it if I only like one song?” Well, you know what? There is something called iTunes, where you can actually buy one, two, three, or however many songs you like from a specific album. You did not know that? Of course you do! The only thing that keeps you from doing it is that you think that the artist doesn’t need that dollar you are not paying.
I have got a pretty good analogy that will show you the importance of this issue. Imagine your dad goes to his job and spends all day long working in a company where he is underpaid, just because the owners of the company think that he does not need more money than what he is being given. How would you feel? What I am trying to say is, picture a situation where your father is a musical artist (which is actually a job!) and people are downloading his “masterpieces” for free. You barely have any money to eat because some “guy(s)” think that your father’s job does not deserve any reward. Do you understand what I mean? I am not saying that music download should be stopped at all; I’m just saying that people should be more conscious of what they are doing. You can go and download an album and listen to it – even I do it. I wouldn’t buy an album without listening to it first – but if you actually like it, go and buy it! It is not so hard, is it? You actually feel good when you buy an album, for these simple reasons: you are supporting your artist to keep making great music, you are helping musicians to stay alive, and also buying an album is cool. You have the little book that comes with it, the case, and you have the album!
One idea that comes to mind to stop this issue is that there could be laws created to protect the artists’ rights and what belongs to them. There could be also something created via Internet that could be inserted into the songs you download so then can only be “used” for thirty days and then they can’t be listened to anymore. You either buy it or you won’t listen to it, as simple as that. The main problem with this is that the majority of the people really don’t care about this. I mean it’s too easy to go online and download whatever you want, but this doesn’t mean that it can’t be stopped. I’m sure that musical artists can come to a solution for this problem someday.
If people keep downloading music without any concerns probably the artists will stop making CDs or who knows what could happen to the music industry! It may be doomed (Which I hope doesn’t happen).
So please! Try to support your artist the right way and respect other people’s job. Try not to “destroy” the music industry. Let’s keep the music that we love coming up. We all need music in life, or that is what I believe.
Well, actually I do. Do you?
POLYETHYLENE
by Maria Elisa d’Almeida Harger
I live in an apartment. It’s small but nice. In the living room there are two armchairs and a big TV; in the kitchen there is a great formica counter, where there are a microwave, toaster, water filter and eletric water heater. I like to cook in a saucepan coated with Teflon. I have many tupperware containers that go directly from freezer to microwave. It’s very practical. I also like those plastic bags with zippers to save food. Wonderful, the insects don’t enter. I always buy fruit juice and milk in plastic gallons and keep them in the refrigerator. My apartment has beige carpet and white curtains. In the bath I put a simple curtain of white plastic. I sleep on an amazing mattress and in my bedroom I also have two computers and one printer. Throughout the house I have things made of polyethylene, which didn’t exist one hundred years ago.
Plastic has invaded our lives. How can we live without it? If you live in a city, I think it’s impossible. We can’t forget that plastic is derived from petroleum - a non-renewable resource. Nowadays, it’s produced and used twenty times more than fifty years ago. It was a brilliant invention which made our lives much better, especially in quality. I’m a fan of polyethylene. However, do you know that plastic is one of the major sources of waste on the planet? When I throw the plastic in the trash my problem is finished. But for nature a long battle is only starting.
Plastic can take four hundred years to decompose. Where will all the plastic consumed end up? Most of it goes to landfills. As plastic awaits decomposition, it occupies a precious space in these places. This is aggravated by the fact that plastic retards degradation of residues around it; consequently, the landfills fill up faster.
People shouldn’t have dumped waste on the street. A considerable portion of plastic ends up in the sea, but before that it clogs drains and plumbing; as a result, floods occur causing despair to the people, financial losses and diseases. Puddles of water are also breeding sites for mosquitoes.
Due to the fact that sea animals may confuse plastic bags for food, many marine animals can die. Likewise, because microscopic plastic particles may enter in the food chain, the wildlife can be harmed. Owing to the fact that many plastic bags are composed of toxic materials, the soil and water may be contamined. Still due to the fact that the ciliar vegetation in the river margins usually retains part of the plastic improperly discarded, the landscape becomes ugly. All these things are disasters that shouldn’t have happened.
The human race is able to cause big trouble for the environment, but also has the ability to solve it. Biodegradable plastic has been invented. By adding starch particles to the conventional plastic, it can be decomposed by microorganisms and become an organic compound, which may be used as humus in fertilization! Those plastics that are produced by conventional methods can be recycled endlessly. The solutions already exist! What don’t yet exist are laws to oblige the industry to manufacture only biodegradable plastic plus the awareness and determination of consumers to conduct the correct disposal; consequently, plastic isn’t a villain, but the solution for modern life! And I continue living in a nice apartment, in a residential area that doesn’t recycle; for this reason, you can see me riding my bicycle loaded with plastic going to do what my conscience commands.
Will Marriage Go Out Of Business?
By Ivete dos Santos
Are you the kind of person that believes marriage is not as popular as it used to be in your parents’ or even in your grandparents’time? There is a popular riddle that asks: What is something that everybody who is outside would like to be inside, but everybody who is inside would like to leave? And the answer is obviously “marriage.” There are an infinitive number of jokes about this subject, and just to mention one of them: Why do some men choose dogs instead of wives? Who can guess the answer? However, there is evidence beyond these deceived concepts against marriage, which demonstrate that marriage is not a failed institution. In fact, marriage affects people greatly, although some skeptical people can’t accept it.
First of all, there is a close connection between marriage and financial well-being, because a man and woman who are married are usually more responsible and conscious about their money. They know the value of having a house rather than changing cars every year. They save more money and take care of their future instead of spending all their money on discotheques, on going out with friends, or shopping for worthless goods. Furthermore, married couples can share many household goods and services, such as televisions, washing machines, sofas, heat. Thus, this sort of cost is lower than if each one purchased and used the same items individually. They spend less than they would for the same style of life if they lived separately. Consequently, they are usually wealthier than single people.
One research study that examined American people, which was published by USA Today in 1999, shows that married people typically drink, smoke and use drugs less than single, divorced or widowed men or women. University of Texas sociologist Debra Umberson examined a series of negative health behaviors, such as marijuana use, drinking and driving, substance abuse, and failure to maintain a tranquil lifestyle. She concludes that “divorced and widowed men and women are more likely than their married counterparts to engage in unhealthy behaviors and less likely to lead an orderly and healthy life. “ (The Communitarian Network – Social Science Finds: “Marriage Matters.”) In addition, husbands and wives offer each other moral support that helps in dealing with stressful situations. These are some reasons for the increase in health and longevity of married people.
Additionally, in the same article mentioned above, sociologists Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur compared children that were born and live with both parents and children that were born and live in one parent families. According to these sociologists, twice the number of teenagers that had grown up in single parent families drop out of high school without finishing it. Sociologists found high rates of poverty amid these one parents families. One effect of that is the increase in the use of drugs and increase of criminality.
On the other hand, women’s social, cultural, financial and sexual liberation have menaced traditional marriage. At the beginning of this liberation, both men and women were confused, and it affected their relationship. Men did not accept the idea of “new” women. Actually, they felt a mix of desperation and fear owing to their inability to deal with that change. In a different manner, women, after having conquered their space in the world, did not know exactly how to handle this situation. Both needed time to digest the woman’s ”metamorphosis.” Perhaps, some women should not have been so radical. They could have understood men’s reaction better. However, men should not have reacted so negatively to this women’s revolution. They could have been more mature and empathetic with women’s transformation. The fact is that after a turbulent period of adaptation, men and women have found a balance point. Nowadays, couples get married later, have fewer children and get divorced more than in the past. Undoubtedly, the concept of marriage has been modified, but it does not mean that it is going away. Statistics prove that there are more than two million people who get married each year in the USA. What is happening in modern is the increase of divorce.
Furthermore, modern life demands much time working, studying, making money, which, sometimes, makes people forget the communication between themselves, the kinship. Currently, people have difficulty dealing with obstacles. When problems appear in the marriage, couples usually do not have patience and maturity to discuss and find a solution. Thus, marriage becomes an easily disposable issue.
For the sake of the family, people should try to find a solution before getting divorced. Husband and wife should manage with their matrimony more seriously. Couples could give more time to each other. If each one avoided being selfish and took care of the other, the relationship would improve and the rate of divorce could decrease, because, despite the high rate of divorce, the majority of people who get divorced do not want to stay single, but rather find another spouse.
Therefore, the joke about having dogs instead wives does not affect the desire of most people who like to be married and dream of having a happy ending in their marriage. Nevertheless, in the interest of your well -being, think about buying at least two dogs if you are married, just in case you get divorced! In the assets to be distributed you can stay with one of them!
Civil Courage: To Stand Up For One´s Beliefs
By Petra Heidl
One day in September 2009 in Munich, a group of four kids aged 13 were riding on a suburban train to Munich. They were happy, laughing. Then, two young 19-year-old men appeared and abused the kids verbally and started to beat them. The men did it just on a whim. A 50-year-old man helped the kids, didn´t let them get abused and rotected them.
At the final destination they all left the train. The two young men suddenly ssailed the helper of the kids, beat and kicked him incessantly in a rage of fury. It must have been unbelievable viciousness. He died after two minutes of incredible power of hate. The perpetrators fled and the police tried to get them, which they fortunately did. The ambulance couldn´t rescue the savior of the kids. Other witnesses should have helped earlier. They were in fear and totally in shock! If they had helped earlier; the helper might have been still alive.
The man died because he did what we all should do: we should help other people in sore distress. Or had we better not? We could die in the end, couldn´t we? This example has shown us that it could happen. And it has happened not just only in Germany but also in other countries. I would help for sure, even if I could not help physically; then I could call the police or try to get other witnesses as helpers.
Civil courage (also referred to as "Social courage") is defined by many different standards. In general, the term usually refers to when civilians stand up against something that is deemed wrong and evil, knowing that the consequences of their action might lead to their death, injury or some other form of significant harm.
In some countries (France, Brazil and Germany) civil courage is enforced by law; this means that if a crime is committed in public; the public is obliged to act, either by alerting the authorities, or by intervening in the conflict. If the crime is committed in a private environment, those who witness the crime must either report it to the authorities or attempt to stop it.
In conclusion the helper of the children in Munich did the right thing but he paid with his life to protect them. In Germany he is now a hero, THE hero who stands for Civil Courage. The two men were rightfully charged with murder. The prosecutor charged them for at least 10 years in prison, which finally at least one of them got. The second perpetrator got seven years.
After this horrible incident all people in Germany were in shock! Me too, and I thought about the background of this disaster. What kind of society are we? What can we do in such a serious matter? Would we help in that situation? Or are we a society of turning our eyes away from something? What are the thoughts of the two young men? Why do they have such big hate potential to batter somebody to death?
There are so many questions on this theme but there is no possibility of a simple answer. In times of economic crisis we all have fears, for example losing our job and our home. Therefore we couldn´t afford the money for food, clothes or the school costs for the children. In times like these a lot of young people have fears as well. Most of them started right after school in unemployment. That circumstance made them feel useless and frustration develops. They actually want to start in the working life but they can´t.
In our current two-class society situation, which means either well to-do or poor, they feel baseless. They cannot be wealthy so far due to educational and background reasons. Most of them came to Germany with nothing besides themselves out of conflict areas and looked forward to a worry-free land and a safer life. But there are a lot of difficulties to overcome in a foreign country, like the differences in for example culture, language and the legal system. Because of that, their frustration increases more and more.
On the other side, there are young people with migration backgrounds, with a lack of knowledge of the language. For this reason they are not very successful in school and often start an ambiguous career as a drug dealer or small-time criminal. Until then they had often had a lot of experience with continuing fighting. As a result, they have a high propensity towards violence. Consequently, they need a valve to vent their rage onto somebody. They will even find somebody to cause trouble with or even beat.
To protect the community from the criminals, we need to install cameras in public areas. Furthermore, the perpetrators should get very high punishments as deterrence but this will not get the problem at its root. In my opinion, we can´t stop all crime but we can try to prevent the crime. Violence prevention sessions in classes of the schools might be an idea, also in secondary schools. Another possibility is to reduce the overexposure of violence in the media and a law to prohibit extreme misanthropic pc games. I think if children and youth see such films and play those games again and again they could become brutal. The players become addicted to those games and are all the time in a virtual world so far. Therefore, they have no real contact with people and as a result cannot solve problems on a verbal basis. Since they lost the connection with other people and the capability to communicate, the ability of compassion for other people will increase to a dangerous level.
Parents also should have influence on their children not to play all the time, but if a child or youth really wants to have a game on the computer, there are a lot of possibilities to get it without parents knowing. We have to show our children and youth other recreation activities like sports or hobbies. In addition, young people with a migration background have lots of difficulties to integrate in our society and are often left to their own devices. They often struggle in the doom loop of no job, no money and afterwards get stuck in criminal acts. To minimize the problems, the local authorities should offer more integration projects to socialize the immigrants. In those programs they should be made familiar with the new language, the culture, the history and finally the legal system of the country. Moreover, this will reinforce and strengthen the relationships between the immigrants and citizens.
In fact, it is clear for everybody who is well-informed by the news that the increase in violent computer games and the almost overall presence of the Internet are associated with the increase in youth crime nowadays. Because of this new media, the government and communities have the responsibility to find ways how to avoid and prevent difficulties which result from the collaboration of new (brutal) media, immigration processes and also youth unemployment.
The name of the 50 year-old man is Dominik Brunner. He was a senior manager of a brick company in Southern Germany. Colleagues in the company, his friends and relatives founded an organization called “The Dominik Brunner Foundation”. This foundation mobilizes the public awareness and helps other people who get in distress due to their help for others. Additionally, they give you instructions about how to react in a case of Civil Courage. Their goal is that society should not be discouraged by crime and brutality. It should set an example that in our society there should not be disregard but rather philanthropy, charity, public spirit and at the end Civil Courage should be reinforced as the most important values.
See: www.dominik-stiftung-brunner.de
The Strike in France: Causes and Effects
by Richard Jouven
I am going to talk about a terrible problem that all the countries are concerned about. In fact, France is a huge state with a lot of responsibility, because it is the 5th powerful country in the world. I think the governments are going in a wrong way. At this time, in France people don’t want to work for many reasons, and for sure it stops a lot of things, such as the economies and more. In France we call this a strike, and for me it is very difficult to listen to this strong word. I feel sad and also disgraced.
The strike began one week ago with a lot of new reforms. This type of strike is very unpleasant for most of the people, but we have one almost every year. In my opinion, this is the most catastrophic action that I have seen. I think you can’t imagine this outside the country; you need to be In the place. Nowadays, with the financial crisis it Is very essential to work and cooperate . We have this strike in France for several reasons.
For a year, people, teachers, and other workers have been very angry about the retirement age and they also said that they aren’t getting paid enough . Consequently, you can conceive that it can be a dreadful altercation between the state and people because they realize that the government can steal by giving more hours of work. For example, during the week they don’t want to work, so all the city is infected by the smell of the trash. We have a rubbish dump in the city, so for me it is a serious problem. We give a bad example for the rest of the world.
Secondly, now teachers’ opinions are in the same way; they don’t want to work so the students can’t work because the schools are almost all closed until the end of the strike. It can have a big effect on our country; it can destroy or damage the economies and also close some industries . Even if it is for a small time , it can be very dramatic. People become crazy; they walk in the street and they lock all the roads, with cars and some other vehicles. They bring also streamers to reach the government and to say what they want. For me, I don’t like this type of thinking, because I love to work and to help my country to be among the most powerful countries in the world. I’m sure we are taking the wrong road. We need to take care about what the consequences are for the future. With this, we lost plenty of money and also our credibility. Nowadays, we need to earn money, so we are taking the opposite way. The workers should not have gone on strike. They could have found a positive solution.
Workers need to collaborate with management and with the government to find solutions and reach agreements without stopping services and production. President Kennedy said: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." This sentence is very important and in France people or workers need to have the same mentality. Perhaps workers need to take pay cuts in these times of economic crisis. People who have jobs are lucky. They should sacrifice a little for the greater good. If we don’t all share the burden, we’ll lose everything in the end. In these times we need to work even harder for less pay if we want a better future.
To conclude, the strike is an awful subject which is more and more frequent in France.It’s not a good image for the country but it is the reality. During the world cup in Africa the French team was having a strike during the practice. And the result was terrible. For me, it isn’t a team;it was a self destruction. I am very sad and I hope it will be better in a few years. But for sure we need to change. Without work we are nothing and we will stay nothing for a long time.
Learning a Second Language
by Ahmad Alnadi
There are so many reasons to learn a second language. First, if you are going to visit a country, you might need to learn how to communicate with people there. Second, sometimes it is necessary to learn another language to study. If you need to complete your education in a different place than your country, then you need to learn the language for the country where you are going to study. Third, volunteering in other part of world you will need to learn their language to explain for others your points, because you can’t explain it to them if they can’t understand you. Also if you find a job in a different place, then you will need to learn their language too. Or if you have to translate a paragraph, surely you need to know about the language that you need to translate from.
As anything else in our life that we need to learn about, we will face a hard time to learn it. Language also needs time to learn it as a second language. Therefore, it is going to take more time than anything else to learn, especially if your mother tongue is different than the language you’re going to learn about. For example, English and Chinese are very different. As a result, it will take a lot of time to learn the other language for both. On the other hand, it is good to learn different languages. There are many benefits of learning a new language.
First, if you travel to a different place and you know how to speak their language, surely you will enjoy your time more than the one who doesn’t speak their language. As a result, you will be able to visit more places. For example, when I first arrived in the USA in Chicago I was able to go out to see museums and some different places, like parks. Also, I had a friend who didn’t go anywhere because he didn’t speak English. I was happy while spending my time there, but at the same time my friend was sad.
Second, learning a second language includes studying. For example, I’m studying reading, writing, listing, and speaking in the intensive English program in the USA to complete my education. I go to the University of Miami to improve it. Then I will transfer to SCF College to study business administration, which is going to give me a better chance for my job in the future.
Third, volunteering if someone wants to volunteer some where, at least he needs a background about the language he needs to use when he volunteers. For example, I had some experiences in volunteering. I have done volunteer work here in the USA while I’m celebrating Eid. Sometimes I drive people from the parking lot to the mosque. Also, sometimes I help by moving chairs from one place to another. I help my uncle when he brings food for the celebration.
Finally, if anyone is looking for a job in a different country , surely he needs to know how to speaker their language to be qualified. He needs to give orders if he is the manger, or to receive it from others. That’s how he is going to be in the right position. He will know how to read, write different language.
In my opinion learning a second language has very many benefits in human life. It gives us so many chances in life. If someone he is not successful in his life in his country he might find it at another place. Doesn’t everyone want a better opportunity to succeed in life?
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