Carolina: SHOWTIME
by Hien Doan
This is Maria Carolina, a Colombian woman. She is the latest but the oldest student to attend my class near the end of this green summer semester. She is a confident and ambitious business woman. Her job is a senior project manager for an airline company. She is already married and has a seven year-old daughter. She came to America as a vacation with her husband and also to improve her English. Although her mother lives in the United States, her father lives in Colombia. With a strong desire, she wants to have another baby and run her own enterprise in the future. When she was asked what she would want if she had a wish, she answered: ”I want to have a big family with more children.”
Mariana Palacios
by Andrii Protsiuk
Today I want to tell you about my classmate in the ESL program. She is from Ecuador, she is 18 years old, and her name is Mariana Palacios. She is very a competitive person, and she plays tennis with her coach. A week ago she participated in the women’s tennis tournament in the Bahamas Islands and who do you think is the winner, in your opinion? You’re right, Mariana is. In addition she wants to be a pro in tennis; she also wants to be a lawyer. It is amazing when a person is developed in different fields such as sports and education. The most interesting things she likes are playing with her dogs, swimming, watching movies, reading and sleeping. Her favorite food is salad. On the other hand, Mariana doesn’t like fast-food, horses or Charlie Chaplin. Next year she is going to SCF (State College of Florida). Moreover, she is going to be on the women’s college tennis team, which is not surprising.
Good luck Mariana!
An Amazing Vietnamese Guy
by Carolina Currea
I would like to introduce Hien Doan. He was born in Vietnam, in Ho Chi Min City, where the families are very tight-knit. He does not have siblings. He is 21 years old. He has been in Bradenton for one year. He has lived with his cousin. His parents live in Vietnam. At this moment he is in my intensive English class. Then he will go to college and he wants to study Psychology. His favorite color is green and he loves watching science fiction and action films. I think he is a great person and I am happy to know him.
Andrii
by Mariana Palacios
The other day I talked with my classmate whose name is Andrii Protsiuk and is from Ukraine. He is a soccer player at IMG Academies. Moreover, Andrii said that he likes to walk with his friends, go to the movies and ski when he has free time. Other sports that he enjoys playing are basketball, volleyball, hockey and tennis. He told me that education is the reason that he is here. He wants to study Finance at a university in Boston, Massachusetts. I wish him the best of luck in his future.
BIKE 4CHF: WAY TO GO NELS!!!!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT!! YOU SUCCESSFULLY BICYCLED ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND RAISED AWARENESS OF (and research funds for!!!) CONGENITAL HEART DEFECTS AND THE CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION!!! 
Should BP Be in Charge of the Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup Efforts?
By Andrii Protsiuk (Ukraine)
We all want to live in a clean and green world, don’t we? The factories dump chemicals in the water, significantly polluting the air and cars, and people do not hesitate to throw garbage into the wild. In recent cases, there have been more and more technical catastrophes and one of them has happened recently: the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a lot of talk about who should clean up the gulf, and as in any situation, there are two sides. Here they are: the state and the company which made it all happen. Should BP be in charge of the gulf oil spill cleanup efforts? I think they should not be in charge for a couple of reasons.
First of all, the government is responsible for the country as a whole. The government is responsible for the security of the nation and nature. The government should take care of its people. It should give people the best living conditions. Their responsibilities also include environmental protection and control over the use of natural resources.
Another reason is the government has a highly qualified staff which is obliged to help. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a catastrophe on a national scale. The Exxon Valdes oil spill, which occurred in 1989 in Alaska, gave the U.S. government a bitter experience with oil spills. The government’s “oil” staff already encountered a big catastrophe and I am sure it knows its job.
Well, many people think BP has to clean up the gulf. However, in my opinion they should not be responsible for the cleanup. I believe that there is a conflict of interest. BP controls the media, controls people’s “mind.” I think BP does not do enough in cleaning up the gulf. The company already lost billions of dollars and its interest is just in saving money. It does not care about the sea world and animals. At least the government cares because the cleanup of the gulf affects the image of the country.
Of course I do not say that BP should sit idly by. BP has to pay for the accident which occurred with its equipment and due to its fault. It should provide a means: money, resources, workers etc. In the future BP should protect nature more. If everyone cares and protects our nature, our resources, we will live in a green and cleaned up world. If you just recycle, you will help. Attention to the small details could be enough to clean the world. Give a rest to the world. Let’s save our Earth!
HOMESCHOOLING
By Mariana Palacios (Ecuador)
Education is very important for the future success in life, isn’t it? But it's not the single factor for getting a well-paid and interesting job with good perspectives of building a career. There are many other skills that a child requires to be a well-adjusted person. Homeschooling is the new type of school that provides students a home environment for studying without going anywhere. I support the choice of parents to educate their children at home because there are so many benefits from homeschooling.
First, in a home school environment, students can freely choose their favorite subjects to study, that suit their parents, and provide for specific learning styles. My opponents say that in home school students can’t acquire socialization skills. On the contrary, students can make many friends in many ways in every place of the world. Students will go to specific places to study like libraries, Internet centers, museums, etc. Homeschooling is a personal choice that involves all the family and will be a valuable experience that they will never get in the classroom. Most important, they will develop a feeling of independence, responsibility, and practical knowledge, especially how to organize their schedule.
Second, some students, especially athletes, need a flexible schedule. In my athletic experience when I was in high school, my schedule was very hard: six hours of school in the morning, three hours of tennis in the afternoon, then four or six hours of homework, and even sometimes I couldn’t sleep because there was a lot of homework to do. If I had had the opportunity to be homeschooled, I would have chosen this method.
My third reason for homeschooling is a traditional school is a waste of time for some students. In my case, in my classroom there were forty students, so during the class when my classmates couldn’t understand part of the subject, the rest of the students had to wait.
More reasons for choosing home school is the lack of discipline in the common school. For example, there are cases of bullying and peer pressure. All these aspects can cause serious problems in children. Drugs, drinking and weapons generate bad behavior in students; there are many cases in the world that show us the consequences like a lot of suicides and murders. Most recently, we have the case of Phoebe Prince, who is a bullying victim who committed suicide. Maybe, a lot of parents skip all these kinds of cases that affect our community. “Professor Meighan said many academics now thought schools as we know them could become obsolete within 20 years.” (Dorothy Lepkowska, “Teaching at Home Hits New High with Internet,” from the Evening Standard, 1996.) I agree with him because by this time many parents use media technology, such as the Internet, to educate their children.
In summary, I totally support the choice of homeschooling for students because it has a flexible schedule so students can save time for enjoying extra activities within the family and finding a place to search for information. Personally I believe that if students try homeschooling, many of them will spend quality time really learning. Most students don’t want to be sitting in the schools wasting their time, do they? They want learning by practicing new skills every day of their life.
Are We Too Dependent on Machines?
by Hien Doan (Vietnam)
Nowadays, we are living in a world full of mechanical instruments. They exist almost everywhere, in every country, in workplaces, in public areas, in your house and in my house. There is no doubt that machines are extremely useful since they make work easier for us. They provide us the fastest and the most effective way to do our housework, complete heavy-duty jobs and store enormous data even better than human brains. Consequently, they have become a crucial part which cannot be separated from our life. As John Kenneth Galbraith observes: "We are becoming the servants in thought, as in action, of the machine we have created to serve us." Truly, we are now too dependent on them, which has dramatically caused many serious problems for mankind such as lacking of some essential skills, changing our lifestyle in a harmful way.
With the development of technological products (advanced machines) in this century, many people feel unprepared for the real world due to the habit of relying on machines. Normally it doesn’t take a long time for us to cook a meal - thanks to electronic kitchen instruments. But the question is: What would happen if we didn’t have these helpful tools? Certainly, some people might get too frustrated to do the cooking jobs because they don’t know how to prepare the ingredients. Another example would be calculation. Today, without technological help, some people can`t even add and subtract on their own. Is this really progress while machines have been limiting our physical and mental abilities? Apparently, we have become ignorant of how actions are performed and inexperienced in hands-on-work. The lack of several basic skills is a common sign of someone who always counts on machines.
Despite the marvelous efficiency of high-technology machines, they also hurt human society in particular ways. As we know, computers run nearly everything in our world. If they broke down, nobody would know how to operate the jobs which computers were doing manually. Furthermore, with sophisticated computers, they are always connected with each other, which means if one goes down, the whole system will collapse as a domino effect. Potentially, this leads to a devastating crisis that can intensely corrupt and invisibly destroy our world. To go along with that catastrophe, humans now are using technology not only to facilitate their lives but to produce lethal weapons like the nuclear bomb. It would be Doomsday for our world if the evolution of machines flourished with a negative intention.
Some people might say that machines are just tools; they can’t do anything harmful to humans. Unfortunately, machines now are no longer tools for us; they have become as necessary as air and food. In the past, we used to live without machines and our life was also happy. But now, we have all kinds of devices and they have dominated us in every aspect of humankind. Let’s take a look on our “modern world.” On the street, we get around places by small prisons so called “automobiles.” At home, we entertain ourselves with “multichannel television, video game, and MP3 player” buddies. To do our job and study, we work with a super genius partner named “computer.” To communicate with others, we attach ourselves to a magic lantern-cell phone that can perform amazing functions. Those entire things cover a tragic reality hidden behind the bright light of high-tech machinery: we obviously can’t live and develop without these modern gadgets.
In this current “Technological Age,” we have been steadily stepping into the dangerous stage of depending on machines. Believe it or not, they have gradually affected us inside and outside. Eventually, we will wake up from this modern dream and get the picture of the realistic life. Even though, in the distant future, machines, or even higher artificial intelligence, are likely going to play an important role for our species, we shouldn’t underestimate mankind’s potential. As Bertrand Russell, a philosopher, states: “There will still be things that machines cannot do. They will not produce great art or great literature or great philosophy; they will not be able to discover the secret springs of happiness in the human heart; they will know nothing of love and friendship.” Hopefully, in the next era, our world won’t transform into a mechanized planet as long as we realize how invaluable it is to be human.
Sustainable Energy
by Hien Doan (Vietnam)
Along with advanced technology, people now are using a tremendous amount of natural resources to create energy. We have nearly depleted fossil fuels such as gas, oil, and coal for the last 100 years. As a result, it is a matter of time before these materials completely vanish from the Earth. The best way to prevent this tragedy is to change our daily energy into sustainable energy like solar energy, wind energy and biomass energy. Apparently, they offer us an effective alternative way to change our energy usage without causing any harm to nature, affecting human health, or possibly making an energy war between countries.
Using renewable energy can alleviate many negative effects on nature which conventional energy creates. First, it uses infinite resources, which are solar heat, wind power and water pressure, to generate energy. Since we wouldn’t have to look for fossil fuels, a lot of natural materials could be saved and protected. This can also potentially prevent unexpected accidents involved in the collection of resources like oil spills, coal mine collapses, and gas explosions. One of the most catastrophic events that happened lately is the oil spill which inflicted immense damage on the sea life in the Gulf of Mexico. If we hadn’t harvested oil, this misfortune couldn’t have occurred. Furthermore, by using nature-friendly energy, we can dramatically decrease air pollution as well as greenhouse effects that can badly destroy the ozone layer and cause a global warming disaster.
The benefits from clean energy are not only for nature but also for human health. Nowadays, we have irritably lived in the world with a harmful environment due to vehicular and industrial emissions. Promisingly, sustainable energy provides us a surge of power without emitting dangerous gases into the atmosphere. Without pollutants in the air, people will assuredly stay away from asthma, which means a big step toward optimum life. In addition, these sources of energy are considerably safer than fossil fuels, which sometimes can tragically cause severe injuries to the human body like burns and poisonings. For instance, a gas explosion can permanently destroy parts of the victim’s body and the smoke from oil burning, which fills your lungs with fatal chemicals, can stop you from breathing.
With the advantages of green energy, we can avoid an energy war that may happen in the future because of the scarcity of finite energy resources and the need for energy to develop new technology. There are many positive facts about renewable energy on this issue. Obviously, sustainable energy has unlimited resources such as sun light, wind power and water pressure, which abundantly exist in every country. Also, the cost of clean energy has been becoming affordable nowadays so that each nation can use it without worrying about financial problems. When there aren’t any conflicts, the need for energy will disappear, leading our world into a peaceful era.
Undoubtedly, sustainable energy will become our futuristic form of power which can help us protect our mother nature, our precious healthy life, and maintain a good relationship among all countries. In the mean time, the necessity is to inform and recommend this kind of energy to every person. Also, the government should create legislation to make it obligatory for companies to produce power from renewable energy sources. Through research and development together with the new innovative inventions, the hope is that we can successfully blend renewable sources of energy into our power supplies. In the nonfiction future, I strongly believe that these sources of energy will thoroughly alter our world into a beautiful green planet without pollution.
Overcoming Obstacles: Nels Matson
By Andrii Protsiuk (Ukraine)
I am proud of people who have overcome obstacles. One of them is Nels Matson, who was born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). At three years old he received a surgery. It was a hard operation, and the doctors didn’t think that he would be alive, but at five the doctors said he was healthy. Since then, Nels started doing sport activities. He wrestled for Iowa University in college. Nels was my lab teacher at UM at IMG Academies, when I first met him. In the morning, when everybody just woke up and just ate breakfast, he is always fresh. In addition, he always finds something interesting for everyone. I’ve never a seen person like Nels. He is interested in everything. He has participated in many athletic events to raise money for the Children’s Heart Foundation. For instance, he completed a triathlon 70.3 miles (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run). Moreover, he is bicycling across America now. Nels overcame his life obstacle and showed to many people that any difficulties can be overcome, even if you are born with some problems.
Internet Addiction – Game Addiction
By Csaba 'Barney' Egerszegi (Hungary)
(Based on a true story)
“Just one more minute.” “Okay Mom, I`ll do my homework after that.”
Not long ago a new thing appeared in the world: the Internet. In the beginning just the military used it, but as time went by, it became popular in the whole world. And now, people can`t live without the Internet. Some people use it for work, study, research, to entertain, and to play. In the world there are many, many people who use the Internet to play computer games online. I think it is a great way to relax, the games make you a better thinker and you can also improve your English… But it is always good to know where the “border” is, because if you cross the line you can become addicted. In our days the game designers make the games more complicated, and it is like you cannot stand up from the game, because there are always “goals”. And when the managers think that the people get bored with the game, they just start to make expansion packs, to make the game more impressive, and never get bored. But the user will need to be careful, because if he spends a lot of time in front of the computer, in time, it won`t be enough; he needs to spend more and more... Internet game addiction can have a negative effect on both on our personal life and health. And if we play a lot it can make us more aggressive than we are.
Internet Addiction – Game Addiction: World of Warcraft
If somebody says: "World of Warcraft" or "WoW," nearly everybody will know what that game is. It is an MMORPG (“Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world.” - Wikipedia). For those who still do not know what that means, I will explain. There is a big virtual world, where people can play. How many people? At least 2000-3000, depending on the servers, and games. Let's specify more. In WoW there are hundreds of servers all over the world. (Europe, America, China, Japan...) On the servers there are 4000 people registered, and about 500-3000 online. This means they are in front of the computer, logged in, and probably playing. In that `magic` world you have a character (or more, depending on how much of a geek, a type of person who is always online, you are). There are levels, level 1-80. If you play, kill people, complete quests you get experience points, which makes you to reach higher levels.
Effect on Our Health and Personal Life
If we spend a lot of time in front of the computer, our backbone gets twisted, our eyes go wrong, and after all it is not healthy that you spend all of your time in front of the computer in a room, with no air. And of course it reflects on our personal life. The more time we spend on the computer, the less time we spend with friends, with people. We may get new friends while we play, but these people never become real friends. I started to play this game in November, 2009, and stopped in February, March. That 3-4 month period was my best and worst 3 months in my life. I experienced a lot, and had fun, but my grades, and my friends got disregarded. I always had an argument with my parents (about how much time I spent in front of the computer...). I always was stressed about the situation (Oh my God when will my mom come in and plug off the cable?…), but I had a lot of fun. Now to think back about that I don’t really regret what I had done, I just experienced that side of life. But now I would rather live a real life than spend all of my life in front of the computer.
Causes Aggression
This is a very unstable topic between the gamer and the “real lifer” community. One side says that the games aren’t the main reason for the child to become aggressive, and the others say yes, of course it’s the main reason. But neither of them says that while playing a game we cannot show aggressive effects during play and after it. One thing is for sure. If we play games where we need to kill (and to be honest: in nearly every game we need to kill) we can be more aggressive than we were before. Not much, just a bit, but for some people that bit is just enough reason, to do something unexpected. So then why do we need to kill?
Conclusion
So in my opinion, although playing games is a very good way to spend time, to entertain, to learn a bit, and to get friends, we shouldn’t overdo playing. We need to go outside, meet with friends, and live a real life. So here is some solution, which can make life easier for parents and children. First of all, do NOT prohibit the computer playing, if we do it can cause some errors, like arguments, and threats from the child such as, “no computer, no learning” (depending on the child).. So we should just limit the playing time. Most importantly, we have to find something more interesting than the game. So just go outside, be with friends, watch a movie, join the local soccer team, or just try to read a book. If it is not so interesting, just buy a bicycle…
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