Friday, September 27, 2013

To improve Clinton...

An idea that our group came up with today that would improve Clinton hall while being an inexpensive and simple fix would be to switch the location of the recreational room and the study lounge locations.  The recreational room is located on the ground floor of Clinton next to the laundry room.  It is a closed room that has the potential to be a great study area.  The study lounge though is in a high traffic area which is open with lots of windows.  For people who actually want to study, this proves to be an issue.  The distractions that come from the people constantly walking by the study lounge and how noise carries from the main doors are very apparent.  

If the rooms were to be switched around people would still be able to hangout in a common area and play things like pool, foozball, and ping-pong, but it would also be an area that is hard to do things like drink alcohol because of the open entrance and plenty of windows.  Additionally, it is across the hall from the Clinton RHD, so this would further discourage inappropriate actions.  

The old recreation room as a study lounge would be perfect because it is next to the laundry room.  This would allow people to do homework while they wait for their laundry to get done.  This could also be a way to improve the laundry area by not having as many people leave their laundry in the dryer/washer because they are doing homework in their room.  Also, this room that the study lounge could be moved to has closed doors which would allow for an even quieter place to study.

I realize that this may not be the perfect option to fix the issue of lack of public study places in Clinton Hall or the issue of checking your laundry, but it is one way to try and fix the problem.  This solution would also cost the school next to nothing if anything at all!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

White Man's Burden

The film White Man's Burden, about a world where black and white Americans reverse roles, portrays a world that is not too pleasant from the outside looking in.  In this world, certain people are treated very poorly and unjust, while some are born privileged.  These privileges are based almost completely off skin color.  I think that this movie tries to cover a very serious and important topic, racism, but I think that they fall short of convincing much of the audience.

To begin, this film takes too much of a "hollywood" route on how to portray racism.  I think that they take the situations to the extreme.  For example, when Louis Finnock kidnaps Thaddeus Thomas that seems very "hollywood."  The Finnock character is just so terrible with his choices that I found myself at times rooting against the protagonist.  I think that a more realistic situation could have been Louis Finnock continually looking for a job and being unsuccessful due to his skin color.  However, I understand how that plot line would not have been entertaining enough for the audience.  It just seems to me that the plot is so unrealistic that the topic of racism is not covered fairly.

Additionally, the African-American characters are portrayed as the "bad guys" in the film.  This seems to be an unproductive way of demonstrating the evils of racism.  As I was watching the film, I found myself feeling sorry for the white characters rather than realizing the evils that racism has caused to the black people in our country and other places throughout the world.  This was also partially caused by the unfortunate story line in the movie.

Another issue that I had with this film was the extreme stereotypes.  I will try to tread lightly as I state this due to the fact that I have never encountered extreme racism like others have.   I found it hard to believe that this movie would portray nearly every single white person as poor & uneducated and nearly all of the black people as rich, educated, and attractive.  Is this what hollywood producers thought would get the message across regarding racism?  Either way, I found this to be a bit ridiculous.

Overall, I feel as if the creators of this film had the right intention; they wanted to prove how awful racism is and how it affects people.  However, I do not think that the way this movie's plot was made was productive to this cause.  I would like to see a film with this same goal, but I would like to see one that was more realistic.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Should we send our children to Finland now?

Over the past few years Finland has risen to the top of the academic world.  Their graduation rates have steadily grown, and their students perform superbly on their one standardized test.  They have a very large percentage of their students who earn college degrees, and their unique education system is where all the credit should be given.  

Some more facts would include that Finland's graduation rate is 93%.  In the United States, we have a graduation rate of 75%.  Additionally, two thirds of Finnish students go on to college.  They also have had the highest mean scores for the PISA test - which is the Program for International Student Assessment.  In Finland, their standardized testing is kept to a minimum.  They only require one standardized test when their students are 16 years old.  However, in the United States a student will take approximately 10 standardized tests before they even reach 9th grade.  

So why are Finnish students preforming so much better academically then students in the United States?

Well to begin, their student to teacher ratio is half the size of the United States.  In Finland, their student to teacher ration is 1:12.  I think that as students and professors of Wartburg College, we all know the benefits of smaller class ratios.  Students tend to perform better from one on one time with teachers.  

Another reason that Finnish students are performing well, is that they are not separated because of ability.  In the United States students are sometimes separated into different rooms for those who are considered "special needs" and those who are labeled as "accelerated learners." In Finland, one out of every three students receives some sort of help in school, but they find it important not to ostracize these students.  Rather, they all learn in the same room. 

The students in Finland are also given "more time to be kids."  Students in the United States are given an average of 27 minutes of recess per day.  In Finland, students have recess for an average of about 75 minutes per day.  It has also been shown that Finnish students do not receive much homework until they are teenagers. 

One of the last major reasons that Finland seems to be outperforming the United States in academic measures is the way that Finland treats their teachers.  In Finland, teachers are seen as equals to other professionals such as doctors and lawyers.  All Finnish teachers are also required to have a master's degree - which by the way, is paid entirely by the state.  

So overall we know that in Finland they have smaller class sizes, more recess, less homework, and also teachers who are more highly regarded.  However, is this something that would be impossible for the United States to achieve due to slow moving government and a much larger education system compared to Finland?  I guess only time will tell us.  

Sunday, September 8, 2013

The Bushmen of Southern Africa/An Inconvenient Truth


       The Bushmen of Southern Africa:

        The Bushmen of Southern Africa are indigenous people who have lived in countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Angola for thousands of years.  They live off of the land and the game that roams on their land.  However, in the early 1980’s there were diamonds discovered on the Bushmen’s reserve.  After the diamonds were found, they were told to leave the reserve by the government.
In 1997, 2002, and 2005 all of the Bushmen were forced to leave.  In the three clearances their homes, school, and health center were all destroyed. The water supply on the reserve was used up, and the Bushmen were trucked away from the only home they’d ever known. 
Currently, many of the Bushmen live outside of the reserve in resettlement camps.  They are rarely able to hunt without being arrested or beaten for doing so.  In addition, many now have illnesses due to their relocation.  The illnesses include, but are not limited to depression, alcoholism, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.  The Bushmen must now depend on the handouts that the government gives them; this way of life will ruin the unique traditions and their way of life will soon be extinct.
However, in 2006 the Bushmen won their right in court to return to their lands.  The government continues to block their return by doing things like banning them from using a water borehole – which the Bushmen used before they were kicked out.  Now without the borehole, the Bushmen struggle to find water to survive on the lands that their ancestors have lived on for hundreds of years. 
Photo: Four Bushmen head out to huntPhoto: Women with children talking near Ghanzi
The Bushmen story continues in 2011 with further litigation against the government to gain access to the water borehole.  The Bushmen’s application was initially dismissed, but in January of 2011 the Botswana’s Court of Appeal ruled that the Bushmen might now use the old water borehole.  In addition to the use of the old borehole, they are also allowed to make new watering holes on the reserve.  The judges explained the Bushmen’s case as “a harrowing story of human suffering and despair.”
Another way the government has tried to block the Bushmen from moving back to their land is by making new boreholes that are only for wildlife.  In addition to the wildlife boreholes, the government also allowed a safari company, Wilderness Safaris, to open a tourist camp in the reserve. 
Not only have they allowed the safari tours and the water borehole to be blocked, the government has done more things to hurt the Bushmen.  They have refused to allow the Bushmen to hunt on their own land.  As a result of this, they have arrested more than 50 Bushmen for hunting in order to feed their families, and they have banned them from taking their small herds of goats back to the reserve. 
The government not only has mistreated this group of people, but they still have not taken responsibility for their wrong actions.  They continue to abuse their rights and block the Bushmen from living on their ancestral land.  I feel that this is a clear case of environmental justice.  The government and diamond industry has abused this group of people and abused the land that they have lived on for so many years.

 Photo: An old Bushman performs ceremony on young girl

An Inconvenient Truth:

       An Inconvenient Truth was a great movie to watch to supplement the environmental justice topic.  I thought that the issues it brought up were specifically related to environmental issues and the issues of moderation.  Also, the research and scientific proof it brought to the table was a great addition for the viewers to learn about.  However, I feel that this movie was a bit dry.  Part of the reason for this is because I am not that passionate about environmental justice.  Additionally, I did not enjoy the format of the movie.  I thought that it was too much of listening to Al Gore speak rather than videos of the environment and the issues that were brought up.  Overall, this was a good complementary movie though. 

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Scholars Assignment #1 (Dream)

     If money was not an issue for me I already know what I would want to do with my life.  As old-fashioned as it may seem to other people, I would love to be a "stay at home" mom.  I enjoy the idea of being able to spend all my time with my future husband and children.  I want to be able to spend time with my children as they grow up so that I can be some of their first memories and hopefully a part of their favorite memories too.

     Additionally, I would love to travel the world and be able to see the different and unique places that our planet has to offer.  I would enjoy traveling with family and friends and making once in a lifetime memories.  One of the things on my bucket list is to go to all four major tennis tournaments.  These events are in Australia, France, England, and New York.  Hopefully, I will be able to have the resources someday to travel and make these memories.

     If money was not an issue for me I would enjoy being able to experience new things like skydiving or scuba-diving.  I would love to go on a safari trip through the rain forest or a jungle.  I would love to learn how to surf.  If money wasn't an issue I would try to experience new things every day.  I would live an exciting and fulfilling life.

     If I had all the resources I needed to do what I wanted I would like to volunteer my time and resources to help those less fortunate than I am.  It would be such a great feeling to be able to help those who are struggling in life.  Volunteering would certainly be something I would want to do.

     Overall, if money was not an issue in my life I would travel the world, spend time with my friends and family, and volunteer my time and money.  I would enjoy living day to day with the ability to try new things and have new experiences.