Education and the Proliferation of New (Old) Concepts

The essay opens with a discussion regarding the "No Child Left Behind" act that leads into a review of the modern education system. A major portion of this essay is the theory that Americans have lost all of the following values: "frugality, good neighborship, the avoidance of risk, and the psychological profit in work done well". Frugality-- I would definitely agree that as Americans, we have lost all sense of frugality. In general, people are extremely wasteful. There is little to no sense of living below our means and making a comfortable living by making good choices within the U.S. Good neighborship-- I also agree that we lack this value. The American way of life makes everyone seem like they are in it for themselves and for no one else. The sense of carrying people through life when it gets tough is a sentiment expressed by few people. The avoidance of risk-- I think that this value is still present, just in the wrong way. I would agree that people are not making the good kind of risks that ultimately yield a profit. They are making the bad risks that land in major debt and destruction. Psychological profit in work well done-- I think because of our high-speed lifestyle we have lost sight of the benefits of psychological profit. There is not even time nowadays to be proud of a job well done...


I, personally, believe that our education system is in trouble. After watching many documentaries and reading articles for my sociology class, it is clear that a vast majority of students are given a mediocre or less education, and it is factual that not everyone has the opportunity for an equal education. Heck, for a vast number of students in the United States, a good education is based on a lottery system; if your number is not called, you are stuck in a school that statistically dooms students for failure. The article makes a good point-- education needs to be more than just preparing people for the work force. We need to prepare our students for other human needs like global issues, other cultures, community service and involvement, etc. I'm thinking some major education reform for our country is due...


A review of 

"PAUL THEOBALD and HIBAJENE SHANDOMO, Education and the Proliferation of New (Old) Concepts"

Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling

Michael Marker wrote this article to explain what happened to the Coast Salish Indians in the 1900s. This Indian tribe lived on the US- Canada border. The US and Canada determined that the Indians needed to be modernized so Canadians forced Indians on the Canada side to go to traditional school, and the US sent the ones in America to boarding schools. Obviously,  in Canada racial discrimination ensued which caused much trauma for the Salish Indian students. The United States did not have much of a problem because the boarding school were Salish Indians only (which actually could be discrimination in and of itself). A little later, the Boldt decision was made which said the Indians were entitled to 50% of the fish population; everyone began blaming all the Indians for the slump in the fishing market.

Surprisingly, this article really kept my attention. I had never heard of this Indian group before. I think it is terrible that once again people were discriminated because they belonged to a different culture. Culture should be embraced if our country is truly going to call itself "free". Making these people change because we thought they "needed" our culture was a horrible idea. Sometimes I wonder why, as United States citizens, even today, we can't start to learn how to embrace different cultures instead of just rejecting them.

"The Meatrix"

As cheesy as this series may be, I feel as though its point is getting across quite well...

"The Meatrix", a spin-off of "The Matrix", features three undercover animals, Moopheus, Leo, and Chickity, on their adventure to expose what is really happening in the meat processing industry. They all begin under the illusion that all meat comes from healthy and perfectly treated animals and brought to the store from family farms. They believe the meat is all natural and healthy to eat. Once they take the "blue pill", they are able to see what is really happening.

The animals are not treated humanely because they often lose their beaks, are grown to fast that they can barely stand, are seperated from their mothers way before it would naturally be time to do so, etc. Once they are grown to the full unnatural size, they are sent to slaughter houses. These slaughter houses are nasty; oftentimes spreading E.Coli throughout the meat and providing such dangerous work conditions that employees are hurt along the way. Also, the animals are pumped full of antibiotics which we ingest causing our bodies to slowly become immune to antibiotics we may need later in life to save us that now will not.

In Georgetown, Guyana, the meat industry is actually safer than can probably be found in the United States right now. The safety standards are the same of the U.S. but because of lack of funding in Georgetown, money for antibiotics and hormones can not be found. Their animals are fed what they are supposed to be eating and by the time it makes it to the store, it is actually very safe to eat and free from the additives that we have in the United State. Because it is unsafe to drink the water that is used in meat production, it is not safe for international travelers to eat unless the meat is found at a reputable restaurant directly in the city. It is just very surprising to me that meat coming from a third world country would actually be healthier for its citizens than meat from the United States, who boasts all of the lavish things it has to offer...

Biotechnology

      The first section of the required reading discusses the logistics of how to make environmental writing persuasive yet informative and legitimate. The author says that context and content are important. Who one is writing to and what they are writing about must be taken into consideration. If these two things are done in the write way, then the writing will appeal to the reader instead of turn people away.
        The author also says that certain rhetorical strategies must be used to harmonize passion, reason, and scientific evidence. Writing needs to be persuasive and opinion does need to be incorporated, but if scientific evidence is not provided and is not accurate than many readers will not take the piece seriously.
      The next section of the required reading is an essay on biotechnology. It discusses many of the controversial issues that surround the whole idea. The entire essay has commentary in the margin that shows the reader exactly how a good essay should be written. This is nice because it helps me to have a better understanding of exactly what I should be turning in to Dr. Taylor. I also liked the fact that the essay provided data tables; it gives the reader a break from straight reading and better explains some of the harder facts that may be difficult to interpret for someone who is not familiar with biotechnology.

Fracking

Fracking, a radically new and improved way to collect oil, seems to be getting much publicity. What is it? Is it safe, and what are the potential effects? These are the questions that seem to be asked after each news story or mention of fracking to the public. An incident in Pavillion, Wyoming seems to maybe answer some of these questions for us...

Fracking seems to do no harm. It is a relatively simple process that brings the much envied oil to the surface to be used or sold. But citizens in Pavillion have a very different emotion towards it... People began to notice a drastic change in the water quality near where the fracking took place. Upon going out to the well to get water, citizens would discover that the water was completely brown and continued to go into sinks and showers that way. Upon contacting the EPA, the water was tested, and the pollutants found were the same components of the fracking process.

So, is it really safe? Well, if you try to call the drilling company to ask prepared to be ignored. Shoot an email to them and their response will be that the pollutants found in the water (you know, the ones that are identical to the ones used for fracking) are "natural" pollutants and are definitely not their doing. The EPA is still investigating the pollution claims and cannot completely confirm that fracking is the cause until further research is conducted. I can almost guarantee you, however, that I know exactly what they will find... and it will not be in the oil company's favor.

Powerpoint... or Essay?

I will just say it like it is...

I absolutely HATE writing essays; what I want to say never accurately is portrayed through papers. Even after finally mustering up the strength to get through an entire essay, I feel as though the grader never fully comprehends what you are trying to say anyways.

Power points are much more cut and dry. I can highlight key idea and then speak my mind whenever I feel the need. It's kind of like stories. When you were little, would you have rather your parent read a story word for word to you or fabricate some type of story with personality and information, often times only prompted by the reaction you gave to them? I, personally, always enjoyed the second option over the first.

In my opinion, papers do not truly allow you to express yourself. Okay... maybe if you're one of those people who has always been exceptionally good at paper writing you may be able to, but for the average student in this class, papers do not really work. Power points provide the information that needs to be given while allowing for a visual stimuli that actually keeps the audience's focus.

Change

After a discussion in class about changing environmental conditions and Wilmington, NC, I figured it was appropriate to bring up Wrightsville Beach erosion. In the above picture, it is evident that the land is unnaturally changing. The beach is jutting out every which way as if there is a missing puzzle piece. This erosion is horrible in about every way possible. Popular spots along the beach are being ruined, the like the well-known "Wrightsville Beach mailbox". This is a mailbox that was once well into the sand dunes surrounded by trinkets left behind by those who chose to visit and even a small tree. Now the only thing left is just the mailbox stand; beach erosion has destroyed the ambiance of the place.

Also, wildlife, such as sea turtles are no longer aware of the layout of the beach from year to year when they return to lay their eggs. They lay them in their usual spots which are no longer protected, and many of the babies that would have survived do not even have a chance. Also, dunes that protect the million-dollar houses behind them are being destroyed and thus destroying beautiful property.

Religion and the Environment???

Coming from a general perspective, I think that religion tends to impact the environment in many different ways. The American Indian religion system believed in an extreme bond with the environment; they worshipped and respected the environment and believed that in return, it would give them what they needed at the right time. Many other religions, from the beginning of the existence of religion, have been highly focused on respecting the"'god" of the earth, many of which who are focused around the environment (god of rain, god of earth, god of growth, etc.) When properly practiced, religion and the environment can go hand in hand harmoniously, unless taken out of context.

Coming from a personal perspective, having a Christian faith, I personally think that there definitely is a correlation between the environment and religion. God teaches in the Bible about being good stewards of all that He has given us, which of course includes the environment. Abusing His creation is, in my opinion, not what He intended. He created the environment to provide for us and when mankind sinned against Him, we began using it in undesirable ways. We have free will to do as we please with the environment although many may try and respect it because it is a gift from their Creator. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, however, so I do not think it is right to judge people when they mess up or if they are not treating the environment how we personally think it should be treated. God is the only person who ultimately has the power to judge our decisions anyways. We are incapable of knowing exactly how He feels about this...

But regardless of religious background, we all tend to abuse the environment in some way or another. The most religious person may choose to drive a non-eco-friendly car, not recycle, and use tons of fertilizer on their lawn while a person who has no faith in religion whatsoever may recycle, ride a bike to work, and would never be caught dead using fertilizer on their lawn. Obviously a relationship to a higher power in any religion tends to make people question how they are living and what they are doing. In my opinion, life for something else other than the self tends to be a bit more intentional. Living life solely please yourself does not seem like a good way to live to me.

I think what it all comes down to is that fact that how one treats the environment ultimately becomes their decision. Their religion may have a direct impact in this decision, or it may not be something they even think about when considering the environment. If one believes that the environment was created by a higher power, than they are probably going to treat it as such and not trash what they are blessed to have. Once again, I definitely believe that the decision on when and how to incorporate religion and the environment should be taken on a case by case basis because this debate tends to be a personal one that means something different to each and every person.

Shit Yogis Say

Yoga is a rather foreign concept to me as I have only ever participated in a few yoga classes. However, the video was definitely humorous. I can imagine that those who watch it who enjoy participating in yoga were probably offended by this and would accuse its major of sterotyping. This applies to the the entire world in general in my opinion. If we are uncomfortable by something or do not find it interesting, we are easy to judge it and make fun of it, but if it is something that we enjoy as a pastime, then we hold it to a much higher place and probably would not make fun of it unless our friends were. Overall, the video was entertaining and something I would much rather watch in English class rather than a boring lecture...

"Towards Eco-Pedgogy"

Richard Kahn’s “Towards Eco-Pedgogy” is an informative essay that highlights much of what is discussed in class on a weekly basis: the environment. In my opinion, the essay is basically broken into three parts.

            The first section is Kahn’s argument that in order for us to even care about human relationships, we must first care about the environment. Caring about the environment says that we care about what is around us and therefore means that we can then be concerned about the people around us to a greater extent. Kahn also brings up the major point that we have a huge project in front of us to protect the environment by means of sustainability. If the environment has to be developed, then sustainability is how it needs to happen in order to do the most preservation possible.

            The second section is Kahn’s opinion that there is a general “illiteracy” about the nature of just how big the ecological catastrophe we are facing is. If we do not do something about it, then the future for the environment may prove to be very grim. If we do not directly see devastating effects than our children and grandchildren definitely will but that is not something that most people are even concerned about. He also brings up the idea that people want the environment to be fixed and are educated enough to take steps to do so, but they do not know the root cause therefore they have no way to fix it. When people feel they do not know all of the information for an issue, they hardly feel that they need to do something about it.

            Kahn’s third major section is the solution that he provides. He says that we do not simply just need environmental education, but we need means of sustainable development. The World Commission on Environment and Development says that sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Basically, we need solutions to fix the environmental crisis we currently have now without destroying more for future generations. Part of being conscious of the world around us is being mindful of those who will come after us.

            To go along with this, Kahn says that the institutions teaching environmental education need to be revamped. Many teachers that teach the material often either go over board and scare students out of wanting to do something about the environment or they treat it as if it is no big issue so students do not feel the need to be concerned. A happy medium needs to be found so that students are moved to act for their own personal reasons but are not forced into it. People are way more passionate about something if that come to a conclusion on their own behalf.

            Out of all the essays and articles we have had to read, Kahn seems much less “extreme” than many of the other authors. Because of this, it was much easier for me to take what he had to say into consideration. He himself embodies what he means by a revamp to the institutions teaching environmental education. 

Water

After class discussion on Friday, I was thinking:
Water is all around us and determines if we live or die...
Knowing that, why do we continue to abuse it as if we could live without out it?

Our class discussion made me truly think about the longevity of our water supply. Postel explained the enormous percentage water filtration would have to increase in order to support an ever- growing population. The number is almost unfathomable, and I'm not really sure that it's even humanly possible to produce that much water. That being said, I highly doubt that our technology is going to stay the same. I'm sure that some brainiac somewhere will come up with a solution.

I did disagree with the idea presented in class that not using so much water here would provide water for people in other countries who do not have it. After traveling a few times to South America and having a best friend from Haiti, getting water to many third world countries requires a much greater solution than just water conservation in the United States.

Our class discussion led me to add "water conservation" to my Google Alert list because it's something I feel like I have become a little more interested in this semester. I found a really interesting article about several villages in India that have made water conservation an "invisible idea" in their community. It is so engrained in their way of life that they do not think about doing it any differently. I bet their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will not suffer as much as ours may have to...

Colorado River No More?

         To go along with "End of a River" featured on Patagonia's website, I found this YouTube video. At only 14 seconds, it highlights the key point of Jonathan Waterman's (ironic : ) ) article. The video shows a helicopter view of the Colorado River and the old water line which has water no where near it. What should have been a beautiful trek down the Colorado River served only as a reminder to him that we are in a major water crisis. As the YouTube videos shows, if we continue at this rate, the Colorado River will be dried up within the next 60 years. That is quite a daunting and horrifying piece of information...

         The water problem that we as a nation, and even as a world, are currently facing is not something that just needs to be studied. Action must be taken or we are going to see very unfavorable results. If we do not see these negative effects then our children and grandchildren will. Who wants to leave a major world crisis as part of a legacy? I surely do not.

Guyana... a whole different story

            After a week of planning and anticipation to receive my dad’s permission to go on the trip of a lifetime, it all boiled down to one moment. “Dad, can I go to Guyana for ten days on a mission’s trip? I’ll be super careful, I promise.” With a smirk, I was told I could go if I could pay for it. Three days later, money in hand, I received his permission to go on a trip that would change my college major, career plan, and my life.    We arrived in Guyana, South America extremely late at night and made the one-hour trek to the city we would be staying in for the next ten days. On the way there, I witnessed the worst living conditions I had ever laid eyes on as the people had relatively no access to clean drinking water, no sewage system, and no way to purify food. We drove by little huts made of cardboard and whatever else could be found where families were forced to live with many relatives and even friends that had no means of securing other housing. The next day proved to be no different as I met members of various orphanages all around town. The “they are extremely sick or have a rare condition with basically no chance of survival because there is no help here” story became all too familiar. I knew right then and there that I wanted to be the one to change the response to that question. The CIA lists Guyana as “high” on the degree of risk for infectious disease scale. Guyana also only has approximately 372 registered doctors in the entire country, and ranks 68th on the list (out of all countries in the world) for highest infant mortality rate (CIA). Clearly, their lack of essential environmental items that we take for granted in the United States is making its way to the forefront as we see it claim too many victims.
    The story that stood out to me the most is one that is nothing extreme or spectacular, but one that left an imprint on my heart. Hope Home, the orphanage we spend the most time visiting, houses around sixty children, many with special needs. Our task for the week was to put up a type of barbed wire fencing to protect the children because break-ins had become very commonplace. The barbed wire was stored in the room the children were not supposed to have access to, but unfortunately, Reshma managed to get in and step on the wire. She probably needed a tetanus shot and stitches, but because the only legitimate hospital for miles had recently been burnt down and she was scared of the scolding she might get for wandering somewhere she was not supposed to be, she simply walked around on it until she finally got the courage to show it to me. My only solution was a Band-Aid and some Neosporin I found in our team’s first-aid kit. Had I been medically trained, I could have easily stitched it back up to prevent infection that likely ensued after we left.
    When I returned home from Guyana, I was burdened by the enormity of the problem I had witnessed and wanted to do anything I could to help. The entire experience was enough to convince me that the medical field is the place for me. So now with a biology major I am hopeful to continue on to P.A. school and eventually return to Guyana to help right the wrongs society has placed on these precious people.
    At the end of all my thinking, I came to the conclusion that people today feel the problems of society and even environmental issues we have discussed in class are far too large to slowly be handled one person at a time. In all reality, however, isn’t that what starts revolutions and movements that change the world? In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not.” (Inspirational)

"CIA - The World Factbook." The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.
        <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gy.html>.

"Inspirational Quotes about Helping, Sayings about Making a Difference." The Quote Garden - Quotes,           Sayings, Quotations, Verses. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://www.quotegarden.com/helping.html>.

McKibben Haiku

McKibben tells all
The earth is not the same now;
We need some help, please.

McKibben

Tweet, Tweet

 So I'll just be honest by saying that the idea of Twitter seemed rather pointless to me (and it kind of still does), but it does provide more information than I thought could be found. For the purpose of using Twitter vs. Google Alerts in regards to English class, Google Alerts seems to provide more useful information and more quality, educational links that relate to the topics I searched.

            After class discussion about picking our topics for future posts, I followed many people on Twitter who posted about factory farming and set up Google Alerts for posts related to factory farming. I came across the Twitter pages for "FarmSanctuary" and "Compassion". They both work, in some way, to "protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views & treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living". Google Alerts sent me to a Here and Now page displaying an article called "The FDA's Confusing Message on Antibiotic Use on Farms". This article discusses some confusing rules the FDA has implemented and explains what they have really been doing in terms of regulation. 

            I also began researching and adding pages and alerts regarding sustainability. The Environmental Protection Agency says that sustainability is "everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment". At many points in every human being's life, we directly depend on the environment for some aspect of life, whether it be food, clothing, etc. If we do not protect the environment, our needs could very well not be met. While sifting through Twitter posts relating to sustainability, I came across "Sustainable Brands", a page whose sole purpose is providing brands that have been known to support a sustainable lifestyle. Their website, Sustainable Brands, lists these companies, describes how one can obtain membership, and even shows the conferences that they offer to learn to better appreciate the environment. 

            Through Google Alerts, I was led to a video produced by GE that highlights what they are doing with researchers at the University of Illinois to become a more sustainable company. Their research on pig manure may be a breakthrough for other companies to learn what they can do to help. It almost makes me wonder whether they are doing this to protect their company's reputation and gain consumer support or if they actually care about what their company does to the environment. We may never know...

Response to "Island Civilization" Continued

Nash's idea of an "Island Civilization" although radical, could potentially be caused by many issues. The issue at the forefront of my mind is the lack of food the world could potentially face in the future. According to a report by Elizabeth Dickinson, food production would have to increase by 70% in order to support the population (if it grows at the rate it is growing now) the world will most likely house in 2050. Right now, it is estimated that there are 850 million hungry people to this date and is expected to increase rapidly. With the percentage that food production would have to increase and the number of hungry people increasing daily, the possibility of an extreme food crisis is not all that far-fetched.

             Dickinson stated in her report, "All new technologies and practices must be on the table if we are to produce enough food to support global population growth." "Poverty is the main problem. Even when food is abundant, many go hungry because of lack of income to purchase food."

            To me, it sounds like a global food crisis may be inevitable if changes are not made in the way we live. Whether that means really implementing a huge reform to food making processes so that the amount of food we currently have greatly increases or whether we implement plans that would block a huge population growth surge for the future, something must be done in order to plan for what could lie ahead. Otherwise, "Island Civilization" may become a reality : )

Information from: "The Future of Food" by Elizabeth Dickinson

"Island Civilization" Response

Wilderness and civilization seem to be heavily debated topics not only now, but since the beginning of recorded time. Because of the significant human-nature relationship, much controversy and discussion are obviously present. Ancient civilizations relied on wilderness for their food by using a ”hunting and gathering” approach to collect food for themselves and their families. Their entire lifestyles revolved around the wilderness because if they could not find anything to hunt where they were, they had to move until they could find food, never settling in an area for an extended period of time.

As civilizations progressed, hunting and gathering slowly turned into farming. Instead of humans relying on the wilderness for food, they resented the wilderness because its wild animals were now a threat to their herds of livestock, which was not their food source. One small success led to greater and larger successes, and these small herds of animals provided a way for permanent civilizations. These civilizations would then grow and change to create bigger buildings, roads, dams, and freeways. These “improvements” left the wilderness to “scattered remains”.

When all hope for the wilderness seemed lost, Americans slowly began learning to appreciate it again. Environment and wilderness-friendly words like “conservation”, “food chains”, and “ecosystem” were coined in the 1900’s. The late 20^th century brought legislation, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, to ensure equality towards the wild.

Roderick Nash still believes that there is much more to be done to protect the wilderness and the environment. He presents four ways the world could possibly be in another millennium. The first three, the wasteland scenario, the garden scenario, and the future primitive scenario, are not as elaborated upon, but his main scenario, “the island civilization” was well explained. Essentially, Nash says that with much cooperation from mankind, the earth could possess a harmonious bond between wildlife and humans. Civilizations would be found in densely populated groups around the world; all other land would be completely uncivilized providing a safe haven for wildlife to do as they pleased. Nash says this would require much sacrifice from humans but is completely fair because of how much sacrifice humans have required them to make.

In my personal opinion, I believe that civilization was necessary in order to advance as far as we have to this day. In fact, the number of people who have read Nash’s argument probably would not have been able to without the advancements into the wild that were made. I do, however, think that mankind taking over so quickly and not completely respecting wildlife was a problem. I also think that as our society has gotten older and matured, rules have been put into place to help protect the wildlife that we do have left. They have not be left to just painfully die; plans were and have been implemented to help them.

The Island Civilization model is good in theory, but I feel that our society has reached a point in which everyone craves rapid advancement. Reverting to a system of little civilization and very cramped living spaces with no luxury vacations or road trips would be nearly impossible to implement. As hard as it may be to come to terms with, I honestly think that in another thousand years, society will be more high tech than we could ever imagine but little to no real wild life will be found. As unfortunate as this may be, I think it is what our society has allowed. 

Response to "Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth" Section: In the Fourth Millennium by Roderick Frazier Nash