Being a junior in high school some of my attention has been placed on college and future plans. Since we are in between chapters right now I decided to dig a little deeper on the subject. I found a website that addresses the number of foreign students who are studying higher education in the United States. I feel that opening our doors to foreign students is a great thing because those students can take what they have learned back to their homes and put it into action. Allowing the students of the world an opportunity to study in a higher education atmosphere is great, but I fear that most of the foreign students who are coming to the U.S. for school are the people who have families that can afford it. In the future I would like to see more being done about offering higher education to more class levels not just the upper class or those who can afford it. In any case, this site offers some statistics and information about foreign students coming to the United States for education; who knows maybe in the future you will have a class with a foreign student.
http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/Nov/14-84697.html
Okay, so I know everyone is probably sick of talking about global warming, but I found one really good site. It all revolves around Africa's Sahara Desert, which covers over 3.5 million square miles and has only 2.5 million inhabitants - roughly 1 person per square mile (0.4 sq km)- which is one of the lowest population densities on earth.
However, greenhouse gas emissions have caused heavy, torrential rains lately. Global warming could have the potential to alter North Africa's environment. It could result in extreme rainfall; something that the desert isn't accustomed to. Not only that, but "Temperatures are estimated to rise more than the world average all over Africa. Rains will therefore dry up faster as evaporation follows temperatures." This could result in harsh challenges with agriculture production. With increasing poverty and malnourishment, I can only imagine the devastation that struggling agriculture could cause.
The Sahara is also home to the gerbil, jerboa, Cape hare, the desert hedgehog, gazelle, dama deer,anubis baboon, spotted hyena, common jackal, and over 300 bird species. The possible effects on these animals are unknown. Global warming in The Sahara is just gaining recognition, so research is gradually taking off. I hope scientists can discover more information on what the future of Africa and its deserts include.
*Check out this site for interesting basics on the Sahara, including: the land, people, animals, etc.
THE DESERTor
*This site on global warming
AFRICAN SAHARA
Africa Daily
This is the homepage for the
Africa Daily, one of Africa's largest newspapers. Some interesting articles I read were the ones about measles and the bird flu. Personally my favorite was the sports. It looks like cricket is in season right now and is a very popular game in Africa. Boxing, Basketball and
Formula 1 (racing) are a few other popular activities. The entertainment section covers everything from Hollywood to Bollywood. This newspaper covers almost anything you can think of and is very
relevant to our life in America.
http://www.africadaily.com/
Former Yugolav president, Slobodan Milosevic was found dead this morning in his prison cell. He was being faced with war crimes. According to CNN "Milosevic faced 66 charges, including those of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s". The U.N. war crimes tribunal was holding him for these crimes but he plead not guilty. He said he was "not responsible for ordering killings and rapes". The cause of his death is not know yet; the autopsy will be tomorrow, but there are several proposed reasons for his death. His family think it was the tribunal's fault completely for his death, while his lawyer said that his client said that there had been attempts to poison him while he was in prison. Milosevic was not in the best health and had high blood pressure. Doctors suggested that he have treatment and take a break. He wanted to go back to Russuia, but the UN wwould not allow it. An observer said that he appeared fine his last days, but his counsel said his voice was more hoarse and he complained of headaches. It's hard to say who's right, but it is a good example of how glabalization has its downfalls too. It causes conflicts and it's a question of how this event will affect the UN's reputation. The UN in my mind is a huge part of political gloabization and this event's results will make an impact on a lot of people.
Plant Biotechnology in Africa
I starting reading the next chapter on Sub-Saharan Africa and found an interesting website about malnutrition in Africa.
Malnutrition is a common problem throughout the region of Africa. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 40-50 percent of the southern African population is malnourished every year and that the regoing is "worse of nutritionally today that it was 30 years ago." For this reason people are looking at different ways in which Africa could be able to produce a greater amount of food. Some belive that something called "plant biotechnology" is the answer.
Plant Biotechnology can help produce a greater amount of food. Plant biotechnolgy helps develop crops with specific beneficial traits without undesirable trades. Favorable traits incude creating plants that fight pests such as insects, disease, and weeds. It also can produce more quality food items. To meet with the growing number of people in our world, in about 30 or 40 years, we would need double the land for agriculture. The first website is very interesting and includes some starteling facts. In my opinion, plant biotechnology is the answer to creating more productive crops not only for Africa, but for the world in the years to come.
3/10/06
Trivia: Cabind, Africa belongs to what country? -answer-
AngolaThe rest of the day we worked on "
Creating an ArcView Project: An Exercise for Beginning GIS Users"
Then we talked about the Dominant Male.
3/9/06
Today was an exciting day in college geo. We took a test on chapters four and five, concerning Latin America and the Caribbean.
Water Policy Fails World's Poor
Water is crucial to our survival but a new report states, “Water policy 'fails world's poor'”. According to the article over one billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water. Problems contributing to the lack of clean drinking water include global climate change and rapid urbanization; both issues have come up in our class. The article includes a link to a map of nations’ water footprints, (how much water a nation uses,) and a link to a six part series called “Planet Under Pressure.”
March 22, 2006 is World Water day, an event coordinated by the United Nations to increase world awareness of water issues. We should talk about coordinating some activity at school around this event. What do you all think?
In both Latin America and the Caribbean, youth crime is on the rise. In such poor, developing areas many young teenagers enter dangerous and deadly lifestyles. When denied access to education, a home, or decent jobs these kids choose the first option that comes knocking.
According to one article, "Youth gangs are mushrooming, especially in Latin America and African countries, where rapid urbanization is straining families' ability to meet the social and economic needs of young people." Sadly, so-called "street kids" resort to gangs to survive and recieve a sense of belonging and importance. Once recruited, a profitable system of drug trade takes over. In Brazil, children as young as 10 make up the 20,000 drug delivering jobs. Not only that, but the salary rewarded is usually far larger than their own parents! This adds to their feeling of self worth and accomplishment.
With gang activity, there also comes widespread violence.
Did you know 29% of homicides in Latin America are among youth 10-19 years of age. In Venezuela, 95% of homicide victims were male, and 54% of them were under age 25. Another alarming fact is that over the past years, youth crime in brazil has increased by 77%. This was most likely the effect of surging firearms numbers within the country. Latin America's urban areas have the highest gun ownership rates, 19.7%.
I think that with crime and violence out of control, something has to be done. If action isn't being taken, more and more teens will be walking into the hands of gangs.
*Check out these sites for more
YOUTH CRIMEVIOLENCE RISING
3/8/06
Geopolitical Framework: Colonialism, Neocolonialism, and Independence- Monroe Doctrine: said that U.S. would not tolerate European military involement in Western Hemisphere.
- Ex. of neocolonialism:strategies that powerful states use to extend their control over other states.
- Life in "American Backyard:
- Its People are US citizens
- Ind. movements seek sucession from US
US Military Involvement & Regional Disputes (Fig. 5.21)
- (Cuba) gained freedom in 1898
- Rev. gave Castro power in 1959
- Cuban Missile Crisis challenged US caribbean dominance
- Independence and Integration
- Haiti:Slaves revolted, gained ind. in 1804
- Regional Interation
- Caribbean community and common Market
- (caricom) proposed regional
- Industrialization and creation of caribbean developing bank to help poorer states
- Full members (former English Colonies)
Economic and Social Development:From Cane Fields to Cruise Ships
- Sugar
- Crucial to historic Economy
- Importance of sugar has declined
- Several states in lesser antilles are dependent on banana production.
- Sales depend on trade agreements and consumer whims
- Free trade Zones (FTZ's) and tax-exempt industrial parks to attract foreign corp.
- Offers specialized services that are confidential and tax-emempt
- Localities make money from registration fees, not taxes (Bahamas ranked 3rd ing 1976 but now 15th)
- Proximity to US is appealing
- Attracts Money from drug trade
Free Trade Zones in the Dominican Republic (fig. 5.24)
- Five Islands hosted 70% of the 14 million tourists who came to the region in '99 (puerto Rico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamica, Cuba)
- Capitol leakage: Serious problem involving huge gap between gross reciepts and total tourists dollars that remain in caribbean
- Many corp. headquaters are outside region and profits flow outside country.
Global Linkages: International Tourism (fig. 5.25)
- Higher literacy in Cuba and English colonies
- Braindrain: A large % of the best educated people leave the region
- Many men leave home for seasonal work
- Women control many activities, but lack the status of men.
- Intra-regional, seasonal migration is traditonal
- Remitances
- Money sent back home.
******Blanks are space where packet is already written*******
Notes for 3/7/06
Caribbean DiasporaRural-Urban Continium~Plantation and subsistence farming shaped settlement patterns
~Farmlands owned by elite, small plots for substance agriculture
-Caribbean Cities
~Rural to urban migration since 1960s
-Causes: mechanization of agriculture, offshore industrialization, and rapid population growth
-60% of region today is classified as urban
-Cuba is the most urban (75%), Haiti is the least (35%)
-Cities reflect colonial influences
-Housing
~A decrease in rural jobs played a major role in the surge in urbanization
~As urbanization occurred, thousands poured into the cities
-Erected shanty towns, filled informal sector
-Electricity pirated from power lines
~In Cuba, government built apartment blocks reflect socialism
-Housing, landscape, homogenecity
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Neo-Africa in the Americas Creolization: The process in which African and European cultures are blended in the Caribbean
The Cultural Imprint of Colonialism
-Plantation system destroyed indigenous systems
-Replaced with different social systems and cultures through slavery~Plantation America
-A cultural region extending from midway up coast of Brazil through the Guianas and the Caribbean into the southeastern U.S.
-Characteristics include:
~European elite ruling class
~African labor force
~Mono-crop production: a single commodity such as sugar
Asian Immigration
-Result of colonial governments freeing slaves by mid 19th century
~Indentured labor: workers contracted for a set period of time
-Largest Asian populations in Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, and Tobago
~More than 1/3 of Surinamese population is South Asian (from India)
Creating a Neo-Africa -Beginning in the 16th century, African diasporta: forced removal of Africans from their native area
~At least 10 million were brought to the Americas, and 2 million died en route
~Influx of enslaved Africans, plus elimination of most indigenous peoples
Maroon Societies
-Communities of runaway slaves (Maroons)
~Many short-lived, but others survived and helped African traditions and farming practices to survive
~In isolated areas, like Bush Negroes of Suriname
African Religions
-Most strongly associated with northeastern Brazil and the Caribbean
-Voodoo most widely practiced
Creolization and Caribbean Identity
-Creolization: Blending of African, European, Americindian cultural elements into a unique system
Languages: Spanish (24 million), French (8 million), English (6 million), Dutch (500,000)
-In some places, new languages have emerged
~Patois (French Crede) spoken in Haiti
~Creole languages are an expression of nationalism
Music: Several forms emerged in the region
-Reggae, calypso, merengue, rumba, zouk, Afro-Caribbean, others
-Steel drums
-Music of Bob Marley reflects Jamaica's political situation
(Transatlantic Slave Trade Map)(Caribbean Language Map)
maroon societies and creole languagesIn class today we talked about maroon societies and creole languages in the Caribbean. The maroon societies are communities of runaway slaves. Many of them were short lived but others survived and helped African Traditions. Creolization is the blending of African, European, Amerindian cultural elements into a unique system. This website (above) is really good about explaining more in depth about each of these. There were Maroons in Jamaica during the period of Spanish rule, before the Europeans came in but not a lot is known about them.
3/6/06
1. Trivia: What state is the only state that doesn’t have a rectangular flag? *Ohio*
2. Notes: The Caribbean
Caribbean includes 25 countries and dependent territories located on the Caribbean Sea. First Europeans, then the U.S. influenced the region. Plantation agriculture is important. High population densities, environmental problems. Economy based on tourism, offshore banking, manufacturing, and exports.
Isolated proximity: isolation sustains diversity.
Much of the tropical rainforest cover was removed after arrival of Europeans. Haiti’s forests are almost gone. 30% left in Jamaica and Dominican Republic and less in Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Rimland: coastal zone of mainland, from Belize to South America.
Local environmental problems include water contamination and sewage disposal. Urban poor most vulnerable. Only 50% of the Haiti’s population has access to clean water. A problem for public health and tourism.
The Greater Antilles: Four large island of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico. Lesser Antilles: double are the small islands from Virgin Islands to Trinidad. Rimland States: includes Belize and the Guianas on the South American coast.
Warm all year with abundant rain. Forests and naturally occurring grasslands. Seasonality determined more by rainfall, and less by temperature changes.
Hurricanes: storms with heavy rains and fierce winds. 6-12 moves through the region annually.
86% of the region’s population is concentrated on the 4 islands of the Greater Antilles. Region is currently growing at a rate of 1.3%.
The rise of HIV/AIDS infection rate is more than three times of that of North America.
3. Caribbean political and physical map due on Tuesday.
4. Read pages 108-114 and due packet.
5. Test on Thursday on Chapters 4 and 5.
I found
this article to be very interesting. It talks about China’s plans to deal with they’re growing problem of the vast gap between the rich and poor. They plan to revenues from its growing economy to help the problem. With even China doing something about this problem it kind of makes you wonder why America isn’t doing more about this. Should we be addressing this problem more than we are?
Deforestation of the Amazon
We talked a bit in class about how tropical areas such as the Amazon were being depleted. Deforestation is definately something that needs a second glance. While there have been efforts made to save this area, it continues to be depleted quicker than it is regenerating. An article I found adresses this subject, saying that "Deforestation could turn the Amazon into a desert".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2193172.stmThe article is mainly concerning what is being done in Brazil to stop deforestation of the Amazon. Unfortunately, some efforts have fallen into the hands of corruption. Unless something can be done, we may no longer have the Amazon as we know it. Also, my jaw dropped when I read that loggers are selling trees for around $15 when their worth on the international market are thousands of dollars. Settlers are getting extremely upset about what loggers and others in the business are doing. At the risk of sounding like a hippie, we need to save the Amazon!
Population Density Problems in India
Looking at population density maps can tell us a lot about the world, and are easy to read. A few of the most obvious areas for population areas are Japan, Eastern China, Europe, and of course, India. Some may just look at population density as just another national statistic, but for India, it is a major problem. Simply comparing the USA and India maps'
scales for population density are enough to tell you that there is a major difference. A link concerning two maps comparing the two countries are as follows:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/india_pop_1973.jpghttp://ite.pubs.informs.org/submissions/example/images/la1.gifEfforts have been made by India to control overpopulation, but thus far nothing effective enough to suffice. There are quite a few ideas out there that look good on paper, but are nearly impossible to carry out. Keeping overpopulation is definately a concern for some countries to avoid dramatic overcrowding, as shown in the following link:
http://senescence.info/overpopulation.jpg
What would Wal-Mart do to our town?
What would it be like if a Wal-Mart were to come to Sartell? What would be the economic impacts upon such a thing. I thought it would be interesting to reflect upon this because as Sartell continues to grow it's a very real possibility. I first believe that Wal-Mart would be hurtful to Sartell because of it's commercialism growth stage that we are currently in right now. We are seeing an increase in the number of businesses and office space like crazy. A Super Wal-Mart would only damage this strong business growth that we have right now. It would also damage the idea of a downtown Sartell because this is going to be an area of smaller shops, which Wal-Mart is famous for wiping out. I think it would create good jobs, but it wouldn't really be beneficial in providing a lot of diversity of places to shop. Wal-Mart has shown amazing power in its efforts to make itself known throughout the nation. It's bringing goods and some services to small rural areas that have not yet been urbanized. To these cities it is bringing them the world all in one store. I personally believe that a Wal-Mart is good in some areas such as these rural smaller areas because it draws people from many areas together and can really build a place up, but when Sartell is experiencing growth in all aspects, it is the last thing we need.
More E-85 in the Twin Cities
I came across an interesting article this evening that was just a quick news brief about E-85 and how more gas stations in the twin cities will be offering it. I think this type of fuel is interesting because it's a step in the right direction to find alternative sources of fuel. In the future it will soon be necessary to decrease our dependence on Middle Eastern oil because of the tension in that region so we don't find ourselves in real "need" of it in the future if something goes wrong in the country. Globally, it's going to affect both the United States and Middle East in teh future because a lesser dependence means a more upset Middle East, but a better America because we don't need to rely so heavily on a group of countries to provide us high costing oil. A couple points in the article that really caught my attention were that 200 gas stations in Minnesota already pump E-85. I haven't really seen to many, but I do believe the Holiday station in Waite Park by the theater does. E-85 by the way is a mix of gasonline that contains 85% ethanol. Check out the article more to read about these stations getting E-85. The article doesn't really focus on the fuel itself, but it shows how many stations are catching on to this fuel.
Article
Deer Population increases in urban areas
This article touches on the increasing Whitetailed Deer population in and around the Minneapolis metro area. With this increasing deer herd, it brings more car fatalities and more complaints from residents. A plan is being issued on how to lessen the numbers.
http://stcloudtimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060305/SPORTS/103050018/1002
In Geo the other day we talked about dollarization and I wanted to know a little more about it. I found that there are a few countries in Latin America that have been completely dollarized and some that are partially dollarized. The dollarization- the change from their currency to the dollar, helps a country economically becuase it helps lower interest rates and grow consumer credit. It also helps companies or those who have to make financial agreements internationally. The transaction rates are lower and financial dealings are easier overall. To many countries that are closely linked with the United States economically consider dollarization, this could be a good way to lower costs of borrowing money and also to help the hyperinflation and devaluation of currency that is signiture to many countries in Latin America. But it has its cons as well; countries like El Salvador sometimes have to work harder and lower their costs becuase not all of its neighbors have been dollarized. Sometimes there can be a middle ground of only limited dollarization where there is both the local currency and the U.S. dollar used. The dollar can be used as a type of insurance in case there is extreme fluctuation in the local currency.
http://www.economist.com/world/la/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1357779
Overpopulation killing precious wetlands.
I was reading the Outdoors Weekly, an outdoors magazine, and discovered this intersting article on how the Minnesota's fast growing urban population is destroying valuable wetlands more and more every year. It not only touches on how our animal's homes are being destroyed but the overall quality of life here in Minnesota. Years ago people thought of Minnesota as being one of the few regions in the nation where you could visit pristine wilderness and lakes. Nowadays these acres are being covered with tar and asphalt from the growing population. A study was done and according to an outdoors group more than a million acres of the state will be converted to buildings, lawns and parking lots in the next 25 years. Also, the states propotional spending on conservation has decreased every year!
http://outdoorsweekly.com/index.html
As of now, most of us probably now of one conflict going on in the world, Iraq. However, expand your eyes a little more and you will see that conflicts are all over the world! Iraq is only one of the many. What interested me, when I saw this map, was that all the conflicts were occuring in the Eastren Hemisphere. If you look at it, not a single red blotch touches the west. So why all the hating in the East? Perhaps the "civilized" powers of the U.S. and Canada have been able to soothe the ruffled feathers of Latin American conflicts. Why is it that the East has so much conflicts?
Here's a website about the nations and their use of the web. The link I have here will give you the top 20 countries of internet usage, but if you look below you can change the statistic to any area of the world. In countries like Somalia only 200 people use the internet. While on the other hand the U.S. has 203,824,428 users. That's a lot. Perhaps this can give a rough view of where the Digital Divide might lay across the world.
This isn't really an article, more of a bunch of links with information. This sight gives country profiles which consist of things such as a countries GDP and how much of their population they employ. It also mentions about the countries exports and foreign investers. The countries the site has it's own profiles for are: Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, and Uruguray. The countries it does not have sites for, it gives other sites you can check out to find similar type information. From reading the profiles the site gives i learned that Cuba makes 12% of it's GDP from tourism alone, and that 10% of the countires active population works in it's sugar sector. I also learned that Brazil is the 10th largest economic power in the world!
