Divided We Concure

Cellphones, radio , and computers are among the most commonly spoken about and used ICT’s in the world. From them the idea of poverty and the digital divided have been stimulated and influenced in a good way by the idea of getting technology to help these third world coutries . this is being done by using these cellphones and radios to gain access to the information thatthey may not have access to otherwise. For example on article thatwe ahd to read in my class wentinto detail about how in Africa ,the people use cellphnes as a banking system so as to gain acess to money without having to walkinglong  distances to the building  of the bank which could take hours or event days depending on the distance. it can also be a means of  purchasing items no matter where in the world they are . Another way ws by helping them not only gain acess to the materials such as computer but by giving them the options to actually learn how to use the technology in the proper way. However the idea of just providng coumputer because they country doesn’t not have any doesn’t always help the situation either. This is true because by throwing technology at these people but not teaching them how to use it causes them to resent the technolgy and not accept it in to the culture that they are accustomed to. I addtion to that the technolgy isnot always provided in a lauguage thatis under stood by certain people , meaning that they are not able to comprehend any of the information that they are given because they can;t read andunder stand it. what needs to be taken into account is that the idea of whattype of culture are we dealling with?arethey easily persueded? whattype of access do they have ? Is  it all monetary access? I f given the opportunity to gain that acess would they accept it?  These are things that need to be know.

AMERICA

In the third rotationof my FYS class we addressed the idea of understanding what America is and what or who is to be defined as an American. By the end of the  this rotation i found that the idea of America and being being american hard to grasp. as a person born in america i define myself as an american because i was born here. however what about those that have migrated here over the course of the last 3 hundreed years and consider american as their home and consider themselves Americans even though they were not born here. Through our discussions and debates about the reading that were provided in the class the idea of America and Americans being defined as one specific thing or idea. while hearing the ideas of all of the people in my class i found tha the more we spoke on the subject the less tanagible the ideas of america really was to us. In the stories we had to to read while in the clas such as ” My Lucy Friend that smells like corn” and “Bar-B-Que” , it speakes about the young girls from other countries that have to adjust to the life of living in America. Whether that would be the idea of having barbie doll like everyone else or watching as you parents struggle to be like everyone else and providing for a family on a budget that is not enough. In  the story Mericans it speaks about how the idea of being associated with older traditions is seen as a burden beecause it is not wanted because thechildren in the story wan to be seen as Mexican American but not as just Mexicans

Inalienible Rights

The idea of the digital divide is that the divide is not getting smaller but larger because less fortunate countries around the world are dealing with the idea that technology is not advancing as fast as other countries which makes it hard for information to become readily available to those that need it to be active citizens. In the excerpt that was given to us by Sergio Amadeau de Silva it becomes apparent that the people of Brazil are very much out of date with the idea of technology being the best way to gain access to things that are going on around the world and their country that other wise that would be oblivious to.

Amadeau de Silva has the idea that people’s communication access in today’s society is being deprived because the majority of the population in Brazil are not able to get access to computers because it is not seen as a suffiecent need for their society so they get along without. The bad thing is that they could really use the access to promote economic stability and employment options.

With having this gateway to information at your fingertips makes the idea of information tangible and accessible. Without it people could be seen as secondhand receivers of information making them not true citizens. I think that without information technology in a country such an America it would be hard to call yourself an active American citizen because they are not actively participating in society, which is because being technologically inclined it is every where and goes on day by day. Machines, cell phones and computers have revolutionized the lives of Americans to the point where they are not just a privilege to have but a life style choice,

Enjoying the new chapter in my Life

Ever since I was very young my mom never believed that i would every go to college. my mother never diened that i was smart ,she just never believed that she could afford to provide me with the nessecary commodities that are need to attend college. I saw a lot of things  i  knew i never wanted to become with living i the city of New York.  I saw  that drugs and gangs were not the way to go which made my goal to go to college a larger dream than i ever thought it could be.

Now after 12 years of dreams i made my dream come true. i am attending Florida southern college and i am having the time of my life.  The work is not that bad but that is not what i feel college is about. i feel that college is about finding your adult self. It is about finding life long friends to take the journey of you life with you. with coming to college  I truly know that in my heart i hae found friends that will be with me for a long time. i have found support systems that i could not have gotten anywhere else.

with coming to Florida Southern i was able to develop myself into a better person without changing myself completely in to a different person that everyone can’t recognize or understand. I find myself being able to interact better with other personalities without judging or making up my own opinion of others. I see how college is a larger step then high school. I  love the interaction with teachers and the time that we are able to get one on one with them ; in high school i didn’t get that as much.

In my first couple months i have learned how to remain independent and open up to people. I have made steps in making myself in to a better friend as well as person. i find that when things get complicated such as having papers due and work to be done  I am much calmer and  i am able to stay more focused on one thing then multitasking and geting things right the first time.

overall i feel that i am doing really well for my first year of college.

Cellphones are the new Banks

In america today cellphones are seen as the hot new commodity they everyone has to have but in less fortunate countries cellphones can be seen as a luxury and as a way to make life a little easier.In countries like Kenya mobile phones can be used as a way to transfer and send money to people of different tribes and villlages.This can be done by in the way i see it like a tricked out western union but it is all by text messages and phone calls.

This helps people within the country because it helps to eliminate structor decline for example banks and bad roads. this is a huge step because the travel to these businesses are a long distance that can take days to get to and if when you get  to the location and i is closed then ie seems that you ave just wasted your time. with this ides you are creating a mobile currency and helping envoke the law of one price. This law means that no matter where you go within a country if the currency is the same the the pricre can be set a the same for all people withsuch currency. With this law and the moblitity of cellphones there have been increase in the profits of food production and distribution because comsumers are paying less but buy more because the have the money at their leaser.

This has become the greatest thing to happen in any third world country in many years. In kenya . about half of the population is using phones to create a mobile bank . You can tell that it is working because the percent to income in villages have increased but anywhere between 5 and 30 percent . who knew that getting a phone could change you life this much

Southern’s Got Talent

Last night was the weirdiest night for me. I told myself when i came to college that band was over for me thatt i needed a new outlook on life and that band was just a highschool hobby.However,i found myself at he band concert at my school Florida Southern College. I was a little jealous because when i go to a band concert I am usually never there to see it I  am always on stage being watched and judged.However,what i heard last night might have changed my mind about what band and chorus mean to me.

First we listened to the wind ensemble and symphany banbs that my friends are all in. Tyler, who is a bass clarinet had a solo and it was simply beautiful. After, the band played then the chorus came out and sang a song that was very contriversal but i thought it was funny. The first line was “Sun up to sundown picking that cotton…….”. I will let you be the judge of my race. i really didn’t know how to respond to the song so i just laughed .The singing of the songs were not really my style but it sounded beautiful.

when the jazz band graced us with it’s music i was on edge because it was so good. The guys that had solos were amazing i could not believe it. It was a if i was at a real concert for professionals.I  think the only group that dissapointed me was the orchastra because I had my hopes way to high on them and they just did not deliver like i though they would . oh well.

Sonia was HERE

Sonia Nazareo author of the book Enriquez’s Journey came to my school to inform us about the affects and trials that come with the lifestyle of poverty and hunger.when i attended the question and answer session i was able to get better details about the problem that were not said at her first speech delivery. I was able to go deeper in to the affects of poverty and hunger and why this is so prominent in those who are immigrants in the united states.

she spoke about the idea that children around the united states are coming to school hungery not having had a meal in days.she spoke about how she witnessed that some schools can not afford to provide  children with free or reduced breakfast and lunch because the program is expensive and money is low. So many children just go hungry.with poverty levels sol high many families have to choose between paying rent or paying for food for the family.

Sonia also went in to great detail about the organizations that help in the development and life saving work of providing the start off point for new small businesses in third world countries.By providing this money it helps to start to build the economy and create bd boundary of stability. In funding this loan the government gives the country a time period to pay back the loan when the profit level is higher.After gaining a profit made from the loan the loan will then be paid back.

Technology is my friend

Sometimes when you are without resources it can be hard to complete your assignments. However, in the world today it seems like every household has a computer, cell phone or radio to gain a connection to the world. Today, it seems that the connection is even stronger then it has ever been.

 i personal use the computer to do almost everything. From homework ,classwork, and even emails consume my life more then I wish them to do.with those emails I am able to keep up with friends and family from other states. without technology many find it difficult to keep in touch with friends which over time these without the resource communication becomes obsolete.

 With my cell phone, it seems as though my only salvation is to call my family from college. With my cell phone I am able to get and send messages ,write emails and stay connected with the world on anything. I just recently found out that you can have news reports sent to you phone if you don’t   watch that news on T.V.

Because I am a firm believer that music is a light in to the soul I listen to the radio as well. It keeps me connected with  what is going on in the new, weather and even new artist and songs. Everyday I turn on the radio in the morning and listen to it and think about how each song I listen to is going to affect how my day will be and how it will affect my mood.

Sometimes ICT’s can make your life a lot easier but only if you have the resources to use them.

human Rights vs. legal Rights

 

            Many people wonder about the “rights” that they have but are never able to express them completely. I mean on an honest note, what are human rights? What are legal rights? Do they affect our lives?

            Human rights are the basic rights that all persons have as a human. Because of this fact all people are entitled to the right to obtain life, liberty, freedom of expression and equality. These types of rights can’t be revoked or taken away unless said human revokes his or her own rights and chooses.

            Legal rights enable people to be of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds but have the same overall interpretation of the laws set in place to protect them. The protection comes ideally from people thinking of themselves as individuals. In reality however, these rights are on a universal scale, which ideally enables all to be considered or seen as equals.

            I am a firm believer that when we were born as babies, you were born free and equal to every other person. Because of this I do not understand now parents can’t find jobs to provide for their families but have responsibility to do so. I do not see how in this world children go without food, water, clothes and educations, when as humans, they are entitled to an education when as humans they are entitled to an education and their parents entitled to jobs to provide for them. Everyday men and women strive to believe and use these human rights and natural rights in the pursuit of a better outcome.

30 days and counting on immgration

In the movie Thirty Days, one of America’s minute men, Jorge, feels that as a legalized citizen it is his prime duty to help in the capture and deportation of non-Americanized immigrants. Most of these immigrants are migrants from South American countries, such as: El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, and Mexico. What this minuteman failed to analyze in his nationalism is that as an American legal immigrant, he never had to undergo the torture, poverty, and homelessness that is affiliated with these third world Central American countries.

While getting the opportunity to live in the life of a legal immigrant family, Jorge had no choice but to try and adapt to the families illegalized culture. For about eighty five percent of the time that he lived with the family he never tried to adapt or change his view of what he felt was the responsibility of all people. His view of immigration was that if you wanted to come to America you should do it legally; he also felt that by coming here illegally they should be deported and sent back before they could steal jobs that legal Americans need just as bad.

By the end of the movie, I felt that Jorge’s view of the family was very different. Finally he opened his eyes to see the true facts of the family, not just his own perception of them. He soon finds how they recycle cans and bottles to make extra money. The family is forced to live in a low income two bedroom home, and handle eight people living in it. Jorge saw that the father who was supposed to be the bread winner did odd jobs for a living to pay for rent and provide for his family. After seeing what this family goes through from a day to day basis, he now understands why the family came to America to begin with.

However, on a personal note Jorge’s idea on immigration of this grand scale should not be seen as legal, and to this, I would have to agree. My idea on immigration in America has shifted because of the countries economical predicament. The United States at this time is unable to provide for this multitude. I do not disagree that one of more immigrants should not come to America and send money back or work illegally, but at this time the way of the world is going in decline.