My project was to educate little children about ways to live sustainably, without polluting and degrading the earth. I joined an organization that does just that. I was assigned to a classroom where I would meet the coordinator and form there she would show me what to do and what to say. Ok so, as we all know, little children are so cute and adorable...but like every other things in life, they come with a flaw. I keep forgetting how a mindset of a 10 year old is, so I assume they know what I'm talking about when I say sustainability. Unfortunately they don’t, so I have to dumb things down enough so they understand me but not too low so they don’t get bored or insulted (I wonder if that’s a big word too).
Day 1 was pretty lame. I thought I would do swell, since I took a class called creative dramatics. This class is for my theater minor, but it also prepares us to teach an elementary class a certain subject, like math or science, using theater tools, like characterization or movement. I was required to come up lessons that would take up 40 minutes of class time, while teaching them in a fun way, not with lectures. For my ice breaker, I asked the class to split into groups of two and decide who will be ones and who will be twos. The ones would look at the board while the twos put their heads down. I would write “birds of a feather flock together” on the board and told them to remember it. Then I made them switch and the twos would look at the board this time while the phase “opposites attract” was written. Once they remembered their phrase, I asked the kids to discuss with their partners what their phrases were and why they had different ones. Obviously the two are contradictory, yet the children didn’t know what the first phrase meant. When I asked them to give me an example of a situation where each phrase might occur, everyone was quiet except for one girl who brought up magnets (future A student). She said it was an example of the 1st phrase, which was wrong but at least she was thinking.
Next we went to our next activity which is supposed to teach about our rivers and how polluted they are. We had a bowl of clean water and several plates of items representing different kinds of trash. We asked for a volunteer to come and dump a plate of coffee representing dirt. Then we asked another volunteer to come up and dump the plate with shredded paper representing paper. This continued with the plate of shredded plastic representing plastic thrown away, a cup of pink paint representing soap, a cup of white paint representing chemicals, a cup with silver paint representing aluminum, steel and metal and last but not least, grass representing trees and wildlife. When mixed, the water looked so nasty and dirty. We asked if anyone wanted to go for a swim in that filthy water and everyone said no, everyone except for one class clown (typical little children). Throughout the procedure we constantly asked them questions about how to recycle, reduce or reuse products they don’t need. Candy was rewarded for their responses, regardless if they were right or wrong. This was a saver because if not for candy, the students would never bother answering us or volunteer to go up. I felt like we were giving them too much candy, though, because one student had 5 pieces already.
Jus t when hope was fading from me, the long 45 minutes were finally up and the class had to go. I managed to survive this one, yet a feeling inside me felt accomplished that we taught those kids useful things that they will use one day. I felt like doing it again with different children. This project is turning out to be more enjoyable
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Moderate Simplicity
Before Merkel, I was blinded by my luxurious ignorance. I mean sure, I knew there people suffering in developing countries due to the lack of needed resources like water and sanitation, and definitely food, but I didn’t pay attention to that as much. There would be nights when I was hungry and there was nothing to eat but cookies, yet this wasn’t enough suffering compared to kids in poverty who go through this every day. In order to alleviate this problem, I wanted to donate money to the Red Cross but I don’t know how charities like them would distribute our help to thousands of poor souls without missing a person or if they even gave all the money (or just kept a fraction of it). My next idea was to go out and help the poor myself by giving them my spare change and then some, but soon I realized that's just not enough. If I give a hobo a $1, they'll spend it on bread, and then what? Who knows when they'll get another dollar, probably in 5 minutes or maybe in 2 hours? Like the saying goes, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime" or something like that.
The problem is people in poverty don’t have higher education and don't know how to fix their problem. They're just focused on living one day at a time. Some even go near a freeway with signs saying please help. Others say they’re veterans, but I don’t know if that’s true, although there are cases where the U.S abandoned Vietnam veterans when they lost a leg or something else and they were left on the streets, unable to work. I felt like telling those people that, unless there’s traffic, those cars are more likely not going to stop just to give them some coins. Besides, with many cars passing by, there are several air pollutants like CO2 in the air and they get heavily exposed to it, shortening their lives.
I hate to say it but right now we shouldn’t focus on Haiti and Chile as much but rather on ourselves first. To show international leadership, we need to start with fixing our country domestically. Stop spending so much time and tax money on war for oil or other foreign goods. Use that money to help the poor, because if psych stats has taught anything is that just because our average national income has increased doesn’t mean everybody is better off. You could screw the poor and make the rich richer and still have those results, pardon my French. Instead of feeling sympathy and donating to causes dealing with Haiti, first take a look at the homeless in Westwood, in Santa Monica, further on in Downtown, Highland Park, Pasadena, etc. We’re the richest nation on earth but we sure like to turn our backs to those in our backyard. Why? Why do commercials care more about people in other countries? Because those countries are poorer than the U.S? Look, being poor in a rich nation is still being poor. Just because you’re in Westwood doesn’t necessarily mean you’re better off.
As more people are in financial crisis, it’s getting harder to ignore the fact that we need to change. Do we really need another French Revolution here? Sometimes you gotta stop watching lies on the news and just go outside to see for yourself, and I mean outside, not just the door of your dorm building. Now since I lost my train of thought and realized this blog is going nowhere since this wasn’t what I meant to say, I still hope you learned something useful and do something. Or at least tell others to do something, that’s usually what I do because it’s easier lol.
The problem is people in poverty don’t have higher education and don't know how to fix their problem. They're just focused on living one day at a time. Some even go near a freeway with signs saying please help. Others say they’re veterans, but I don’t know if that’s true, although there are cases where the U.S abandoned Vietnam veterans when they lost a leg or something else and they were left on the streets, unable to work. I felt like telling those people that, unless there’s traffic, those cars are more likely not going to stop just to give them some coins. Besides, with many cars passing by, there are several air pollutants like CO2 in the air and they get heavily exposed to it, shortening their lives.
I hate to say it but right now we shouldn’t focus on Haiti and Chile as much but rather on ourselves first. To show international leadership, we need to start with fixing our country domestically. Stop spending so much time and tax money on war for oil or other foreign goods. Use that money to help the poor, because if psych stats has taught anything is that just because our average national income has increased doesn’t mean everybody is better off. You could screw the poor and make the rich richer and still have those results, pardon my French. Instead of feeling sympathy and donating to causes dealing with Haiti, first take a look at the homeless in Westwood, in Santa Monica, further on in Downtown, Highland Park, Pasadena, etc. We’re the richest nation on earth but we sure like to turn our backs to those in our backyard. Why? Why do commercials care more about people in other countries? Because those countries are poorer than the U.S? Look, being poor in a rich nation is still being poor. Just because you’re in Westwood doesn’t necessarily mean you’re better off.
As more people are in financial crisis, it’s getting harder to ignore the fact that we need to change. Do we really need another French Revolution here? Sometimes you gotta stop watching lies on the news and just go outside to see for yourself, and I mean outside, not just the door of your dorm building. Now since I lost my train of thought and realized this blog is going nowhere since this wasn’t what I meant to say, I still hope you learned something useful and do something. Or at least tell others to do something, that’s usually what I do because it’s easier lol.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Trash, Trash, Everywhere Among US (or us)
Luckily for me, I had an advantage of knowing that I, like other Americans, am an innocent pig by nature. This gave me time to change my evil deeds a little bit. As you can see, the trash diary shows I'm not that wasteful (yet have a lot of change to go). I have my mom cook for me, so I don’t have to worry about wasting materials at a restaurant. I also use a water bottle for drinking and continue to reuse it instead of buying more bottles. Of course, after like a week, I have to change it due to the chemicals that could infest my fluids. The majority of my trash comprises of napkins because I’m a little obsessed about being clean. Occasionally I like to eat out when I know I’ll be in school for quite a while. So that docked me some points. I only had to buy a book for this quarter, but when I buy something else, I tell the cashier to keep the receipt, so I can wash my hands of that trash. I bet I can lower my ecological footprint pretty substantially, yet I'm saving it for when I graduate and I don’t have to rely on printing out lecture slides. That's one of those moments I wish my brain was a computer so I can remember facts spoken to me once without having to rely on lectures, printing them, and books. Oh well.
Week 1: 5 plastic wrappers, 2 plastic trays, 20 sq ft of napkins, 150 squares of toilet paper, 2 plastic bottles, 3 plastic bags of chips, 4 banana peels, 7 pieces of paper, 3 paper wrappers, 1 cardboard tray, 2 packets of hot sauce
Week 2 : 7 plastic wrappers, 50 sq ft of napkins, 130 squares of toilet paper, 1 plastic 2 liter bottle, 2 plastic bottles, 1 bag of chips, 3 spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, 1 kg of chicken, 2 cardboard boxes, a plastic gallon of milk, a plastic bag of bread, 2 paper wrappers, 2 cardboard trays,
Week 1: 5 plastic wrappers, 2 plastic trays, 20 sq ft of napkins, 150 squares of toilet paper, 2 plastic bottles, 3 plastic bags of chips, 4 banana peels, 7 pieces of paper, 3 paper wrappers, 1 cardboard tray, 2 packets of hot sauce
Week 2 : 7 plastic wrappers, 50 sq ft of napkins, 130 squares of toilet paper, 1 plastic 2 liter bottle, 2 plastic bottles, 1 bag of chips, 3 spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, 1 kg of chicken, 2 cardboard boxes, a plastic gallon of milk, a plastic bag of bread, 2 paper wrappers, 2 cardboard trays,
Field Trip on Santa Monica
I propose that we have a field trip on the blue bus to...anywhere. The point is not the destination but rather what we'll see along the way. The book states some great ways to conserve and live sustainably, but, honestly as an American, i don't want to. Is it my fault? Well, yes but no. If any of you guys can recall what you learned in philosophy class, John Locke believed we all are born as Tabula Rasa, Latin for blank slate. He believed we all are innocent until we're old enough for society to corrupt us. So, yes i am guilty for not wanting to change my wasteful ways so easily, but it's also society's fault for persuading me that it's ok to do that.
The media is such a good way to convince someone to buy their products, whether it's advertising an attractive model eating a burger, or a guy doing stupid things for a chocolate bar. The point is that the media is promoting useless products everywhere, on TV, on the radio (if you guys still listen to that) and online, where you are constantly bombarded by pop ups of advertisements. Ugh, enough is enough! The bad thing about this neighborhood is that it's near Hollywood and...you know the rest. If you haven’t already known, UCLA has been victimized as the experiment dummy for the Hollywood ventriloquist. How is it possible to change your behavior if these ads are toying with your cognition and attitude?
Going back to the field trip on the blue bus, I personally am a commuter and everyday when i take the blue bus, I keep seeing billboard after billboard of ads. "Watch this show, it got nominated for an Emmy!", "Watch this movie, this hot chick is in it!", "Buy this drink, this famous basketball player will slam dunk for it!" etc. Being the educated UCLA students that we are, we obviously wouldn't fall for such persuasion so easily, but not everyone goes to UCLA. Those are possibly the vulnerable targets buying into the nonsense commercials. This is bad because these people could be our friends and family! Going on the bus to Santa Monica and looking out the window, we can be exposed to what kind of world we're living in and what kind of dummies the big corporations think we are.
In order for Merkel's idea to work, we need to reverse this phenomenon. The media can influence the average Joe to buy a soda by having a famous celeb appear. Well the media can also influence that same Joe to live sustainably by having a gorgeous model wink at them. It may sound silly, but it could work. To alter our behaviors, they need to start by altering our cognition and attitudes, and in a positive way.
The media is such a good way to convince someone to buy their products, whether it's advertising an attractive model eating a burger, or a guy doing stupid things for a chocolate bar. The point is that the media is promoting useless products everywhere, on TV, on the radio (if you guys still listen to that) and online, where you are constantly bombarded by pop ups of advertisements. Ugh, enough is enough! The bad thing about this neighborhood is that it's near Hollywood and...you know the rest. If you haven’t already known, UCLA has been victimized as the experiment dummy for the Hollywood ventriloquist. How is it possible to change your behavior if these ads are toying with your cognition and attitude?
Going back to the field trip on the blue bus, I personally am a commuter and everyday when i take the blue bus, I keep seeing billboard after billboard of ads. "Watch this show, it got nominated for an Emmy!", "Watch this movie, this hot chick is in it!", "Buy this drink, this famous basketball player will slam dunk for it!" etc. Being the educated UCLA students that we are, we obviously wouldn't fall for such persuasion so easily, but not everyone goes to UCLA. Those are possibly the vulnerable targets buying into the nonsense commercials. This is bad because these people could be our friends and family! Going on the bus to Santa Monica and looking out the window, we can be exposed to what kind of world we're living in and what kind of dummies the big corporations think we are.
In order for Merkel's idea to work, we need to reverse this phenomenon. The media can influence the average Joe to buy a soda by having a famous celeb appear. Well the media can also influence that same Joe to live sustainably by having a gorgeous model wink at them. It may sound silly, but it could work. To alter our behaviors, they need to start by altering our cognition and attitudes, and in a positive way.
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