Videos: National Geographic: 7 Billion

This video was made by National Geographic and showcases the startling fact that there are now 7 billion people alive today. It shows the unequal distribution of wealth, how fast the world population is growing, and how the world is changing as a result of the 7 billion people. The video is almost scary, in that you wonder how the world can possibly support that many people. It is an interesting way to educate people about this issue and video is a great way to make people understand just how big a number 7 billion is. At the same time, the purpose of the video is to advertise for National Geographic magazine. The last frame of the video shows the cover the latest issue in the hopes that people will want to know more about what they saw in the video and will buy the magazine.

Columnist: Iain Hunter, Oct 9th

   Iain Hunter's latest column Wall Street, and the start of a revolution addresses the same topic as many columns and articles these days: The Occupy Wall Street movement. Hunter takes the angle of discussing why students get involved in protests like this and for once he shows young people in a favourable light. He makes good points about young people caring about things outside of their own little world because they know the problems facing Americans today will soon become their problems. He also tells how university students have "provided a lot of the muscle" for protests over the centuries. Hunter is still biased; though he is talking about young people's involvement in the Wall Street protests, his point of view is still that of of a middle-aged person and his tone almost seems a bit condescending. He makes it sound as if the main reason students protest is for the sake of protesting. He also seems to think that although students provide the muscle, they lack the leadership to actually make something of Occupy Wall Street. It's a bit arrogant of him to say that students are not leadership oriented; I see young people demonstrate leadership everyday. Hunter's article could be seen as both responsive and inflaming, depending how one takes it. Although he makes some valid points and his information is mostly accurate, it couldn't really be called insightful. For the most part he is stating facts about how little media attention the protests have received and musing about the possibility that Occupy Wall Street could become a revolution.

Columnists: Iain Hunter, Sept. 19

  Times Colonist writer Iain Hunter's column titled Families in a world without women starts by defending Christy Clark's families first slogan and ends with citing facts that say women will die out by the year 2600. This kind of rambling without fully formed ideas seems to be common in Hunter's columns. Often times it is hard to tell if he is being sarcastic or if he really means the things he writes. Perhaps the only accurate thing Hunter writes is that the definition of a family has changed over time. He cites an article in the Economist magazine that says if current fertility rates remain the same, women will eventually die out within the millenium. The Economist article is only about a paragraph long and based only on the UN's fertility rate projections for the next few years. Hunter's argument (if that is what he is trying to do) is in favour of Christy Clark because her policy will keep the family alive. The extinction of women seems to be a very odd thing to be worrying about given the global population is now over 7 billion and rising fast. Shouldn't everyone be happy that fertility rates are down around the world? Conversely, an entire book written by geneticist Bryan Sykes says that it is the male population that is in danger of dying out because of the decay of the Y-chromosome. Both studies are basic projections of what could happen if nothing changes; if the past is any indication things will always change. To worry seriously about these issues right now is pointless. To use them to prove a political point is silly. Hunter is inflaming an issue that really doesn't exist. All this article shows is that facts and statistics can be twisted to suit a certain purpose.
 

Columnists: Mark and Craig Kielburger, Oct 3

   Craig and Mark Kielburger's latest column is a really story that combines corporate marketing and humanitarian efforts. Coke's supply chain could distribute aid shows something very ironic about our world: in remote areas of developing countries people lack basic medical supplies, yet vendors are selling Coca-Cola. Coke can get to the most out of reach places while humanitarians can not. What this shows is that the way in which non-profit, humanitarian groups distribute supplies is not half as effective as the way in which a huge private corporation distributes. The Kielburger's showcased ColaLife, a company which has designed Aidpods - containers filled with potentially life-saving medicine which can fit into the empty space between the necks of coke bottles.  This column says that private-sector corporations are more successful because they are always thinking of new, better and more creative ways to get their product out there. Aid groups don't do this usually because the infrastructure needed to get medicine out to relatively few people in rural areas is too expensive. What ColaLife realized was that these big corporate companies, so often described as greedy and evil, could be valuable resources in getting aid to those in need. The articles is biased only in that the Kielburgers want the project to succeed, and don't mention any possible problems. Though really, wouldn't eveyone want a unique and creative idea like this to work?

Columnists: Mark and Criag Kielburger, Sept 19th

     Mark and Craig Kielburger, the pair of brothers who started Free the Children and Me to We, write a weekly column for The Star that discusses humans rights and the experiences they've had traveling around the world. Their Sept 19th article was A Lesson on the Quality of Education. It tells about an after school program called Superate that was started in El Salvador after the government cut school down to half-days in order to save money. The Kielburgers visited one of these programs and learned first-hand from students that the program has prevented dozens of them form becoming involved in gang activity. The articles written by the brothers are from the point of view of visitors who ask people their stories and learn how a program impacts an individual. It is less statistical and more humanistic, though the statistics are impressive: 76% of the students who graduated from Superate in the last 3 years are in university. What is happening in El Salvador is making people re-think education in developing countries. For years the world has been focused on getting education to everyone; opening as many schools as possible. The problem is getting students engaged and excited about school. If the quality of the education is lacking, children in developing countries won't want to go to school anymore than a Canadian child would. Millions of dollars are spent every year in developed countries coming up with new ways to teach students and engage them in learning. Quality education shouldn't be a luxury afforded only to affluent countries. If a student gets a good education, the impact they have on their community grows exponentially. Andrea Méndez graduated from high school in El Salvador. She earned a degree from Harvard University. Instead of staying in the U.S. and getting a high-paying job, she came back to El Salvador and works in one of the Superate centres. Who knows how many students will graduate from high school because of her? The Kielburgers have unique insight because they are so young but at the same time so experienced. One line in particular seemed to sum up what needs to happen with global education: "Education must be relevant to the unique challenges of students in order to break their cycle of poverty." The issues in the community need to be addressed to find ways to keep children in school.

Photo Assignment Part 2

Amanda Knox breaks into tears after hearing the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, central Italy on Oct. 3. Knox had been sentenced to 26 years in prison. (Pier Paolo Cito/AP)

     This picture of Amanda Knox shows her reaction to having her guilty verdict overturned after 4 years of being in Italian custody. The picture, taken only yesterday, graced the the front of online news albums and the tops of newspaper articles around the world. It was chosen because it is eyecatching . It has the ability to evoke strong emotions because the subject, Knox, is showing such strong emotions. There is something that fascinates people about seeing somebody break down completely. Is it sympathy for the person? or is it merely the fact that crying is such a personal, private action, something that is almost indecent in our society? People like to think that by viewing the person in such an emotional state they know who the person really is, or in this case whether or not they commited the crime they were accused of. For these reasons, the purpose of the picture is to help the reader come to a conclusion about Knox's guilt. The picture is targeted to those who like to read about mysteries and murder trials and who think that they know the true story, regardless of what the jury decided. The photograph draws the observer in because without reading the caption or the article attached, one does not know if Knox is responding to an innocent or guilty verdict. An interesting question is why a photo of Knox? Why not the victim or the other two men convicted? The photo shows Knox because the story isn't about Meredith Kercher or the men anymore.People were intrigued by the young, American girl who always said she was inncoent, despite what seemed like irrefutable evidence against her. The focus shifted long ago when people found Knox's refusal to admit guilt more intriguing than the actual murder. That focus may shift again now that Knox and the others convicted in the murder have been proclaimed innocent. If not them, who did kill Kercher? Or maybe the public will have tired of this case now that the drama is over; they will move on to a new mystery. Of course, the one thing the picture will not, and can not tell us is if Amanada Knox is truly innocent.

Columnists: Russel Smith, Sept. 7th

   Russel Smith's 9/11 anniversary article was titled In horrific circumstances, art can still imitate life. It takes a look at how everyone, and specifically artists, were feeling after the tragedy. As often happens after a monumental event, people evaluate their lives and find that they, and what they are doing, is unimportant and trivial in comparison to what is going on the world. Smith's point of view is interesting because it comes from the artistic perspective. How everyone believed art would never be the same after 9/11. This column is neither completely accurate nor completely bias, it is simply how the writer saw the events after 9/11 unfold and the conclusions he came to. He is doing what many columnist did on the 10th anniversary of the event: show us that although it was a horrible event, life goes on and people are allowed to think (and write) about other things besides the tragedy. It is possible that Smith's views could be seen as inflaming the issue because 9/11 is such a sensitive topic and some people feel that to even have an opinion on the event is disrespectful to the victims. Smith also has some insights this. Is dramatizing the event and profiting off that dramatization disrespectful? Art has always been used to help people understand and come to terms with tragedy. Art is the way the next generation is educated about past events and the way the world remembers them. As long as we understand that the art is a dramatization of the events is it really disrespectful?

Photo Assignement Part 1

An employee of the Finance Ministry scuffles with riot police at the ministry's entrance in Athens during a protest against the government's austerity measures, September 27, 2011.
REUTERS/John Kolesidis

This picture was taken in Athens during the recent riots. A photographer for Reuters has taken photos of the protest riots to show people what is going on in a country that has been in the news a lot recently. This image is directed at people who buy newspapers or read about World news online. The message is that Athens is currently a place of social unrest, with people fighting against their government over the state of the country's finances. The fact that there is blood splattered on the riot police's shield in foreground is significant. This picture is for shock value, which is why it is the first picture in the album of protests in Greece. People are supposed to be horrified and disgusted. The picture is only 3 days old, so we know there was at least some protest activity going on recently. What the picture does not show is how the man scuffling with the riot police got into that situation. What was he doing before? Are the police justified in apprehending him? Another interesting question is who's blood is that? A police officer? The man in the picture? Someone else? And how did it get on the shield? This photo represents a single moment of the tumultuous affairs in Greece but it by no means shows the whole story. More information (ie: reading!) is required to understand this complicated issue.