In Upfront magazine, there was an article about trading for ivory that could threaten to extinct Africa's elephants. China is the country behind this. They are the world's largest market for ivory, and in the past few years the ivory taken from elephants has been getting dangerous. It is starting to make wars, enriching corrupt armies. and jeopardizing wildlife tourism. There is an estimate that tens of thousands of elephants are being killed each year for their ivory tusks. I think there has to be an end to this madness if we want the elephants to keep living. They are important animals in the world and it would not be right to kill them.
The only way to stop this is for the Chinese to stop. "The Chinese hold the key to the elephants' future," says Iain Douglas. If these things keep on and continuing, there may be a possibility in the extinction of elephants in Africa's countries. I think there should be a law that makes a limit on the amount of ivory taken from elephants, that way the elephants can live longer. Of course, there should also be a law which prohibits ivory seizure around the world. The most ivory seizures come from Tanzania and Kenya. It is a little weird that 17% of ivory come from an unknown place.
The start of the problem is China's greediness for ivory. In China there is an estimate that 90% of the ivory there is illegal. The reasons behind why China is in demand for all this ivory is because it is a soaring demand for China's middle class. Since their economy is growing, the middle class has more money to spend on luxurious things, including ivory. I think the Chinese love ivory so much because it has been a big part in their culture. There are stories told by great emperors about ivory objects and how great they are, so it must have some influence on China right now.
Since 1979, the decline in elephant range has been huge. There used to be a lot of range in Central Africa, but now the ranges are scattered around and there isn't big spots on the map now. The country Ivory Coast got it's name because of all the elephants that roamed there; now there are barely any. Ivory has even become so popular and demanding that one tusk of ivory could be worth more than 10 times the average income in some African countries. Sometimes they are killed for a bag of salt. The killing of elephants need to stop. They are very innocent animals who just want to be free of harm and weapons. It may not be possible to end seizure of ivory once and for all, but a little effort into doing that could make the difference.
In conclusion, the elephant population of Africa has been diminishing, and could get down to none at all. If China could change it's ways and stop buying or using ivory, elephants may have the chance of continuing their lives. If not, we could see the extinction of elephants in our lifetime.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Rikers High
Rikers High by Paul Volponi is a story about a teen who was arrested and sent to Rikers Island. Martin, the main character, had to put up with lots of things growing up in his tough neighborhood, but it is nothing compared to what he has to deal with at Rikers. One incident affected him physically and mentally, but he had to do what it took to get past it. While getting off of a bus in front of their courtroom, some inmates got into a fight. Martin was chained to the person in the fight, and he got tangled up in it. Martin tried to swing back but the person attacking cut him across the cheek.
An example of physical harm done to him was some inner monologue. After he was sliced, he said, "Suddenly, I was paralyzed with fear, and I was too shook to even cry." It shows that this incident affected him too much to even feel or think about what was going on. Also, he had a big cut across his cheek, and had to live for weeks with a huge bandage across his face. After it healed, he had a big scar on his face, and it seemed to make him a little less confident when it came to fighting or being physical, though it gave him some respect from other inmates. Another thing that bothered him was telling the CO who did it. He even said, "Snitches get stitches." That means that if he snitched on the guy who cut him, there would be more scars to come.
I feel that mentally the incident had more of an affect on him. While in the hospital, he was thinking about his cut all night. He says, "I couldn't keep track of all the fears running through my brain--about what I was going to look like, how nasty a scar I would have, if the cut would ever heal." His mind was racing and he couldn't do anything but let time pass. It also made him feel violent. He told himself that he would cut that kid back instead of snitching and wouldn't care about how much time he got for it. His thoughts kept getting to him and in the hospital he wondered a lot about the cut. I think he also became a little bit more wiser in his actions and he thought about things more before making decisions. One inmate named Brick had a business going on in the jail. He asked Martin to join him, but he declined. It was a wise decision because he might have debts or other things owed to Brick once he got out of jail. Being cut had a mental affect on him, but it might of made him wiser in some ways.
One thing I've noticed in the story is that after being cut, Martin doesn't really talk about himself anymore, he only talks about what he observes and what's happening in jail. The story doesn't include his actions or thoughts as much as it did in the beginning of the story. I think it might be like that because he isn't ready to put himself out there and let people know how he feels or what he wants. Now he just goes with the flow, instead of doing what he feels like. I also think he didn't want to take part in fights or taunting because he really didn't want another scar covering his face.
In conclusion, Martin's cut had a physical and mental affect on him throughout the story. In some ways it made him smarter, and in other ways it made him more cautious, but I could tell that he was affected no matter what.
An example of physical harm done to him was some inner monologue. After he was sliced, he said, "Suddenly, I was paralyzed with fear, and I was too shook to even cry." It shows that this incident affected him too much to even feel or think about what was going on. Also, he had a big cut across his cheek, and had to live for weeks with a huge bandage across his face. After it healed, he had a big scar on his face, and it seemed to make him a little less confident when it came to fighting or being physical, though it gave him some respect from other inmates. Another thing that bothered him was telling the CO who did it. He even said, "Snitches get stitches." That means that if he snitched on the guy who cut him, there would be more scars to come.
I feel that mentally the incident had more of an affect on him. While in the hospital, he was thinking about his cut all night. He says, "I couldn't keep track of all the fears running through my brain--about what I was going to look like, how nasty a scar I would have, if the cut would ever heal." His mind was racing and he couldn't do anything but let time pass. It also made him feel violent. He told himself that he would cut that kid back instead of snitching and wouldn't care about how much time he got for it. His thoughts kept getting to him and in the hospital he wondered a lot about the cut. I think he also became a little bit more wiser in his actions and he thought about things more before making decisions. One inmate named Brick had a business going on in the jail. He asked Martin to join him, but he declined. It was a wise decision because he might have debts or other things owed to Brick once he got out of jail. Being cut had a mental affect on him, but it might of made him wiser in some ways.
One thing I've noticed in the story is that after being cut, Martin doesn't really talk about himself anymore, he only talks about what he observes and what's happening in jail. The story doesn't include his actions or thoughts as much as it did in the beginning of the story. I think it might be like that because he isn't ready to put himself out there and let people know how he feels or what he wants. Now he just goes with the flow, instead of doing what he feels like. I also think he didn't want to take part in fights or taunting because he really didn't want another scar covering his face.
In conclusion, Martin's cut had a physical and mental affect on him throughout the story. In some ways it made him smarter, and in other ways it made him more cautious, but I could tell that he was affected no matter what.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Blog Revision on "Tears of a Tiger"
I went back to revise my last blog post, "Tears of a Tiger" by Sharon M. Draper, found here. Rob Washington was killed because of a car accident when Andy hit a wall. Andy felt that he should be blamed for everything that happened. I have learned that even in real life, people will feel responsible for deaths, even if they weren't part of anything that happened.
Andy felt like he was the main cause of Rob's death. He had been going to a psychologist for awhile just to talk about his emotions and what he think went wrong on that fateful night. Andy felt like Rob's death was all his fault, because Andy was driving drunk at the time. Some other teammates were in the car, but Rob was the only one that died. Andy started to get really depressed over those thoughts he had, and he just couldn't let go of the fact that he was responsible for the death. I think that when accidents happen like this in real life, people feel like Andy too. I don't know why Andy was feeling so guilty for the death, but it really got to him. His depression was getting so bad that nothing would make him laugh. Something or someone should've made him happy or stop thinking about Rob, but nothing did. The worst thing he could've done was take his life, but that is exactly what he did. That shows that he is not emotionally strong, and he is a coward, like his friend Gerald said. Committing suicide was the last thing he should've done, and I think staying alive would be much better for him or anyone in that situation in real life.
Some examples of Andy's depression come from his writing. One poem he wrote included lots of dark thoughts. His first stanza talked about not being able to find the light in his life. That already shows that he can't forget about the accident. He also writes about the pain that no one else can feel, and the cheerful faces don't know what he feels inside. He ends the poem by saying, "I don't think I'm going to last." That really makes you think that he wants to die, or maybe he wanted to die instead of Rob. There was no way to escape his feelings, so he probably committed suicide to do that.
Even though this is from a book, this can happen a lot in real life. I know what it's like to have family or friends die, and you wish you could've done something to prevent it. Or you might wish that you spent more time with them. I think that's what Andy felt. He knew Rob was dead because of him, and it could never be changed. This kind of situation happens a lot because of drunk driving, but very rarely do you hear about someone killing them self after accidentally killing someone else. He should've faced his guilt and at least tried to get over it. I understand why Andy felt that way and why, but I don't understand why he would leave everything he had because of it.
In conclusion, Andy felt like most people feel when death occurs; guilty. After his friend was killed in a car accident, Andy felt very responsible for the death. His guilt was too much for him to handle, and it resulted in killing himself.
Andy felt like he was the main cause of Rob's death. He had been going to a psychologist for awhile just to talk about his emotions and what he think went wrong on that fateful night. Andy felt like Rob's death was all his fault, because Andy was driving drunk at the time. Some other teammates were in the car, but Rob was the only one that died. Andy started to get really depressed over those thoughts he had, and he just couldn't let go of the fact that he was responsible for the death. I think that when accidents happen like this in real life, people feel like Andy too. I don't know why Andy was feeling so guilty for the death, but it really got to him. His depression was getting so bad that nothing would make him laugh. Something or someone should've made him happy or stop thinking about Rob, but nothing did. The worst thing he could've done was take his life, but that is exactly what he did. That shows that he is not emotionally strong, and he is a coward, like his friend Gerald said. Committing suicide was the last thing he should've done, and I think staying alive would be much better for him or anyone in that situation in real life.
Some examples of Andy's depression come from his writing. One poem he wrote included lots of dark thoughts. His first stanza talked about not being able to find the light in his life. That already shows that he can't forget about the accident. He also writes about the pain that no one else can feel, and the cheerful faces don't know what he feels inside. He ends the poem by saying, "I don't think I'm going to last." That really makes you think that he wants to die, or maybe he wanted to die instead of Rob. There was no way to escape his feelings, so he probably committed suicide to do that.
Even though this is from a book, this can happen a lot in real life. I know what it's like to have family or friends die, and you wish you could've done something to prevent it. Or you might wish that you spent more time with them. I think that's what Andy felt. He knew Rob was dead because of him, and it could never be changed. This kind of situation happens a lot because of drunk driving, but very rarely do you hear about someone killing them self after accidentally killing someone else. He should've faced his guilt and at least tried to get over it. I understand why Andy felt that way and why, but I don't understand why he would leave everything he had because of it.
In conclusion, Andy felt like most people feel when death occurs; guilty. After his friend was killed in a car accident, Andy felt very responsible for the death. His guilt was too much for him to handle, and it resulted in killing himself.
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