Finishing Up the NOVA Video

Today in Human Geography, we talked about China and how they are letting up on the "one child per couple" law, which is good, because like Japan, their population is decreasing and there is starting to be more older people than younger ones. We also tried finishing up the NOVA video, but we didn't have enough time. Anyways, in the video we went to Sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-saharan means from or forming part of the African regions south of the Sahara desert.The population in this place in 1950 was 1/3 the population of Europe, and by 2050 the population is expected to be 1/3 more than Europe. Every single nation in this area has a bad economy/standard of living. Here are some effects on sub-saharan Africa (and other countries/nations) because of the economy, population and other factors:

• falling per capita incomes
• conflicts 
• pressure on immigrants 

Also, just to add on in Africa, forests are disappearing, natural environments are declining. The video also talked about death rates and birth rates. Because of  modernization, death rates are going down and birth rates are staying the same. Another sad fact of sub-saharan Africa is that 6-9% of the population has HIV or AIDS. That's a lot. 

Now this doesn't go to say that all of Africa is poor, South Africa and other places are modernized, they have cities, towns, and healthy people. But a majority of the population is suffering, and I wish we could do something to help that. 

From India, to Japan, to America

In Human Geo today, we continued on with the video. We learned more stats about India- population could grow by 1 billion by 2050 if couples had 2 children, or 2 billion by 2050 if couples had 2.5 children. The population of the world could increase from around 6-11 billion. Then the video moved onto Japan. We were shown a school that used to have 300 children, now only one kid sits in a single classroom, the last probable student of that school. The fertility rate of Japan is extremely low- it's 1.4 children per woman. One possible reason for this is that many women there are deciding not to get married and have kids, but instead get a job and find new opportunities. Some refer to them as "parasite singles". Japan's economy has also been in a recession. Many more women are starting to have to work rather than stay at home, so their family can stay in the middle class (same for the U.S.) We learned that by 2050, 1 in 3 Japanese will be over the age of 65. There are beginning to be more older people than younger people. We were told the story of the Ohno family: they were an 80 year old elderly couple, whose children left them to start their own families. They have to take care of themselves instead, and they have to work to make a living even at their old age because the only nearby nursing home was full. There is some good news for the elderly in Japan however- disability in the elderly is has been decreasing, so they are able to do more things that people around the age of 40 can do when they are 60,70, or 80. But there is a downside too- soon there will be fewer young workers to help the elders, and help with the industry and marketing and jobs suited for younger people. This will result in less money being made, so not enough taxes, and no Welfare.

Our economy is opposite from Japan however- because of all the immigrants we have coming to our country. On the downside, our economy generates 1/4 of the gases contributing to global warming- we are #2 on the list of the countries most polluting the world.

A similar issue facing these three countries we have talked about so far is the amount of children women are having - it greatly affects population. Many countries are encouraging couples to have more than 2 kids. A conclusion to this is- countries that have the resources to have children aren't, and countries that can't afford to have children are. 

More About NOVA and Uttar Pradesh

In Human Geo today we discussed the two people's loans they made to Kiva, and so far our class are winning with that whole extra credit point class thing. We continued watching the video today too, and it just got worse and worse. Over in Uttar Pradesh, women are basically considered an "economic downer". Like we learned yesterday, when women get married they are then given over to her husbands family to help with her in-laws, abandoning her parents. And if getting a wife wasn't enough for the man, the wife's family would give him a dowery, which is an extra type of "gift" to make it seem like the wife was more valuable and more worth marrying. Examples would be 4 cows and 2 goats, or a few chickens. And since having a boy rather than a daughter over there is so important to their culture, some husbands or in-laws would actually burn or poison the wives, killing or hospitalizing them, just because they gave birth to a boy. What makes it even more sad is that it's common, and not too much of a surprise to many people over there, AND the people that did the burning don't even get charged with crime or put in jail, because "she didn't have a boy" is a good enough excuse. *I don't really understand why they don't realize that the male chromosome plays a part in determining the child's gender.* Many babies are aborted or killed if they end up being female, and this whole part in their culture causes there to be 35 million fewer women than men, and a 7% difference in the ratio between men and women. We talked about ways for women to have a higher place in the ladder of power, because just telling the men, who are the highest in power over there, that it's the "right thing to do" won't do much, because they may just think "what's in it for me?". We thought of allowing women to have job opportunities, and get an education, so they are noticed as being more useful than just being able to give birth. We could also allow them to have connections to the outside world, to realize that this kind of discrimination doesn't exist everywhere, and that they do have a chance.

NOVA-World in Balance-The People Paradox

In Human Geo today, Mr. Schick told us a joke about how "he went to apply for a job to be a bell-ringer" for his church, and when he was there, there was also a man with no arms. He ran into the bell face first, knocked himself out of the building the first time etc etc, and then when everyone was looking at him on the ground wondering who he was, one guy said "I don't know him, but his face sure rings a bell."

Anyways, we took notes on NOVA- World in Balance- The People Paradox- today, and it's a documentary about the population and state of life in different countries/states around the world. Here are the notes I took:

• elders over 60 are expected to outnumber kids under 4
• older people need more healthcare 
• we saw one kid in a Japan classroom, because of the declining birth rate 
• Japan- population expected to decline by half 
• European countries- population expected to have 63 million less people 
• in developing nations, women are giving birth at an enormous rate, more children are surviving than ever before 
• the largest generation in human history is reaching their reproductive years 
• The Taj Mahal was actually built to honor a queen who died giving birth to her 14th child 
• "demographic divide" (ex.- high population vs low population; GDP) 
• India is soon to be the country with the largest population in the world (passing China which is now the largest) 

Uttar Pradesh- one of India's states 

• size of Colorado 
• india total fertility rate: went from 6.0 to 3.0 
• population could double by 2050 
• lives of women need to improve here 
• Gudi, an indian woman, 30 years old, told her story about almost dying due to giving birth to her 8th child
• doesn't want to have a baby/ wants to get sterilized 
• has the least impact on that decision^ her husband and mother in law are able to override her decision 
• her son has to take care of his parents once older, if something happens to him they are out of luck, they need at least one more son because they stay while the girls go off with their husband's families 
• 1 in 10 children die before turning 5 
• 95% of marriages here are arranged 

Kiva Extra Credit

I think Kiva is a really good organization. Even though 25 dollars may seem like a lot compared to other projects, this seems like one you can really rely on, and you know you are definitely helping people. You can even get the money back once they pay the loan back to you, but you also have the chance to turn that money over to someone else. Since Kiva was founded in 2005 , there are 1,345,887 lenders, $770,880,850 in loans, and a 98.46% repayment rate. They work with 302 field partners, 450 volunteers around the world, and 83 different countries. They say they "envision a world where all people-even in the most remote areas of the globe-hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others." Kiva does not take any money from your donations, they all 100% go to the people. They get all their funds either from lenders or grants, corporate sponsors, and foundations.

I found two borrowers and the first one is named Ederlina. She's from the Bien Unido, Philippines and she seems really responsible and in need of the money. She's married to a fisherman and they have 4 children. For the past 24 years she has been helping him with his fishing business in order to earn a living. Her husband usually fishes during the night, so she prepares what he needs during the day.She wants the money from a loan so she can buy a new fishing net and boat engine, which will assure her that the boat will not encounter delays. A part of the loan will also be used for her to be able to pay her children's tuition fees. She says her main wish is that her children, ages 17 and 19, can finish their college education. The Philippines has an annual income of $7,000, and there are 1766 loans from Kiva to the Philippines right now. The country is not one of much wealth, and in some places there is a lot of crime and poverty. The economy isn't the best, so her needing money to support her family is reasonable.

The second borrower I found that seemed interesting to me was named Aya. She is from Al Hashmi, Jordan and is 24 years old. She's very talented in the visual arts category and had wanted to open up an individual workshop to do her work. She's been involved in a large number of art exhibitions inside and outside Jordan, and she has received many awards for her artwork. She also draws in her home, but it's not suitable enough for her to work in, which is why she opened a workshop of her own. Now that it's in the process of being opened, she wants to buy every item she can for it, and she is very excited about the whole project and being able to improve and develop her talent in art, which is actually what motivated her to apply for the loan. She has a lot of positive energy and wants to put it to good use, and says she will be very thankful if she gets the loan and is able to achieve her dreams. I relate to her myself, because I want to be able to do my art and be able to make people happy with it and put positive energy through my work, which is what she wants to do. Jordan is located in the Middle East Levant region, and regional instability has caused the country to be excluded from global investments for decades now. They also have a lack of natural resources, including water and energy which place a huge strain on the economy. The National Microfinance Bank offers many of the small businesses an opportunity to enhance and expand, and many loans to many underprivileged people like Aya so they can pursue their goals and dreams. 

Kiva

Today in Human Geography we got our tests back and I didn't do so well. But we talked about ways to earn extra credit and one of the ways was to write about the Kiva organization we looked into yesterday. I'm going to start on it tonight and hopefully post it by Saturday. Anyways, the website is really cool because you can click on any person or group of people, even organizations, read about them, find out facts about where they are from, and see what they need money for. You basically donate 25$ minimum to one of these people, it's like a loan, and the cool thing is they pay the loans back and you have the opportunity to just keep on turning the money over to the next person because someone is always going to need it. This website really relates to everything we have been learning about with poverty and everything, and it relates to a lot of issues going on in our world today, which is really cool because we have the opportunity to be involved in something we have been talking about.

Mr. Schick Left So We Compared Countries

Today in Human Geo we had to go to a website where we could compare our country to any other country. The first one I chose to compare was Australia. Three facts I found interesting about this country were:

• it is the sixth largest country in the world with 7,741,220 square kilometers
• a great number of Australia's plant life can be found nowhere else in the world
• is 21.92% less likely to be unemployed then America, Australia has an unemployment rate of 5.70% while the United States has 7.30%

Next, I chose to compare Japan, and found these three facts: 

• it is 65.48% less likely to die in infancy than the U.S.,  the number of live deaths in Japan is 2.13 while in the United States it is 6.17
• after three decades of unprecedented growth, their economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1980's, but nonetheless the country still remains a very high economical power 
• in Japan you are 92.11% less likely to be murdered than in the United States (.30 in every 100,000 people in Japan are murdered, compared to 3.80 in the U.S.) 

Lastly, I chose Germany: 

• I would use 40.98% less electricity there than I would here in the United States
• it is Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation (with Russia coming in first) 
• you are 89.11% less likely to be in prison in Germany than in the U.S. 

I think Kiva would be an interesting thing to try and participate in because of the cause and what it would do for the people we donated the 25$ to.

UGH

Today in Human Geo we took this test that was really really really really really really really really really really really really really hard. I studied too and it was very difficult. I had to guess on a lot of them but I think I did pretty good on the CIA World Factbook Part. I got done with two minutes left afterwards. Also there were two staples and I was really confused why. But yeah, it was hard, and I wish I could have written Denali again and gotten extra credit. ughughughughughughughughugh (now I will go cry) As of right now me and Lauren are sharing a desk in biology so we can both cry together. Also I really hope this is a 150 words. Forever and ever Amen.

Pre-PSAT and Human Geo Test Class :/

Today in Human Geo we talked about how we should not play games in class, and how we need to look good in front of a shadow, and the PSAT's. Mr. Schick told us that we shouldn't be scared until the SAT's and how we should however be kind of scared of Thursday because the test is going to be a lot harder than the first one (ah yay) . We also listened to an audio clip of the guy who was given the nobel prize for economics. It tied into everything we have been talking about (poverty, unemployment, effects of globalization). We also practiced with the CIA World FactBook more. The class was really different today because Lauren wasn't here. But anyways I'm glad we don't have to worry about the PSAT's as much as I would have.

Learning More About CIA

Today in Human Geo we talked more about the CIA World Fact Book. We went over the few questions we talked about last week, and then we moved onto the other ones. We also talked about countries in poverty and we talked about the Indicators of Poverty and Hunger:

• food: body mass must be above 16 
• safe drinking water: must be 15 minutes away maximum, and it must not all come from ponds and rivers 
• sanitation facilities: must be accessible from the home 
• health: treatment must be given for serious illnesses and pregnancy 
• shelter: must have fewer than 4 people in each room and not be made of dirt or clay
• education: everyone must go to school and learn to read 
• information: must have some connection to the outside world 
• access to services: education, health, legal, social and financial 

It's also sometimes hard to find where certain things are because of all the categories, but you still learn a lot. 

CIA World Fact Book

In Human Geo we actually used our computers for almost the whole class. We were given the job to go to the CIA World Fact Book website. Mr. Schick put on a powerpoint of at least 20 questions, and we had to go throughout the website and find the answers. It was actually quite easy to navigate once you got started. You can click on any continent and then onto a specific country you want on the map, and get all the information you could possibly want. There are several categories, that don't look too big when you look at them, but when you open them they tell you a lot of facts: introduction, geography, people and society, government, economy, energy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues. It is actually quite helpful and you can learn a lot once you know how to navigate around the site.

(I am also very sorry I am putting this up late.)

Populationnnn

In Human Geo today we talked more about population. We learned about the next migration rate: the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during a year. We learned about immigration (excess of people entering a country, written as a positive number, and an example is that Canada has 5.56 migrants per 1,000 population and the US has 2.45, but it was 3.62 last year) and emigration (excess of people leaving the country, written as a negative number, and an example would be that Mexico has -1.68 migrants per 1,000 population, -3.61 two years ago, and -3.11 last year). We also talked about why people migrate. They either migrate because of push forces or pull forces.

push forces                                                                          

• unemployment or underemployment
• religious or ethnic persecution 
• civil war 
• environmental degradation

pull forces 

• better economic opportunity 
• better health services 
• religious freedom 
• political freedom 

We learned about fertility rate too. TFR is the average number of children born per woman. And for a population to remain the same, the TFR must be 2.1. If it is higher than 2.1, the population rises, and if it is below, it decreases. It's a huge difference if you compare the TFR of Nigeria (6.89) and the TFR of Japan (1.40). 

Mr. Schick also used me and my desk as an example of migration. 

Population & More

Today in class, I actually had Michaela as a fake shadow for a little bit until she was kicked out. But moving onto the actual class, we got back our pop quizzes and we talked a little bit more about the shooting in Oregon. We talked a lot about the guy that had the gun, and a lot about the stories Mr. Schick's friend told him, about how the guy died and how sometimes the media portrays the criminal as more of a "celebrity" than the actual victims. We also watched a video that was part of a pilot episode for the show "Newsroom". It was a little confusing at first but then once we got into the video, the spokesperson, Will McAvoy, made some very good points of what our country has become, how even though it's awesome, it's definitely not the greatest country in the world. We also continued our notes on Population and Settlement. We learned about Life Expectancy and how the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. We also talked about how women actually tend to live longer than men, because they go to the doctor's more, and how we have different types of things in our bodies than men. We learned about measuring population too: the crude birth rate- number of deaths per 1000 of the population, and the crude death rate- number of deaths per 1000 of the population. Then that ties into rate of natural increase, or RNI, which is what you get when you subtract the death rate from the birth rate.

Umpqua Community College

Today in Human Geo we talked about the Oregon shooting that happened yesterday at Umpqua Community College. Mr. Schick told us about how he used to go there for college, and it was really kind of shocking, especially for him, because that was his old school. We talked a lot about what happened and how many people died and how many people were injured (over 20 people involved). We talked a lot about gun control and if there was any way we could fix this problem, because school shootings are just such a "common" thing for us that we don't even think too much about it anymore, we just shrug our shoulders and move on. This should change, it's kinda sad that America has the highest rate of people killed with guns than any other country. Some ideas of how to solve this problem we talked about were: more background checks, more expensive bullets, and more gun control laws. Mr. Schick's daughter also came into class for the discussion and everything and that was really cool. We also found out that you can just buy a gun off amazon, and literally get it to your house in a day. America can be really scary and we just need all the more good in the world as we can get, because God knows there's too much bad.

pOp qUiZ

Today in Human Geo we took a pop quiz at the start of class that was 15 points. There were 6 questions and I actually got them all right. Then we started talking about the pros and cons of globalization. Some of the pros are:

• globalization is the logical, "natural" expression of modern international capitalism 
• new wealth will "trickle down" from rich to poor (countries and individuals) 
• globalization will spread benefits of new ideas and technologies 
• the world's poor countries will catch up to the rich ones 
• each country can produce the goods for which it is best suited 

Some of the cons are: 

• the only ones who tend to benefit from it are the core countries, results in inequalities between "haves" and "have nots" 
• its just not working in the last 20 years, rich countries have gotten richer while the poor have become more impoverished 
• promotes free-market, export oriented economics at the expense of localized, sustainable economics
• not fair, 20% of the world's richest people consume 86% of the worlds's resource s
• economic system is very unstable; too easy for a crisis to escalate 

We also talked about Population and Settlement for a little too. We found out that 7 billion people live on this earth right now and that by the time we are 20 or so it should have increased by 1-2 billion. It's increasing by over 73 million per year. We also learned that 90% of the population growth takes place in the developing countries of Africa, South and East Asia, and Latin America.