3 Interviews on the case study

My father (Byung Don Jung) -
Translate Korean to English : " When I went to Mexico for the first time, I struggled to speak english and spanish. Luckily my Korean work buddies were with me ,so they could translate what I said. However, I was called 'Chinese' and 'chinky' many times. First I was very mad and I even thought of going back to Korea just because I was having a hard time. But later i realized racism is everywhere. Even in Korea, we look down on certain people from different countries. To overcome such struggles in life and trying to change people's perception of prejudice or bias minds will bring a better society..."

• My dad has been switching his job many times and we lived abroad for a long time. 5 years in Mexico and 2 years in India. Sometimes I could see how much he wanted to return back to Korea, but he never complained and worked hard, which really inspired me. Although he confronted racism, he took it in and faced the reality knowing that it exists everywhere.  

My sister (Yuna Jung) -
"I hated Mexico and India in the beginning. I went through such a hard time and all the hardships were pain in the a**. But I got used to it and overcame all the problems. Look at me now. I am such a beast."

• My sister and I faced the worst discrimination in Mexico. However, we ignored that and enjoyed the most we could and had a fantastic time in Mexico. 

My friend <who goes to school in Canada> (Kyle Kim) -
Translate Korean to English: " ... I always wished to go abroad since I was in elementary school and when my dad sent me to this school in Canada when I was 15, I don't know how excited I was. But after a semester, after all the english I had to learn and discrimination i faced, I hang out only with Koreans. I've always wished to wear Korean school uniforms for some reason. Racism is everywhere, but you gotta love your school..."

• Many of my friends have lived abroad and he did not know that he would face racism since he lived in Korea before his whole life. He thinks such multicultural countries are racist countries. 

5 Articles on the case study topics

• http://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/may/28/equality.raceintheuk

- This article talks about how multiculturalism could be seen as a factor of racism but does not actually redress inequality. It claims that the real argument whether it causes racism or not depends on how we manage the process of integrating migrants. Integration or blending of cultures works the people accept the newcomers and believe in complete equality, while ignoring inequality and appreciates diversity in a single terrain. However, just by people accepting the newcomers will not cease racism; the newcomers will have to change and adapt to the new environment that they need to inhabit in. Respecting the ethnic minorities and changing our attitude towards them will bring multiculturalism as a positive aspect. In conclusion, what matters is what people do than what people think.

• http://www.quebecoislibre.org/021109-6.htm

- In this article, it talks about multiculturalism as a controversy of whether it is racism in disguise or actually a beneficial factor in improving the culture educational and political terms. Although we have prejudice and bias about different religion, gender, place of birth, race and ethnicity, this will not vanish unless "collectivism is not eliminated." To get rid of racism, we should respect for the rights and prosperity of each and every individual irrespective of skin colour, nationality and favoring a specific group. It gives examples of racism that occur between the asians, black and white people in America. The mixture of these cultures does not seem to be very cooperative since all the crimes and issues occur between each race; however, the news only show the extreme and small part of the country. If it is looked in a wider perspective, many people live in harmony and respect each other. Therefore, saying multiculturalism causes racism is very controversial.   

• http://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/racism-hate-speech-and-multiculturalismhttp://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/racism-hate-speech-and-multiculturalism

- As immigrants come into their new habitat and get their occupation, the percentage of immigrants constitute a higher proportion of people in highly skilled jobs compared to those who are native to the country. Instead of racism, multiculturalism will lead to development and enhancement in the general skills of manufacturing goods and services and improve on their economic and social status. Nevertheless, racism or bias towards a certain race of a group or individual exists no matter what and as more newcomers immigrate, people will comment on their racial background. Stereotypes of a certain culture or tradition of a nation may be offensive to the people and discrimination could lead to huge issues.

• http://www.renthomas.ca/attitudes-and-behaviour/modern-racism-in-the-most-multicultural-city-in-the-world

- Countries that deny they are a racist country are Canada and Australia. Although the multiculturalism act encouraged people to retain their own language and culture while integrating their lives in other countries, prejudice and discrimination continues to be visible. As more people of different race, ethnicity and nationality blend and interact, racism in society becomes more common. White immigrants are tend to be treated better than the black immigrants and Asians are getting mocked and discriminated due to their names. Racism can be seen in workplaces as well. They are excluded from the natives and are blamed for incidents that they have not caused. racism is seen to be worse between children who are are in their adolescence. For instance, kids will be teased for liking Indian food or movies and following a certain tradition. Place like Canada and Australia consist of racism even though it is considered as one of the most multicultural countries.

• http://www.gwb.com.au/gwb/news/watch/racism.htm

- This article argues that we can not be taught about diversity and multiculturalism just by seeing other people from different race, nationality and ethnicity. Judging people and viewing people as evil or handicapped due to their different and distinguished features becomes more common as respect for human identity is vanishing between each other. We need to be taught that the difference between people is not about the racial or species difference. Uneducated people tend to be separatists as they only feel the comfort and safety near their "own" people. Hence, multiculturalism is the "New Racism."

What in the world (March 25th)

Article: 

• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/22/world/asia/north-korea-rockets/index.html?hpt=ias_c2
• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26703821

According to CNN, it is informed by South Korea that North Korea has launched 30 short-ranges missiles into the sea on Saturday. The estimated range of the missiles are 60 KM and North Korea did not give any navigational warning to the ships before launching in the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula. It is the fourth time that North Korea has launched this week. This incident has provoked South Korea and the US, so they have been conducting a military drill since february and North Korea responded by saying the missiles are just defensive reactions to the drills that they are doing. BBC also states that the launching of rokcets is an invasion preparation. South Korea claims that they have been firing Frog rockets, which are "unguided Soviet developed devices" that North Korea had in its armoury since 1960's. US asked UN to take action on the missile projects of North Korea and under UN resolutions, they are required to cease their launching.

Questions: 

1. Why did the first prime minister of Spain die and why is he considered "great"? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/23/world/europe/spain-adolfo-suarez-obit/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2)

2. How many died in Pakistan after an oil truck and two buses crashed? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/22/world/asia/pakistan-deadly-crash/index.html?hpt=ias_c2)

3. What happened to the boat in Uganda and how many died? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/22/world/africa/uganda-boat-capsized/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2)

Integration and multiculturalism

Integration and multiculturalism

• Identify 5 places where multiculturalism is said to be accepted but people are expected to integrate into society.

1. South Korea - It hasn't been long since Korea has accepted multiculturalism. They wanted to preserve their culture and traditions and it was common for those who did not have similar features to be discriminated. However, the concept of multiculturalism has changes and they accepted foreigners as well as other cultural characteristics to blend in their own culture. There are many immigrants and there are also many foreigners who come out in various television broadcasts and  

2. Philippines - In Philippines, multiculturalism is not common, but due to all the invasion that has happened in the past and the historical events made a mixture of various cultures. Philippines have a mixture of many ethinic groups and the government of the country is trying to preserve the way it is to keep their culture and tradition. 

3. Singapore - In Singapore, english is the main language, but it is a multilingual country as well. They speak Mandarin, Tamil, Malay, and these three are the main ethnic communities. When the British conquered the country, there were areas which contained a large population of foreign people like chinatown, geylang, and little india. Although multiculturalism is allowed and present, many are integrated into society already. 

4. UAE - Even though Arabic is the official language of the country, other languages such as english, hindi, malayalam, bengali, and tagalog are widely spoken and understood by the majority of the people. Foreigners make up 85% of the country and most of the workers are foreign as well. However, since the immigration policy is not open for them, the foreigners need to stay as temporary workers. 

5. Mexico - Mexico, especially Mexico City, is a place where it is integrating very quickly. It has always and will always be a multicultural country with all the historical backgrounds of how different ethinic groups got together and blended. The Europeans, Africans and small Asian groups were mixed and conducted a multicultural country. 

• Explain the difference between assimilation and integration and use it in context of a place / culture

Assimilation is when an individual or group's culture is lost and adopt other cultures as part of your own. This happens especially to ethnic minority groups as they lose their cultural characteristics and take on the dominant group culture's characteristics.  Language can assimilated by people. This term is usually used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. Full assimilation occurs when those who adopt new culture become indistinguishable from those who are currently in the society. 

While assimilation is when new members adjust themselves into a new culture, Integration refers to the interaction of a lot of people from different cultures all around the world. They have different skills and professions, from various religions, and from different ethnic groups. It is also seen as the behaviour that is in harmony with the environment of an individual. As many cultures blend and become a "global culture", many argue that this leads to a reduction of the cultural differences and remove the existence of local cultures. 

What in the world (March 18th)

Article: 

• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/12/world/europe/spain-lebanon-mayor-organ-allegations/index.html?hpt=imi_c2
• http://www.netkafa.com/2014/03/12/804496/mayor-arrested-accused-of-attempted-organ-trafficking

·         A wealthy mayor from Lebanon offered $55,000 to poor people for liver tissue. The mayor, 61, was arrested on January 30 at an airport in Valencia, Spain. Authorities would not name the mayor because of an ongoing court investigation. Accomplices allegedly recruited nine people to have liver compatibility tests at a clinic. Spain is considered a world leader in legal organ transplants, and under its rules, human donors must do so only for altruistic reasons and must be family members or close friends of the recipient. The mayor eventually got his liver transplant in Barcelona, using tissue donated by his son, who had earlier been turned down as a donor in Lebanon. The combines tests cost $16,000 , which the mayor's aides allegdely paid. Some of the nine people also received small sums of money for taking part. 

Questions: 

1. What happened in Peru? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/15/world/americas/peru-earthquake/index.html?hpt=wo_c2)

- A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck about four miles from the coastal city of Sechura in northern Peru on Saturday. No damage or injuries were reported in the quake, which happened at a depth of six miles. The quake happened in a region that marks the boundary between two tectonic plates, where the oceanic crust of the Nazca Plate moves under the South American Plate. 

2. Why did six people die in china? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/13/world/asia/china-knife-attack/index.html?hpt=wo_c2)

- The incident took place in Changsha city, the captial of the province. According to an official statement fro the city's police department, at around 10.15am, local time, two vendors got into a fight after a quarrel inside the Shahuqiao wet market in the Wuijialing neighborhood of Kaifu District in Changsha City. One person was hacked to death The fleeing perpetrator then stabbed at four innocent bystanders two of whom died on the scene. Police quickly responded and killed the perpetrator upon arrival at the scene. The two injured later died after being sent to the hospital. The two vendors were Hebir Turdi and Memet Abla. It is said Turdi killed Abla before stabbing four people as he fled, adding that he eventually shot dead by police. They used kitchen knives. 

3. Who and how many were arrested in Spain? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/europe/spain-militants-arrested/index.html?hpt=wo_c2)

- Police in Spain and Morocco arrested seven suspected Islamist militants who recruited and sent fighters for al Qaeda terrorist organizations in Syria and Mali. 

What did I learn from everyone else's presentation?

Tseki - Solar power
From Tseki's presentation, I learned that solar cells require photovoltaic cells in order to operate. Also, solar power panels are good because they have no gas emissions, are a good investment and it is easy to find space accommodations on a small scale. On the larger scale, it creates more jobs because a solar project requires people to build the plants. However, solar power also has some disadvantages. It is an intermittent source because the solar panels can only absorb the sun's heat during the day. Large scale solar power projects can also destroy animal habitats. Not everyone can afford solar power because the materials to make the solar panels are rare and expensive. Even buying batteries to store the energy prove to be expensive.

Saw - Solar power
Photovoltaic is required in solar cells and it is one of the most common renewable energy source. It is cost efficient, meaning it is very cheap to maintain since it only need sunlight and once the solar panels are made, it just needs sunlight to be stored and converted to energy. As there are no space limitations, as many can be made and it will just be more beneficial. However, when the construction of the solar cell and panel is taking place, it will produce global warming and it might damage some natural habitats. Also it is very expensive to make them. Solar power is getting cheaper each year and we are improving its efficiency with technology.

Sonam - Wind energy
Through her presentation, i learned that wind is caused by the rotation of the earth, uneven heating of the atmosphere of the sun and irregularities of the earth's surface. There are two types of turbines: the horizontal axis and the vertical axis wind turbine. Although beneficial, it can be a threat to wildlife and the wind is unpredictable, so it is hard to capture and store amount of energy constantly everyday. By 2040, wind energy will exceed hydropower and be the most used renewable energy source.

Freddie - Wind energy
There are many sorts of objects that can produce energy. Turbines that make electrical energy, wind pumps which makes energy by pumping water, windmills that make mechanical power and sails which use propelling ships. Wind power is solar energy. The turbines use sophisticated technology to catch the wind's energy. There is small, intermediate and large wind turbines. They all produce different amounts of energy per year according to their size. This adds up to the country's GDP and is 100% renewable. However, it disturbs many wildlife creatures like birds. the solutions are that the turbines could be manufactured in isolated areas such as in oceans or in the middle of nowhere.

What in the World (March 11th)

Article:

• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/07/justice/florida-mother-minivan-ocean/index.html?iref=obinsite
• http://news.yahoo.com/mother-drove-van-waters-off-florida-beach-charged-190647710.html

According to CNN, in Florida, a woman named Ebony Wilkerson, was accusedof attempted murder for trying to murder her children. She tried to kill them by driving into the Atlantic Ocean. She told the kids to close their eyes and go to sleep in order to make the children not notice what she was doing. While they were in the minivan, lifeguards and other spectators helped the victims and after they were rescued, the mom just silently walked away. Yahoo News have added that the mom was pregnant and the oldest sibling, who was 10 and a girl, was fighting over the steering wheel while they were headed to the ocean. The mom told the children that they were going to a 'safer place'. She was supposedly running away from an abusive marriage and it was found that she has been to hospitals and the results showed that she had mental problems which she always denied.



Questions:

1. What was found by the Serbian scientists? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/05/world/europe/siberia-giant-virus-discovered/index.html?hpt=wo_mid)
- scientists have found a giant virus more than 30,000 years old from the frozen soil in a remote region in Serbia. They say it is not harmful to humans, but if the virus is active and many are together at once, it can be a threat to us. The name of the virus is Pithovirus sibericum.

2. How old is the ancient crystal found in Australia? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/24/world/oldest-earth-fragment/index.html?hpt=wo_mid)
- In western australia, a crystal called zircon was found and it is 4.4 billion years old. It is translucent red but glows blue and is about 400 cm long.

3. What is Drybath and what is the purpose of it? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/10/business/drybath-how-to-keep-clean/index.html?hpt=iaf_t4)
- It is a germ-killing gel which allows us to take baths without a single drop of water. They say Ludwick Marishane, the inventor, thought of the idea in 2007 when his friends complained about taking showers and wished there was something that you could just put on without having to take a shower. It replaces water, soap and body lotion.

Return for investment

For each of the 6 alternatives to oil find out and write down how much energy do you get back for the energy that is put into creating/ harnessing or storing the energy?

1. Human/animal corpse/organs/waste - 
It is said that treating the corpse/organs/waste of humans or animals can produce a fairly large amount of gas and this can be converted into energy. With the daily wastes, it can produce 1.5 million cubic feet of gas and it can fill 1250 tanker trucks. 

2. Wind power - 
A modern wind turbine has a maximum capacity of around 2000 kilowatts or  2 megawatts and it can generate enough energy and electricity for the average annual need for 1000 houses. Each house needs about 4700 kilowatts of electricity consumption. The wind turbines could produce more energy if it functions in full capacity, but it only operates 75% ~ 90% of the time. 

3. Solar power - 
If the solar paints that are 100 million square meters of a steel building are used to consvere energy for a year, it will produce 4500 gigawatts of electricity through the solar cells and this is equivalent to the production of energy of 50 wind farms. The cost of a solar panel that is 3Kw costs 6500 pounds. 

4. Coffee grounds - 
16 billion pounds of coffee is produced each year and with the amount of coffee grounds it produces, 340 gallons of biodiesel can be produced. It is said that starbucks wastes 210 million pounds of coffee grounds annually and this can produce 3 million gallons of biodiesel and 90000 tons of fuel pellets. 

5. Cows - 
Methane gas from cows can provide the drivers in a single country with a daily amount of 138,000 cubic feet of energy to run a car. Researches by Argentinian scientists have revealed that a single cow that  weighs 550 kg lets out 800 to 1000 litres of methane each day. Also, cow wastes produce 250 to 300 kilowatts of electricity daily which is enough to power 300 to 350 houses. A herd of cattle emits an average of 275 litres of pure methane and this can easily keep a refrigerator running for 24 hours. 

6.Hydropower - 
Hydropower is generated from falling, flowing or running water. With the pressure that water creates, it is converted to electrical energy. Dams are made to create such mechanical energy to electricity. The average power that a turbine creates is about 97 megawatt and a dam produces 2969640 kilowatt hours.

Why do we use fossil fuels?

If fossil fuels are so bad why do we still use them? 

• The guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/17/why-cant-we-give-up-fossil-fuels)

The author of this article in the guardian argues that even though we use renewable energies or any other "green" alternative, it will emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide that will affect the climate. There have been researches and proven that the temperature of the Earth increases and changes throughout the years and despite using an enormous amount of fossil fuel, the rise in temperature has been constant since the Ice Age. Everyone will need to prioritize and use fossil fuels because using reusable energies take up only a small portion of the world's contribution in helping the environment. Also, the difference in cost is extremely noticeable.

• The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/opinion/the-poor-need-cheap-fossil-fuels.html?action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry32%23%2Ffossil+fuels&_r=0)

According to the New York Times, many people in the world are poor and they are in desperate need to heat their homes and cook and both of them require fossil fuels or coal or any sort of objects that emit carbon dioxide and exacerbate global warming. More than 1.2 billion people in the world live without access to electricity and in order to lift them out of the smoke and darkness of energy poverty, the low-cost fossil fuels should be utilized. By using the cheap resources, it can build on and the poor can use it until we make a global transition into a greener energy future.

• Climatecentral.org (http://www.climatecentral.org/news/fossil-fuels-to-dominate-world-energy-use-through-2040-16284)

Andrew Freedman, a science writer for climate change mentions that carbon dioxide emission and global energy consumption increases and will increase every year. Especially for developing countries, using cheap fossil fuels instead of costly renewable resources can really contribute in their enhancement of their city and and in the nation's economy as well. China and India are two main examples. Even though fossil fuels are limited and finite, after the country is developed and is financially stable to acquire foreign products or expensive things, they can use renewable energy to prevent global warming. Hence, using fossil fuels can be very beneficial to specific areas and can affect the world positively.

What in the world (March 4th)

Article: 

• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/02/world/asia/china-railway-attack/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
• http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/china-train-station-knife-attack-police-suspects

According to CNN, in a Southwest city in China called Kunming, men who were armed with long knives attacked a train station and killed dozens and wounded hundreds. Kunming railway station is one of the largest in China.  Experts believe it was a terrorist attack and the ones who assaulted were members of a separatist group from Xinjiang. The police have killed four of the attackers and one of them were a female suspect who was part of the massacre. Theguardian mentioned that 5 of the assailants who killed at least 29 people and injured more than 130 people are still being searched. It happened on Saturday, at 9pm. The scene was a bloodshed and there were a couple of footage that contained vigorous scenes, but it was all deleted that were uploaded in the internet. Chinese president, Xi Jinping, told security officials to have no mercy and kill the guilty criminals.

Questions: 

• How and how many people died in the Pakistani court? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/03/world/asia/pakistan-violence/index.html?hpt=wo_c2)
• Who did North Korea free and why was he captured? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/02/world/asia/north-korea-australian-missionary/index.html?hpt=wo_c2)
• Who killed civilians in Nigeria and how were they killed? (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/02/world/africa/nigeria-blasts/index.html?hpt=wo_c2)

Pros and Cons of methane gas

Pros:

• Burning methane gas only emits half the amount of carbon dioxide compared to burning fossil fuel or oil. 
• Unlike oil or fossil fuel which is very limited, there is an abundant amount of methane gas available since cows let out a lot of fart and manure. 
• A new process was invented to remove the carbon from the methane gas and the leftover, carbon black, could be used for other purposes like tires, printer inks and other products. 
• Methane gas can be transported through pipelines very easily and it is very cost effective. 
• Unlike coal or oil which pollutes the ground and underground liquid, burning methane gas will not affect land and water negatively.
• It is very beneficial to the economy since the country does not have to acquire foreign oil. 

Cons: 

• Methane gas is 21 times more effective in trapping heat than carbon dioxide so there is a high percentage of the tank or container to explode and cause great damage. 
• If it is exposed to humans and is inhaled by us, it can pose a great threat to our health and cause various problems and even death. 
• In order to detect the methane gas, carbon monoxide is added, but this makes it more dangerous and hazardous to our health.
• Once the pipline carrying the methane gas explodes, leaks or breaks, it is very expensive and difficult to repair it. 
• Even though there is a sufficient amount of it, it will not last long and is not profitable in the long-run term.