Wise Monkey News is here to provide young people an opportunity to discuss the issues that affect their lives. We hope that, through your participation, this website serves as a forum for the development, exchange, and expression of ideas that will prepare us to assume our positions as the leaders of tomorrow's world. Have something to say?
Umatilla: A call for Congressional investigation
by: Jim McCandlish, J.D. - printed on 04-25-2001
A recent lead editorial in the Oregonian calls for an independent investigation of chemical agent leaks at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. This follows the Oregonian’s lengthy commentary piece which found the Army’s explanation of the September 15, 1999 exposure incident to be misleading and inadequate. Over eight months ago, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) asked the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct such an investigation.
Chilean economy now stabilizing
by: Alejandro Gatica - printed on 10-18-2000
According to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Chile scored 28 in the ranking of the less risky emerging economies. It was ranked 4th behind Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. It is interesting to realize that the second Latin American country was Venezuela with a score of about 50 and ranked 19.
This result steams from a macroeconomics policy that has been very careful in keeping indices under control.
Learning with an edge
by: Melanie Gangle - printed on 04-25-2001
International study abroad experiences present great opportunities for self-growth. When you study abroad, you challenge your cultural assumptions. When you’re communicating in a new language, eating new foods, and learning a new set of cultural expectations, you can’t help but learn new things about your host culture, about your own culture, and about yourself. Cultures, although they may be different, are also universal; you’ll find culture everywhere.
What Will You Do When You Graduate?
by: Ryan Bemis - printed on 11-15-2000
Right now, down in sunny Florida, two retired men are probably kickin it back and lovin the sun. They have more to celebrate than just the warm weather, however. Retired El Salvadoran generals Jose Guillermo Garcia and Carlos Eugenio Vedes Cassanova both were acquitted by a US federal jury on November 3 for being responsible for the brutal rapes and murders of four US Churchwomen in El Salvador in 1980.
Uniting Eco-efforts
by: Kristina Koenig - printed on 02-20-2002
No college campus is perfect from the idealistic perspective of an environmentalist. Everyday, cans and paper are thrown away instead of recycled; paper products are used in excess; people rarely use double-sided printing; annual food waste from campus food services may be enough to feed some small 3rd world countries; faucets and showerheads leak and sidewalks are watered in a way that makes water seem like a endless resource; faulty heating systems create unnecessary wintertime saunas; lights and computers are left on 24 hrs/day; harsh cleaning chemicals and fertilizers are used and fed to our rivers; heavy machinery is used for building and landscaping; students drive across the street to school; non-native species are planted for aesthetic purposes ? the list could go on forever.
Do not be afraid of big birds
by: Isaac Vanderburg - printed on 10-24-2001
Those West African tropical storms sure make for great conversations.
Like this time, two years ago, on the way to Ghana (the first time mom had returned in 30 years), on a lurching Ghana Airways 747 with 16 people on board. The plane left from London at one in the morning, so before the storm hit there hadn’t been much talking going on, just sleeping sounds and the occasional hiss of a pop can or flight attendant’s beep.