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?
Service for a year, service for life
by: Andy Sherwood - printed on 02-20-2002
'It is so funny that I'm involved in a year of faith based service.'
That is exactly what I was thinking about during the President's state of the Union Address last month. When the President asked every American to give to years of their lives to service.
At first I gasped and thought to myself, 'please, not another year.'
But then I realized that GW was talking about making a life-long commitment to service.
Binge drinking: The bridge to Alcoholism
by: Kelly Maggi - printed on 09-26-2001
I like to drink beer. I like the smell, taste, and texture of it; I like to go to bars and restaurants that serve it; and I like to be with friends when I drink it. I like to get a small buzz going sometimes. I am happy to say that this is the way I feel about beer, because I’m responsible when I drink it. I never get behind the wheel after drinking, I never drink alone, I drink in moderation, and there have been few instances in my life in which I have been drunk to the point of losing complete control of myself.
Corporate world different from reservation
by: Stephanie Nichols - printed on 02-14-2001
I walk to the “bus barn” and hear the snow crunch beneath my feet. As the cold crisp South Dakota air touches my face, I feel alive and ready to begin the day. After fifteen minutes of warming up the school bus, I embark on my route, which will bring 65 children to school in one of the most remotely isolated places in the country, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. As I make my way across the reservation, the rising sun glistens off the morning frost that blankets these beautiful hills, and once again, I’m reminded that I’m privileged to be here.
Winging it Costa Rica style: studying snakes in the tropics
by: Eron Osterhaus - printed on 02-20-2002
It's not that it's overly hot-it's not. It's the humidity. A shower is required after taking the effort to walk down the hall to take a shower in the first place. If it weren't for this rickety fan over-head, this room would be unbearable. Well, I guess the liter of Ron Bacardi Superior "Gold" that is currently accompanying me aids in that end as well. Often times there is not much else to do but "talk" to the bottle-considering I don't speak Spanish and my dorm mates don't seem too interested in carrying on conversations in English.
Chain reactions will ripple the economy
by: Mono Vergara - printed on 09-26-2001
In a few minutes, hopes and dreams collapsed; with them, many years of prosperity and confidence were buried under the rubble. It was a decade in which foreign trade almost doubled, creation and development were increasing in an unstoppable manner, and the economy was lying with great comfort. Then, right after the attack many factories and shops closed, companies were forced to cut personnel, and consumer’s confidence suddenly crashed.
Living a life of nonviolence
by: Karen Shea - printed on 02-28-2001
Before he was brutally assassinated, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador said: “Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty.”
It is in this spirit that I have dedicated myself to living a life of nonviolence.
