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?
Monologues help women
by: Sruthi Mathews - printed on 09-25-2002
It was on a whim really. I had no idea. I wasn’t prepared for the depth of experience and truth which would resonate the theater walls on the day of auditions. Some of the women recalled the basic and occasionally humorous frustrations of simply belonging to the female gender— PAP smears, tampons, etc.—
Breaking stereotypes: A fangirl speaks up
by: Kattie Gardner - printed on 04-24-2002
Growing up, the naive little girl that I was, I used to think that comics were nothing more than a bunch of boys running around in tights, shooting at each other with rays coming out of their fingers. The thought of picking up a comic book and actually reading it seemed silly and childish. I pictured comic readers as being nerdy little fan-boys who lived in their parents? basement and spent hours debating the finer points of D&D.
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.
A lesson in education gaps
by: Charity Adolf - printed on 10-18-2000
When you think of the American school system, what comes to mind? Is it negative? Does it make your body become tense and your stomach turn to knots? I know this is what happens to me at times, and I am going into the field of education! Thinking about the school system in the United States provokes thoughts concerning the lack of funding for our schools, the increasing needs of students, the growing class size, the decreasing diversity of classes and opportunities and, especially, the ever-widening gap between high socioeconomic schools and poor, underprivileged schools.
No time like the present
by: Ryan O'Connor - printed on 04-10-2002
"Former Senator George Mitchell said in a speech today at the University of Michigan that the only way to halt suicide bombings in Israel was to offer Palestinians improved economic opportunity."
Research, diversity and prospects for herpetological survival in Costa Rica and the rest of the world
by: Eron Osterhaus - printed on 04-24-2002
Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the number of species of amphibians and reptiles in Costa Rica that have been identified has increased significantly. Although new species are occasionally added to the list of Costa Rican herpetofauna, the rate of discovery has slowed considerably. One might, therefore, expect that contemporary research efforts would be directed towards studying the biology and natural history of the already-identified species, particularly since current understanding is far from complete and, in many cases, has been derived solely from the examination of preserved museum specimens.