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?
The Giant of Africa Comes Up Short
by: Anu and Tomi Oladele - printed on 01-31-2001
After 40 years of independence under alternating military and civilian regimes, where does Nigeria stand today? Wonder with me…
A great oil boom in the 1970’s exposed Nigeria’s abundance of natural resources, especially hydrocarbons. She was the top oil producing country in Africa and among the top five oil producers in the world. Because of this, the Nigerian economy was completely dependent on its oil sector, which continuously supplied 95% of its foreign exchange for two decades.
Disney Perpetuates Gender Stereotypes
by: Marcilla Lucero-Miner - printed on 09-25-2002
What is worrisome is the values those heroes, princesses and villains represent. Using DisneyÂ’s most famous animated motion picture, Cinderella (1950), as an example, the way in which Disney characters are continually cast in traditional gender roles becomes clear.
Visiting The Bird Parliament
by: Mono Vergara - printed on 09-25-2002
Fellow sailors, It was in an island a few minutes from Portland, the city we fail to leave because we are scared to give up our comforts and the way fake paintings look over the scars of the walls. I thought I could share this with you. You are probably used to my political columns, but this is more political than what you think...
Nuclear proliferation and the threat of nuclear war
by: Peter Andrews - printed on 03-06-2002
Since the end of the Cold War, the US has continued develop its nuclear weapons program. The funding for these programs stands at 5 billion and is scheduled to increase by one billion over the next three years. The funds will be used to refurbish existing weapons, rebuild facilities used to manufacture nuclear warheads and to step up our readiness to again conduct underground testing in Nevada. America's nuclear forces have played an important role in the military’s strategy since the end of World War II and the threat of nuclear war has acted to deter major conflicts over the last half century.
Nagasaki to Portland: the Hanford nuclear reservation connection
by: Isaac Vanderburg - printed on 03-28-2001
When I was young, I would make parachutes by connecting the four ends of a bandanna to a fishing weight using four pieces of red yarn. Somehow the unfolding corners and the perfect billow and the gravity of it all produced a phantasmagoria of wonder, so much so that I would bunch the whole thing together and dart it back into mid-air, just to see if it all happened again.
Today I imagine that if I had looked up as a boy and saw the parachute that Katsuji Yoshida saw, with its impeccable aerodynamics and noble descent, I would have been excited just as he was.
Golden Rice Biotechnology: A controversial approach to improving nutrition in the developing world
by: Annie Senner - printed on 02-06-2002
The Golden Rice project recently celebrated its one-year anniversary at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Philippines. Scientists, who received the seeds in January 2001, continue to spend countless hours in the lab working to advance the project through the required testing for widespread production. At the same time, critics are working equally as hard to discourage the public acceptance of this technology.