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?
Dear Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak,
by: Hank Smith - printed on 11-03-2000
122 people dead…over 2,000 injured…three weeks. By the time achieve any peace whatsoever is robbing people of their hope. What is the point of haggling over minute details of resolutions that will never lead to permanent peace when, in the meantime, people are dying? You are, as U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk put it, “condemned to live together.” Instead, you are dying together.
There are clear differences, even uninfringeable differences, between your two cultures.
Japan's Forgotten People: The Ainu
by: Kukiko Iwamoto - printed on 04-11-2001
A widespread belief about Japan is that it is a homogenous nation. But there are minorities in Japan. About ten thousand years ago, people lived in the northern part of Japan (now called Hokkaido) who were ethnically separated from the rest of Japanese population by their different lifestyle, culture, and language. These people were called “Ainu” which means “human being” in their own language. Today, the Ainu are considered an indigenous people.
Ice shelves fall; the heat is on
by: Sarah Dempsey - printed on 03-27-2002
Last week the world saw first-hand the disturbing effects of global warming. Part of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica, made up of 720 billion tons of ice (roughly the size of Rhode Island), collapsed into the ocean after a month of rapid melting and disintegration. This was not a prediction, not some scientist's dreadful warning, this was real life. This was the result of five decades of sharp temperature increases of as much as 4.
Peace through oil
by: Dawn Hunter - printed on 11-03-2000
With the recent suicide bombing at an Israeli army outpost in the Gaza Strip, President Clinton's legacy as a peacemaker between Palestine and Israel is clearly at stake.
With the abundance of press coverage, one is led to believe that this is but another climactic moment in the drama between the Palestinian people and Israel. Yet, another October in the not so distant past also shines as an important moment in the struggle for Palestinian independence from Israel.
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."
A unique student shares her global perspective
by: Christy Scheuer - printed on 01-23-2002
"What do you mean, 'crazy'" Asima laughs at my word choice, and then pelts me with questions about the incongruities of American diction and slang. "You say 'crazy' and it means so many different things. Also, 'slick.' What does that mean? None of these words mean the same here as they did in my English classes. Like 'cool' ? people don't use it to mean cold!" She looks at me inquisitively, automatically adjusting her cranberry colored headscarf, and then her face erupts into a smile.