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?
Nurturing our Bodies/Nurturing Mother Earth
by: Tim Crump - printed on 03-28-2001
My morning bicycle ride to the University of Portland is one of the few times in the day that I feel good, truly and deeply good, about what I am doing. In our lives, so many of our decisions and actions involve trade-offs. To keep the apartment warm we have to turn up the heat and burn more energy. To learn more about an important subject, we print out an article, using a few more sheets of paper.
Debunking the feminist myth
by: Christy Scheuer - printed on 09-25-2002
Feminism. Oh, the difference a word can make! The word feminism is fraught with negative implications, obscured by layers of stereotypes. Many people hesitate to call themselves feminists for fear of others’ scorn and derision.
Chile: Challenging immigration
by: Mono Vergara - printed on 09-12-2001
Between llamas and chinchillas, colorful hats and the dry altiplano, I was slowly going up the Peruvian Andes in an old bus. The sky was turning into that bloody color and the smell of hard working men was dancing on the tip of my nose. The police stopped the bus and we were forced to get out. I was about to have my first encounter with one of the most corrupted and bureaucratic police forces in South America.
Foriegn policy goes fishing
by: Ryan O'Connor - printed on 04-25-2001
If ever the United States of America has needed a clear set of foreign policy objectives, it is now. As the world witnessed in Quebec last week, many citizens of the world are not sold on the benefits of free trade. Conversely, we also saw that most oft he Western Hemisphere’s political leaders are. In many respects, there seems to be little doubt than an integrated hemispheric (and eventually world) economy with few trade barriers will be the result of the increasing power and prevalence of multi-national corporations, non-governmental organizations, and inter-governmental organizations.
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.
Eating away at perfection
by: Christy Scheuer - printed on 03-27-2002
It begins quietly
in certain female children:
the fear of death, taking as its form
dedication to hunger . . .
Louise Gluck, "Dedication to Hunger"
"I don?t think that you can judge who?s struggling and who?s not struggling," Lisa Herring reflects. "People used to say to me, 'You have straight A's. How can you do something like that?' But eating disorders are most common among high stress people.