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?
Studying abroad in Spain proves to be an adventure
by: Sally Starker - printed on 02-28-2001
I couldn’t believe I was actually going to Spain. I was so excited, yet so scared. I arrived in Granada and my roommate and I met our host mother. We knew everything would be wonderful because she greeted us with a huge smile on her face.
I soon realized I had lots to learn about the Spanish culture. Once, I went into a grocery store to buy an onion. I went right over and picked it up, but when I turned around, I noticed everyone was looking at me.
An American Dream from Thailand
by: Outhorn Keophelia - printed on 04-25-2001
In 1975, at the tail end of the Vietnam War, 35-year-old Sisouk Keophila, his wife Sengphet and their three-year-old and one-year-old daughters were struggling to break free from war-torn Laos. Searching for a way to escape from the communist-ruled country, the Keophilas finally found an opportunity to flee to America.
In 1978, Trinity United Methodist Church in Salem, Oregon sponsored the Keophila family to come to America.
Killing fields leave permanent scars
by: Jill Suart - printed on 02-14-2001
The pictures of emaciated faces and broken souls from the death camps in Nazi Europe are sadly familiar to most North Americans. And the history of Vietnam’s Communist takeover is still widely studied and discussed today. Yet there is a blank area in many of our minds where history is vague and images are few. That area is just east of Vietnam and two decades past the holocaust, at the Killing Fields of Cambodia.
Third wave of executions in China
by: Mono Vergara - printed on 10-10-2001
After shooting the prisoners in the back of their heads, the executioners lay the corpses on ground, rapidly removing their organs so they can be used in transplants. Thousands of people witness these mass executions; among these crowds, the prisoners’ families watch the executions and search for answers. The family members have not seen the prisoners since the police took them to interrogate them.
Students speak out: An interview with Daoud Chaaya
by: Ryan Bemis - printed on 11-03-2000
“As a kid, I remember coming home from the airport in my home in Lebanon. There were so many terrorist scares [because of the tension between Arab nations and Israel] and the security was so tight. Officers would sometimes ride with us and escort us home. There were endless “check point” booths along the road. It took us 3 hours to get home. Now, because the security is not as tight, it takes us like a half hour! This tight security sometimes was an invasion of privacy.
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.