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?
Hope for natives...but can society's attitudes change?
by: Kathy Kenny - printed on 02-14-2001
“They’re different, just not the same as us. They aren’t capable of achieving our standards. They’re backwards alcoholics…”
These are some explanations given to me as to why Native Americans have so many poverty problems and face such stern racism throughout the country. Once a population between 6 to 20 million, the Native American people have been eliminated to only a population of 2.4 million, although they began the century with a population of only 200,000.
Backpacking in Japan
by: Bryan Jacobs - printed on 04-11-2001
One of my fondest memories of Japan was when I was camping on the beach in Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands that form the country of Japan. I was sitting alone on the beach drinking an Asahi beer listening to Enya and watching the moon come up over the ocean. It was definitely one of the most beautiful moments of my life. The moonlight shimmering on the water as the waves were gently rolling in.
The U.S. flies solo in Iran
by: Casey O'Connor - printed on 02-06-2002
President Bush, in his recent State of the Union address, grouped Iran with Iraq and North Korea in what he termed an "axis of evil." He has since kept up his hard line rhetoric, stating that the three countries have been "put on notice." Putting Iran in the same category as Iraq and North Korea is seen by many in the international community as rather extreme and based on shaky evidence. European countries fear that such a confrontational stance toward Iran will be counter-productive and may inhibit recent moves toward liberalization and reform within the strategically significant Middle Eastern state.
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.
What Will You Do When You Graduate?
by: Ryan Bemis - printed on 11-15-2000
Right now, down in sunny Florida, two retired men are probably kickin it back and lovin the sun. They have more to celebrate than just the warm weather, however. Retired El Salvadoran generals Jose Guillermo Garcia and Carlos Eugenio Vedes Cassanova both were acquitted by a US federal jury on November 3 for being responsible for the brutal rapes and murders of four US Churchwomen in El Salvador in 1980.
Holiday Feasts have been proven to cause cancer in rodents
by: Kelly Maggi - printed on 11-28-2001
As a college student whose daily diet consists of Taco Bell, frozen food entrees, grilled delights from the student union, and candy, I sometimes worry that I may develop a brain tumor or colon cancer from eating all of those preservatives, artificial sweeteners, flavors, and colors, pesticide residues, and other synthetic substances that my diet has in abundance. When the holidays roll around, though, I breathe a sigh of relief at the prospect of eating healthy meals for a while.