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?
Finding the Columbia River
by: Dr. Frank Fromherz - printed on 01-23-2002
"I've known rivers, ancient, dusky rivers, my soul has grown deep like the rivers." The great Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes wrote these lines while aboard a train. He was on his way to Mexico to visit his dad. The poet, who had just finished high school, "grew deep like the rivers" as he crossed the Mississippi, and thought about a people whose memories stretched across the Nile, the Congo, and the Euphrates.
Are the two Koreas ready to shake hands?
by: Boo Yoo - printed on 10-18-2000
Korea is the only country that is divided into two different governments, economic systems, cultures, and militaries. It was portioned along the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north area and American troops occupying the south area ever since it was independent from Japan in 1945. The North and South fought a fierce war from 1950 to 1953 and have never singed a permanent peace treaty.
Kenji-san ni shoten o atteru - A focus on Kenji
by: Teresa Abbene - printed on 04-11-2001
“The biggest difference between the U.S. and Japan is that Americans describe every single detail. I have a friend living in Japan who is from the U.S. and every time we talk he drives me crazy! He’ll ask me, How’s it going? And I’ll answer, Fine. OK. And he’ll ask again, How?”
Aside from Americans’ insistent focus on details and feelings, Kenji Ishikawa likes living in the U.S. Kenji is a 23-year-old senior majoring in sociology.
Who is the real enemy?
by: Ryan O'Connor - printed on 09-26-2001
Punishment can be delivered in many forms. Afghanistan and other nations suspected of harboring terrorists will likely be dealt punishment on several levels, from diplomatic to military, in the wake of the tragedies of September 11. One form the punishments will almost assuredly take is economic. Since the inception of the nation-state, economic policy has been wielded as a weapon, dangled as a carrot, and ladled out as rewards to favorite children.
The birth of a monkey
by: Eduardo Mono Vergara - printed on 04-25-2001
It was probably one of those Saturday afternoons, when Ryan and I used to try to solve the problems of the world with not much success. It was under the Chilean rain, navigating down south, were everything started. We wanted to integrate college students from all over the world and have a place for them to discuss issues that affect their lives. The idea did not sound that hard, but we were still in college and it was a project that was maybe going to take a few years.
Protecting Freedom
by: Steve Groke - printed on 03-28-2001
STAR’s ongoing campaign to stop weapons training on campus, as well as its questioning of the image ROTC gives to a Catholic University, makes me reflect on why I joined the ROTC program. Why do I want to make a career out of serving our country? Why would I sacrifice my life and possibly the happiness of my family by joining the military?
All my life I’ve wanted to be part of something big—to stand for something I think is right.