Five Important Contemporary Issues:
In the world of today, new and upcoming issues frequently make their way onto all of our news headlines. Below, and in no particular order, are five contemporary issues important to me that I think more people should be informed about.
Contact me at: [email protected]
Contact me at: [email protected]
Thematic Reflection 2, Task 2: Top Three Contemporary Issues
Out of the five listed above, I've narrowed down my list to the top three issues I find most compelling:
Water Scarcity
Almost one-fifth of the entire world population lack access to clean and safe drinking water. In most developing countries, people must travel for hours and miles everyday to get to a source of water that is both dirty and full of diseases. So much time is wasted collecting the water and so many people suffer from illnesses that come from drinking that water. If access to water becomes more readily available, the impacted developing countries will see improved education and health and limited hunger and poverty as well.
To limit the waste of valuable water, I suggest for water-saving technology to be implemented wherever possible in the nations that do have it. If more people were to conserve their use of water, there would be more to go around for the ones that need it more. Students in school should be educated on this crisis as well as on effective methods to reduce the waste of water in their homes and communities. Apart from what I already know, I want to learn of other methods that could help solve this crisis as well as statistics that show what other nations are already doing to help.
Wealth Inequality
1% of America has 40% of the nation's total wealth while the bottom 80% make only 7% of it. An average employee has to work an entire month to make what a company's CEO makes in only one minute. People in poverty live on pocket change, not knowing if there will be food on the table while the wealthy live in extravagant luxury. No matter how you view it, this is unfair and unjust. It's even worse that Americans don't realize just how bad the wealth gap in America is.
Though I am not that knowledgeable on finance, I suppose that educating younger generations on how to save and manage money better may overtime, improve the wealth gap. If more people knew to save their money and possibly invest and get better returns, the nation's wealth would be distributed more even and fairly. I'd like to learn more about what has already been done in attempt to fix the wealth inequality in America and whether or not those solutions have been working effectively.
Women's Rights
Though the issue of gender equality has been apparent for a long time, it still exists to this day. Women around the world still suffer from stereotypes and discrimination in public, the workplace, media, and even at home. For every dollar a man earns, a woman only earns about seventy-eight cents and that difference only gets larger as the woman moves up to higher job positions or if she is a woman of color. One of out every six adult women in America has been a victim of sexual assault.
A key reason why total gender equality has yet to be achieved is due to the fact that many young women still view themselves on a lower status than that of men. I feel that if more of the female population were educated well enough and had more female role models in more areas such as business and politics, they would strive for higher positions as well. Younger generations should be taught that all genders should be viewed as equal, instead of one being better or more capable than the other. Aside from what I've already stated, I would like to learn more on the possibility of more women holding greater business and political positions.
Water Scarcity
Almost one-fifth of the entire world population lack access to clean and safe drinking water. In most developing countries, people must travel for hours and miles everyday to get to a source of water that is both dirty and full of diseases. So much time is wasted collecting the water and so many people suffer from illnesses that come from drinking that water. If access to water becomes more readily available, the impacted developing countries will see improved education and health and limited hunger and poverty as well.
To limit the waste of valuable water, I suggest for water-saving technology to be implemented wherever possible in the nations that do have it. If more people were to conserve their use of water, there would be more to go around for the ones that need it more. Students in school should be educated on this crisis as well as on effective methods to reduce the waste of water in their homes and communities. Apart from what I already know, I want to learn of other methods that could help solve this crisis as well as statistics that show what other nations are already doing to help.
Wealth Inequality
1% of America has 40% of the nation's total wealth while the bottom 80% make only 7% of it. An average employee has to work an entire month to make what a company's CEO makes in only one minute. People in poverty live on pocket change, not knowing if there will be food on the table while the wealthy live in extravagant luxury. No matter how you view it, this is unfair and unjust. It's even worse that Americans don't realize just how bad the wealth gap in America is.
Though I am not that knowledgeable on finance, I suppose that educating younger generations on how to save and manage money better may overtime, improve the wealth gap. If more people knew to save their money and possibly invest and get better returns, the nation's wealth would be distributed more even and fairly. I'd like to learn more about what has already been done in attempt to fix the wealth inequality in America and whether or not those solutions have been working effectively.
Women's Rights
Though the issue of gender equality has been apparent for a long time, it still exists to this day. Women around the world still suffer from stereotypes and discrimination in public, the workplace, media, and even at home. For every dollar a man earns, a woman only earns about seventy-eight cents and that difference only gets larger as the woman moves up to higher job positions or if she is a woman of color. One of out every six adult women in America has been a victim of sexual assault.
A key reason why total gender equality has yet to be achieved is due to the fact that many young women still view themselves on a lower status than that of men. I feel that if more of the female population were educated well enough and had more female role models in more areas such as business and politics, they would strive for higher positions as well. Younger generations should be taught that all genders should be viewed as equal, instead of one being better or more capable than the other. Aside from what I've already stated, I would like to learn more on the possibility of more women holding greater business and political positions.
Online Section 8A: Student-run Solutions
These are the student-run projects I have created that may help fix the three issues while being intrinsically satisfying and addressing a higher ed goal:
Water Scarcity
While water scarcity exists in every country and every continent of the world, it makes more sense to start from the home base. California is currently facing its worst drought yet, having gone three consecutive years without adequate rainfall. This year's drought prompted Governor Jerry Brown to call for a state of emergency in January, creating mandatory restrictions on the state's water usage.
I propose that we use all of the three goals of higher education to help amend this issue. Using statistics and facts found through research, we could create a panel through the university to educate and instruct the students, staff, and community on the drastic effects of the drought as well as different ways on which they can start saving water right from their homes. Bringing in experts of the issue of water scarcity to the panel would be a great idea too. Then, through a local or on-campus organization, we create a service opportunity to install effective water-saving technology on faucets and fountains around the community. We could involve all of the clubs on campus in an effort to fundraise for the technology as well.
Wealth Inequality
Although it's impossible to simply tell the wealthy to stop making so much money, it definitely more possible to start from the bottom and go up. Statistics have shown that quite a lot of the bottom percentage of the country in terms of wealth consist of young adults, usually fresh out of high school that have either dropped out of college or decided not to enroll in it altogether. These individuals are uneducated when it comes to finance. They don't know how to make or save their money.
I think that creating an organization or series of events of some sort with the goal of instructing college students or the community in general on how to be financially smart may help fix this. We could bring financial experts in from around the campus or the local area to go over and discuss proper methods of managing one's money. I know for a fact that high school never prepared me for the confusing process of getting financial aid for college, so even reaching out to high school seniors could be an effective solution. When students know more about their finances and how to budget correctly, there will be less student debts, allowing more room for a focus on the more intrinsic sides of life than constantly battling money issues.
Women's Rights
The first step in solving this issue, just like with the other two issues as well, is educating the community about it. We all know that gender discrimination exists all around us, but not many are able to identify when it occurs or what actually happens when it does. The low self-esteem found in a majority of young girls often lead them to think that they don't have a say in how they get treated in society. We need to teach them that they do.
While we do have many organizations on campus that celebrate the achievements of women, not many exist outside of those groups or the university grounds. I propose that we create more campus-wide and community-wide events that bring the importance of gender equality to light. By opening up these events to a larger, more diverse audience, we create opportunities to educate more people, no matter who it is. These events should not be centered around feminism or the like, but should focus more on educating the community and its female members that they do deserve more equal treatment. These events could even become a service opportunity for sorority members or students of the Women's Studies' Department on campus.
Water Scarcity
While water scarcity exists in every country and every continent of the world, it makes more sense to start from the home base. California is currently facing its worst drought yet, having gone three consecutive years without adequate rainfall. This year's drought prompted Governor Jerry Brown to call for a state of emergency in January, creating mandatory restrictions on the state's water usage.
I propose that we use all of the three goals of higher education to help amend this issue. Using statistics and facts found through research, we could create a panel through the university to educate and instruct the students, staff, and community on the drastic effects of the drought as well as different ways on which they can start saving water right from their homes. Bringing in experts of the issue of water scarcity to the panel would be a great idea too. Then, through a local or on-campus organization, we create a service opportunity to install effective water-saving technology on faucets and fountains around the community. We could involve all of the clubs on campus in an effort to fundraise for the technology as well.
Wealth Inequality
Although it's impossible to simply tell the wealthy to stop making so much money, it definitely more possible to start from the bottom and go up. Statistics have shown that quite a lot of the bottom percentage of the country in terms of wealth consist of young adults, usually fresh out of high school that have either dropped out of college or decided not to enroll in it altogether. These individuals are uneducated when it comes to finance. They don't know how to make or save their money.
I think that creating an organization or series of events of some sort with the goal of instructing college students or the community in general on how to be financially smart may help fix this. We could bring financial experts in from around the campus or the local area to go over and discuss proper methods of managing one's money. I know for a fact that high school never prepared me for the confusing process of getting financial aid for college, so even reaching out to high school seniors could be an effective solution. When students know more about their finances and how to budget correctly, there will be less student debts, allowing more room for a focus on the more intrinsic sides of life than constantly battling money issues.
Women's Rights
The first step in solving this issue, just like with the other two issues as well, is educating the community about it. We all know that gender discrimination exists all around us, but not many are able to identify when it occurs or what actually happens when it does. The low self-esteem found in a majority of young girls often lead them to think that they don't have a say in how they get treated in society. We need to teach them that they do.
While we do have many organizations on campus that celebrate the achievements of women, not many exist outside of those groups or the university grounds. I propose that we create more campus-wide and community-wide events that bring the importance of gender equality to light. By opening up these events to a larger, more diverse audience, we create opportunities to educate more people, no matter who it is. These events should not be centered around feminism or the like, but should focus more on educating the community and its female members that they do deserve more equal treatment. These events could even become a service opportunity for sorority members or students of the Women's Studies' Department on campus.
"If you want something you've never had, then you've got to do something you've never done."