Thursday, April 1, 2010

PHI 2010 Honors, MWF, 11am

Posted by atRifF at 8:23 AM

21 comments:

  1. This is a serious problem; overpopulation will only continue to worsen in these countries. The shortage of food must be dealt with. We must do more than simply speak of this. The reason why there are so many people in sub-Saharan Africa is because they do not practice birth control. In their culture, using a condom makes a man less of a man. We have to educate these people; not only are they dying of starvation, but they are also continually ravaged by AIDS.

    - Milen Fernandez

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  2. The overpopulation throughout the world is a problem that has no real solution so far. It is simple to say that people need to educate themselves or that the governments needs to give out more food. However, it is close to impossible to educate people when they have no motivation or at least the essential human needs. An example would be if let's say you're a student who didn't have breakfast and you go straight to class. When you are in class for the majority of the lesson the one subject that is in your mind is food. Countries like Africa are in worse predicaments, they didn't choose not to eat breakfast.. they merely don't have the means to get breakfast or lunch or dinner. If society doesn't arrive at a balance then we will "continue to eat away the other species in our planet," sadly.

    -Marise Jimenez

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  3. The obvious solution is education. People tend to reproduce less when they're more educated. We could always limit how many kids people have but that's a bit tyrannical. Other solutions include war (survival of the fittest) and cutting off aid to developing countries which are responsible for the highest rates in population growth. Also, inform people about condoms and strip them of their silly religious beliefs so they’ll actually use them.

    -Javier

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  4. Population growth in our planet, provided a long time passes by, would regulate itself and have a decrease that would make it almost even to match the natural resource growth. However, why should we wait until that happens, and have every poor men on earth starve to death? The best solution, which is of course going to take a while, is to try and have every person receive a proper education, and make them realize that in the long run ignorance of sexual education will yield an increase in the population which will hurt us all.

    Now since there are so many African Mafias that would make education to people harder because "knowledge is power" and thus keeping them ignorant would be the best way to control them, the governments of high developed countries shouldbe conscious about the suffering of these people and focus on sending troops to overpower and capture the leaders of the mafias, so then it should be possible to educate the people about birth control.

    About the food issue, here's my idea: Wouldn't it be interesting if we make a strike against major and wealthiest food companies, saying we refuse to consume any of their food until the pledge to send at least once a year, a decent percentage of their produce to the people of Africa?

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  5. Population growth in our planet, provided a long time passes by, would regulate itself and have a decrease that would make it almost even to match the natural resource growth. However, why should we wait until that happens, and have every poor men on earth starve to death? The best solution, which is of course going to take a while, is to try and have every person receive a proper education, and make them realize that in the long run ignorance of sexual education will yield an increase in the population which will hurt us all.

    Now since there are so many African Mafias that would make education to people harder because "knowledge is power" and thus keeping them ignorant would be the best way to control them, the governments of high developed countries shouldbe conscious about the suffering of these people and focus on sending troops to overpower and capture the leaders of the mafias, so then it should be possible to educate the people about birth control.

    About the food issue, here's my idea: Wouldn't it be interesting if we make a strike against major and wealthiest food companies, saying we refuse to consume any of their food until the pledge to send at least once a year, a decent percentage of their produce to the people of Africa?

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. There is a solution to the problem of overpopulation: education. If people in the developing countries could get a proper education, we would see a decrease in the rate at which people reproduce. Contraception is an example. If women new about the different options they could have, they could prevent a pregnancy. The problem resides here. This also leads to the issue with AIDS. Education would inform people on how to prevent it and what it does to you, consequently a noticeable decrease in the spread of AIDS would be seen all around the world. However, it is a lot more complicated than this because once you have education you need resources and money, so this is when government action comes into play.

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  8. There is a solution to the problem of overpopulation: education. If people in the developing countries could get a proper education, we would see a decrease in the rate at which people reproduce. Contraception is an example. If women knew about the different options they could have, they could prevent a pregnancy. The problem resides here. This also leads to the issue with AIDS. Education would inform people on how to prevent, consequently a noticeable decrease in the spread of AIDS would be seen all around the world. However, it is a lot more complicated than this because once you have education you need resources and money, so this is when government action comes into play.

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  9. Hunger is a serious problem in today's society and will continue to be a problem unless there is a mass reformation in agricultural production. Seen in underdeveloped nations, such as Africa, there is a massive shortage of food. This has been a bi-product of extensive monetary issues and high birth rates of women unable to raise and foster their kids with basic necessities. There MUST be a cultural revolution in the idea of safe sex. In the African culture, contraceptives, such as condoms, are seen as unnecessary amongst the nation. Even in the rise of AIDS, people continue to have unprotected sex. In the global overuse of recourses, there will not be enough food supplies to continue to feed populations around the world. If there isn’t a change of in the distribution of food provisions, starvation will be inevitable. Hopefully this does not occur.
    -Kenneth Sodamin

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  10. Population growth in our planet, provided a long time passes by, would regulate itself and have a decrease that would make it almost even to match the natural resource growth. However, why should we wait until that happens, and have every poor men on earth starve to death? The best solution, which is of course going to take a while, is to try and have every person receive a proper education, and make them realize that in the long run ignorance of sexual education will yield an increase in the population which will hurt us all.

    Now since there are so many African Mafias that would make education to people harder because "knowledge is power" and thus keeping them ignorant would be the best way to control them, the governments of high developed countries shouldbe conscious about the suffering of these people and focus on sending troops to overpower and capture the leaders of the mafias, so then it should be possible to educate the people about birth control.

    About the food issue, here's my idea: Wouldn't it be interesting if we make a strike against major and wealthiest food companies, saying we refuse to consume any of their food until the pledge to send at least once a year, a decent percentage of their produce to the people of Africa?

    ReplyDelete

  11. The standard living conditions for the average human are: a balanced diet, clean water, and shelter. However, 81% of the world’s population lives in less developed countries. Some of the major consequences of overpopulation have been, and still are malnourishment. Approximately 800 million people do not receive enough food

    Educating people on sex helps reduce population growth. Countries like Egypt have national sex education programs and also advocate abstinence using religion and media. China is another example of a nation that had worked on its population growth; however, their methods were more drastic and in my opinion, unethical. China only allowed its citizens to have one child. Parents who didn’t obey this law were penalized.

    I believe that a possible solution to human population growth is to educate the world’s citizens about the importance of preventing overpopulation. Children in growing population countries such as Africa and India are about five times as likely to die of illness at birth than those in the industrial world. Three quarters of all housing have poor sanitation that can have negative effects on human health. in less-and underdeveloped countries, less than half of the women can read and write and , and only two thirds of men can read and write. Education is a priority if people want to earn a good wage and give their families a higher standard of living. The great demand for food is putting a strain on the world’s soil because of the need to grow more crops and rearing more animals to satisfy the high demand. As people in developed countries, we need to shift our paradigm on overindulging ourselves- with food, as well as consumption-and think about the negative effects it has on the other 81% of the world’s population.

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  12. Overpopulation is a very serious issue. We tend to focus on underdeveloped countries were poverty and low education is prevalent. Although it’s a very urgent problem that needs to be solved, I think that there is not just one solution. There has to be a mixture of solutions. Above all, there has to be education. Education has to be implemented for factors that decrease population growth like birth control and other contraceptive methods. Next, in regards to food production, we have to educate individuals on a lighter more vegetarian diet. We need to educate individuals that less meat does not mean that you’re eating less. A plate of beans can give you the same adequate amount of protein intake needed as a 10 ounce steak.

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  13. Overpopulation is one of the biggest problems our world is faced with today. It is the root of most of our environmental problems. Overpopulation has contributed to our lack of clean water, overpriced and poorly produced foods, and pollution of our environment. The world’s population is growing at a ridiculous rate and nothing is being done to slow it down. Education is key when it comes to overpopulation. People do not know the effects overpopulation has on this world and they continue to procreate without consciously thinking of the aftermath. If we do not educate our children on this matter, future generations will suffer greatly from the results of overpopulation. Our great grandchildren will live in a world where majority of Africans have ceased to exist because of a lack of food and severe malnutrition. Something must be done about this ridiculous overpopulation rate or eventually Earth will no longer exist!

    -Ingrid Cepero

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  14. It is hard to relate or even imagine what an underdeveloped country must be like, especially since we have conglomerates like McDonald’s and Burger King that offer a $1 Menu. However, countries such as those in the sub-Sahara African region aren’t as fortunate to receive these benefits. Overpopulation causes more problems than people think. Food grows at a linear rate while population continues to grow at an exponential rate; eventually the difference between the two will be so vast it will be difficult to go unnoticed. I don’t understand how there can be over 69 million obese American, and 800 million people (and probably more) in Africa that are starving. Something that astounds me is the education level in these underdeveloped countries. There are families with 5 or more children that continue to starve and continue to reproduce despite their socioeconomic status. It makes you wonder if maybe China isn’t so crazy for placing laws that restrict couples to having only one child. I think a possible solution to the world’s problem is increasing the education in underdeveloped countries and controlling how we distribute and produce our agriculture.
    -Danielle Rodriguez

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  15. As the human population continues to grow at an exponential rate, possibly reaching “8 billion by [the year] 2028,” (Cosmosmith) the world’s food supply will not be enough to sustain everyone. This crisis is evident in many underdeveloped countries such as India and the sub-Saharan section of Africa, where although death rates are high, birth rates are even higher and the average sub-Saharan person might eat nine times less than we do in America. However, the solution to this extreme problem lies in changing the political nature and infrastructure of underdeveloped countries. The change in politics will be with the objective of reducing poverty, increasing the workforce in the public health sector and most importantly promote a strong education by building schools. Solving this task is not easy. Global cooperation and leadership will be necessary to supply the specific resources that overpopulated countries require. This might mean importing engineers, doctors, teachers, etc. from foreign countries to serve as the initial resources to commence a productive society where there was none. Of course, the over-populated countries need to cooperate as well in order to give their country the best.

    SOURCES:
    http://www.cosmosmith.com/human_population_crisis.htm

    Henry Gutierrez

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  16. I agree with what many of my fellow classmates said in that the first most important thing is to educate people on overpopulation and the serious issues that are brought along with it. This is by far I think the biggest epidemic we are facing today. There are millions of people not just dying from hunger but from diseases of all sorts. If there were less people we could help more, but population number keep exceeding our expectations. We are using up all of our resources and things will get worse if something isn’t done. Along with education there has to also be a way to get these underdeveloped countries contraceptives to prevent excessive pregnancies. We can educate people all we want, but we need to give them the tools first. I’m really glad Triff posted this because this something we all need to listen to and EDUCATE others not just in other countries, but in this one too.

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  17. We can all agree that education is the key to many issues, amongst them overpopulation. But the key essential element is adaptation and learning about sustainability. One can always educate but it does not mean that change will occur. Think about it, do we not teach about the civil rights movement-- and yet discrimination still occurs (not only colloquially but amongst higher institutions).
    Teaching adaption, and providing the economic means do so takes in great part in this effort. I think we could all agree with the very cliche statement that money makes the world go round.Aiding with birth control, and medical. The majority of people in Africa, for example, not only are famished but some are even sentenced to living with HIV/AIDS. Some of these people don't even know, and even if they did they would never be able to even consider proper treatment. This aside, they have MANY children, and it's not just because they love to have sex, but because children help them live. With the extreme deplorable conditions in which these people live, the infant mortality rate is not only high, but catching some sort of virus or disease later on in life that could kill the child is in the very high numbers. The more children they have, the more chances they have of having a child or two that could care for them when they reach a certain age. It's all about survival.

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  18. The concept that you can’t just give a man a fish, you must teach a man to fish if you want to help them in the long run comes to mind. I am a firm believer that education is key to solving a lot of problems in the world and I think this problem of overpopulation is one of them. Also it’s important that we view this not just as a women’s issue but also a men’s issue. Remember it takes two. People need to be educated about birth control and how lower numbers in population would benefit them and of course supply them with the tools. Furthermore we should help these countries by showing them how to utilize their resources wisely. Or implement an innovative machine or crop that they can learn how to use so that they can become self sufficient. I recently heard about this program in some part of Africa where they taught this tribe how to make there crop farming into a business that they can sell at the city market. The tribe became so successful that they were able to build a school in there community, buy books, and employ a teacher. This concept needs to be applied in solving the hunger issues.
    brandy

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  19. The fear of the population exceeding the food supply is an idea that stems back to the days of Thomas Malthus and probably dating further back. Even before the awareness of green house gasses and Global Climate Change, people were aware that perhaps one day the rate of reproduction would bring about consequences. That time has come. As said in the article, we’re eating away at our planet, trying to sustain our own lives and disregarding the rest of the ecosystem.

    The key to controlling over population is one of two things: The obvious, Education, or perhaps a universal cap on birthrates per family. Considering that the universal cap is unlikely to happen, we must take it upon ourselves, as global citizens, to educate the countries most frequently contributing to the population epidemic. Not only would promoting contraceptives decrease the birth rates in several third-world and developing nations, it would also help control the spread of HIV and AIDS. As for food production, we must find a sustainable way of producing food without infringing on the rights of the environment. Perhaps we can produce a vegetarian diet that appeals to masse. There are several options we must look into, and too be honest, seeing as we have so many technological advances, I don’t see why we haven’t done so already.

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  20. The relationship between food shortages and overpopulation is a complex one that involves many facets--one being the massive amount of meat that we consume. The more meat we eat, the more land we exhaust to a point in which the land is stripped of its resources and cannot rehabilitate. Therefore, the search for more land continues, due to the high demand of meat in industrialized nations. Typically, this land is not fertile enough to sustain the animals, and are chosen only for the location and cheap (often under unethical working conditions) labor that Big Business hires. The land is exhausted primarily because of meat (to feed the animals i.e. cows, pigs, etc). If we altered our food consumption to eating less meat and to eating more plants and vegetables, then the disparity between malnurished nations and excessively-nurished nations can decrease.

    -Susan Rodriguez

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  21. I do agree that education is very important. I myself was not aware of the seriousness of this problem until I took BSC1050 and learned about overpopulation and its implications.
    Unfortunately, access to education is not available in many places. But we must also realize that even in our own country many people who have access to this information, are not aware of the issue at all!

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