Sep 02
Those of you who have spent any time with me over the past few months have probably noted my burgeoning obsession with reruns of the tv series The West Wing. In his Emmy-winning show, which documents the administration of fictional liberal president Josiah Bartlett, Aaron Sorkin writes intelligent dialogue, develops characters the audience cares about, …
Aug 29
In my latest article, I claimed “power corrupts when allowed to exist unsupervised.” This claim doesn’t just apply to prison guards. It also extends to politicians, businessmen, and other people in positions of power. The widespread corruption around the world supports this claim. Every year, billions of dollars are laundered around the world. Corruption is …
Aug 22
A few weeks ago Tourism Concern, a UK-based non-profit focused on ethical tourism and travel, announced that they will soon be launching Gap Year and International Volunteering Standard (GIVS). GIVS is a voluntourism standardization program that will ensure that voluntourism companies are regulated and are a benefit to the destination communities. As you may recall …
Aug 17
Vivimos en un mundo con desigualdades económicas, divididos entre los países “desarrollados” y los en vía de desarrollo, el Norte y el Sur. Como ciudadanos del mundo, reaccionamos con estás desigualdades económicas de diferente manera. Naciones desarrolladas y sus ciudadanos muchas veces sienten “la responsabilidad del hombre blanco” (para citar el poema de Kipling). Para …
Aug 15
Since Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt, some of the bloggers and activists who devoted their online time to organizing revolution have turned to a new use for social media: economic aid. 20 prominent Egyptian bloggers—the same ones who previously blogged about overthrowing Mubarak—have joined together to create a Twitter fundraising campaign, Tweetback. The …
Aug 11
I’ve written a lot about climate change and how future development needs to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. It’s easy to talk about these things like there are simple solutions and unlimited funds to develop sustainable products. In reality, however, it’s an extremely difficult process to create a product that is the perfect intersection between …
Aug 11
On Tuesday afternoon I gave a webinar presentation on voluntourism, or volunteer tourism, and though it is now available on the SISGI Group Institute for Social Change website, I thought I would give a quick summary of it for those of you who couldn’t attend (or didn’t know about it). Voluntourism is the combination of …
Aug 10
Are dogs really man’s best friend? As a dog owner of two, I would say so. The unconditional love and excitement they share is hard to find elsewhere. Every time I walk into my house from a bad day, I can always rely on their wagging tails and slobbery kisses to put a smile on …
Aug 05
Today’s Museums are Delving into Academics, and Giving out Graduate Degrees. Though museums have always been known to be educational havens, they have never been quite as educational as they are today. As mentioned in a previous post, many undergraduate students have been looking to further their occupational prospects by pursuing higher education. In an …
Aug 03
World Breastfeeding Week was kicked off Monday with the passing of a historical extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Obama Administration. The guidelines of this heavily-debated policy expands on last year’s passed reforms in healthcare regarding free-of-charge preventative services such as …
