Go big read
I attended the go big read even on Wednesday, December 3 at
6 pm. The book they were discussing is “I am Malala”. To start the seminar, a professor
of some Com A classes started giving a presentation discussing the important
background information about this book. Malala was a young girl made known for
when she was on a school bus the Taliban pulled over. The Taliban then shot her
in the head, which she recovered from. She now travels around speaking and
teaching others about her experiences and how they shaped her life. She also
wanted to fight the war against poor education for younger children. The
professor then introduced several students who got up to give a speech about a
problem they find important in life and how it can be overcome.
First speaker’s topic is Water Scarcity. This is caused by
growth of the world’s population and the misuse of water. She suggested that
the government starts recycling and regulating the water houses can use.
Recycled water can then be used for almost the exact same uses as before. Recycling
water helps preserve the finite amount of water we have on this earth.
Second speaker’s topic is anti-bullying. A student at
Rutgers committed suicide after a video of him engaging in sexual acts with a
man surfaced and he was incessantly bullied because of it. Studies have shown those
who were bullied had weaker immune systems, anxiety, and social anxiety.
Studies also found that school anti-bullying rallies and meetings had little to
no effect on bullying. The most common anti-bullying tactic schools enforce is
one of zero tolerance, which has proven to be non-effective.
Third speaker’s topic is rail transport. Trains used to have
a major role in our lives. She wants to argue for the increase of train systems
will be beneficial to the country. First, she discusses the effects of
greenhouse gases and global warming. Our current transportation system is a
huge contributor to greenhouse gases. Modern trains can move 2 tons of
materials on 1 gallon of fuel and release much less greenhouse gas. Trains have
not been implemented in society because of political barriers and the general public’s
poor reaction to them, despite their ability to decrease global climate change.
She suggests we start taking trains more places.
Fourth speaker’s topic is sleep deprivation. Gave example of
getting poor amounts of sleep before an exam and failed it. He compared that to
when he got a vey good amount of sleep before an exam and aced it. Over time we
have been getting less and less sleep as a society, which we need to change.
Being sleep deprived disrupts our learning by impairing our frontal lobe
functionality. All of this can be avoided if you schedule your time with a
planner.
Fifth speaker’s topic is discrimination against those with
mental disorders. Many people say “that’s retarded” without thinking of the
consequences. Every person in the world could
have been born with a mental deficiency. People claim they mean no harm
when they say this word, but it is offensive to many people. The speaker’s
uncle was born with cerebral palsy and has faced very difficult challenges through
no fault of his own. We can solve this problem through “inclusion programs”. The
speaker worked at an inclusion program this summer. This program teaches
children that everyone’s disabilities are not something that makes them
different, but something that binds them together. She simply asks us watch our
mouths.
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