Wearing Helmets: for better, for worse?

There are several laws that talk about the safety of an individual while driving in the streets. Many of these tend to help the people survive in accidents while some would just make the situation worse. Thus, some may take the side of implementing such laws as well as living up to it by their daily lives while some may neglect the law and instead take the risk of not being protected when accidents may occur.

Sadly, in the Philippines, there are a few brands of helmets that could really stand a hard impact but these helmets are very expensive. Due to tight budgeting and poverty that is very rampant in the country, Filipinos tend to buy cheaper ones and would never let you survive in any impact. Some helmets may cover the whole face of the individual wearing it and may not be identified by any person, thus may be prone to criminal crimes such as stealing, snatching, hold-up, raiding and others.

So, are helmets really needed? For safety reasons, yes; but with the poverty in the country and with the bad attitude of our citizens possessed by Satan to do such foolish acts, we might not stand a chance and rather not drive motor cycles anymore.

Other reasons why it’s bad or good to wear a helmet are found on these websites. Some are already researches to answer if the wearing of helmets is really that important.

http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2010/01/27/bikers-health/

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2010/05/06/are-laws-requiring-cyclists-to-wear-helmets-bad-for-our-health/

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic

http://www.bam.gov/sub_yoursafety/yoursafety_helmets.html

http://bikeadvice.in/motorcycle-helmets-interesting-facts-myths/

http://www.saferoads.org/issues/fs-helmets.htm

http://www.wearahelmet.org/

Good luck and have fun!

A Plastic Free City

In the modern world today, there are obviously so many plastics that they keep on increasing every year. However, there are still two sides of the story. Plastics may be for the good of the economy and the development of the society, and may be for the bad effect of the environment as well as for the people living from day to day.

According to “epa.gov”, plastics play an important role in almost every aspect of our lives. Plastics are used to manufacture everyday products such as beverage containers, toys, and furniture. The widespread use of plastics demands proper end of life management. Plastics make up more than 12 percent of the municipal solid waste stream, a dramatic increase from 1960, when plastics were less than one percent of the waste stream.

They (epa.gov) also included facts that the largest category of plastics are found in containers and packaging (e.g., soft drink bottles, lids, shampoo bottles), but they also are found in durable (e.g., appliances, furniture) and nondurable goods (e.g., diapers, trash bags, cups and utensils, medical devices). The recycling rate for different types of plastic varies greatly, resulting in an overall plastics recycling rate of only 8 percent, or 2.4 million tons in 2010. However, the recycling rate for some plastics is much higher, for example in 2010, 28 percent of HDPE (High-density Polyethylene) bottles and 29 percent of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles and jars were recycled.

I searched the internet and found 20 amazing facts for all of us to widen our knowledge about plastics. Please visit this link...

http://green-buzz.net/environment/20-interesting-facts-about-plastics/

to learn more about the good and bad things that plastics do to our environment. May this link serve as an eye-opening opportunity for me to promote a greener, healthier environment for the next generation.

In line with all of these facts and other things about plastics, I would like to let every reader of this blog know that promoting a plastic-free environment is very hard, especially if the people themselves don’t want to be involved to make a greener environment that a number of people are promoting. Despite this reality, one brave city took the challenge and made themselves start the change from within them.

This city is no other than a small city in Negros Oriental, Philippines—Dumaguete City. This is the city where I’m taking my college now and that am hoping to graduate by the end of the next school year. I am very proud to be here for I’ve seen a lot of good changes in this city. If I compare it to the urban city where I came from, this place is indeed better to live in.

However, when there’s a start, there is always an end.

In the past years, around 2005-2010 I guess, there has been a city declared by the Philippine government that has been a great help for the improvement and development of a greener earth. However, in the success of the promotion of a good start, I have also witnessed the negligence of the people because the environment issue stopped due to the fast improvements. The city later on went back to its regular habit of throwing trash (especially plastics) everywhere.

The success that I’ve witnessed in the other city where I used to live is quite similar to the success of the implementation of the plastic-free city of Dumaguete. I am just worried for the city because they might also have a similar story with the ones done by my old urban city.

I hope for the best of the plastic-free program and may each citizen of that city cooperate in order to continue the improvement of a greener environment.

Have a good green day!

BSED-MAPEH: a Course with High Professional Duty

In most of the Universities all around the world, having a college degree is already something to look forward to. It is one of the privileges that will make a person acquire a job that will make what he/she is in his/her profession. In the Philippines, a bachelor’s degree is not something to look forward to. It is more of a requirement in order for a person to uphold himself/ herself where he/she will not be embarrassed due to not graduating in any course. Now-a-days, many Filipinos just pick any course for them to play with and make it a leisure time from them to spend the rest of their empty hours during the morning. It is sad to know that these people never thought of what things they could do with their course and graduate with no direction at all. Many end up with the so-called “professional misalignment” or in simple terms, employed to a job far-out from the original course of a specific person. This happens all throughout the country and brings much disappointment to the ancestors of each family experiencing this.

Due to embarrassment, many people will be choosing courses where many people are in. Business management is one of the many courses flooded with people that don’t even like to be business men. Although, through training and much business minded influence from the people that a person may encounter, that person may grow successful to his/her degree or more-so to the job employments he/she will be taking. This similar story is also abundant in the College of Education, which is rumoured to be the drop out course of the University. BSED-MAPEH is the specific major in the College of Education that is thought to be the easiest among all the majors and is enrolling more and more students that had been having a bad time with their respective courses.

BSED-MAPEH is a Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health. It is one of the courses that need a lot of training, disciplinary training even due to the leadership skills that should be acquired by a teacher. It is thought to be the easiest course all around the campus, but this course is definitely no joke and I can testify why. Among all the courses in the College of Education, the BSED-MAPEH is among the hardest ones because as majors, we need to master not only Physical Education (the focus of the course), but also Music, Arts and Health. It is tough to acquire because as the famous quote says, we are “jack of all traits” but are “masters of none”. Due to the many inclusions in our course, we need to deal with a lot of things, so that we may be able to teach in the proper and appropriate time and manner. When we go outside the classroom to make the students experience the different sports or other recreational activities, our responsibility of watching the students is one of the number one priority of the hour. Many accidents happen even with the simplest things that a student may do. It is with highest professional duty that a MAPEH teacher will be serving the students inside or outside the room and thus should maintain a high professional standard among students and among other professionals.

Going back to the issue in the Philippines of enrolling in any course and employing in the wrong jobs, I am in great fear of the next generation in the possibility of not doing their jobs as expected; especially with my own course that has to do with high professional duty. It is a disappointment in my part that loves my course so much and lives to the best of it, yet the ones I’m with are people who just pick the course for embarrassment or no-other-choice purposes. I’m just optimistic of the implementation of the K-12 curriculum which can develop our course into a much specific field and will be extending the minor years of students in order for them to think twice of what course they would like to have in pursuing a college degree.

Fireworks: Boon or Bane

Pyew! Pyew! Pyew! BoOoOoOmmmm!
Fire works. One of the worlds most beloved, eye catching, amazing display of colors in the night sky. It is the life of celebrations and it signals the highlight of an event. The different display of colors amaze many people that even snatchers will pause for a while before doing the act of stealing. Fireworks brings a light feeling and even releases stress especially when the person enjoys watching these colorful objects in the sky. However, many studies have shown that fireworks could actually ruin a persons body as well as the environment where the booming took place. 

I would like to acknowledge my roommate for suggesting their research topic in order for me to make an editorial about it. Thank you Ms. Daryl Jay Maestrecampo.

When we hear that there's gonna be a big event coming or a festival or an annual celebration (like Christmas and New Year), we most probably expect that there will be a display of fireworks. Fireworks take many forms to produce the four primary effects: noise, light, smoke and floating materials (confetti for example). They may be designed to burn with flames and sparks of many colors, typically red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and silver. Displays are common throughout the world and are the focal point of many cultural and religious celebrations. [en.wikipedia.org]

We are very happy and fortunate to have fireworks with us, however, there's an equal amount of sadness when we light fireworks to brighten the night sky.  Many chemicals are being produced as we brighter the night.

Fireworks has been a chemical material that can even out a shampoo product, conditioner, dish washing soap, even fabric conditioners and many other types of soaps. The only difference is that this chemical is more on the explosive side. It’s more attractive than any other chemical products that would be shown through public. With this being shown in most of the major celebrations inside or outside towns, it has been known since the day it was invented and will forever be known all throughout the world.

Fireworks can be associated with the term “boon”. It is something that is useful and helpful in a way to alert the people around the vicinity that there is an event or celebration where the fireworks are coming from. When you’re in a place that is near the fireworks, especially at night, you can see the beautiful, magnificent, colorful lights that are playing around the sky that lights the boring old dark nights into a festive haven. It also signifies being special (maybe during that day), and being bountiful and convivial. Fireworks are indispensable for a big event especially when it is well funded. Some minor events even, when well funded, produce fireworks as well. It is just a matter of making the fireworks priority for the occasion to be super duper magnificent-looking through the fireworks.

Fireworks, on the other hand, are associated with the term “bane”. It is something that can bring destruction and/or death. Due to the capacity of fireworks to produce heat that is already half of the temperature of the sun, anything hit by the explosion or the big boom or the fire (or even the spark) of the firework is already deadly; that’s why in most firework presentations the word “careful” is always there within the vicinity, may it be for the one who invented, the one who put together, the one who bought, the one who lighted, the one who initiated or even just the one who watches the fireworks booming its way to the skies. Everyone should be cautious or aware of his or her own responsibility of protecting himself or herself from harm. Anything can happen with fireworks. Poisonous things can occur even if we avoid terrible burning related accidents. The possibility of inhaling such smokes emitted from burning or exploding fireworks is dangerous for the health. It with cause damage to the ozone layer similar to what other smokes did to the environment.

It will be a good realization to ponder on this issue of supporting a greener and much safer environment to a traditional one that has been done throughout the years. There are already several things that this modern generation is experimenting to meet both the needs and wants of the people who would like and not like to have fireworks with them as they continue life’s journey. In order to not compromise the beauty and festive effect of fireworks, some people already invented fireworks that are environment friendly. They don’t emit deadly smokes perhaps that ruin the environments natural clean air. In this way, the earth’s minor area will lessen its air pollution. There are many other experiments and researches for the improvement and for the advocacy of a cleaner, greener place to live in, while enjoying still, the beauty of fireworks.