¿Academic year?

What’s involved in an academic year? Is it even possible to define where college ends and when extra-academic life begins? In the following lines I’ll try to answer these questions because in the present year college issues has been secondary in my life; so it would be very difficult to refer about something that has really been less important than other subjects such as future thoughts and life expectations. Of course, this hasn’t always been like this. I think most of freshmen and sophomore are really interested in their careers and eager to learn nuw stuff. I was one of them.
When you’re through that phase, your mind starts worrying about other things. Right now, and since the beginning of this year, I couldn’t care less about grades and subjects. I mean, I’m studying to approve my classes and so far I haven’t failed anyone…but maybe because I’m tired or maybe because my career doesn’t seem so interesting to me now, I just want this year to end, so I won’t have to answer any other exam for a long time.
But this “syndrome” it appears to be characteristic of this stage. Other classmates and friends are going through the same thing. Most of them are really tired, just thinking on to finish 4th year and start looking for a job or develop their thesis. Maybe when you’re about to end such an important stage of your life, anxiety starts to grow and consequently you just want it to end. We are so close of ending college that apparently we don’t wanna wait any longer.
Anyway, it’s not like I have had a bad year or something like that. I’ve done great in most of my classes, I’ve recently found a great job that allows me to study and win some money at the same time so I couldn’t say it’s been a bad year at all. There are interesting things going on right now; I’m returning to play music after a long recess and I’m starting to care about things that I had left behind because college.
After college, a new stage of life opens and…who knows…maybe it will be a better one.

Sociological Issues

Sociology is a wide field. to define challenges is to put an eye on what are the issues that need to be solved at a whole society level. therefore, challenges in Chile will probably be slightly different than in Argentina or Brazil or any european country. Here in Chile I think sociology is worried about two main issues. The first is a very complex one and involve many subjects: we're reffering to social structure and the intentions to analize the way it's changing according to the new world stage, globalization, deregulated economic activities and labor flexibility. Of course, this has a lot to do with inequity and poverty, but also with equal opportunities which leads us to the second issue that's "bothering" our discpline here in Chile. We are reffering to Education with everything that implies. Due to recent events, educational system has proved to be very unequal and moreover is broading social differences and therefore sustaining a certain whelth distribuition, that, at least in Chile, needs to be heavily corrected. In fact, that's one of the issues that goverment needs to put their hands to, in order to be part of OCDE organization.

Back to order in Honduras.

I've recently heard about Zelaya's possible restitution after beeing removed from his duty as Hondura's President by a Military dictatorship. The thing is, after almost 5 months of negociations it seems that democracy might have another chance in that nation. substitute president Roberto Michelletti is about to leave the seat and handle it over to legitimate president Zelaya.

What I just can't understand, is that forces behind Micheletti are simply retreating and facing the fact that the situation they tried to hold it's not possible due mostly to international political pressure. I believe that if they have come this far, I don't think they would just pack their things and go home, because it's supposed that things should go back as how they were before militar intervention... Really? Can't imagine that happening.

I mean, it would be really nice that things work out that way, but...c'mon, we all know that right wings forces when they feel something is bothering or attacking their interests won't just stay calm watching things pass by. Therefore, I believe they will actually handle power formally to Zelaya but they will pull their strings in order to achieve their main goal, which is, as always, to remain things exactly as they are right now, because right now, they are winning.

Our Faculty status.

I think our faculty has come a long way since I was a freshmen. Back then we didn't even had enough computers and the ones that we had were as good as a pocket calculator. At least, in that subject I believe we have improved a lot. Nevertheless there are things that need solution and aparenttly aren't as simple as one might think. such is the subject of not having a real study room. Recently named Faculty Director thought it will be a good idea to use the cafeteria as a quiet place to study and read. Of course, everybody were laughing about it; some others were really mad with what they think is disrespectful. Library has become small for the amount of students and we desperatly need another place to quietly study. It's suppossed that with "bicentenary project" a huge building will have rooms for every faculty in this campus. If that comes to happen, that could be a solution.

this leads us to a very important subject. this alleged project it's suppossed to introduce a lot of modifications to the campus, not only in terms of infrastructure but also rearranging way labor and work inside the faculties, afecting people who works here (important part of our comunity) and also probably affecting price of our carreers. . therefore, as students, we need to be very active to try to influence in decisions so when things are already done we won't be crying about how things were done and we weren't even ask for our opinion.

Election day

I'm not registered to vote. At first, when I was 18 years old, it was a decission made on the grounds of teenage disconformity with politics in general. Now that I'm older it has more to do with the fact that I don't trust in political campaign. I know that campaigns must have a certain lenguage in order to convince people so they are full with promises and cliche phrases. But that's exactly the reason why politicians discourse doesn't convince me at all. Regardless, I was supposed to register this year to vote in the upcoming election, but in the end, lack of motivation and long long lines of people waiting to do the process end up with me still not registered.

I don't think a politician should have any particular qualities. I mean, in the end, people it's not voting over their qualities as they vote for the party they belong to or according to how they were able to place the candidate as a realiable one.

Personally, I think elections and campaigns are more about propaganda and media workout than about proposals and ideas. Considering that, it's pretty difficult for me imagine as a politician. Although I did run for elections inside University and actually won it. I suppose as soon as I abandon my, still "idealistic" ideas, there's a chance that in the future I get involved in some minor party, in which I could have the possibility to influence politic line and strategy.

Crisis and profitability in UK companies.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/07/uk-firms-low-profitability

Economic crisis has affected companies all around the world and UK isn't an exception. But apparently what's going on is even worst for industrial activity; namely, manufacturing companies. Acording to the ONS (office for national statistics), companies outside the financial sector fell their profitability to the level they were 8 years ago. Only in 2009, the number has decreased over a 12%.

Nevertheless, services sector seems to be recovering and has incresead it profitability increasing to 15.6% in the second quarter of 2009. If that number is compared with 13,6% obtained previous quarter, signs seem to be clear.

Howard Archer, important UK economist explain this situation blaming the deep recession that hit's companies' sales hard and limited their pricing power. Moreover, situation becomes more complex because economy has returned to growth in this third quarter, but recovery doesn't seem to appear to a lot of companies of the manufacturing sector, which is, by the way, the sector which offers the biggest amount of employments. So, it's recovery would increase consumption power to a lot of people, recovering that way a healthy economy. If this is not to happen, relapses could well occur.

Another important subjetc related to this is that fall in profitability means tax receipts will be lower aswell. consequently, public finances will be affected (in fact, they already are) and an important budget deficit is going to stay as a remain of this crisis, even when it's over.

Criminal Laws

I don't think capital punishment is a good solution to reduce criminality. There's no evidence that killing criminals will actually reduce crime rate. In fact, general tendency is going on to remove capital punishment as an actual corrective way to enforce the law. Moreover, I think that crime, as many other social issues, has more to do with prevention rather than repression. Therefore, I really don't see any pro's in capitol punishment. On the contrary, I think authorities should work on improve our actual jail system, driving initiatives to educate and reform criminals and therefore give a strong strike to criminal behavior and anti-social conduct.

Following the same argument, in order to reduce criminality there's no discussion about the role that police plays; but the problem can't be limited to that. I think civic education and a more equal society must have a main role in crime fighting strategy.

Now, about increasing crime rates, I think that's more a TV fiction than a reality. I mean, it's true, there's crime in Chile...but there's no evidence to support the general insecurity picture that mass-media often try to present. Comparing Chile with other latinamerican countries, serious crimes such as kidnapping, mass murderers, rapes, etc. doesn't appear to be the main issue. Probably crime rates increase during high unemployment cicles (there are a few studies supporting this) but, as I said before, there's no evidence to affirm that that is the general tendency. I tend to think that we live in a pretty safe country...and that's what most of european and north-american tourists travelling chile say about it.