Writing 5 – Global Warming – other view

        Scientists around the world continually warn for the risks of global warming and its causes, and blame mainly the human activity, which increased the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, for the climate changes. Although they are correct when mention the temperature rising in the last century they do not consider in their forecasts facts as the temperature growth rate, inexperience with long term climate systems and new coming technologies. Ponder these aspects is extremely important to not wrongly take decision that have economical effects. 

        According to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the temperature on the earth will rise from 1.1 to 6.4°C during the XXI century if the human activity does not change. These rates are an absurd because during the last century the global surface temperature increased only 0.74°C and in the last 5 years the warming rate has been constant, which implies in a growth of 1.7°C for this century. Moreover, according to Tom Harris, CEO of Natural Resources Stewardship Project, the annual temperature has decreased between 1998 and 2007, in contrast to the carbon dioxide concentration which has increased 4%. In addition, there were two periods of warming in last century: from 1910 to 1945 and from 1970 lasting until now. If we compare these two periods the warming rate was statistically equal in both periods, remembering that the first period had less influence of human beings and more of sun’s temperature increasing. Thus, it is not possible to blame just the human activity for the warming; there must be other unknown climate factors.

          It is fact that the earth temperature increases according to the dioxide carbon concentration rising, but it is not the only neither the main factor. Two Russian solar physicists, Galina Mashnich and Vladimir Bashkirtsev, have made a bet of $10,000 with the Britain climate expert James Annan that the earth will cool over the next decade. Corroborating to their argument that the global temperatures are driven more by changes in the sun’s activity than by the emission of greenhouse gases is the Medieval Warming Period: between the 10th and 14th centuries, the North Atlantic region faced a warmer climate, which was followed by a cooler period, named Little Ice Age. Hence, as we only have statistical information about climate since 1850 it is too ambitious to predict a century with only 150 years of sampling. It is necessary to analyze the long term.

          The model used to estimate the earth’ surface temperature for the XXI century is based on our actual reality. It assumes that in 100 years we will be under the same technology existing today. This is meaningless, because it is notorious the evolution of industries technology in the last 50 years. The automobile industry is an example: since 70s they started to reduce their size due to new computer-based technologies. Another example is the possibility people have today to work at home due to the huge existing connectivity; this means less people using cars and polluting less. While new coming technologies are unpredictable, investments in developing new technologies must be carefully evaluated. The urgent need to find alternative energy sources has led to a lack of supply of corn and sugar around the world. The lands previously dedicated only to food, now it is also explored for ethanol, which generates a price increase at food market and impacts the economy. Thus, it must be seriously reevaluated the climate warming forecast, otherwise decisions will be taken in a haste, without estimating other impacts.

          Considering all the exposed above, people must be more critical when talking about global warming. It doesn’t mean stopping all the actions taken to reduce the carbon dioxide emission, but to understand that there are other factors involved in global temperatures changes. If the week weather forecasts have accuracy of 70% for only the first three days, it is irrational to think that IPCC is right. Thus, the IPCC should not only revise their forecasts but also show people that there is a great margin for error, because it is a long term forecast and there is no solid statistical data to make inferences with high accuracy.

Writing 4 – DOGS versus CATS

 

The dogs versus cats debate has raged on for all time. Although many people say that having a cat is better than a dog because they are cleaner, demand lower attention and cost less, some aspects such as companion, trainability and usefulness must be considered, when comparing dog to cats behavior.

Research has been proving that having pets brings healthy benefits, specially for those suffering from stress related illness or depression. Dogs are the most recommended, because they demand more attention and thus let you focus on them rather than focusing inward on yourself all the time. Contrary to cats, dogs need to exercise, so it propels people out the door. These walks also force pet owners to socialize instead of sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, which can help improve their mood. It gives people a routine, a thing to do. The owner cannot lie in bed all day, he/she has to get up and take care of the dog. On the other hand, cats are more independent and their behavior is totally different. A cat doesn’t celebrate when the owner gets home at the end of the day or answer a call for playing, they prefer to take a lazily nap. Also, the loyalty of dogs is unpaired: they will bark to wake you up if the house is on fire or if he finds anything suspicious going on like thieves or if the owner is injured, while cats will just quietly sneak out the back door. Thus, considering the concept of companion, a dog matches much more than a cat.

Both dogs and cats, in the past, got close to the men due to the easiness to get food and at this time start the domestication of them. However, the origin of both had a great impact on the interaction with the human being and, consequently, the trainability aspect. While dogs ancestors used to live in group, cats ancestors used to live alone, in caves. Leaving on pack of hounds, dogs developed a sense of hierarchy and affection, where they need to obey the alpha dog in the group in order to receive protection and food. This is the reason why dogs are easier to train: they are more obedient and recognize the position of a leader. When a puppy is raised by a human, the alpha position is assumed by the human and the dog will obey instinctively because they are attached, feel protected and are properly feed. Cats, that have a historical of leaving and hunting alone didn’t develop this feeling of attachment and loyalty, typical of animals which live in groups. So, the obedience is higher in the dogs making any training easier with them.

 The most important aspect about the differences of cats and dogs is the usefulness. Dogs are useful in many tasks: they are used by the police to look for drugs and missing people, they are trained to assist blind, deaf and disabled people, they work as shepherd in farms, they can also be a guardian dog. The reason of cats being in general at the same size and structure, differing just on hair, is a proof of its low usefulness. Dogs proven to be so useful in some tasks that many breeds were created, trying to improve some characteristics. As example, the Bloodhound was created for hunting and later experts found out it would be great for rescuing tasks, because it has a keen scent; Labrador and Golden Retrievers are the most appropriate as a guide dog, because they have easy temperament, proper size (large enough to comfortably guiding and small enough to fit under a table restaurant) and versatility. Hence, its notorious that a dog is much more useful than a cat and really helps who takes care of it.

Therefore, dogs integration with human beings is complete: they understand their role and give affection back. Cats are more selfish and have not developed themselves to fully interact with men. Maybe cats can be better as bibelot but not as companion. Thus, it is impossible to say that cats are better than dogs.

Writing 3 – Alternative solutions for SP traffic

          To order pizza, to shave, to apply makeup, to read, to listen to English classes, are common activities held in car by those who live in São Paulo city and daily face one of the worst traffic in the world. Magazines as Time and Forbes, say the worst traffic is in Bangkok, however, the traffic jam records are in São Paulo. The latest record was in June, 10th with 293km of tailback, which means more than 50% of streets jammed. The most familiar solution claimed by everybody is to improve the public transportation. However, this solution has low feasibility because it is expensive and slow to implement (investment of US$14,4billion and 12 years to reach 170km of subway – Today, London has 408km and São Paulo 60km), moreover cities such as London or New York, which have a huge and solid public transportation structure suffer from the same traffic problems. Thus, other cheaper and faster solutions should be implemented to reduce the traffic in São Paulo, for example, charge tolls  and prohibit old vehicles circulation.

          The first attitude would be to charge tolls to circulate in the most jammed zones. This measure seems unpopular, but it has been proved to work in cities around the world, such as London, Cingapura, Oslo and Estocolmo. According to Ben Pennington, the spokesmen of London Traffic Control Agency, since the toll charging was implemented in 2003, the traffic reduced 20% and 50% of the toll revenue was invested in public transportation. The favorable outcomes obtained the population’s approval to expand the charged zones. Experts estimate an investment of US$130million to implement the toll gates, and the revenue would be US$370million per year, charging US$1.00 per vehicle. Thus, undoubtfully such solution should be adopted in order to reduce the traffic in São Paulo city.

          Nowadays, there is no restriction to new cars entry in São Paulo fleet. From Sep, 2000 until Sep 2008, São Paulo fleet has grown at an average of 500 vehicles per day, reaching 6,4million in 2009. If it is impossible to control new cars entry, it is mandatory to control the old cars circulation. From 800 occurrences daily registered by São Paulo Traffic Control Agency (CET), 57% are related to broken down cars. Moreover, according to the National Traffic Department, 73% of the fleet is more than 10 years old, which are the most likely to present problems. A broken down car clogging a lane of Marginal Tietê for 15 minutes generates 3km of traffic. Some european countries have implemented Periodically Technical Vehicle Inspection and have reduced from 5 to 10% the accident’s level, and in Mexico the inspection also benefited the environment: 30% lower pollutant emission from cars. Hence, the inspection should also be implemented in São Paulo, since the investment is low, around US$300million, because it can use the current structure created for the Vehicle Inspection. Adopting the inspection, experts say that 30% of the actual fleet would be withdrawn from the streets.

          Accordingly to the exposed above, a plan to reduce the traffic jam in São Paulo must not only considers the public transportation, but also feasible measures of fast implementation with low cost. There are other low cost and effective methods adopted in other countries which can be found at Portal Veja – Solutions for the Chaos.  Sao Paulo urges to implement such solutions in order to decrease the time people spent commuting.

Writing 2 – Equal under law?

          “If you are black, you are in”. This is the admission criterion adopted by some public universities to fill 20% of the openings. Arguing that the Equal Opportunity Programs would increase the social inclusion of minority groups, the government’s law project tries to favor groups harmed in the past by damaging another groups. The law project should not be approved, because it is just a misleading palliative solution for the social inclusion issue, it is an official proof of racial politics, and it is unconstitutional.

          Equal Opportunity Program (EOP) in public universities should not be approved because it does not assure minority groups will have more opportunities to participate in the income distribution, consequently, increasing the social inclusion. Social inclusion strongly depends on labor market opportunities, which are not only related  to formal education but also to individual skills and attitudes – the employability. Ipsos, a research institute, ran a survey in 2007 with two hundred executives from international companies, asking them which attribute they considered most to hire a worker: Knowledge, skills or attitudes? 81% answered “Attitudes” as the most important and “Skills” as the second one. Just 8% answered “Knowledge” as the most important, followed by “Attitudes”. The 11% remaining said “Skills” are the most important, followed by “Attitudes”.  The majority justified “Attitudes” as the most important because it is the only attribute which cannot be taught. It is related to the individual cognitive capacity: the ability each one has to deal with issues at work based on what he knows. They also mention that they would invest in the employee education if the person demonstrates positive attitudes, such as enjoying with his tasks, happiness, ownership of problems and ability to solve them, and faculty to work in teams. Thus, the belief that graduating minority groups through an EOP will enhance their social inclusion is a mistake, because knowledge is not the most important for the hiring class.

          Quota systems must be extinct from public universities because they legitimate racial segregation. When the government tries to repair some depreciative historical process, such as slavery and its consequences, the charge goes to the majority group and the same depreciative process begins again. According to Thomas Sowell, an American economist and researcher of public politics for African American student at Stanford University, all countries that adopted the quota system have failed. It slightly increase the African American social inclusion at catastrophic costs. In USA, when the quotas were extinct, many universities and companies had serious losses and the social economic condition of African American citizens didn’t show meaningful changes. In South Africa, the public services quality drastically fell and the unemployment among African American people increase from 36% to 44%. In India, in a Medicine School, located in Gujarat state, seven openings reserved for the “Dalits” instigated a protest, where 42 people died. Therefore, Brazil must consider these examples and withdraw the law project from the Senate approval process.

          Universities that experimentally adopted the EOP should abandon it because the criteria proposed by the EOP are unconstitutional. Create a specific treatment for minority groups, such as reserving 20% of openings for African American descendents, hurts the 5^th Article of Brazilian Constitution, which mentions the principle of equality: “All are equal before law, regardless of sex, age, color, or believes.” This principle was ignored when Alan and Alex Teixeira da Cunha, twin brothers, applied for Universidade de Brasilia in 2006. Although having the same genetic origin, same economic social condition, Alan, who has a slightly darker skin, was accepted through the quota system and Alex wasn’t. Besides that, Caucasian descendents have to apply to openings through Vestibular, a different and much more difficult process. This is discrimination and it is not allowed according to the Brazilian Constitution. Hence, the Universities must apply the same acceptance criterion to all students, in order to avoid illegal acts.

Rose – Writing #1

 In 2006, the company I work for assigned me to represent Brazil in a Latin American project which would be held in Buenos Aires for twelve months. To live in Argentina for a year wouldn’t be so interesting: I had been used to live in other city far from my family for more than ten years, moreover I should live together with a lot of arrogant people, such as argentinians. The only advantage would be the opportunity to improve my Spanish and to meet people from other latin america countries.  

 

There were  two scenes that I will never forget: my birthday and my farewell dinner. Since we started the project, I wasn’t the only foreigner, there were also people from Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Peru. Although, it was only my birthday that had a special version: when I got the office there was a band written “Feliz Cumpleaños”, a gift on my desk, and a little letter, made by my coworker’s daughter,  with my name, a drawing and “Parabéns” at the end. I was touched. I never had that situation, even in Brazil. My last night in Buenos Aires, argentinians offered me a dinner in a coworker’s house. When I was leaving, this coworker started to cry and her  4 years daughter told her: “Mammy, she will be ok. She’s going to her family”. 

 

 

Returning to home, I started to think that I had made real friends there and in a different way. In Brazil, because it is my country, it is easier to come close to people who have common habits, such as going to the gym or some specific restaurants. Sometimes also to come close  to people who have similar pasts and share the same memories. In Argentina I had to learn how to be part of a group without these “hints”. I started to evaluate people by their essence and not by some pre-conceived ideas of shared values. Moreover, I realized that my argentinians friends also did the same. They didn’t know anything about myself: my past, my life, my carreer, my values. They just accepted and liked me as I was.