"Cardboard-on-Wheels"

I read the "Cardboard-on-Wheels" article from Upfront Magazine this week and found it to be very interesting, inspiring, and all-around good natured. It was a reassuring article that shows that there are still good people in the world.

An Israeli inventor, Izhar Gafni, discovered a way to create a bicycle out of cardboard and is trying to figure out a way to distribute the bikes "to the poor in Africa, where many people have to walk miles between villages; and in Asia, where public transportation is very congested." His plan is very cost-efficient; the bikes themselves only cost $20 to create. Also, the bikes are water-ressistant because of the special coating that is put over the carboard.

Although this was a very short article, I feel like there's an important message in it. People like Izhar are hard to find. The type of people that are concerned for others going through hardships in their lives, such as the poor in Africa or the many in Asia. Izhar's idea is revolutionary, yet he is trying to use it for the good of other people rather than to make himself successful.

"F in Grammar? Maybe It's Your Phone's Fault"

This was an article featured in Upfront Magazine that I thought was very important to share. More and more students and young people are struggling with grammar, or just getting too lazy to proofread.

Gena Babineaux, a woman working at the YMCA of Greater Houston, had more than 2,000 job applications for office manager and among them, "Babineaux encountered mountains of misspellings, missing punctuation, spacing mistakes, and abbreviations that are fine in text messages but not in formal writing." She automatically pushes away any application with huge errors. She is just one of the many people who have become annoyed by young people's laziness and increase of writing mistakes. According to Karra Shimabkuro, a high school English teacher, "'IM-ing language. . . has become part of what [students] think is the standard vocabulary.'" The huge field of mistakes seems to be occuring with college applications. These mistakes can cost a student a chance at the school they desire, changing their entire future just because of social media or texting. At the same time, some people say that social media's influence is just the English language evolving.

So what do I think? Is the increasing amount of grammar mistakes just "English evolving"?

If it is, then it's not evolving in the right direction. Whenever I read sentences online with clear, huge mistakes, I begin to wonder if the person who typed it even cared. If they were to take a minute to just go back and re-read once, they would have seen it and fixed it. Honestly, everybody makes mistakes when they write or type, but the number of mistakes is just too much. I agree with Gena Babineaux and the college admissions offices, who believe that errors in applications, whether a job or college application, shows laziness. I do believe that it is caused by technology, including texting, Twitter, Facebook, or even just emailing. Now, I'm not saying that technology is awful. I have family that lives in other states or countries that I can Facebook message and wish a "Happy Birthday" to, to keep in touch and show them I care. I text, but I don't over do it with abbreviations. I always have my phone with me. I can still text with old friends that go to different schools. Technology is great! But the effects that it has on some people are not. Writing is important and you wouldn't want to miss a college or job opportunity that you could've had, had you proofread.

Muslim Veils

In April of 2011 in France, a "burqa ban" was put into action. A burqa is a concealing muslim veil that "covers the entire face and body leaving just a mesh screen to see through."

At first thought this ban seems ridiculous and that there are many anti-muslim feelings throughout France...but if you look at all the facts, I can see their reasoning behind wanting this law. Supporters of this law make their intentions clear. They believe that this law helps muslim women to get out from behind the veils and actively participate in their society. There is a $40,000 fine for any individual forcing a woman to wear the religious veils. "In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity." said former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before the law was official. People against this law make very valid points as well. They believe that this ban "has had exactly the opposite effect that was intended: oppressing observant Muslim women by, in effect, forcing them to stay close to home." These women cannot go out in public wearing the Muslim veils.

What do I think?

I really think it's awful. Some women are Muslim and choose to wear the veils. I understand that sometimes they are forced to wear them, and I agree with the $40,000 fine against any individual who forces women to wear them, but government should NOT be able to dictate what is okay for women to wear. Freedom of expression. People should be allowed to wear what they want without being fined or judged. I see what France's intentions were for the ban, but I don't, under ANY circumstances, agree with the outcomes.

It's Meghan

Hey!

So I'm Meghan. I'm in eighth grade and I made this blog to post about recent events that have gone on. Most of my posts will be based on articles from Upfront magazine, but if there's anything else I find interesting, I'll share it!