Post 12: My Academic Year

In general, this has been a bad academic year. However the marks i got have been good. I think that the self evaluation depends on a lot of factors, example of the hours dedicated to the study, the number of courses, the assistance, external problems to the university, motivation generated for the courses, etc. I think that the good marks not only are determinated for the intelligence of the students, this depend of all these factors. Too depend on the teachers, for example of their personality or of their ability to teach. However, not all has been bad: the courses and marks aren’t all the university life. There are many good things, for example the relations whith the friends and classmates, the thousands of new things that are learned, etc.


In the first term i had six subjects. This were Economical Anthropology, Urban Anthropology I, Quantitative Methods II, Systems Anthropology, Geographic Information System (GIS), and finally English III. Whereas, i have in the second term eleven subjects. The principals subjects are: Urban Anthropology II, Feminism and Anthropology, Folk and Culture, Medical Anthropology, Anthropology and Religion, English IV, etc. Has been a very hard term. I had study a lot, read many papers and books, and to use all my time in class. Today, in the end of the term i`m very stressed and tired. I only think on holidays. Of these subjects, my favourite was Quantitative Methods II. This is a excelent class and one of the reasons that i like it is because the teacher is very good. His name is Jaime Fierro. He teaches of a way clear and explanatory. In adition, he teaches all the matter that he is supposed to teach...not all teachers do that. Furthermore, in this course i learned to use a computer program that is called SPSS (it's a computer program used for statistical analysis). Are input variables to consider, depending on their type and scope of the investigation can be used either estadisitica technique. The marks i got in this subject were very good, and because now (second term) i`m assistant on this course (Too i`m assistant of other course called Chilean Etnology). However not all the teachers are good. There are teachers that isn’t interested on his class or students. They only is concern of the money and personal projects. Their class are very demotivating.


As i said before, this year has not been a very good one, but not because of the marks i got in the subjects, but for external problems to the university, specially family problems. I think that i could have got best marks that I had got. But this isn’t important now. These weeks, the last weeks of the year, i`m very tired, stressed and boring because i don’t want study more. I have a lot of courses in the second term, and for this has been very hard. But efforts have good results: i hope to get at year's end my degree in Social Anthropology… I’m almost a professional!!

Faculty Facilities

The current situation in the Social Sciens Faculty is regular. There are good things, but too there are bad things, and it should improve. There are a library, cafetería, two computers rooms, a lift, toilets, etc. But for example should be more computers because this aren’t enough; a better library with more books; lockers, because when the students go to the gym they don’t have a sure place for put their belongings away. Too we need student’s study room because current there aren’t available; and i wish we had air conditioning in the class rooms because sometimes in the summer is very hot there. Other very important facility that don’t exist currently is a nursery, because there are a lot of students that are mothers and father’s and that don’t have a place for leave their children while they are in class. The university should install a canteen more cheap, because the current canteen is private and for this is very expensive, and in general the students don’t have enough money.
The first steap for deal resolve this situation is demand more money to the State. The central problem is the poverty of the state universities, and if the university of Chile and the students don’t resolve this, willn’t any small problem. The real benefits of these improvemenments are esencialy the improve in the quality of life of the students. So they could study more comfortable and calm, without think about their problems. But, finally the important is that students must organize between they for get their demands and requests.
That’s all for today.
Bye bye

My Favourite TV Serial: Dragon Ball

My favourite tv serial is Dragon Ball. This is a great tv serial that i saw when i was a boy. The goal of the main character is to protect the earth from external dangers. At the head of this mission is Goku, a powerful warrior belonging to the race of the Sayayin (Goku is a supersayayin), one of the most powerful races of warriors in the universe.

I used to watch this TV serial every day. It was on about six in the afternoon and the plan after school was always see Dragon Ball, eat, and then go out and play with friends on the street, usually football. This serie is still showing on TV, but i don’t have time to see it now because I have many more responsibilities (which occupy much of my time) that when i was a child.

The main characters in Dragon Ball were:

Goku He is the protagonist of most of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is a child who has grown up in the mountains learning martial arts from his grandfather and has a twist: its tail (like a monkey, but in reality it’s his feature of race supersayayin). His adventure begins when he meets Bulma and sets off in search of the Dragon Balls (seven balls magic), he always fights with many evil forces that want to destroy the world.

And the secondary characters were: Bulma, Krilin, Milk, Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, etc.

I recomend this serie because it’s one of the more interestings and fascinating series of all the times.

That’s all for today my friends.

GooD ByE

Transantiago: Before and After

In general, I think that Transantiago is a system that started with serious problems. For example: frecuency, time of travel, number of bus stop, comfort, etc. But i can say that it’s very better then in the beginning, however there are some imperfections, especially in the frecuency.
In comparation with the pre-Transantiago system i can say that the current system is better, but this wasn’t so in the beginning. Moreover the Estate improved in the infrastructure of the streets and stop bus. In the other system had a bad infrastructure, The new system is better because has fixed bus stop…so the problem with the old system was that the drivers stopped where they wanted, whereas now is obligation stop when the people touch the ring. Moreover, in all the bus stops there is signs that show what bus should stop there.
In general my experience with the new system has been good, better tan the pre-transantiago system. The time of travels are shorter, the bus are bigger, and the most importante: now isn’t necessary pay the money of passage to the driver. Before, the people should pay in cash, whereas there is BIP Card.
The changes that i would apply to the Transantiago system are all in the frecuency. That is the principal problema. The GPS did’nt work.
That’s all for today my friends. I will write more in the next sesión.
Bye bye

Peru: a great country

Hi everibody!

A country I would like to visit is Peru. This is a great country…but I never to visited it. In Peru there are a lot of beatiful places, that are characterized by be very important arqueological sites, cultural sites, for example. Moreover, Peru is very know in the world for it’s food.

One of the more important things of Peru is that in it’s current territory were the Inca Empire. This was the stage where the Inca civilization reached its highest level of organization and strengthened its position as the largest pre-hispanic state in South America. It covered the surrounding Andean territories in the north to the Maule River, for the South, now areas of southern Colombia, through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, to central Chile and northwest Argentina. Today, of all this, it conserved the city of El Cusco, in wich was developed the main activities of the Inca Empire. It’s architecture is very good conserved, and is one of the tutistics points more important of America now.

I would to do like in Peru a lot of things, and not only to visit El Cusco (specially Machu Pichu). Go every days to restaurant of typical food, etc.
Peru is a great country…visit it!!

That is all today.

Bye bye

Post Nº 1: First Term: Good and Bad Points

Hi everybody!

Today I going to speak of the good and bad points of First Term.

In general, the first term wasn’t a good term. With regard to my life in the University was good, but my personal life had a lot of bad things, but i don´t want to write on this. I’d like to write about of my life in the university….and in the love... In the university i take up six courses: Economic Anthropology, Quantitatives Methods, Urban Anthropology, Easter Island Culture, Teory of Systems, and Culture in Chile. My favourite subject was Quantitatives Methods. This is a excelent course and one of the reasons i like is the teacher is very good. His name is Jaime Fierro. He teaches of a way clear and explanatory, in adition, he teaches all the matter that he is supposed to teach...not all teachers do that. Now i’m assistant of this course, because i got good results...

That is all today.

Bye bye

My Blog Experience

Using the blogs as a support tool in the course of English was very good. Currently blogs have great potential as a tool in education because they can be adapted to any level of education and methodology of teaching. One of the most important advantages is that the teacher and student have a social interaction and to give students with a personal practice for their own learning and reflection on various subject.

Moreover, education in Chile today must use the challenge of digital literacy in the students for to make free and responsible use of resources on the Internet; we must take the available elements and incorporate them into our methods of study. For example: an English language course, as in our case. The use of the blog in the course was a good change in compare to the traditional model of teaching where the teacher taught the class and the students listen. With the blog the student learns writing, to resolve his doubts that arise at the time asking the teacher who accompanies to the student on the computer room.

In general, I can say that I enjoyed using the blog, helped me improve my English, reinforcing aspects of writing. But I still have weaknesses in terms of listening; I have a lot of difficulty understanding (the conference Ken Robinson for example). Perhaps the only problem of blogs was the topics on which we had to write. Some weren’t very entertaining, for example, "my favourite piece of technology", but in general they were all very interesting. Moreover, the blog made me think about things that i don’t had thought never, for example: my ideal future, or the best in anthropology, etc.

I think that blogs must be used in the English course in the coming years, but not only at the intermediate level, also in the started and beginning level. Well, that's all my friends.

My Favourite Subject

Hi...

Today I'm going to speaking of my favourite subject in the carrer of Social Anthropology.

My favourite subject is Quantitative Methods II. This is a excelent lecture and one of the reasons i like is the teacher is very good. His name is Jaime Fierro. He teaches of a way clear and explanatory. In adition, he teaches all the matter that he is supposed to teach...not all teachers do that.

Other reason because i like this subject is that i like the stadistical area. It is very interesting because you can study with a high level of reliability on various themes: political, economic, social, cultural.In addition, through the results of these studies can be guide solutions to the problems discussed.

The studies are done through a computer program that is called SPSS (it's a computer program used for statistical analysis). Are input variables to consider, depending on their type and scope of the investigation can be used either estadisitica technique.

Finally, i can say that i will to do a course of Stadistical Programs in some years more. And maybe i do a Phd in Sociology.

This is all.

Byeee

Creativity from Ken Robinson

"Do Schools Kill Creativity" is a very interesting conference about the current methods of teaching in schools. Ken Robinson argues that we have been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. I think that creativity is necessary and very important, but is too necessary to have basic knowledge of biology, mathematics, physics, history, etc. Creativity isn’t everything; we must start from a base of knowledge.

Creativity helps create new things, like art, ideas for business innovation in many fields, and in many cases helps to solve complex problems. I remember when I was in the secondary (in the INBA College), in math class, I resolved an exercise in a much shorter and easier way, but the teacher thought he was wrong. I reached the same result, but for another way, that's creativity. And not all teachers reward creativity because they have been trained like machines, respecting the rules and regulations, not trying to find new ways to make things easier. The education system today prepares people to the work world, for be a gear of the economic system, in which people don’t develop and trains their intelligence.

Is necessary to change the teaching methods on children in primary education, to achieve a comprehensive development of their cognitive abilities, and one way of achieving this according to Ken Robinson is to promote social interaction. That’s all today my friends. It was a very interesting video.

My Ideal Job

The job usually is a uncomfortable thing, although some persons say that the vocation is very important in so nice that it can be.

I study Social Anthropology, and for this reason i'd like to work in a job relating to the society' study, or the social relations, etc. But i'd like to work as an economist (in the future i want to study Economy) to be able for resolve the problems that i can see through the Antropology.

The place in that i can to work is the Cepal ( Economic Comission for Latin América and the Caribbean), or the PNUD (In Spanish "Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo") or enter as a intelectual in some university, specially the FLACSO. For this job i need to know very good spiking english, and have a Master in Economy o Political Science.

Moreover, i must to do a PhD in abroad, maybe in England or United States, for have more posibilities of be selected. Finally, I want to use my work to reduce inequality in the world... That i wait....

I'm good for this job, simply because i'm a good student, i like the economy, and I am sure that I am the right person for this job. But the problems that i can find are a lot, for example, the money for can pay the postgraduate courses. I need a scholarship.....!!!

That is all...

Bye bye

My Ideal Future

The future is a thing very complex. You don't know the good or the bad that life brings you. But generally one hope success, and no failure.

I'm in the fourth year of my career, and when i finish i want take a postgraduate course, relative to urban studies. And when i finish this course, i will be working on a study center or university.

Personally, in five years' time, i will be married married to my current girlfriend, and maybe we can have a child ... or maybe later. And I also hope to be living in an apartment, preferably in Providence, in a quiet place.

In the next five years I would travel abroad, to London, to get a PhD in Economy at the London School of Economics, but I need a scholarship because the university is very good but very expensive.

But most importantly, is that in the future i'm with my family.

Residential Segregation

The residential segregation is the territorial agglomeration of families belonging to the same social group, whether it is defined in terms of ethnicity, age, religious preference, or socioeconomic status, wich generates as a result, residential areas that are characterized by a high internal homogeneity and a strong socio-economic gap between them. In our country, the main dividing line is economic. In Santiago, 58.6% of households in Vitacura have high incomes and 3.1% are poor, while in La Pintana 0.5% of households have high incomes and 63.8% are poor.
The main reason for residential segregation is the high price of land in certain districts, especially those from the eastern sector of Santiago.
The military government (1973-1990) imposed a series of neoliberal measures that severely weakened the state, providing the private sector with urban planning, market speculation and release of the land. This resulted in the excessive increase in the value of land in some districts of the metropolitan area, whereas in the suburbs, values were kept low, forcing poor people to live there.
These actions had grave consequences because they perpetuated residential segregation, moved jobs farther away from the place of residence, and increased the frequency and time of travel, which produced an increase in pollution.
In conclusion one can argue that the urban planning policies have generally located the houses of the poor in the periphery of the city, because that is where the economic value of the land is lower, resulting in concentrations of segregated populations, mainly in the southern area of Santiago. In these areas there are problems with infrastructure and public services, relating to health, education, recreation, etc., to the detriment of the quality of life for those who live there.
I think that the urban planning in Santiago partly determines the levels of poverty, considering that segregation adversely affects the opportunities for the poor to overcome their condition. Moreover, residential location affects individuals’ opportunities to overcome their socioeconomic condition. Realizing this, we can assume that mitigating the effects of residential segregation can increase the chances to overcome poverty.

The Best in my Field: Francisco Sabatini

Hello everybody!

Today I’m going to show the best in my field, the Social Anthropology. But the person that I want to present isn’t an anthropologist, is a urban sociologist. His name is Francisco Sabatini. He studied at the Catholic University, and has a Phd in Urban Planning from the University of California, in United States. He work as a professor at the Catholic University of Chile, where he worked in research and teaching. His areas of expertise are residential segregation, public participation and environmental conflicts, and urban planning. He has been advisor to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development of Chile and a member of the National Advisory Council for the Environment of Chile.

He is an expert, and has done a lot of studies on urban segregation, and for this reason i have read many books and articles of him. Currently he does an MA in Urban Studies at the Catholic University, and I would be there for that he gives classes to me. That would greatly increase the importance of my studies.

That’s all today.

My Carrer: Social Anthropology

Hello everybody!

Sometimes I think to study anthropology because it was the last option, because i was dropping one by one, until they were three: Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science. The problem was that Political Science wasn’t at the University of Chile, so the discarded, and Sociology thought weren’t good methods to analyze society. Maybe I think now other than that. Finally I chose Anthropology, however I don’t had the safety of my choice. But i'm here, in fourth year, and as all the careers Anthropology have things that i like and other things that i dislike.

Anthropology has much to contribute to society. Most importantly, we must help solve problems such as poverty, crime, homelessness, and problems in the healthy, help improve the quality of life for those that need: poor people, immigrants, old people, children, etc. An anthropologist needs several basic tools and knowledge to play their role. These are for example, some statistical programs for to help explore social problems, such as SPSS, Arc View, etc.

My favourite subject is Quantitative Methods II. This is a excellent lecture and one of the reasons i like is the teacher is very good. His name is Jaime Fierro. He teaches of a way clear and explanatory. In addition, he teaches all the matter that he is supposed to teach...not all teachers do that. Other reason because i like this subject is that i like the statistical area. It is very interesting because you can study with a high level of reliability on various themes: political, economic, social, cultural. In addition, through the results of these studies can be guide solutions to the problems discussed.

And my favourite theme is the residential segregation, it’s the territorial agglomeration of families belonging to the same social group, whether it is defined in terms of ethnicity, age, religious preference, or socioeconomic status, which generates as a result, residential areas that are characterized by a high internal homogeneity and a strong socio-economic gap between them. In our country, the main dividing line is economic: the high price of land in certain districts, especially those from the eastern sector of Santiago. One can argue that the urban planning policies have generally located the houses of the poor in the periphery of the city, because that is where the economic value of the land is lower, resulting in concentrations of segregated populations, mainly in the southern area of Santiago. In these areas there are problems with infrastructure and public services, relating to health, education, recreation, etc., to the detriment of the quality of life for those who live there. Here the Anthropology is very important for help to solve these problems.

That is all for today…

A Horrorific Photo

Hello everybody!

Today I'll show you a photo, but not a picture that I like, because it is very impressive. The photo was published in the New York Times on March 30, 1993, and was taken by photographer Kevin Carter in Sudan, an African country. It is a photo that shows a vulture waiting to pounce on a little girl who is dying of hunger. This photo was taken at a time when many African countries including Sudan, were in one of the worst famines in its history.

The photo received the Pulitzer Prize in 1994, but provoked much criticism from human rights organizations. They thought that the photographer had left the girl to die at the hands of vulture without doing anything just to get a good photo. But in reality, it was not: Kevin Carter took the photo and then chased away the vulture and the child didn’t die, but she was a lot of time on the floor, hoping to wake up to find some food. This can be considered a cruelty.

The photographer suicide months later, and the photo that he took and circulates today around the world as one of the most horrific photos taken never before in the history.

What do you think of the picture?

My favourite Anthropological website

Hi!

All the people have a favourite website, and tis can be of differents thems. I'm interested in urbans and economics themes. For example: social segregation, poverty, delincuency, etc. Then, I usually visit a chilean website very interesting: Institute for Housing and Urbanism (In Spanish: Insituto de Vivienda y Urbanismo-INVI). The INVI belongs to the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile.

The link of this website is http://invi.uchilefau.cl/ In it you can find a lot of articles, books, and journals. This are write for very important academics, some of them internationally recognized.

In addition, subjects are treated from a policy position on the left. That's why it is very sensitive to the different suffering of the poorest in the country.

I find the site two years ago, while searched information in the web on urbans themes. I visit the website twice a week for see the new articles and news.

Bye

Economic Depression

The crisis in development around the world is no small thing, this is the worst since the Great Depression of the 30'sy years has already caused bankruptcies of large banks and companies and millions of unemployed. In our country, and throughout Latin America, the impact will be (and is) far-reaching, because the economic growth of recent years in the region was supported by the significant increase in demand and prices of raw materials for industrial production in developed countries and China, but this is the cycle that breaks down, as U.S. and major countries of Europe have fallen into recession (stagnation and protracted decline of industrial and economic activity in general) and the China economy shrinks rapidly.

The current economic crisis is shaking the myths about the virtues of "free market" that provided the ideological basis for the neoliberal offensive of the last 40 years. Those who had announced the "end of history" and the final triumph of the capitalist system today intended to terrorize the population, which opposes bail out the billionaires on Wall Street, saying that if they are not all rescues are going to suffer consequences.

As in previous crises, the financial elite and the U.S. capitalist state, like their peers in the European Union and Latin America are attempting to impose a policy that involves a transfer of resources from society, the work product of millions of people toward the wealthier segments, which have grown immensely during the wealth boom of neoliberalism.

Today in Chile, unemployment reached 12,8 per cent in Santiago in March 2009, according to a study by the Faculty of Economics, University of Chile, which represents an increase of four points (in percentage) compared to 8,8 per cent in March 2008. This is the worst level since September 2003 and represents 363,900 people out of work. Economists say in the various newspapers and magazines, despite the anti-government, unemployment in Santiago could reach 15 percent in winter.

The MP3 Player: my favourite piece of technology

The mp3 player is my favourite piece of technology because allows do a lot of things, for example, store documents and transfer them anywhere, listen to music, moreover it's very small and easy to carry. I use it all the time, every day, because I do the works of research in my home, and print it in the university, and transport it on my mp3. This is great because if don't exist a means of transport of information, i would required to print documents in the computer where i write it. I also took classes to record mp3 from college. Moreover, if you can't take any notes during class, you can hear them in your home and complete it.

I had my first mp3 to fourteen years (I now have twenty one years). I don't remember as i get it, maybe my mother give it me. It was a great gift, because at that time it weren't very used ... whereas now everyone has an mp3 or mp4, it's a very necessary piece. The thing that I like more of the mp3 is that I can take it anywhere with me and listen to music. You can be in the beach, in the mountains, in the subway (while go to the university for example), in the bus, etc.. The life without music is very boring, the music can relax, have a good time. If i didn't have my mp3 my life don't could be the same. If I lose it, I will have to buy another right away because i need it very much.

Objectives...

Hi Dears:

I'm Niklas Dostoiewsky. I'm a english student of Social Anthropology on University of Chile.
I almost never write in english, but it's a work for the English class. I will try enjoy this work through the reflection, from a Social Sciences perspective, specifically from the Anthropology.
Then, I will reflect on social and economic themes, for example: Poverty, Economic Depression, Income Distribution, etc. The expectative for this blog i s write a weekly reflection.

Social Anthropology? What's That? For those who don´t know Social Anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies how currently living human beings behave in social groups. The discipline is not well known outside the area of social sciences, and then i hope to be able to show it.

Well, i will write more ...

Bye