Gina's Blog

What I want to focus on when moderating

When I am moderating I would not like just one person to dominate the debate, then no one would get a say in the debate. I think it would also be ideal not to focus particularly on just one part of the debate. In addition I think it would be better to not personally attack others while they are trying to get a point across. It would also be better if anything said isn’t offensive, I’m sure that would help. Although it’ll be hard, being a moderator can help a lot in the debate.

Next stop on the trip is Ireland. I had the opportunity to visit Ireland two years ago for about four days. At first I thought Ireland would be somewhat like England, but on the 9-hour plane ride to England I found out that Ireland is pretty much like Gettysburg. For those of you that have never been to Gettysburg, there isn’t a lot really. We live off a few stores and old-fashioned stuff like carriage rides, but for the most part everything is “green” and full of nature, and of course battlefields. Ireland is pretty much like this, minus the battlefields. Here are a few pictures from my trip.

So apart from the natural beauty, Ireland is not really known for their special food delicacies. There is, however, one particular food that every Irish is familiar with: Shepard’s pie. This dish was absolutely amazing (or maybe I was just really hungry). This dish basically is ground beef with peas and carrots, or any vegetables really, with mashed potatoes under a layer of melted cheese.

Looks good huh?

A great place to visit in Ireland would be Blarney Castle. It’s a castle built in medieval times as a stronghold. It’s actually pretty fascinating to see such a thing still intact after hundreds of years. At the top, there is a famous stone. So, legend has it that long ago the visitors of the castle were forced to kiss the stone, but now “To kiss that legendary stone confers on the kisser the gift of eloquence, the ability to deceive without offending.” It’s actually quite terrifying because there is a big gap between the stone and the actual castle.

Just in case anyone wanted to know, I did not kiss the stone!

It took forever to finally decide on what civic issue to write about, but I feel that food in general is a civic issue. Do we really know where our food comes from?

I decided to conduct some research. The outcome is actually pretty nice. Most food consumed in the US is actually from the US. For example, every year an estimated 2.2 billion bushels of wheat are produced and about half of that is exported, according to Chad Hart from Iowa State University. Also, it turns that that not only does Wisconsin make delicious cheese, but they also produce the most cranberries for the country. 248 million turkeys were eaten in the US in 2011, most of which came from Minnesota. On the other hand, Mexico is the big supplier in fruits and vegetables during the year. Fruits like strawberries, oranges, apples, watermelons, peaches, bananas, and most importantly avocados. The problem here is that there are many local markets and farms that could sell to the high food chain stores. The only thing hold people back are the prices. In Mexico you could cultivate avocados and sell them for about a third of the price in the Us for buying them. Of course, this is music to buyers’ ears. Also, the US buys lots of vegetables like corn, lettuce, and beans. This is an issue as well because if you recall most farms in the US are for corn. Overall, the imported foods are due to low costs and more money gain at the time of consumption.

I come from a very hot and dry place in Mexico. It’s basically a desert. Going on trips with my mother since I was about 12 has actually been pretty fun (I know, hard to believe). When I was about 14, I remember leaving our house in Mexico one day early in the morning with my mom and my cousin to go look for some breakfast. It was pretty nice outside, considering it was mid July and temperatures reach an all-time high during this month. We drove for about 5 minutes (it’s a big city so everything is pretty much close).  It was actually kind of crazy to just park outside of a paint shop to eat some breakfast at a small stand that had about 4 people. I remember saying that it looked a bit sketchy and questionable. Long story short, I ended up eating some of the best tacos I have ever laid hands on.

Apart from the delicious tacos, there are some great places to visit in Chihuahua. Chihuahua itself is a pretty mountainous area. It’s a bit strange to see that there are houses that go up all the way to the top of the mountains. There is specifically one mountain that is called El Mirador. This is any photographer’s ideal spot. It has a gorgeous view of the entire city.

Another great place to visit would be a few hours outside of the city. There is a waterfall that is called La Cascada de Basaseachic. It’s in the Sierra (mountain range) of Chihuahua and is absolutely breath taking. It’s not like the desert where the city of Chihuahua is located; it’s much more green and earthy.

Chihuahua is an overall great place to visit, and I’m not just saying this because I am from here. 

Going back to history class sometime in my high school life, I precisely remember writing a paper about Confucius. Confucius once said, ”Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.”

I can specifically remember a time where morals were applied.

It was not that long ago—I’d say maybe three weeks ago, before the spring semester began. I had gone out on a Sunday night with my family to Baltimore, MD to visit my Godmother. Gettysburg isn’t really far from Baltimore, so it was a pretty quick trip. We checked the weather before to see if there would be any difficulties getting there, which there weren’t. It had been snowing the entire day, but it wasn’t a thick snow; it was more like slush. We knew that since there weren’t many Penn Dot trucks going around putting salt on the streets, everything would freeze and turn into ice. So, we left and came back around 9pm. I was fast asleep in the car, along with my brother when all of the sudden the car came to a stop. There was a big car crash in front of us with police lights and tow trucks everywhere. We decided not to wait and take a detour to get home faster since my brother had school the next morning. So we turned around and took the first road that went off to the right. Soon after, we took another right into what we thought looked like a safe road. It turned out to be one of the iciest roads I have ever been on. Before turning into that road, my dad had gotten off of the car to ask a lady that was sitting outside of her car if the road was icy and if there were hills of any sort if it was. The lady quickly said it wasn’t at all. She told my dad that there was salt just put on the road. This was one of the biggest lies ever. As soon as we turned, we start going up a very steep hill. At this time, you could see the concern on my dad’s face. He wanted to say that we were slipping, but obviously didn’t want to worry us. When we got to the top of the hill, he parked the car and switched a button that put the car into 4×4 mode. We started going down slowly until the car was slipping and my dad yells “This is it guys, seatbelts on and hold on.” My mom neurotically yelled, “Hold on guys, hold on.” All of a sudden the car just turned off and the brakes wouldn’t work. My brother and I didn’t have our seatbelts on, but they were already latched under us, so we were screwed basically. The next few seconds were terrible. We spun 3 times going down the icy hill. Luckily, we did not flip in the air. My dad said that someone took over the wheel. After that we carefully made it back to the main road, thankful of course.

Unquestionably, the moral of the story is to be honest because any white lie can endanger anyone’s life and make things worse. Honesty is one of the many morals I live by.

Coming from a religiously Hispanic background, most morals I abide by are part of the Ten Commandments such as being honest, not stealing, and respecting your parents. I would consider myself moral in the aspect that I always think about doing the right, moral thing in any problematic situation. It might be a little hard to comply with any sort of moral, but I believe that anyone is capable of changing into the moral person we should be.

It’s been quite the battle over the past 19 years between the good and the bad, the moral and the evil. Compassion. Honesty. Good. Moral. In this I believe.

So lately I have been receiving a lot of emails inviting me to study abroad in France, Italy, Peru, etc. I am the type of person that loves to travel, I mean I LOVE it. There is only one problem with traveling and that’s money. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to travel to a few countries including Ireland and Brazil. In this new blog I plan to talk about the places that I have visited and the places I plan to visit. I would also like to talk in each blog about the things I have done and seen. Additionally, I would talk about the food and the overall culture. For the countries that I have not yet visited and are  still on my bucket list, I would talk about what there is to do and see. Overall, I think this blog is going to be an exciting one to write about.

It was a bit of a struggle trying to come up with something to write about that I truly believe in. I decided to go around and ask all my roommates and friends. It turns out most of them came up with the same idea. I have thought about what they have advised me to write about and I truly do believe in talking about morals. I am a type of person that is set by morals. Before I do something, I try to think if it’s the moral thing to do. I am in touch with this type of reasoning quite a bit. I also believe in many other moral things to do. I think writing the “This I believe” will be quite easy now that I know what I am going to talk about.

Immigrants impact our daily lives so subtly that we barely even notice. If we took the time and energy to actually see how much our lives are impacted because of immigrants, it would be absolutely astonishing. Immigrants account for more than half of the total population of the US. And let’s not forget how this country was started. Immigrants from all over Europe came hundreds of years ago to start a new life and to live a life however they pleased. Not only that, but many immigrants continued to come into the country years after the US became an actual country. In addition, Ellis Island played  a big role in the US’ immigration system when it was in use. Obviously, the US knew that it had to begin to limit the entrance of immigrants into the country, and Ellis Island was an okay start.

With the new immigration system put into place, the US is actually losing because it is not in favor of the economy crisis in the US. In conclusion, in order for the US to continue flourishing as one of the top countries in the world, we need to pass an immigration system that works for all of us. If the US continues to instill its current rules, it’ll all be downhill from here. There is always hope and we should not give up on something so important for this great country.

The DREAM Act is the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act. It was first introduced to congress in 2001. It was denied, since congress was strongly republican. It has been denied for the past few years until 2010 when it passed the House with a vote 216 to 198. The next step of course was to get it approved by the Senate. The Senate voted 55 to 41; unfortunately the act fell short five votes and did not pass. A different version has been passed in many states across the nation, ensuring a pathway to residency for undocumented immigrants.

Who qualifies?

Basically, anyone who was brought to the US under the age of eighteen is eligible for the benefits the Dream Act offers. If a person was also brought into the country and graduated from an accredited high school, he/she is also entitled to the benefits. In addition, these people also have to show a good, moral character. Furthermore, a person must have lived in the US continuously for five or more years. Typically, these people are good citizens, willing to help the community, and Americans at heart.

President Barack Obama has begun a program (June 2012) that allows undocumented youth to stay in the country. This was under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Basically, if a person meets the certain requirements, some of which are from the Dream Act, he/she will be allowed to work legally in the US. The purpose of this is to eventually legalize the youth immigrants. Also, this act allows undocumented people to get a drivers license. Not only does the Deferred Action policy allow fulfilling young immigrants to legally work, but it also allows them to pursue a degree by furthering their education.

To me, this is a great start to something so necessary for our country.

It’s hard to say that I cannot decide what to talk about.
A few ideas of what I have been thinking:

1. Legalizing Marijuana

I could say why this is such an important topic in today’s society. Maybe, I could even take a side.

2. Voting

I would like to look how lowering the voting age would be more effective or less effective.

3. Enjoy the little things/Enjoy life in general

I would enjoy talking about this topic the most because I have personal anecdotes. Also, I could talk about people who have tough lives and still try to live a normal life.

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks.