His mind is what I am today

Have you ever asked why we think as we think today, and why the world is organized as it is organized today? What is the origin of all the thoughts that we have in our mind? The world is like a vast lock, full of mysteries, and philosophy is the key that reveals the mysteries of existence and reality to us. It tries to discover the nature of truth and knowledge, and which are the basic values and the importance in life. It also examines the relationship between humanity and nature, and between the individual and society. Philosophy increases inside us curiosity, and the desire to know and understand. It is just a process of analysis, criticism, interpretation, and speculation. What we see today with our eyes is the result of our intelligence. Socrates was the first person who put human beings in the center of his thoughts. He has not written anything; however he has left his footprints in the European’s civilization, and has inspired during almost 2.500 years the Western countries’ thinkers.
The pre-Socratics were the first Greek philosophers. Their name comes from the fact that most of them lived before Socrates’ birth. They were mainly interested in the nature and source of the Universe. These philosophers saw the Universe as a set of connected phenomena, for which thoughts and doubts could find an explanation. The importance of pre-Socratics lies not in the truth of their answers, but in the fact that they examined the questions in the first place. This has inspired and influenced on later philosophers such as Socrates.
This great philosopher of the Ancient period was born in Athens, between 470 and 469 B.C. His father, Sophroniscus, was a sculptor and his mother, Phaenarete, was a mid-wife. He acquired the traditional culture of good families, and finished his military obligations, in which participated in important battles. In his youth, he was fascinated by the philosophy of nature, but as he could not find any coherent explanation to define its existence, he started his investigations putting human beings in the center of his thoughts. He dedicated his life to the analysis of human’s intelligence, and the field of ethics. Socrates also tried to get a precise view of some abstract ideas, such as knowledge, virtue, justice and wisdom.
Athens was in that moment the cultural life of Greece. It was developing a democracy in which the only condition was that its inhabitants receive good education. As consequences, a wide group of professors and errant philosophers, known as sophists, arrived to Athens. The sophists believed in relativism, and they were paid for their teachings.These principles were against what a philosopher shoul be for Socrates. For him, a philosopher is the one that admits that he knows few things and that is constantly looking for wisdom; and in fact, he was someone like this.
Socrates employed most of his life having conversations with Athenians in public places, such as streets and parks. He used a method as a tool of his teaching, which is known as the “Socratic method”.It consisted in making simple questions to different people, and Socrates pretending to know nothing.This was called Socratic irony.But through the conversation, he started to make people realize their wrong thoughts and their lack of knowledge.He made them think and formulate better answers.This method was also related to his mother’s profession; it was said that while Socrates’ mother helped to give birth to babies, Socrates gave birth to new ideas. For him, the true knowledge comes from inside each individual.
Because of that, Socrates used to say that there was a divine voice inside him that tells him what is right and what is wrong. His correct personality led him to contract lots of enemies as he left in ridicule those people that had a conversation with him. Generally, those people were politicians, artists, and merchants. Most of them were of high position in the society and were considered wise people. In 399 B.C., he was accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, and was poisoned in the same year. He would have saved his life if he had admitted that his thoughts were wrong, but he never gave up. He continued teaching to his disciples up to the last minute of his breath.
Athens was like an apathetic brawny horse, whereas Socrates was the odious fly trying to wake it up and keep it alive.His spirited and rational thoughts were the origin of most of Western people’s beliefs. He should be the desire of each individual; to have a critical and personal point of view towards every situation, and to defend it with arguments. This helps us to learn something which is discussed and analized by our own mind, and not repeat as a parrot the pre-fabricated answers or possible solutions; because what we think is what we are.
Eliana Li

Endangered species

We know about and can give names to about one millon animals; but, what we are unaware of, is that there are more than thirty million species of animals in the world. Every year, some of these species dissapear and we never see them again. But with thirty million different species, do one or two matter?
When discussing the causes of endangerment, it is important to understand that species are not the only ones involved in this dilemma. Our planet is continually changing, causing habitats to be altered and modified. However, when changes occur at a fast pace, there is little or no time for species to react and adjust to new circumstances. This can create disastrous results, and for this reason, rapid habitat loss is the primary cause of species endangerment. However, exotic species may also modify the ecological balance, and may produce an excess of unwanted, harmful consequences. The worst of these consequences became noticed when introduced species put native species at risk, by preying on them. This can alter the natural habitat, and can cause a bigger competition for food. Diseases, as well as pollution, are other factors that threaten lots of plant and animal species. For example, the rabies virus is presently destroying carnivore populations in Africa. Domestic animals often transmit the diseases that affect wild populations, demonstrating again how human activities are the beginning of most causes of animal endangerment. Pollution has seriously affected most of the terrestrial and aquatic species, such as penguins in the South Pole, where contamination is due to petrol ships, which drop their waste on polar cold waters; or Baji dolphins in China, who hit their heads on big ships, because of the litter thrown into the Yangtze River.
According to a Harvard biologist, Edward O. Wilson, 20 percent of the world's species will be extinct by 2030. As a consequence of this, many countries are starting to be aware of the critical situation, and they are working to help save endangered animals from extinction. There are organizations, such as Greenpeace, which try to make people aware of the problems that wild animals are facing nowadays. Some of the ways in which they are being saved include: habitat protection, captive breeding, and setting up nature reserves and parks. The first national parks opened more than a hundred years ago. One of the first ones was Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy, as well as Yosemite and Yellowstone in North America. In addition to those ways of saving endangered species, using alternative products, in place of products from rare animals, may also be included. For example, whale oil. The first principal use of whale oil (which is a liquid wax and not a true oil), was as an illuminant in lamps and as candle wax. However, with the 1986 International Whaling Commission, commercial whaling was banned, and whale oil has all but ceased to be viable. For most of its uses, jojoba oil, produced out of the seed of the jojoba (a shrub native to southern Arizona, southern California and northwestern Mexico), works well as a substitute. Governments are also helping, by making international agreements between countries to protect animals, such as the blue whale, indiscriminately hunted in Antartica. Scientists are installing gene banks, in which they keep an animal's genetic material. This technique may make it possible in the future to create a new animal of the same species, in a faster way, and it will also be possible to ensure the continuity of the species. Besides the work the government and the organizations are doing to preserve nature, we can all do something to help. We protect animals by protecting the natural world. We could start by leaving natural homes for small animals and birds (trees, flowers, among others), and use the bicycle more frequently, instead of polluting the air with cars. We could also promote the construction of more national parks, and the prohibition of zoos, for most of them are in bad conditions and are not intersted in helping animals, but presenting them as simple touristic attractions, in order to gain money. Another important thing might be to lower, or stop the usage of animal skin coats. Times are changing, and people feel differently about endangered species. Using a coat from a dead animal is not beautiful nowadays, when you know that so many species are dissappearing progressively.
Finally, it is important to mention that animals make the world a richer place, a more interesting and a more beautiful place for us to live in. Animals help us in many important ways. They give us meat to eat and milk to drink. In addition to this, scientists also learn from animals, and this helps them to understand people. We change things in our world quickly, but animals do it very slowly. People and animals live in one world. Our land is their land; our trees are their trees; our rivers are their rivers. We must protect animals from dissapearing, because at the same time we are protecting our world.

MEDARDO BENITEZ

CHANGES AT SAINT PATRICK'S

Sofía and Lourdes are rushing through the hallway because they have to be on time for a meeting. They represent First Polimodal in the Student Council’s meetings. School Week is near and there must be lots of activities to organize. They are only two of the representatives of each grade. There they will discuss and give ideas.
This Student Council was created last year when a new system was implemented at school. Now Third Polimodal students aren’t the only ones who make all the decisions, now they take into account all the students’ ideas and opinions. This gives the events that they organize a new sense and meaning. Those events consist of ceremonies and different perfomances, including School Week.
One example is the Student’s Day celebration they organized last year. It consisted of dividing the school into three different groups, determined by three colours (red, blue and yellow). Every student had to wear a t-shirt with the colour of their group. Every grade had to design a game to be played by the rest of the students. That day, school dressed in those three colours, we could see students and teachers playing and having fun. We all ended up eating cakes and dancing! It was a really nice activity because all the school was there, sharing a different atmosphere in the same building where we study every day. That afternoon, everyone would go home talking about the great time they had spent.
This organization method is implemented in lots of schools but at Saint Patrick’s it hadn’t work. It has never been an option to change the system that students had been using all these years, but last year a new project came up. With everyone’s help it was implemented and it have had a positive impact. It was really difficult to propose this kind of change but we received everyone’s support. Now, students feel they are being listened to and they like that, whereas before no one cared about their opinions, something that negatively affected the organization of all the events, especially School Week.
School Week consists of usually three days of activities such as sports tournaments and different competitions, which includes futbol, volleyball and rugby games. In the morning these activities are only for our school students, but in the afternoon several other invited schools participate. In the evening there are shows such as Choreography Night and Concerts. Every year this was all the same and students got bored.
Over the years, monotony became a problem, since students didn’t like the activities that were planned so they weren’t willing to participate. This situation has remained but this time is expected to be different. As a consequence of the new system, everyone gives and propose ideas and activities that are interesting for them and their classmates. In that way, they can have a good time participating in acitivities they have proposed, and not in activities in which they are pushed to do things they don’t like.
Another consequence of this plan is the better relationship the younger and the older students have now, something that hardly ever happened before. Also the idea of one school is starting to develop among teachers and students, wich is very important because they spend most of their time at school and they need to be in a place where they feel comfortable.
In conclusion, we all have been part of a change, a really good one. All of this hasn’t been only for a better School Week, but to create a better concept of school, one which isn’t only study and homework. This time, School Week will be just another good consequence of the work done by all the students and all the group work they have done.

Here are some pictures about last year School Week. There, only Third Polimodal was in charge of making all the decisions and the organization. The other pictures are about the Student’s Day Celebration, which was organized by Student Council with members from all the grades.

Sports at Saint Patrick's School Week.


























Choreography night.


























Students Day Celebration.

The Student Council also organized a camp and invited all the students to spend the night at school. It was the first time something like this was organized. We all had a great time together.

Primera Salida a Tafí del Valle

Los alumnos de 3º de polimodal de ambas divisiones viajaron a Tafi del Valle el dia jueves 17 de abril. El objetivo de la salida era conocer la planta de clasificación de residuos del Mollar y realizar una tarea de limpieza comunitaria. Los profesores que los acocmpañaron fueron, Alejandra Barea , Silvina Denegri, Alejandra Torres, María Marta Albornoz, Jane Hayman y Silvia Sánchez.

En la planta de clasificación recibieron una charla del gerente de la misma Señor Roberto Zonca, que les explicó cuales fueron los beneficios de la planta para el valle , cuales eran las dificultades operativas de la misma y les habló tambien de los precios de los distintos subproductos de los residuos que ellos clasifican.

Después de la charla y de observar el funcionamiento de la planta los alumnos encargados de hacer los videos de concientización realizaron entrevistas a operarios de la misma y al Sr. Zonca.

Todo el grupo almorzó en la plaza de El Mollar, y luego se dirigió a la rotonda de entrada al Lago la Angostura para iniciar una tarea de limpieza del perilago y de la ruta hasta la zona de la entrada del cementerio. Se llenaron en esta actividad 50 bolsas de consorcio de residuos!

Luego transitamos con los ómnibus por la villa para ver en qué lugares se emplazarían las “islas ecológicas” para selección de residuos que estan diseñando los alumnos.

Finalmente concluímos con nuestra actividad con una merecida merienda en El Blanquito, desde donde partimos con destino a Tucumán a las 17 horas.

Diego Parravicini '97: Legum Magister in Colorado, USA

Last May, Diego Parravicini '97 graduated from the University of Denver (DU) as Legum Magister in Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy. Diego first became a lawyer at UNT and went to Colorado for grad school. His future looks as bright as his academic accomplishments.

For the time being, he will stay in Denver where he is still part of some DU projects and, over the summer (June through September), he will be working for a Law Firm specialized in Environmental Law. Only after that shall we have Diego back in Argentina.

About his time in the US, Diego says he has just had one of the best experiences in his life. At DU, apart from grad school, he was a Teaching Assistant, a position usually offered to the best qualified grad students. He also travelled widely around the country and made tons of friends in the host culture. "Siempre pienso en lo importante que fue el inglés del colegio para lograr objetivos como el que logré. Yo estuve seis años sin estudiar inglés -los años que me tomó la carrera de abogacía en la UNT. Volví a agarrar los libros para rendir el TOEFL y no me costó nada. Es que la base que da el colegio es excelente en ese sentido."

With Dad (top) and Mom (here) on Graduation Day. All of us at St Patrick's share their pride at Diego's graduation. Congratulations, Jefe!