My community values

Every community has its own values which characterizes it and gives it an identity, a tradition. Mine, here in Tucumán, Argentina, is one more, but at the same time, being part of it makes us feel special.

To begin with, and to more easily understand my community’s culture, the most important value is family and friends. Spending time with them is a priority and this distinguishes Tucumán even from other provinces in Argentina. Firstly, family is present throughout all your life as people usually live with their parents until they get married, at around 30. After this, parents continue seeing their children as families usually get together every Sunday at lunch time to eat a barbecue because this day is considered to be spent with them. Birthdays, Christmas and some important dates are spent with family too. Also, one of the things our parents teach us is to have a close relationship with our brothers or sisters and to help each other, if that is the case you will share with them all your life. Secondly, friends are very important as they are the ones who you share your life and your experiences with. In schools and universities we are used to studying in groups, helping each other with work and homework; friends are really supportive and necessary in life. They are present at every stage of life. We spend every weekend with them and during the week we see each other in the afternoon generally. The usual meeting place is a house where we drink “mate”, or at a bar, to have a coffee, a coke or a beer. At night, the typical and best social encounter is a barbecue with alcoholic drinks and a guitar, which are combined with jokes, anecdotes and laughter, the perfect plan. The most important days of the year for friends here are friends’ day, students’ day, New Year and birthdays, that can be shared with family.

Secondly, my community is not from the first world so the system is not strict or structured. In the first place, we think we rule time as we are not accustomed to being on time, and timetables and schedules are not respected. Our system is rather informal, queues are usually long and people have to wait a lot to be attended to. To sum up, Tucumán is a little province which makes everybody be related and know each other. This makes professional and formal relations even more difficult to exist. Also contacts are very important: you can avoid long lines, tests for the driver license and job interviews by them.

Everybody here has similar lives: people usually spend all their lives here, not everybody manages to have a university degree, so some people begin to work very young, others after university, then they get married, have children and grandchildren. Our daily lives are like this: shops and offices open between 8 o’clock in the morning until midday and then open again at 5 o’clock in the afternoon until 8 or 9; at schools classes can begin at 7 a.m. if you go in the morning or at 2 p.m. in the afternoons. At 8 p.m. people are returning home, then comes dinner and then people go to sleep. Some traditional activities are done at certain hours: in the morning the sidewalks are cleaned, after lunch everybody takes a nap and soap operas are seen in the afternoons. People begin to go out to have fun on Thursdays and also on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so during these days there is more traffic and more people on the streets and public places. On weekends, teenagers go out around 12 o’clock at night, and return home around 5am as discos close at 4; many return later. Adults also go out, usually to have dinner with friends, but they return earlier than adolescents.

In conclusion, this society forms mediocre and lazy people but teaches you to love and value your people, your town, and your traditions and to accept the failures in it, as nothing is perfect. It is an informal and unstructured system but that is what makes it fun and adventurous. Here you can enjoy life and relationships, which is why I love it!
Eli Chaila

Intercultural Communication

MAIN VALUES AND HOW THEY MARK DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOCIETIES.

In the modern world the differences between the cultures are bigger each day. People who grow up in a certain culture share certain values which, influenced by the economic system of each country, are what mark the differences between countries, states, provinces and people.

In the United States there are three values that are considered as the most important ones. Those values are individualism, freedom and competition. People who live there share these values so they behave in a very similar way. They follow the economic system called capitalism.

Most of the countries from Latin America also follow this system but, what marks the difference in the way of living between these countries? Why if they follow the same economic system the people in both countries think and behave so differently?

Americans raise their children in a very different way than people from other countries do. Kids are trained from very early to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own actions. They are taught to make their own decisions and to be accountable for their own money.
As they conceive themselves as separate individuals, they assume everyone else in the world is too. Showing independence is very important in the USA. For example, when teenagers graduate from high school they are expected to live apart from their parents, either on their own or in college. Otherwise they risk being viewed as immature or unable to lead an independent life.

On the other hand, in Latin America, children are raised very differently. Parents are concerned about teaching their children how to be responsible with money. Teenagers do not have to show that they are independent, not even if they have already graduated from high school. They continue living in their parents’ house although they are grown ups, and they are not criticized by the people their age.

Another value that has a lot to do with individualism in the United States is competition. People in America are always trying to be more efficient and better in their jobs, in this way they will be more successful economically and this will improve their way of living. The system encourages them since they are little children to get good grades so as to be admitted in a good university. That makes them very competitive, especially at school and with their classmates. In Latin America this concept is very different. The system only asks students to pass their subjects and they do not care too much about getting high grades, they will be able to go to University anyway.

These values are directly related to the use of time, which is considered as a very important resource in the United States, where it is synonym of productivity, whereas in Latin America, people think they owe time. This marks a huge difference between the two cultures. Since Americans use time to study, improve and work to get ahead and be better than their neighbor, in Latin America people use their time in other activities, as joining together in groups to studying for an important test or socializing with their classmates.

There can be noticed that, although these two countries follow the same economic system, they face life and business in a very different way. The reason of this can have to do with the values that are considered as more important in each country. If we take as an example COMPETITION we can notice the different connotations this value has in the different places. For example, in the United States people are always trying to overcome themselves and to be better than his/her partner, whereas in Latin America this is not so important. While people in Latin America form groups to study for an important test for example, in the USA students study alone and make a big effort to have a high grade. Another example could be the use of time. While in the USA they use it to improve and produce, in Latin America people prefer to share more time with family or friends or to relax than to work and be better each time.

It is important to remark the role the different economic systems have in the way of living in a certain society, but the values that are considered as more important in that country have also to be taken into account, because that will be what marks the difference between them. By analyzing this we can notice how the economy has an impact on several aspects of our lives, but it also depends on the values that prevail in each society.

Religions

As globalization grows more and more each day we realize the world gets smaller. We are able to reach places we never thought of in very little time. So does the variety of people we meet each day. Unfortunately not everybody’s tolerance grows as much as this. Provably one of our most commons sorrows comes from dealing with everybody’s judgments. We can find ourselves very lost on today’s society, we are misunderstood, but still we love to play judge on people’s lives. It seems Babel’s tower story is reflected on the daily survival. The story explains the origin of nations, their languages, and displays the Lord's contempt for human pride. Although religions have different interpretations of it, most of them agree the Lord punished humans for their daring by confusing their languages and scattering the people throughout the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9).But it seems we haven’t worked that much on our pride and prejudice. Especially on homogeneous societies some people find really hard to accept others cultures, costume, and even more, religion. But what amazes me even more is the fact many people seem to think talking about this is a great taboo .After the trip I made last summer I feel I should share with everybody my experience and I hopefully it will help my society to grow on values such as tolerance and respect, love and acceptance.
I spent 3 months in San Diego, California a state on the West coast of the United States, along the Ocean. It is known for its varied climate and geography, as well as its diverse population. California has the largest minority population in the United States as well as the largest population of Roman Catholics of any state .A large Protestant and American Jewish community, the largest Muslim community population in the US and a growing Hindu one. The state has more Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) than any state except Utah. But of course I didn’t know any of this; it didn’t seem to be of any relevance before. I already knew the family I was going to stay with; my host mom had spent almost a year at my mom’s house when she was my age. Everyone was very nice and kind to me, I was extremely happy. On the 1st Sunday I went to church with them. They were Christians, not Roman Catholics as me, but I thought it would be nice to go with them anyway. When we got there I was a little shocked, the building was far away from what I would usually call a church, it looked more like a school building. People were divided by ages in different rooms. When I opened the door of the youth group I looked around and thought “This can’t be serious”. The walls were blue, red and white; there were four LCD screens, drums, electric guitars, brightly colored sofas and a pool table. Anyway I sat down and listened to the minister. His speech was some of the most heartwarming and touching words I‘d ever heard. On the way out I told one of the girls sitting next to me that I was Roman Catholic. She looked at me very confused and said “Whoa, Isn’t that were they sit down and stand up all the time?” I didn’t answer anything. Even though I knew she wasn’t trying to me mean I felt offended and hurt. The rest of the day I continued thinking about that question. The fact that people recognized my religion, the one 83% of Argentineans relate to, as a ceremony of standing up and sitting down had shocked me.
Some days later I realized how unfair I had been. Hadn’t I been as prejudiced when I first stepped into that colorful room? I didn’t know much about other religions either so, how could I expect others to know more about mine? After that day I not only left all kind of judgments and prejudice, I also opened myself to new ideas, cultures and religions.
One of my best American friends was Jewish and the other one was Mormon. They both taught me amazing things about their faith with great passion and patience, love and enthusiasm. Their ways of understanding and finding God are very opposite, but no one is to tell who’s right or who’s wrong. They have two of the biggest and purest souls I have ever met and taught me one of my most precious lessons.
No matter what we believe in, we all feel, suffer, cry or laugh. We look for ways to reach happiness and joy. Even if you don’t believe in God or any other superior power, by judging others faith or their ways to search that happiness only keeps as away from having a higher standard in life of whom we want to be. We have to work on our tolerance and open our minds to new ideas. I know I did it and I enjoy every moment of it. I am thankful of diversity, freedom of faiths and thought.

Guido Mossé en La Gaceta

El profesor Guido Mossé, junto con otros editores de revistas culturales, opina sobre la escritura de los blogs en La Gaceta del Lunes 17 de Marzo de 2008

Información General

REVISTAS CULTURALES

La persistencia del papel, en tiempos del blog

Muchas publicaciones en formato tradicional que circulan en Tucumán parecen tener una función social.

En la era de la blogósfera todavía hay quienes eligen la textura del papel modesto y los formatos editoriales tradicionales (la revista a dos colores, el mural o la hojuela ascética con aparente “cero diseño”) como medios para canalizar sus producciones de narrativa, de poesía, de ensayo, o, simplemente, de catarsis. Como afirma Soledad Martínez Zuccardi en su análisis sobre la primera mitad del siglo XX, las revistas culturales son escenarios fundamentales de la vida intelectual moderna.
Un siglo después, internet mediante, vale preguntarse si los escritos de las nuevas camadas siguen cumpliendo la misma función: si los guía el deseo de experimentar nuevas estéticas; o si lo que los anima son, simplemente, “las ganas de decir”.
En esa búsqueda, LA GACETA reunió a cinco responsables de cuatro publicaciones que fueron gestadas en el ámbito de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UNT, Guido Mossé (La Hoja), Daniel Ocaranza (Escapulario), Daniel Casas (revista Seta), Verónica Daud y Mariela Casanova (revista Yucumanita). También dio su aporte vía e-mail, desde España, Irene Benito, la obstinada hacedora de “Dixi”.
En esta crónica no aparecen revistas culturales más “profesionalizadas”, como la flamante “Mil trescientos kilómetros. Escrituras desde la frontera” o la publicación digital “Telar”, que dirige la doctora Carmen Perilli (ver sitio www.unt.edu.ar, link revistas digitales), entre otras publicaciones que editan intelectuales tucumanos de la generación intermedia.
A propósito de las revistas realizadas por jóvenes tucumanos, una investigación de “Dixi” de 2006 indicaba la existencia de alrededor de 15 publicaciones independientes (entre culturales y de espectáculos). El perfil de la mayoría de esas publicaciones es decididamente artesanal y no persigue rentabilidad. Según Verónica Daud, muchas de esas revistas han dejado de circular en estos últimos años “por la imposibilidad de sostenerlas económicamente”.
Sin embargo, en el mismo período se han multiplicado los blogs escritos por jóvenes tucumanos provenientes de distintas disciplinas. Si el blog aparece como un espacio de expresión en el que numerosos individuos se vinculan en red desde la soledad de sus computadoras, muchas de las revistas culturales en papel que circulan en Tucumán, en 2008, parecen mantener una función más social que estética.
A la virtualidad de la red, las publicaciones gráficas no sólo le oponen la “materialidad” del papel, sino que, una vez editadas, circulan por los contados pero concurridísimos cafés literarios de Tucumán. En apoyo de esa percepción, opina Guido Mossé : “Nosotros priorizamos los vínculos, el lenguaje como vía de expresión, más que la búsqueda propiamente estética”.
“Todo estudiante de Letras busca no sólo escribir, sino darse a conocer”, añade Daniel Ocaranza, responsable de la hoja mural “Escapulario”, que se “edita” en las paredes de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras “cada vez que se junta material”.
Mossé produce “La Hoja”, una hoja estrictamente literaria hecha en papel de resma que lleva 45 números en la calle y que se distribuye en las facultades del parque 9 de Julio y en las de la Ex Quinta Agronómica. “Hoy está más que nunca la necesidad de escribir y de decir cosas. Y no sólo escribe la gente de Letras. El poder de la palabra escrita - reflexiona- es determinante. Yo enseño en colegios y veo que los chicos hacen sus blogs, sus metroflogs, y usan otros recursos. Ahí está la creatividad, el poder de la escritura, con códigos diferentes de los hegemónicos, aunque desde la facultad se diga que ha habido un empobrecimiento del lenguaje”.
Daniel Casas edita “Seta” con otros tres amigos. Dice que no quisieron buscar patrocinios institucionales porque querían trabajar con libertad. Sin embargo, cuenta que la revista tuvo tan buena acogida que las autoridades de Filosofía y Letras apoyarán la edición.
Lo mismo les pasa a las chicas de Yucumanita (voz quichua de Tucumán), que ya tiene ocho años de vida, y cuyo objetivo es “hacer valer el derecho a la cultura”. En la revista hay un 50% de producción de los profesores, y un 50% de los estudiantes, y también tienen apoyo de las autoridades de Filosofía y Letras.
Yucumanita también está en la web (www.unt.filo.edu. ar, link “revistas digitales”), edita un CD, un video y organiza un concurso que, según sus responsables, es un termómetro de esta “fiebre de escritura”. En los concursos de cuento y poesía que organiza Yucumanita, dicen, se presentan hasta amas de casa.

Escribir y corregir
Un punto que propicia debate entre algunos editores es el de la calidad estética del material que se publica. Como ya se dijo, ellos priorizan “el espacio de vínculo, por sobre la estética, que suele ser la que se impone desde el discurso hegemónico”.
Sin embargo, la profesora Rossana Nofal, que está a cargo de la materia “Taller de escritura” en la facultad de Filosofía y Letras, opina que a veces esas posiciones enmascaran cierta carencia de autocrítica. “El primer debate (en torno del flamante espacio de taller) tiene que ver con instalar la idea de una escritura y su corrección. Un texto que se produce, se confronta con otros y se vuelve a pensar. Confrontar y tomar riesgos: hablamos de una escritura pautada. Los chicos -afirma Nofal- escriben al ritmo de propuestas determinadas y con el vértigo de tener que tomar decisiones inmediatas sobre una hoja en blanco. La consideración de la escritura como trabajo supone prácticas activas, con posibilidad de distancia crítica, debates y proyección hacia el futuro de esa producción, componentes indispensables para considerar la relación entre la escritura propia y la de los otros”. Una manera de mezclar la fiebre con la técnica.

De: http://www.lagaceta.com.ar/vernotae.asp?id_nota=262561&titulo=La%20persistencia%20del%20papel,%20en%20tiempos%20del%20blog

IB Work

The impact of technology on our daily life

by Antonieta Majorel '07

Technology has become part of our daily life and its presence is increasing with every new and fantastic service or device launched in the market. We have become so used to it that it has changed some traditions. The question is: does technology have a positive or negative impact on our daily life?

Nowadays, technology is experiencing great development in entertainment, such as multiplayer games, videogames, MP3s and even MP4s. These gadgets offer a variety of ways of having fun, on your own or with someone else. The negative point is that they are frequently used alone, which increases the tendency of isolation. People live immersed in their own universe, without paying attention to what surrounds them. As a consequence, face-to-face relationships are affected. However, with the Internet, e-mail and some online games, another form of global communication has emerged. We can be in touch with people from Italy, China and Guatemala simultaneously, or read the recent news published in South Africa, Prague or Vancouver. This favors cultural exchange, which makes people more open-minded and accepting of differences. Besides, MP3s and MP4s aren’t only used for entertainment but also for the storage of information, like pen-drives. This is a very practical use. The downside is that statistics show a tendency of getting deaf earlier if you listen to extremely loud music frequently.

Another aspect of technology is that it has changed the traditional concept of work. With e-mail, some jobs allow working at home, without going to the office. Research has confirmed that this new method is more productive than the traditional one. However, they also found that working at home leads to devoting more hours to work. This idea is related to the loss of privacy due to the fact that modern workers are always on call. With mobile phones and the Internet we are always available for any kind of message, either from family or work. The dilemma with technology is that we don’t know how to organize our time, i.e. when to work and when to relax. In fact, technology isn’t the problem; the difficulty is that we don’t set our schedule properly. Still, our life quality has decreased because we have become stressed-out workaholics. What's more, our work quality has also diminished because as technology allows us to do many activities at the same time, we don’t concentrate much on each and that affects our performance.

In conclusion, despite having negative consequences on account of its wrong use – deafness owing to loud music, isolation, extra hours working at home, being always on call - technology itself is a key tool that helps us to simplify and improve our life. A great variety of new devices and services promote cultural exchange, boost entertainment and give benefits to workers. So, the impact is largely more positive than negative.

REFERENCE

“60 minutes” February 2, 2006. Report by Lesley Stahl. “Technology, like wireless Internet, the Blackberry and even wired bathrooms are helping Americans work longer hours. Forget 9 to 5 – for some it’s now 5 to 9”.

Stem Cell Research

The use of stem cells is the new advance in science and they are produced by embryos, which are destroyed in order to take these cells. They can replace every type of cell in our body and this is how scientists assure that most diseases can be cured. Biologically, this discovery is wonderful; even paralyzed people will be able to walk again by replacing the damaged cells in the spinal chord. But there is controversy on the issue: is it morally or ethically right to kill embryos?

Undoubtedly it is a great discovery and many lives can be saved, but at the same time there is a moral issue involved. Apart from paralysis in the spinal chord, there are other diseases that can be cured, such as diabetes, Alzheimer and heart problems. That is why, for a sick person the use of stem cells is a great advance in science; they know what it feels to be sick, and it is for sure that they want to be treated. But beyond those great and remarkable results, embryos are potential individuals. And if we kill what is likely to become a person in order to save another life, we are depriving someone’s right to live.

As far as I’m concerned, stem cells are, for sure, an incredible success in science, which shows that we are really improving health treatment. But the fact that embryos have to be destroyed is worth considering. We can’t just discard them because we are trying to save another person, or doing research. This issue is closely related to the controversy over abortion or euthanasia, so I think that it will be as difficult to solve as those issues are. When human life plays a role in the matter, we have to be careful with the choices we make. So, if you are alive, you have the right to live, why should you kill a life that is just beginning?

In my opinion, the research with stem cells that need to sacrifice the embryo shouldn’t be done. The only way I approve the research is with the stem cells that can be taken from the umbilical chord when the baby is born. They are not as efficient as the ones in the embryo, but taking them doesn’t steal the possibility of a person to develop.

References:

- 60 Minutes. Report by Ed Bradley. Feb. 26, 2006

“Dr. Hans Keirstead believes that embryonic stem cells are a medical milestones seen only every 100 years, and he hopes to conduct clinical trials on humans.”

Valentina Becker

Packer students in NYC

Would you like to get in touch with Packer students of Spanish in New York?

It would be great for San Patricio students to get in touch with them either through their blog or school website.

Enjoy!

. SchoOl Week - Cultural Events * *

Innovation,
Youthfulness and Interaction

School Week - Cultural Events

This year the cultural events had a different focus. They weren’t only informative but also a dialogue was established between the students and the young people that were in charge of giving the talks. Another aspect that made this morning something worth participating in was the fact that these young people belong to different movements and institutions.

Although the talks were quite short they had a clear and specific message that was transmitted orally and with the use of PowerPoint presentations, games or short movies. Students, teachers and school authorities were involved in the activities, and all together shared a special and unique moment that helped strengthen their relationship.

7^th grade

In 7^th grade the talk was given by the 17-year-old Florencia Tinnirello, student of 3^rd polimodal of St. Patrick’s school and member of the Focolare Movement. The talk started with an interactive game in which the children had to join in 3 groups and each of had to find the pieces of a puzzle that formed a phrase. These phrases were allusive to a different way students can carry on their relationships with their friends and adults.

Later on, a debate based on the significance of these phrases took place. Finally, a conclusion was given by Florencia and she supported it with a PowerPoint presentation that stressed the main point of the talk.

8^th grade

In 8^th grade the same game was played but the talk was given by a young woman called Luciana Sarmiento, who belongs to the “Grupo de Jóvenes” from the church Nuesrta Sra. Del Valle. Even though the phrases were similar to the 7^th grade presentation, the focus of the talk was different, according to this age group.

It wasn’t only a talk but also a debate in which the students gave their point of view in relation to specific experiences. At the end, the groups read a list of characteristics of the grade and their classmates. Finally, the same PowerPoint presentation about friendship was showed to the students.

9^th grade

In 9^th grade the starting point was a short movie about the 2000 meeting between young adults and Pope John Paul II. The theme of this annual meeting was the importance of each person in the world and its individual potential. Taking these two concepts as the basis of the discussion, two members of the Focolare Movement, Cecilia Craig and Marìa Jose Ahumada led the discussion

The students showed great interest because the two girls gave up the formalities and concluded this talk with a small theatre play in order to strengthen the true meaning of being an adolescent.

1^st polimodal

In 1^st polimodal, the theme was correctly chosen because it was an introduction to the activities Junior Achievement offers students in 2^nd polimodal, such as “The Company”, “FIE” and “Socios por un dìa”. The talk was given by the coordinator of Junior Achievement, Paula Romero, whose main purpose was to motivate the students to participate in these activities. Also this talk was supported by two students of St. Patrick’s school, Antonieta Majorel and Ignacio Veròn, who talked about their experiences in the activities aforementioned.

In “The Company”, a group of volunteer students has to manage a company. They have to take decisions, talk with businessmen, treat with providers, commercialize, convince companies to become your client and assume responsibilities. Students who committed themselves with the life of the company end this program with lot of experience and an entrepreneur attitude.

“FIE” is the “Foro Internacional de Emprendedores” that takes place once in a year in Córdoba. It’s a huge meeting of 600 teens from 16 to 23-years-old from all over the world, who share a week full of fascinating conferences and amusing and interesting activities. There’s a great cultural exchange and it is an excellent opportunity to make new friends.

“Socios por un día” is an activity where students have the opportunity to spend a whole day with an optional professional. Students can learn what that professional does and that will help them to decide which career they want to study at university.

2^nd polimodal

In 2^nd polimodal, the ones in charge of the talk were two girls from the Focolare Movement whose names are Josefina Zàrate and Josefina Zuriani. In this group the starting point was a 5-minute movie about the true purpose of adolescents nowadays.

Later on, the students, some teachers and the two discussion leaders carried on a deep and interesting debate on which direction adolescents should take and the balance that they should pursue in life. Finally a souvenir was given to them that consisted of a John Lennon Song, “Imagine” about being one, and a quote from Gandhi, that claims: "No se nos otorgará la libertad externa más que en la medida exacta en que hayamos sabido, en un momento determinado, desarrollar nuestra libertad interna"

As a conclusion, although the students may not have fully paid attention to each talk, we can say as 3^rd polimodal students that we had planted a seed that eventually will grow in their hearts and minds.
We have organized something that was completely different in comparison to last years and we are really satisfied with the results we got. The students were given the opportunity of knowing a brand new perspective of life and this is just the beginning of a long and amazing journey for them as well as for us.

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