Terrorism

How could be define terrorism? According with the free dictionary, it is define as “the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons”[1]. Nowadays, it is known different types of terrorism for example: Bioterrorism, cyber terrorism, nuclear terrorism and many other types.

First at all, I would like to explain bioterrorism term, it refers to actions execute by some people when they use toxic biological agents to destroy or harm other people or terrorize civilians, most of the reason is related to political conflicts, but it is not the only reason. There are some viruses, toxins and bacteria that can be used in an attack, the most dangerous known at the moment are: Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin), Tularemia (Francisella tularensis), Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) and others.

Other type of terrorism is cyber terrorism, it is produced through the use of information technology, like a computer system or electronics tools. These kinds of attacks cause disrupt of network services, hacker go into network systems and take critical financial or business information. Other common problem is when new virus attacks programs and the whole operational system of a lot of computers at the same time.

Nuclear terrorism refers to different types of nuclear materials used by persons in order to attack other people; these materials are used to build nuclear weapons or can be disperse as radioactive materials causing a lot of problem in the human being.

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[1] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/terrorism

Cause and effect of Globalization

What is globalization? Globalization has been a phenomenon of internationalization of knowledge and a lot of activities, this phenomenon includes aspects like, economic, technological, cultural, which are influenced by the increase of communication and interdependence between countries, which have been eliminated barriers, allowing companies and individuals to communicate in real time and access to information sources and events worldwide. Technology is a basic pillar in the globalization process and plays an important role in many areas, like accounting, so an interesting question related to this area could be: How globalization can be linked directly with companies and accounting standards?

Information technology has tools that allow the transmission of information and knowledge. Companies that are looking for international markets should make an intelligent use of information technology to achieve the desired success. Right now it is happen since companies can obtain information related to business in real time, for example they can know more about competitors, customers, suppliers, governments, laws, financial reporting standards and many others things, as well as be able to provide information worldwide understood (using IFRS = International Financial Reporting Standards), so it mean that every stakeholders of the company will be able to understand the results (Profit and Loss statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) of the company at the end of the quarter or fiscal year end.

An example of a tool used nowadays is Drupal, it is an enterprise application based on the CMS (Content Management System), which basically allow us to create a websites. These can be created by people who have little technical knowledge (IT knowledge), so it provides entrepreneurs a simple way to be part of a globalized world, because a web site allows companies to be in contact with rest of the world. Web sites built with Drupal have collaborative tools such as forums, chats, surveys, blogs, and many others features.

In conclusion, both business and accounting standards have been impacted by the phenomenon of globalization, so these should make use of information technology and tools such as Drupal. Also, globalization is changing accounting rules in order to be adapted to the globalized world, as IFRS which were create in order to have a common and global language. Therefore, there is no doubt that globalization has been a challenge that accounting professional and other areas have been faced.

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Jail sentences

Nowadays, it is so common to hear that someone has to affront a jail sentences. Jail is a place where criminal are kept, this is a kind of punishment of the crimes executed or people sometimes are just waiting for the trial, so it is causing that jails have a lot of people and there are becoming more dangerous, because the police cannot control these people as expected. People are affronting jail sentences for different reasons: crimes related to rape, people that kill other people, fraud and many other reasons.

Rape is related to sexual intercourse, in which one or more people attack another without this person´s consent. In jails, there are many people that have been accused as responsible of sexual violence against other person. Victims of rape suffer a very traumatize situation in their life and most of them have to receive therapy from a psychology´s specialist, because these people have disruption of concentration, sleeping problems, anxiety and other problems which are difficult to deal with.

Fraud can be pay with jail, and in the last year, more people had been involved in this kind of crimes. A famous cases related to this topic was Enron, it was a company which did not show the real numbers to the stakeholder, this means that owners did not reflect the real profit and loss amount, they reflect inflated amount, so a lot of people invested in this company and they lost millions of dollars. At the end of this case, people responsible of the fraud are in jail as punishment of the crime.

Other common crime is when people kill to another person; this people obviously have to affront jail sentences in order to pay the crime. Unfortunately, not all killers are in a jail right now; most of them are free and can cause more crimes in our society. So, it is necessary to be aware when we walk in streets in order to prevent be attacked by one of these criminals.

In conclusion, nowadays there are a lot of people at jail; someone will keep in jail for a long time, so the government should invest in programs which help these people to become in other person.

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Ethnic Conflicts

People who share a common culture, religion, language, ideology are known as an ethnic group, they are connected by a geographical area. Everybody is knows what ethnic group she or he belongs. In the history and nowadays there are ethnic conflicts, these are conflicts between ethnic groups, most of the time related to ethnic nationalism. Does is ethnic conflict regulate? How different countries affront ethnic conflicts? These ones and many other question could let us know the past and present of the ethnic conflicts in our world.

Ethnic conflict is a topic that; of course, has been aboard by a lot of people, and many of them had tried to find ways to minimize this situation. Other way to reduce the impact of possible ethnic conflict is having regulations; or example: statements of law that say that everybody should respect, like guide that people have to use in order to drive appropriate in our society.

In the United States of America is a country which has a lot of history related to ethnic conflicts, it is about black people and the American, many years ago black people affronted difficult situations due to slave society, this was a problem because people did not know how to manage differences, as a result tragic actions happened and it is a negative point in USA history.

Some countries can affront problems inside the country, it is caused by the amount of population; for example, China have a lot of ethnic groups, some of them maintain their languages and identity; as results, conflicts in the same country can happen very easy.

In conclusion, there are a lot of differences between people and some of them are particular from groups, each one should try to respect other and learn to manage differences, so we can prevent future conflicts.

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Globalization of infectious Diseases

How is define globalization? Globalization has been defined as follow: “Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world.”[1] As we can see globalization is affecting a lot of areas, and health is not an exception, it is so important to know how globalization influences people’s health, which are the most terrible diseases and how it impacts social and economic areas.

First at all, how globalization influences people’s health? There are many change that people are experiencing as result of globalization, it is happening because people nowadays are going to different regions, so a disease can emerge anywhere in the world but it will spread quickly to other countries through trade and travel. As result of this situation “the World Health Organization has asserted that emerging infections represent a global threat that will require a coordinated, global response”[2]

Secondly, it is important to know which the most terrible diseases are affronting our world. There are two diseases that are found across the globe: AIDS and tuberculosis and there are other two that have been found in poor countries: malaria and cholera. So, these diseases are causing millions of illnesses and deaths each year. It is so difficult to eradicate; for example, poor countries do not have enough economics resources in order to pay for the appropriate treatments for their citizens.

Third, these kinds of diseases represent a highly cost for any country, because treatments are so expensive and the bigger problem is that a lot of countries do not have enough money to supplier all the citizens, and there are other costs that should be paid in other to provide this treatment like example distributions costs.

In conclusion, as result of the globalization, our world is facing a lot of problems, so it is urgent to create a cooperation group across regions that find a way to reduce the impacts caused and prevent future issues.

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[1] Globalization101. (2010). What Is Globalization? Retrieved from The LEVIN institute, The State University of New York website. http://www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.html

[2] David P. (1996). Globalization, International Law, and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Retrieved from Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, USA website http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol2no2/fidler.htm

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Migration in Costa Rica

Nowadays it is so common to see people going to others countries, the principal reason is because they need a job and probably they did not find one that fit with their skills or interest, and it is not happens just to poor person, there are a lot of professionals that are trying to get a job in other countries as well. There are a lot of consequences caused by the migration and the main areas impacted are: economics, social, cultural and so on. Could this situation change nearly? And how can it happen?

First, I would like to mention some consequences that have been reflected in Costa Rica´s economic as results of migration. There are a lot of Nicaraguan and Colombians people working on streets; for example, a common place is on Central Avenue, and these kinds of illegal business are causing earning decrease in the legal business; so at the end, it is a direct impact in our economic system, because of these immigrants which send money to their families, this means that most of the money will not spend inside of Costa Rica.

Secondly, migration can affect our social and cultural environment; for example, Colombian people have different customs and some of them are completely divergent that Costa Rican´s. Other example where sociality had been impacted is neighborhoods, there are a lot of poor houses and an increase of the dangerous places, these things can be noticed just turning on the TV news.

Finally, could this situation change at all? Well, change at all is so difficult, but maybe the government can implement some alternatives in order to reduce the migration process. If Costa Rica continues receiving immigrants in the mid-time will be so difficult to control this situation and the whole country is going to be negative impact.

In conclusion, migration is causing too many social, cultural and economic problems; these cannot be eliminated at all and citizens have to learn to deal with this, but obviously could be great if the government makes something in order to minimize this situation.

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Causes of poverty

Poverty is a condition around the world and there are many reasons that explain why it is happen, it is so sad to see people without food, bed, job and so on. Well, we can make the following questions: How many people live under poverty conditions? Which are the principal causes of poverty? How can each people or government help in order to reduce the poverty? These questions and other ones are so common to hear in every place.

First at all, how many people live under poverty conditions? Well, that is an interesting question and probable a lot of people do not have an exactly answer but everyone knows that there are too many people with this situation around the world. These are some facts and statistics provide by the global issues site: “almost half the world, it is over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day, nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names, less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen, one billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world), 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services, 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day)”[1]

Secondly, which are the principal causes of poverty? There are many causes that are responsible for this situation, for example: there are not equal distributions of the resources, not enough education and offers of employment, countries like china are affronting overpopulation; in other words, too little space and too many people, there are highest cost of living and a lot of people cannot pay for it, there are economics and politics conflict between countries that produce poverty to theirs population.

Third one, how can each people or government help in order to reduce the poverty? It is a difficult point, probably a lot of people think that they can do anything about it, but if each person provide help to others maybe they can change the life of someone else and at the end it will be important. What are doing the government? Some countries are implementing different plans in order to help poor people, and others just are causing more poverty for their country.

In conclusion, there are many poverty-stricken people around the world, but everyone could help in many ways in order to provide a better life to some of them. There are many causes of the poverty nowadays and probably in the next years will appear new ones.

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[1] Anup Shah. (2010, Set 20). Poverty Facts and Stats, Global Issues, Retrieved fromhttp://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

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Weapons of mass destruction

What do you think when you listen to the word destruction? A lot of people think in wars and weapons. There are many kind of weapons that are used around the world and countries are producing these dangerous arms, and their governments are investing such much money in order to have the capability to produce or just acquire these one. The known kinds of weapons are chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear, and all of them are causing terrible consequences in our society.

First, which are chemical and biological weapons? Well this kind of weapon is related to chemical or biological agents as an example could be mentioned: blood and bacterial agents, these are treated by people who have knowledge and expertise about it and have a laboratory in order to create heavy biological weapon. These ones are easier and less expensive to create than nuclear weapons and, unfortunately a lot of people have enough knowledge to produce these lethal arms.

Second, which are radiological and nuclear weapons? These arms are constructed by terrorist groups around the world, and these ones represent a serious hazard to everybody. This kind of weapon spreads radioactive substances that are contaminating the air and water, and, of course it is affecting the health of the humans being. These arms are so much expensive than chemical ones.

Then, all these arms are producing horrible consequences in our society, as an illustration, people are experiencing a lack of love in their lives; they just want to make money no matter their family, friends, and children. How people can be so cruel with other people? It is so difficult to understand but it’s our reality and governments are not doing anything in order to reduce these dangerous situations.

In conclusion, nowadays people are living in constant hazard cause by the proliferation of the use of weapons around the world. As we can see in the movie named the Lord of the War, weapons traffic is increasing and more people are involved in this illegal business and at the same time breaking family’s relationships.

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Global Warming

Nowadays, there are a lot of environment problems that our world is facing; for example, pollution, greenhouse gasses, and so on. Global warming occurs as a result of a temperature rise causing too much hurt to animals, plant and people. There are many questions that someone could make, some of the most important are: What is exactly the global warming doing to our environment? What things are causing global warming? And what do people try to do in order to decrease or stop the current global warming?

Global warming is disturbing too many people, animal, plants and places around the world. The most important consequence that we are suffering is named a break in the food chain, what does it means? The common food chain began in a basic level and it will rise up. Right now the common chain has been broken, the level of sea increase and then it covers land, so plants may die. Animals will have less sources of food and it would be a huge problem, then animal will die too and people will not have two of the most important sources of food, this is what a break in the food chain means.

A lot of things are causing global warming, the worst thing is the electrical pollution. There are different examples of this kind of pollution; this is caused by all the things that we use every day, television, radio, driven a car, using air conditioner and just playing a video game. As we can see it is too easy to cause electrical pollution, so it’s very important to reduce our consumption of it.

A lot of people are beginning a war against the global warming, how are they doing this? Well, people are doing carpooling; reducing the time that they usually spend watching TV, making more outdoor activities (green activities like planting a tree), walking or riding busses, and one of the most famous is recycling. Obviously, we cannot eliminate the electrical pollution, although everybody have the opportunity to make small things that could mean a great one for our world.

In conclusion, our world is facing a lot of problems, and each people are responsible for these things, so everyone have to make something in order to reduce the consumption of electrical energy and try to make the world a better place to live. I think that everyone should watch a documentary called an inconvenient truth; it is amazing, because it lets us know a lot of statistical data and help to educate people about the severity of the climate crisis.

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Co-curricular - Letter

San Jose, Costa Rica.

February 02^nd, 2011.

Provost Silvia Castro

ULACIT

Dear Provost Silvia Castro,

I would like to thank largely to your advice provided during the welcome week, everyone who joined this presentation were pleased to hear your opinion and knowledge related to “The Brain that Learns”. I am Priscilla Sanchez and I am taking an Accounting Degree at this moment, I graduated of Business Administration two years ago at UCR. During this activity, you created an engagement with the audience, doing a lot of question about the topic and then explaining each question as clear as possible, you went through different points, the principals that I remember are: read, write, cooperate and experiments.

During this activity an interesting topic named Neuroscience was explained, how is it defined? “Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system”[1]. First at all, I want to mention the correlation between the neuroscience and reading, recently brain research has focused efforts to understand how our brain works and how it is related to each human skills and something is clear, not all children’s brain are wired for reading in the same way. In fact, reading ability has a connection with the neural pathway, for this reason, everybody should try to read in order to activate different part of the brain and increase awareness.

A second point is related to writing skill and how is it analyze by neuroscience’s theories. It is so important to know that just taking notes could be a great way to improve our memory and learn a lot of things or different types of information, in other words, acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, skills, values and so on.

There are two additional points which were mentioned, these are: cooperate and experiments, through practice the brain will be exercise and cooperate or share spare time with others is part of our social system, it is known as social cognition and it has a close relation with the Cognitive Neuroscience

Thank you for taking the time to speak to us about this exciting topic during ULACIT welcome week.

Sincerely,

Priscilla Sanchez

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[1] Bear, M. F.; B. W. Connors, and M. A. Paradiso (2006). Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.

Human Rights

What are human rights? Someone could think it is an easy question and possibly each one have a different definition about it and most of them are appropriated used. At the end, many people understand that there are basic principles and we should have the opportunity to enjoy them; although, somebody do not care about it, because they do not respect a lot of the human rights. According with Youth for Human Rights Organization fifteen universal human rights had been listed, first: we are all born free and equal, second: do not discriminate and third: the right of life.

The first human right is related to freedom and equal principle, each one has the right to say or think whatever they want, have their own ideas about anything and feel free to express their feelings to another people. Anyone was born free; as a result, each one is equal and should have the same capability in order to develop a successful life.

The second universal human right talks about discrimination; what does it means? Everybody is different, any way we should accept and respect any kind of person, whatever religion he or she practice, sexual orientation, gender, weight, and any other characteristic or differences between each people around the world.

Finally, the third human right is related to the right of life, and live in freedom. Each people can learn, gain, lose, love, enjoy, cry and many other things, so life is really important for everybody. We need to learn how to enjoy each stage in or life because any second never come back.

There are many human rights and all of them are very important in our life, so, we should understand and really appreciate these one in order to have wellbeing in our daily life.

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