[Technology]

Technology nowadays has become a very important tool to all of us in the university as well for people that work and study in other places. It can help you to satisfy your essencial need such as food, clothing, housing and many more, so human being use technology for everything. Through the years, scientist and other people had developed different technologies to study different phenomenon and to help other people but also it has been a bad use of technology. For me (and I think for many and for all students) every aspect of technology has been beneficial in my life, especially in university.

In university most days I have to use computers to go to search the web or do some research works or look for something for a subject, so I can say that the use of technology is very important for me. Thanks of the development that scientist and experts have done we now have computers, and we can find every kind of information that we need in a matter of seconds. This is important, because it helps you to find different sources about the information that you need and in short time, so I call it a “time saver”.

Other aspect of technology that helps me very much but it’s related to what I mentioned before is the use of an online platform, called “u-cursos” where teachers and students can upload differents documents or papers that would help us in their classes to study or practice what we are seeing in that specific subject. It’s a good and eficient way to share things that could be useful to pass the subject or get a good great in a test. The only problem with this platform is that not all of the teachers and students use it. Some teachers prefer to send us material for homework in their own classes or via e-mail, so that is good too, but if you have the opportunity to use this tool you should.

In conclusion, technology it’s not a tool anymore, it has become in a part of us. We use it everyday and sometimes we don’t even realize it. It’s very useful in schools, university, jobs and every area of our life. It simplifies your life, you can use different technologies to clean your house, send e-mails, pay bills, get information and much more, but you have to wise to use it. Some times the bad use could cause damage to other people or even for your self. The essence of technology is in how you use it, for what you use and it should be for something good.

Thank you for reading.

See you! Xoxo Paula.

[Another year, another shocking news]

There are many stories that had a big impact on me this year but I can’t remember it all. The first that I can remember is the death of Michael Jackson. I remember that I thought "What? No... Is it true?" I called my dad to see if it was real and he told me that it was true, the news had announced in the morning but they weren’t sure what the cause of his death was. When I get to my house, I search the web and read a lot of news about Michael Jackson’s death, I saw “E!” to see if they were covering about what happened. The news was big everywhere, and in every news of the world there was the announcement that Micheal Jackson had died.

I always liked Michael Jackson but I never value his music until he died. I think that all of the great things that he did was marred by his personal life. All the scandals, the accusations, get people focused more on that and not in his music, and when he died all the people remembered why Michael Jackson was called “The King of pop”. Recently I saw “This is it” and I was amazed by the preparation for his concerts. It’s such a shame that he couldn’t get a last performance to say goodbye to all of his fans.

Other news that I though was shocking at the moment was the death of Felipe Cruzat, the news about “La Quintrala”, and Obama wining the Nobel Prize. I was so sad when I heard that Felipe had died, I thought at that moment “how unfair life can be”. I think that was an event for all of us as a society took the importance about donate organs. And as for the news about “La Quintrala” I couldn’t believe how one person could be so bad, so mean, so cruel. And Obama wining the Nobel Prize was an interesting news for me, because I think that he won the prize not for what he has done until now, but for what he represents.

I’m sure there are more news that were very important this year, but I can’t remember.

See you in another publication.

Xoxo.Paula

[My discipline: multiple challenges]

My discipline is currently facing different challenges in different areas like: education, public employees and their work, health, social matters, ecological issues but not all of them have the same importance.

Education has always been a relevant subject for everyone, the students, the parents, the teachers, the authorities are always worried about the level and quality of the education and don’t always agree. There’s such a difference between public and private education and that it’s the main problem to solve, but the authorities don’t seem able to do it. There have been various attempts to improve education but none have been completely successful. I think this is the biggest debt that my discipline (the government) has with society. Maybe the answer to solve all of this problems, it’s have the right people deciding the important problems, people that study what is happening, that see that there’s an unequal distribution of resources to improve education and until this it’s not solve, the education is going to continue in the wrong path.

Something similar happens with health. As in education, health care services differ between private and public area, so people that have money to pay for health care will receive a better services and that’s not fair, everyone should get a good and efficient service regardless the area that they choose to attend to.

Another area that it’s going through some challenges is the public employees and their work. They are asking for an readjustment on their salary but the government doesn’t agree with the percentage that they are asking for. This is really important to us, because in the future we’re going to face the same troubles and going to demand the same (or even more) that the public employees nowadays are asking. I think the salary that they receive should be readjusted but not in the way that they want to, they must dialogue with the government and come to an agreement that satisfy both sides.

Although all of this areas are important, there are main subjects that not have the same relevance that they should such as ecological issues. The world that is living a situation were humans are killing the planet, we are exploiting natural resources without considering the consequences, so I think that is very important that our discipline consider all of this issues and do something to improve the situation and prevent it get worse.

Our discipline must be multifaceted, considering all of the main problems that there are in our society and work to solve them.

See you in another publication.
Xoxo. Paula

[My faculty]

My faculty is very little in comparison with others faculties that Universidad de Chile has, but I think the size its “ok” for us because we’re not that many students (but we could have more green areas). Even so, there are problems that the people that management the faculty must to improve, such as the bathrooms, the cafeteria, the library and the computers lab. Sometimes you find the bathrooms dirty or there isn’t enough toilet paper or the wash basins don’t work. The cafeteria is too small for all of the students in the faculty, sometimes you need a seat and you can’t find one. The library and the computers have improved, but not enough. They have new computers but it is still not enough for all of us, sometimes you have to wait to use one, and with the library it’s the same you not always find the book that you need. Perhaps, to improve these things they could enlarge the cafeteria, upgrade the bathrooms as well as the library and computer lab.

I think maybe the solution passes on the director’s hands. If all the staff that handles the faculty does a plan of what students need, where the main problems in the faculty facilities are and have a nice budget, they could improve things. I don’t know if the solutions are that simple, but I think that the people that run this faculty should do a bigger effort to improve things around here.

If the administration of this place improves things, I think it would be beneficial for us, for example we wouldn’t have to waste time waiting for a sit to have lunch, we could take more advantages of the computers lab to do paper research or study for the tests that we have and we could find every book that we need immediately.

I think one day things will be better around here. We’ll just have to wait and see.

See you at another publication. Xoxo

[In my free time...]

I like to do a lot of things in my free time, like visiting my friends, go out to the cinema, go to the mall, go to visit my family, go to partys with my friends, watch a lot of movies and more things like that. I also like to listen to music, read books, search the web, download series and visit some web pages.

I think I don’t have all the free time that I need, because sometimes I want to go to visit a friend, or I just want to have a nap and I can’t because I have to study, so I would like to have more free time to do things that I really like. But I have to be honest, sometimes I have a lot of free time and I don’t use it wisely. For example, I lose a lot of time surfing the web doing nothing. I go to useless pages and stay there several minutes or even an hour and I don’t even realize how much time I’ve wasted.

Maybe that is the downside of using technology such as internet, computers or things like that. You lose a lot of time using this artefacts, and you get so into it that you lose the track of time, and then suddenly you realized that an hour, two or even three has passed by, and you could have used that time doing another things, like go out and see your friends, go out to the gym or do some exersice, anything more productive that just sit in front to a computer or a TV. But, in the other hand, sometimes technology can be useful to get more free time to ourselves, like you can save some time paying bills online, or buying things on some web sites. So that’s a good way to save time and spend it in your house or doing something that you like. The main thing is that we have to be conscious of how much time we use this things that technology provides us and not waste time doing something useless. We have to spend time doing things more important than surf the web doing nothing.

See you at another publication.

xoxo. Paula

[Rise in unemployment less than expected]

The article talks about that unemployment didn't rise as much economist thought it could be.
Unemployment didn't increase much in September, having the smallest amount of people applying for jobless benefit. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) say that "the claimant count rose by 20.800 in September, below economists' expectations of a 24.500 rise". This means that this is the highest number of unemployment since 1997, with 1.6268 million people out of work and applying to the jobless benefit.
Also the International Labour Organization (ILO) released their statistics about unemployment, saying that the existent breach of 2.5 million mark didn't rose as much as was expected, it only increased by 88.000 in the three months to August with a total of 2.469 people out of work, which means that there's 7.9% of unemployment.
Despite the recession that the whole world is living, economists said that they're optimistic about a falling in the unemployment number and the claiming for jobless benefit, but on the other hand people of BNP Paribas "warned that the economy will continue to shed jobs until the economy is growing back at potential or above, and that's still some way off".
On another front, there's a concern about youth unemployment hits the one million mark, so the charities called for more action to help this economic sector. "Every one of those unemployed is a real person with real talents that can make a difference to this country" said Martin Milburn, chief executive of the Prince's Trust.
Finally, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said that men have been more affected by unemployment than women, and specially back men. Also, the ONS reported that the salary that people receive on their jobs has also been affected, only rising 1.9% compared with a year ago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/14/unemployment-rise-lower-than-expected

[A way to stay healthy]

I heard a few days ago in the news that 9 of 10 people practice some kind of sport regularly, and to be honest I’m in the group that doesn’t do much or any exercise. When I was at school I used to practice volleyball and soccer, but when I started university I stopped. When I played volleyball or soccer I used to feel great, I was more relaxed, I could concentrate a lot more, and be part of a team was something that I enjoyed it, and also by doing exercise I was taking care of my body and my health. That’s the good thing about practice a sport; you can have a healthy life by doing something that you like and is entertained.

I believe that sport should be important to everyone in our country, a priority to all of us, because as I said before is a way to stay healthy, to prevent some diseases like Hypertension, Diabetes and many more. People should do sport from a very young age and so they'll have the habit of doing it, that way people would not be as sedentary as it is today. One way to encourage doing sport could be doing free courses on sports facilities and inform people about the risks it brings not doing exercise or sports.

There's something funny in our country, among the most popular sports are soccer, tennis and in our national holiday the rodeo is very popular. I personally don’t think that rodeo can be taken as a sport; the truth is that I’m against to practice that “sport” and also against the way that they treat animals, I don’t think that is fair the treatment that the animals receive and I don’t think that is entertained go to see rodeo. I can’t think of another sport that I like less than the rodeo.

Someday, I would like that as a society we see that there are more sports than football and tennis and give the opportunity to another athletes to show what their doing and be part of it.

That’s it. See you in another publication.

Xoxo. Paula

[You should come to Santiago]

I don’t really know about what places should a foreign tourist visit in Santiago, because I don’t know the city very much, but about the places that I do know, I think they should go to visit the Santiago Cathedral because it’s a historical place, it’s the main church in our city. Also, they should visit La Moneda, because it’s the house of government, it’s where our president takes the decisions that involve all of us. A great place to visit is the Santa Lucía Hill or the San Cristóbal Hill. As for places to eat, they should definitely go to the Mercado Central, there they will find some of the best sea dishes in town.

This is my top 5 activities/places a foreign tourist should do:

1· Visit the centre of Santiago, there you can go to La Moneda, or visit Plaza de Armas, go to Santa Lucía Hill, the Mercado Central and lots of historical places. The centre of Santiago is an strategic area to go to this places because you can walk to get there in short time.
2· Visit Bellavista. It’s a nice neighbourhood, very lively, with lots of pubs where you can go to have a drink, eat something, and have a nice time with your friends.
3· Visit the National History Museum. There you can find information about our ancestors and also learn about pre-Columbian culture.
4· Visit the Metropolitan Park of Santiago. Is a beautiful place composed by San Cristóbal, Pirámide, Chacarillas y Bosque de Santiago Hills, with a forest of 400 hectare and at the top of San Cristóbal Hill there’s a statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception that has 49,21 feet, so is very impressive.
5· Visit La Chascona. It’s in Bellavista, and it was the house of one of our greatest poets of all time: Pablo Neruda.

That’s it. Hope you like the places that I mentioned.
See you at another publication. Xoxo.

[Music, music, music]

Music it's essential to me. I listen to music every day, when I'm at my house, when I take the bus, when I go to university... everywhere. I don't think there's anyone in this planet that doesn't like music.

I listen to all kinds like rock, pop and even reggaeton (but only when I go out to dance).I get my music by downloading it from internet, because it's a easy way of having it and I don't have to pay much (only the cost of using internet). A few years ago I used to buy cd's but not now cuz they're way too expensive. Another way of having my music but it's related with what I mentioned before it's to ask my friends send me songs to my mail. My internet it's very slow so most of the times my friends download the songs that I want and then they send it to me.

I follow lots of groups and singers. I really like Pearl Jam, when they came to Chile I went to their concert and it was great, it was my first concert and I couldn't believe that the group that I listened to every day was right there in front of me, it was awesome. Another groups and singers that I like are The Beatles, Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Incubus, Snow Patrol, Maroon 5, Backstreet Boys Chris Cornell, James Blunt, James Morrison, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and a few songs by Kanye West, Amy McDonald, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and much more.

I listen to music everytime, everywhere, except when I'm studying because I can't concentrate, I need silence and that no one interrupts me, cuz then it's hard for me to go back on what I was doing. And I don't listen to music when I'm sad, because I tend to listen to sad music and that makes me even sadder... although a happy song works to cheer me up sometimes. Music... I don't imagine my life without it. It fills my life, it brings me back some memories, it cheers me up. I don't know how to explain it, but music it's a big part of my life. There's always a song with wich you can relate it, and to hear those words sometimes it's just what you need.

That's it... see you in another publication.
xoxo. Paula

[For me... it works]

I think that the best thing that the Transantiago has it’s the Bip! Card because you don’t have to carry on you money to pay the bus, you just have to have money in your card, and another good thing it’s that the drivers now respect the buses stops (before they stopped wherever they wanted). The worst part it’s that at first (now not so much) there were few routs, so the buses were really crowded and people couldn’t take the bus to get to their houses or jobs, and another problem was that because the buses were crowded, more people started to use the subway instead of buses, so that system collapsed.

Before the Transantiago started, I didn’t use public transport a lot, because my school was at 5 blocks from my house and all of my friends lived near, so when I wanted to go far from my house my mom or dad used to take me wherever I wanted to go. Then, when the Transantiago started that same year I started to go to a preuniversitario, so I had to learn what bus I could take to get there, but that wasn’t really a problem, because the bus passed by near of my school and drove me right where I had to go. The same happened when I started university. I take a bus that pass two blocks from my house and it leaves me two blocks from university, so for that reason I like Transantiago.

I don’t think that I would do a big change in the Transantiago to make it more effective, maybe check if the routs are right and people are really using it, or do some new routs that work better. Maybe add a few routs to decongestion the subway would be a great idea.

See you in another publication.
xoxo. Paula

[Maybe one day...]

A country that I would like to visit one day is England. I don't know much about it but that's one of the reasons because I wanna go. By pictures I've seen and things I've read about England it seems an awesome country, with a lot of places you can visit like the Big Ben in London, or the London Eye Ferris (I've seen it in a lot of movies and it looks exciting).

Another reason because I wanna go... well there are two more reasons because I wanna go. First, I would like to visit Liverpool, I think it's one of the "must places you have to visit" when you are in England... It's where The Beatles were borned! so.. if you like really good music you HAVE to go there... one of the greatest band of all times started there. Also a lot of music that I listen to are artist from England, like James Blunt, Coldplay, James Morrison, Queen and others too. And the second reason because I would like to visit England is the possibility of going to Manchester and be able to see a Manchester United match. I like football a lot, and have the oportunity to witness a soccer match in the "Old Trafford" it would be like a dream.

I think I would like to study there, because I could learn a lot about other culture and other styles of life, I could learn more about my career but in a different way, with a different reality, and to meet new and interesting people that could show me all about their lifestyles and how is to live there.

That’s it. Maybe one day I could visit England.
See you in another publication.

xoxo.Paula

[A few months ago]

The firs term of 2009 I learned about science and a lots of theory that can be applied to our lives every single day, I learned about organizations (how they are, what they do), also I learned some things about economy like the meaning of some words or what the economy studies as a science. All the rest of the subjects that I had I really don't remember, like...I know that I read some laws for one subject but I think that I didn't pay much attention, so I don't remember.

Last term, at the beginning of it, I went to the gym with a friend like for two and a half months for an aerobic class, but then we had to study a lot so we stopped going for a while (she's going now, but I'm not so I have to go back!). And study a lot was pretty much a challenge... I mean, sometimes we had to study for two or three subjects in one or two days and that was a little bit hard but I did it any way (I didn't have a choice).

And what I think that is the most important of last term was that I met really great friends, they were (and are)my classmates but we didn't have a friend's relationship, but then, one day we started to talk more and we became friends, very good friends. They always help me, they wait for me when I'm late to lunch or they save me a seat, they always ask me how I'm doing... they care a lot about me and that's great. And as for my family... everything was good. My brother moved out of my house to his own flat, my mom started to work in "Peloton" as a driver so she tells us everything that happens there, and the rest of my family is great.

So that's it... I enjoyed last term and I think it was good.
See you at another publication.


xoxo.Paula