Archive for month: November, 2015

HI y’all. So I totally changed up my approach this week, because I wanted some actual responses. I feel that, unless I am connected within a certain social circle, or have some sort of reputable standing, I’m otherwise going to be somewhat ignored. So what I did was messaged a few people from my social circle, or previous social circles on Facebook that were talking about the refugee crisis. I told them, “Hey I’m doing a sort of a study for one of my university classes on the refugee crisis, can I ask you a few questions?” I got a few responses, and of course, I still used Twitter to show some cool links I’ve found.

So I reached out to a couple of my friends, I’ll call one Stan. I used to work with him at Papa Johns and we were able to talk on the phone after initially talking on Facebook. Stan is from Pakistan, and he is a 24 year old student who is in the medical program in the Caribbean Isles. He moved to the U.S with his family when he was 13, but most of his other family members still live in Pakistan. He is of Muslim faith, yet he is very westernized. Since he and his family members have seen the effect that military warfare has on people, as well as severe civil unrest, he told me that he completely understands where refugees are coming from. He told me that, “People are just trying to survive in any way that they can, and it is morally wrong to refuse refuge for these people.” I believe that he is correct, people should not be held back from trying to better their lives, and in this case, save their lives and the lives of their family. He told me that, “My family is only worrying about paying their mortgage, and the refugees are worrying about their lives every day.” It’s powerful, for instance I’m worrying about my grades and what I will buy my loved ones for Christmas, and people on the other side of the globe have much more severe worries then I have. This is evident in plenty of the articles that I found. People are crossing treacherous waters, and many of them are barely escaping with their lives. The least countries can do is offer them refuge.

Another one of my compadres who I met in High School posted a link to a video in September about the refugee crisis. I found his post when I searched the refugee crisis on Facebook. In his post, he said “Very painful to watch and to know that this is a tiny percentage of people who live with this every single day. What are we doing as humans when a 13 year old is absolutely defeated and is asking for something that should never have to be asked for. Breaks my heart.” The video is about the drowned Syrian child from back in September, and it’s really powerful. I commented on this as well, but didn’t receive a response yet. Video is here.

I tried to contact people that I haven’t met online, and I unfortunately didn’t receive anything back. I’m trying to build a Twitter base, but it’s taking some time. Overall, I think that to get a social movement going, or a group, you need to start small. Start within your friends and family, or colleagues who share similar opinions. Like that one Ted Talk explained that all a leader needs is one good follower, I think that’s how it starts. So that is why I reached out to people I know who don’t go to school here, and who may know something about the refugee crisis. It was engaging, and quite helpful.

Sunset at C street

Sorry if I’m slow. Trying to figure out WordPress.

While I was at the Santa Rosa Island I learned a lot but two things that I remember are the species on the island are all originate from the main land , also that since the plates are in constant motion, this island has been moving north along the coast. Now what I was able to deduce from these two facts I learned from my faculty lead session is that the animals from southern California starts to vary as the island moves further north some species begins to change and as a result. To help understand what I’m talking about I will first explain each theory that I learned while on the Santa Rosa Island then draw a clear connection to these two things I picked up.

The first one I will want to cover is the theory of Island Geography, which states that the number of species on an island is based on the island distances from the main land and also based off of the size of the island. So since the Santa Rosa Island is part of the channel island (3^rd farthest of the mainland) and is the second largest island of the Channel Islands it is susceptible to the main land but with a few differences. These spices are able to get to the island through birds, humans, floating, and fecal matter. Once a species finds its way onto the island they evolve or mutate to help survive or thrive on the island.

The other concept that I picked up at the Island was that the island is in fact in constant shift. My guides was also able to tell me that the Island is in fact moving north and the island run East to West it’s a constant line moving up. Since it’s constantly moving north that means that the islands are never in the same place and who know they could even end up outside of the San Francisco Bay.

Now let’s put these two ideas together, if the island thrives on the main land for species and biodiversity. So if the island is dependent on the mainland then if it moves far enough north toward a different area then the species provided by the main land then change and the island will experience a new type of a species, so in a few hundred years we may find that new species now live on the island.