Universidad Latinoamericana de

Ciencia y Tecnología

Newspaper

“Spreading Ideas”

Rebeka Jiménez Fallas.

María José Monge Montero.

Andrey Muñoz Reyes.

Daniel Brenes Angulo.

San José, Costa Rica, Diciembre 2012.

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•Homework: Yes or No?

Page 4

•Homework

Page 5

•Making Habits, Not Homework.

Page 6

Homework _________________________________________________Page 3

•Social Media Vs News

•Page 8

Means of Communication______________________________________Page 7

•Creating an Unknown World

•Page 10

Disabilities__________________________________________________Page 9

•Parrots Intelligence

Page 12

•Animal and Human Intelligence

Page 13

Animals____________________________________________________Page 11

•The Best Place Ever for a Long Life

Page 15

Longevity__________________________________________________Page 14

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HOMEWORK

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Homework: Yes or No?

What does extra work mean for some people? Nowadays homework is accepted by almost everybody. However many years ago it was a topic of controversy. The truth is that it is part of the educational system. Most people in general are positive about homework, while there are some students who do not like it and others that just ignore it. Here are some perspectives about homework to read and compare with your point of view.

Many people think that homework is an excellent tool to learn, particularly for children around five to twelve years old. At this age they are in stages that allow them to catch information, knowledge and habits in an uncomplicated way. The thing is that sometimes parents involve their children in so many activities that they are barraged with the heavy demands of time and effort. In the long term these activities may help developed an intelligent child but with the risk of health problems like stress, hypertension, headaches among others.

The point of view of adolescent students that advocate against homework is that it is unnecessary and absurd, especially when referring to a big assignment. Several of them think that they are capable to learn just by the work they do in an educative center. In contrast individuals in the university are generally happy with the assignments related to what they are studying, because they have the chance to improve their knowledge and

even more when the assignments are practical or replace exams.

Other reasons for homework are that it teaches values like honesty, responsibility, dedication, autonomy, and effort; which will have a transcendent part in our labor life. In reality some people underestimate the power of homework, so they choose to copy things, pay someone to do the job or they simply forget to do the homework and then use a false excuse to repeat it. Those people will have to

face real life at any moment and probably then will regret their wrong actions because employers will notice their lack of ability and knowledge.

There are more pros than cons linked to homework, but in the end the objectives of homework are clear: to practice and review

materials in order to strengthen abilities and understanding, ensuring better grades and the acquisition of knowledge applicable in life. Homework also creates character of compromise, desirable in future workers. The educator needs to help with this by creating attractive projects to create students interest and a better meaning for doing homework.

By: Rebeka Jiménez Fallas.

5

Homework

Nowadays, it does not matter if you are in elementary school, high school or university; in each place, teachers assign homework. Homework is like a review of what we saw at school. However, some people think that homework should be illegal but others think that homework helps us to learn more. There are three types of homework.

The first one is the homework from elementary school. When you are in elementary school, most of the teachers assign hard homework. Many kids say that homework is too hard for them to the point that parents have to do their homework. Some days teachers just assign some sheets but others assign models of DNA, places or anything that a kid cannot do. Every teacher should ask the director first if the homework that will be assigning is okay for kids.

The second one is high school homework. I think that this kind of homework is hardly enough for teenagers. The problem is that teachers assign a lot of homework and they are not thinking that the other teachers assign other homework that can be as difficult as the one they are assigning. Most of the time, teachers assign hard homework that a teenager cannot do. Finally, parents have to help them.

The third one is university homework. Everything changes in this stage of live. Now your homework is

normally linked with your career. The material you saw in class is applied in the homework in which you have to take some decision to make it better. It is more complicated that the other ones.

Homework is always different. The degree of difficulty depends on the teacher and the class. Homework is not a bad thing. For me it is good to learn. You practice in your home what you saw. However, not everyone thinks the same.

By Maria Jose Monge Moreno.

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Making Habits!

Not Homework

Homework had been chanced few years ago. Actually homework is different. Children felt homework was an obligation. That is why children do not like homework. I will show you three ways to make habits and not homework.

Actually teachers are improving habits from the elementary school. Children need to do their homework without thinking about grades or obligation. That is why teachers are improving their skills to catch the attention of the children and having fun at the same time so that children are learning. Children are learning to dedicate one hour for homework. One hour day for homework is the principal habit that teachers are improving in children from the elementary school.

Another way to make habits in children is to teach since 3 years old. Parents can also teach their kids to dedicate one hour day for homework. It is better when children learn to do homework before elementary school. When children learn to do homework

they will not feel obligation. Children will say “it is just a homework time” and they will not think about points.

A lot of teenagers hate homework. The problem is because high schools do not make habits in their students. Teenagers feel homework is boring. That is why grades are decreasing in Costa Rican high schools. Maybe teachers can give a prize for the best homework and make a competition for their students. That is one way to make habits in teenagers.

As conclusion homework is so important but it has to be used in a correct way. Homework is better when children learn since they were babies. But we can make habits in teenagers too as I already mentioned. You could read more about that in the web or you could talk with teachers to know more about this topic. Do not forget! Making habits is better than doing homework.

By: Andrey Muñoz Reyes.

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MEANS OF

COMMUNICATION

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Social Media vs. News

Have you ever wondered why people spend more time with social media instead of reading or watching news? Since Internet came out social media has had a significant impact on our lives. This concept implies web pages such as Youtube, Facebook, twitter and even more can be mentioned. As we know social media is very important but it represents a distraction for human beings as well. Reasons about this problem will be pointed out. People like to be informed but they do not like to read. It is not so often that someone spends time reading a newspaper or watching news. Furthermore, if you ask someone if he or she reads the newspaper, Answer will be that they just read what they are interested in and not more. On the other hand if you ask how many people have Facebook or Twitter at the end you would be so impressed with the results of this answer. Nowadays people are more involved with technology than the reality of the world.

News has always been categorized as something bad, full of despair and sadness. As a result of this thought people do not watch news. On the contrary, they prefer to be on Internet chatting or watching videos in Youtube. However people should keep in mind that news represents an outlook of different situations of a country; therefore, people should be informed and aware of those situations. News will always be important for us.

Another reason why people do not watch news is because they say that there is no time. Although, it makes me think that there are a lot of ways of becoming acquainted by radio, TV or Internet. It is a fact that people do not like to be informed about their country. Perhaps, their lifestyle is too accelerated or they are just news junkie. However we always see people connected in Facebook, Twitter, Livemocha and other web pages. Time

is relative because you will always find the time to do everything up to you and your time management.

Human beings have different news preferences someone can be interested in tourism, finances, politics, or environmental news. Also people like to

be informed but they do not stay informed by reading a newspaper or watching news on TV. On the other hand, social media is everywhere so easily when someone doing homework that person log in Facebook as well; therefore, the person will know about news by just reading posts of people. The problem is that it cannot be considered newsworthy. As a brief conclusion people should use social media to be informed about the world and not become a news junkie or even worse an addict to Internet.

By: Daniel Brenes Angulo.

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DISABILITIES

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Creating an Unknown World

There are three possible problems a blind person has to face. Creation and perception of an unknown world, being treated like a deaf person and dependence on others to do some tasks. For those who are not blind it will be hard to imagine how it would be to be blind. People are born with this condition; others lose it by an accident or due to a consequence of a disease. However, I am sure there are more challenges than being blind that we will have to overcome.

The first problem would be the creation and perception of an unknown world. The person is unable to see what surrounds him/her; therefore, the lack of visual perception will make the person create and imagine his/her own world, based on descriptions of people. Landscapes would have to be described by the people. It would be so sad to be told how things look because you cannot see them. Although they cannot see, they can create their own world better than us because they do not need to see how our world has become.

The second problem would be that they are treated like deaf people. I have read many comments where blind people state that people almost scream at them. It is a fact they cannot see; nevertheless,

they develop good listening skills. People think that as they cannot use gestures to call people they will have to shout at them in order to talk with them. It is advisable not to speak up with blind people because it will annoy them.

Then, the last problem would be the dependence on others. For example, someone will have to guide them; it could be a person or a dog. They will learn Braille but not all the documents will be in Braille; therefore, someone will have to read for them. So, he/she will always be depending on others. Although they do not like to be helped out all the time; so, we always have to ask if they really need help.

Being disabled has a lot of challenges. However, throughout time we have seen many outstanding people with a disability who could succeed in life. Creation of an unknown world, being treated like a deaf person and dependence on others are the main problems the blinds have to face. Blindness is a hard condition but it is your decision if you really want to succeed. All disabilities will pose challenges, but if determination is strong, people will

succeed in their lives.

By Daniel Brenes Reyes.

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ANIMALS

INTELLIGENCE

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Parrots Intelligence

Parrots are very intelligent animals. They can learn how to do a lot of things in a very short time. Some people do not know but they can be trained to do something that can be interesting and we are going to talk about it later. Parrots can surprise you. Not everybody knows what parrots can do so let us talk about three reasons why parrots are smart.

First, parrots can vocalize. Parrots are social birds so they imitate one another. They do this through the syrinx, a vocal organ that only birds and crocodiles have. By vibrations in their cartilaginous walls, they can make sounds. Recently, it was confirmed that by their round tongue, through small fast movements, they can differentiate sounds, as does the man.

Second, parrots can categorize. We have an example which is: Alex. Alex can recognize colors, shapes, and numbers. He knows how to count. He is 28 years and he is really smart and evince that parrots can have cognitive qualities.

Third, parrots can reason. As we talk about Alex, sometimes he likes to answer wrong just for fun. Parrots can reason so they can get some food doing the things that the trainer wants. Some scientists tested them using two boxes; one with food and the other one empty. They have to find the food by listening, the box with food is the one that will make a sound. They can do this thing because they reason.

When parrots do all these things they are proving that they have some intelligence. Even though they are not like chimps, they are reasonable and intelligent animals. We cannot say that they cannot think, are not smart or surprise us. If they are smart, probably other animals are smart too. Parrots are amazing animals.

By Maria Jose Monge Moreno.

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Animal and Human Intelligence

Can animals be as smart as humans? Do animals really think about previous scenarios? A lot of studies have been done by specialists who have an interest in how the intellectual behavior of animals works. In fact the studies are similar to the exams which are used to evaluate human intelligence. Here are some reasons to justify and judge whether or not animals are intelligent.

First we have to know the definition of instinct and intelligence. Instinct is when an individual acts without thinking and without will, possibly in order to protect their own interests, as a defense mechanism. Intelligence is defined as the capacity to learn and understand, through the use of different abilities in order to improve knowledge and/or gain self benefit. Animals act because of their natural instinct but if they are submitted to training, they are able to acquire some abilities, for example guidance dogs which are used to lead blind people or therapies with dolphins for those with a mental disabilities.

Investigations have show that definitely animals have the facility to reason and express feelings; other characteristics are: behavior, which means the action of an organism to respond to its environment. “Behavior” is supposed to be in animals genes, and those genes have been modified throughout

evolution to face different scenarios. That is why animals, like cats or dogs, can be at home, and almost like another member of a family. However that is not the same if we think of a wild dog in Africa that does not have social relations, and does not

associate with a human being. Animals of the same species can have different behaviors.

Researchers have the aim of finding conducts which can be compared with action-reaction events. In some specific animals we can find transcendent indicators of intelligence in similitude with human procedures, for example: teaching an offspring to fly, swim or hunt; to hide things, for example food, from others to avoid a robbery; build a place to live; help other animals in case of danger, and so on. Intelligence is a bit tricky to determine, but actions like those show that some of our abilities came from fauna.

We cannot confuse human intelligence with animal intelligence, and we cannot forget that we all are animals. Perhaps the biggest difference is that we are individuals who have evolved better: physically, mentally and emotionally. We are capable to understand real terms of life, and also we have the tools to face circumstances. Nevertheless, animals can learn in concrete situations, especially in different settings; that is a reason to consider animal intelligence as essential for them to survive in the ecosystem.

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By: Rebeka Jiménez Fallas.

LONGEVITY

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The Best Place Ever For a Long Life

There are a lot of hotspots in the

word for a long life. Beautiful places

around the world where people have

a good life. Actually Costa Rica is a

place where people have longevity.

But what is the secret to a long life?

I am going to show you three

reasons to live in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has a lot of farmers and

more than 200 foundations to

protect the nature. There are people

who live from agriculture. The

people have healthy lifestyles in

Costa Rica. They have healthy diet

based on fruits, vegetables, chicken

and fish. Most of Costa Rican

people live for a very long time.

The life style in Costa Rica is

perfect because we have two

coasts. Pacific coast has a lot of

beaches, rivers and catching places.

Atlantic coast has gorgeous places

where you can do a lot of sports,

Such as rafting, swimming or

running. Costa Rica has a lot of

places to have fun and no stress

that is a secret to have a very long

life.

Costa Rica has hospitals near to

the capital, such as Hospital

Calderon Guardia and Hospital San

Juan de Dios. There are excellent

professionals who have studied in

excellent universities. Also Costa

Rica has private hospitals with

modern equipment. Costa Rica is a

country with excellent medical

attention so that is another secret to

longevity.

As conclusion Costa Rica is a

perfect place to have a long life. It is

a country in connection with

agriculture and healthy diet. It is

catching place to have fun and no

stress. Also a country with excellent

medical attention. That is why Costa

Rica is the best place ever to have a

very long life.

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