Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Comparative World Religions and Global Perspectives- AFIL Seminar #12

This seminar focused on the topic of world religions and how religion plays a role in different societies. I thought that it was very interesting to hear Dr. Stadelmann share some of stories about his son in the army and how religion saved his son's life.

Many question why there is hostility towards the Western/American culture. Dr. Stadelmann summarized this in a few key points.
  • Viewing the Western/American culture as corrupted/satanical
  • Sucessful/Effective teaching of Communism
  • Muslim claims to the territory of Israel
  • Reaction against the modern world (women gaining power)
  • Being aware of poverty and inability to do much about it (Americans are seen as wealthy)
  • Islamic Apocalypse
Another interesting point that was brought up is how science has advanced since 1980 and religion has also advanced as well. Apprently religion isn't as stagnant as we may think.


And now we see more and more people following the Designer religion: picking your own doctrine.
"I believe in this, but not that, but I'm still ______________"

A good quote that ended the seminar -> "With additional knowledge of world religions may save your life." This was right after Dr. Stadelmann shared his stories about his son.

There were so many other points that Dr. Stadelmann covered, but I'll let the other AFIL members comment on what they learned.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Strategic Issues Facing Latin America- AFIL Seminar #11

For our next seminar we focused on issues facing Latin America. What was unique about this seminar is that we all had the opportunity to submit 2-3 questions beforehand, which fueled the overall discussion.

I'll pick a question from each AFIL member (so no one feels left out) to give a sample of the types of questions that were asked.
*Some were shortened for brevity*

Mariah- "What Latin American countries are most closely tied to the United States in the oil business?"
Paulina- "What are some ways that Latin American countries, particularly Mexico, can reduce their corruption, increase employment rates, and decrease violence?"
Polly- "If the Keystone Pipeline is modified and approved to start, how would this American oil project affect oil production and sales of Latin American oil.
Steven- "Can the U.S. learn anything from the countries that have managed energy regulations well and used those decisions to fund social programs?"
Claudia- "Why is the U.S. a step behind the emerging [BRIC] countries regarding alliances during such a strategic time to build ties with long-term economic benefits?"
Elaine- "How do the federal regulations of drilling site locations differ between Central/South America and the United States?"
Norair- "Is it feasible for Latin American countries to create something like 'Latin Union' or 'the Latin States' depicting from the European Union and the United States respectively?"
Alayne- "While oil prices continue to rise, we continue to read more and more about countries with great oil supplies. If this is really the case, shouldn't the competition in oil and gas markets be causing the price of oil to go down instead of up?"
Philip- "What is the difference in nationalizing and privatizing these energy companies and are there pros and cons to each method?"
Mark- "How stable are government regimes in Central America, south of Mexico?"
Eva- "With tourism as a major source of income for many of these countries, what is being done to increase the safety of travelers and residents in Latin America and the Caribbean?"
Maryam- "What is the future of oil and gas industry in Brazil?"
Nga- "One of the prestigious Petroleum Engineering professors, Dr. Economides, had stated that 'we will never run out of oils' (at least in the near future). What is your thought on this view?"
Abbie- "The oil industry in the Middle East has resulted in one of the largest and fastest transfers of wealth in history. With such significant hydrocarbon resources in Latin and South America, do you think we are getting ready to see a similar transfer?"
Hassan- "Do you think there will be a 'Venezuelan Spring'?"
Allison- "Many Latin American countries seem to favor more of a socialist or liberal economic policy. Do you think this economic philosophy is a threat to American investors?"
Amal- "Poverty in Latin America is at its lowest level in 20 years... what are governments' current efforts to improve the poverty rates?"
Allan- "What steps are countries in Latin America taking to preserve the natural environment from spills, pollution, or other problems that stem from oil & natural gas production"
Belen- "How do you convince foreign companies to invest in unstable economies or unstable governments such as Bolivia and Venezuela?"
Brady- "Is there any concern or history regarding organized crime entering the booming Latin American energy sector?"
Brawnlyn- "Where do you see Brazil's oil exportation market in the next 50 years with the rising situation in the Middle East?"
Cal- "Why do you believe that Brazil's BTG will be able to retain it's rapid growth, amid the European financial crisis?"
Paul- "What sort of political movements are primed to gain most from the influx of oil money?"

Although we did not get to cover all of the questions, Dr. Zeissig tried his best to touch on the ones that he felt were the most important. I wrote a ton of notes down, but it's hard to summarize my notes because they were basically the responses that Dr. Zeissig had on each question.

I'll let the other AFILers share their thoughts on the discussion.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Strategic Issues Facing the Middle East- AFIL Seminar #10

For this seminar, we had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Ayari and Dr. Ewers talk about issues concerning the Middle East.

Dr. Ayari began with his topic on Tunisia: The Birth Place of the Arab Spring.
Some key points...
  • Approximately 55% of the population is under 25, yet unemployment rate is 30.3% for youth. The "official" unemployment rate is around 14%.
  • Totalitarian, corrupt and oppressive regimes occur
  • Income disparity, corruption, housing, health issues, water shortage are some of the problems that many people face
  • 20+ million people in the Arab world use Facebook, Thousands of Tunisians and Egyptians use social network to mobilize demonstrations
Dr. Ewers focused primarily on the economic aspects of the Arab Gulf States
Some key points...
  • Many conflicting roles when it comes to oil
    • Converted to energy for industry and transport... but it is a depletable resource and pollution/greenhouse gases arise
    • Dominant form of seaborne trade... but limits industrial powers with conflict zones
    • Highly profitable for oil companies... but main destination for industrial terrorism
    • Employs millions worldwide... but displaces millions of others through wars
  • 41% of world oil reserves and 23% of world gas reserves lie in the Arab Gulf States
  • Jebel Ali (in Dubai) is the largest human-made port that serves as a trade hub
Thoughts on the seminar?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

National Defense and Global Security- AFIL Seminar #9

Hi everyone,

I just got back into College Station today so this is a pretty late post. Even though I missed the last seminar, I would love to hear about what happened. It sounds to me that it was a very interesting seminar with moral/ethical issues being discussed. 


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Global Health Issues- AFIL Seminar #8

I hope that everyone is having a great Spring Break so far! I've been out of town this past weekend and this week is extremely busy for me trying to get things completed before my upcoming trip (which explains the lateness of this post). I won't be in town for the next seminar, but I'll create a post regardless and hopefully you guys (AFILers) can fill me in on what I missed.

As promised, here are some pictures of what a typical AFIL seminar looks like. I didn't get to take pictures of our first guest speaker (Dr. Dickey), but during the transition to our next speaker (Dr. Mann), I managed to grab a few shots.

Getting ready to listen to our guest speaker, Dr. Mann
Amal
Intense concentration
Allison and Maria listening to Dr. Mann
Mario
Dr. Dickey and Dr. Mann touched on a number of points during our seminar. Here's a glimpse into some of the notes I took.

  • 1 in 16 women die from childbirth in developing countries whereas 1 in 3,700 die in developed countries
  • Association of Academic Health Center International -> takes students to study local diseases in developing countries, brings international students to the U.S to study, and videotapes faculty lectures to send abroad (or hosts webinars).
  • Brain drain occurring in developing countries because of lack of infrastructure/lower pay
  • Vaccines need to be made cheaper and more affordable to individuals living in countries where the average level of income per household is much lower 
  • *****Education and health disparities need to be smaller
  • Global population could reach to 10 billion by 2050
  • An architect has to think like someone from the public health or statistician fields (a 10,000 bed hospital may not be suitable for individuals living in a country where death is highly prevalent)
  • Hospitals in countries with high temperatures (that cannot afford air conditioners) need to have natural ventilation
  • "Vision is the art of seeing things invisible"
  • *****"We shape our buildings and then they shape us" - Winston Churchill
Hospital in a developing country

Hospital in a developed country


------------------------------->
[economic growth/development]




In the United States, many of us take our access to healthcare for granted. Some of us are lucky enough to have insurance to cover some/most of the costs. Fortunately there are charitable clinics that provide their services to help the uninsured and under-insured patients. But what about the rest of the world?

Thoughts?

Friday, March 2, 2012

Strategic Issues Facing Asia - AFIL Seminar #7

For the 7th AFIL seminar, we had an open session so that future AFIL leaders could see what the AFIL program was like. There was a very strong turnout and many current AFIL Fellows were interacting with the prospective AFIL Fellows. Refreshments (fruit punch or coffee and cookies) were also provided. I kind of wish I took pictures so that I can post them on this blog. I think I'll do that for the next AFIL session (even though it is not an open session).

The topic for discussion was on Asia, but most of it focused on China. I found a really funny picture that kind of helps summarize one of the key points Dr. Gaspar discussed.

*Disregard the caption on the bottom right*
 I didn't know that the citizens of China (and India) saved at least 20% of their disposable income (compared to around 3% in the United States). China's consumption share of GDP is 30.4% (compared to 70.6% of the U.S). Overall, China is not spending enough and the U.S is spending too much. American citizens have relied on credit to finance their purchases and now many are struggling to pay it back. Chinese citizens, on the other hand, have cash reserves laying around and can spend the money however they want.
  • Raise the debt ceiling even higher? No, I don't think we should hurt future generations by taking this short-term option.
  • Stop trade with China? Probably not a good option. We depend too much on products made from China and blocking trade (enacting quotas/tariffs) will probably hurt us more than help us.
  • Force China to increase the value of its currency (which will decrease net exports and net capital outflow)? Hmm...
One of the key reasons why China's economic growth is so strong is due to their large labor pool of skilled/unskilled workers. The problem is, many of these workers are CHINESE MEN.

Dr. Poston gave us details about China's demographic structure. The sex ratio at birth (SRB) is hovering around 120, meaning 120 boys are being born per 100 girls. In the United States, this ratio is 105 (which is optimal because research shows that women live longer than men). In just a decade or so, there will be 55+ million Chinese men unable to find wives to marry.

What a lucky woman. She gets to pick who she wants to marry.

Who doesn't love a good bachelor party?
Bachelor ghettos are already established in areas around China (particularly in the major cities). This causes problems such as increased prostitution and spread of STI/STDs (especially HIV). Also add in these other issues...
  • China's population is aging + there are not enough babies being born = the old age dependency ratio will increase (similar to Japan and countries in Europe like Germany).
  • Increased internal migration from rural areas to urban areas.
I wanted to ask what China was currently doing to remedy some of the effects of the imbalanced sex ratio, but we ran out of time. Are there subsidies being given to families who have girls? Is there any propaganda in promoting the importance of females?

And then I found this...

--
"Dudley Poston, a Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University, estimates that if China's sex ratio hold steady there will be a projected 55 million extra males by 2020. Unfortunately, even if it improved to almost natural levels by 2020 there will still be an excess of 51 million males."

Source: http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/category/topics/gender-imbalance-china
--

I'm planning on doing a reciprocal exchange abroad next semester in Beijing. I was talking to someone from China for some advice. He said "hey, maybe you'll find a girlfriend in Beijing". I thought that was kind of funny.

But for any single ladies out there, you're probably more likely to get your "MRS degree" in China than anywhere else.

Any thoughts on the seminar?

Sunday, February 26, 2012

World Food Supply and Its Implications - AFIL Seminar #6

Apologies for the lateness of this update. But I will say that I had some great Argentinan food this weekend in Austin. Total price? about $16 or so

Empanadas!

Shepherd's Pie: Argentinan Style
I am fortunate enough to not have to worry about the availabilty of food. HEB and Walmart are about 5 to 10 minutes from my place, with aisles stocked full of goods. Whether on or off campus, there are a bunch of restaurants around that can partially meet Maslows Hierachy of Needs #1 (Physiological).


But what about the REST of the world?

The world population is currently at 7.1 billion and increasing overall. But when we look at the developing countries and developed countries, we can see huge disparities in the standard of living, especially when it comes to the availability of food.

Below is a "fat" map to help you gauge which countries around the world have a surplus of food vs. countries that have a shortage. Notice where the differences lie...
So what can we do? How can we solve this PROBLEM? How can we feed a world population of 7.1+ billion?
  • Can we continue relying on biotechnology?
  • Can we change cultural habits of certain nations to better allocate food resources?
  • Should we continue cutting down rainforests for farmland?
  • Can youth-to-youth teaching help farmers across the world learn how to grow crops more effectively? (Peace Corps)
  • Would there be a "Food World War?"
Speaking of "Food World War", this kind of reminds me of the Hunger Games series. (If you are unfamiliar with the series, look it up)


Fighting for Survival
Any thoughts on the seminar?