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?

Strategic Issues Facing Europe - AFIL Seminar #5

European Union (member-countries)

Currently, 27 countries make up the European Union (EU). Sounds simple right? Add in...

• Council of the EU 
• European Commission 
• European Parliament
• European Court of Justice
• European Council
• A whole bunch of complicated issues*****

And then it gets confusing...

Steven and I took Dr. Pustay's MGMT 450H (International Environment of Business) course last semester. We studied a chapter that covered the European Union, one of the hardest sections to comprehend (at least for me). One of the important things I took away from the seminar is the fact that the EU was formed on the vision of unity and peace among the European countries (or in other words, economic and political entity). After all, Dr. Pustay did mention how Germany has stopped attacking France since the EU was established.

No more of this!

There were a ton of issues mentioned during the seminar. From considering whether or not to accept Turkey (and Siberia) into the EU to the debt crisis in Greece (as well as in Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and Italy) to having to deal with structural unemployment and the rising old-age dependency ratio, Europe has a lot on its plate. It will be interesting to see how these issues play out into the future.

This piggy bank is concerned :/

Any thoughts on the seminar?

Socioeconomic Impact of Technology - AFIL Seminar #4

For our 4th AFIL seminar, Dr. Jim Womack showed how biotechnology can affect our lives. He mainly focused on the topic of cloning animals and touched on the issue of stem-cell research, but that doesn't mean we didn't get to see some "cool" photos of transgenic animals. I wish I took pictures because some of my fellow AFILers' faces were priceless. Check out some of the pictures below.

Green rabbit?

Flourescent zebra fish can make cool pets for those living in dorms

Normal-looking dog right? Just turn off the lights

My jaw dropped seeing this photo (myostatin deficient cow)

Apparently we can clone all sorts of animals if you are willing to pay the fee. Cattle start off at around $17,500 while pigs are $4,000 each. A company is South Korea is willing to clone your dog starting at $150,000. But be warned because you can be easily scammed. How hard is it to just grab a random dog that looks similar your dog, say "we cloned your dog", and then leave with your hard-earned 150K?

So we can clone animals (and technically plants as well, although Brady can expand on this topic better than I can), but what about humans? We already completed the Human Genome project. Many countries around the world look down on stem-cell research/cloning, citing ethical concerns. But who knows if there is some scientist out there that has already cloned a human under the radar? Plus I have seen way too many movies (i.e The Island, Aeon Flux, Splice) that bring up this issue.

What are your thoughts on the seminar?

World Energy Resources and the Environment - AFIL Seminar #3

Hey everyone!

Mr. Petty suggested that a blog be created to continue the discussion of the seminar topics. I know that many of us are eager to ask questions, but some of them get unanswered due to time constraints.

Dr. Michael Economides and Dr. Maria Barrufet both gave greater insight into the world of energy and its correlation with the environment. From discussing non-renewable (coal, oil, natural gas) and renewable (hydroelectric, biomass, nuclear, wind, solar) energy resources to talking about how countries around the world are dealing with their energy demands, I thought that it was a very mind-provoking session.

I personally took a course (ENGR 101) taught by Dr. Christine Ehlig-Economides during my freshman year of college. I highly recommend everyone to take this course (especially for non-engineering majors) because the material that you learn in the class is applicable to daily life. Also you get a chance to possibly see Dr. Michael Economides present again (the PowerPoint he showed tonight was very similar to the one he presented two years ago in my class).

Anyways, enough of me rambling...

Do you guys have any thoughts or questions on tonight's seminar?