Volunteering

According to UN definition, “the volunteer is the young or the adult who, because of his personal interest and his public spirit, devoted most of his time, without any remuneration, to various forms of activities, organized or not, well welfare, or other fields… ”

Recently I discovered the satisfaction of being involved in this kind of activity helping LASA (Latin American Student Association at SIUC) in its activities. I am very happy to contribute in some way, and I believe that voluntary actions have the transformer potential. Besides, it contributes to growth within the individual.

Congratulations for us!

About woman…

Woman think with hearth, acts by emotion and wins by love…
Woman nowadays works and even maintains the home…
Woman is warrior, but she knows cry…
Woman is mirror, hair and smell…
Woman creates life…
Woman is so simple and so complicated…
Simple because she has the most pure love…
Complicated because she wants to do everything…
Happy is the man who, at least for a day, knows understand the soul of a woman.

RRJ #6 (Brazil at heart of Google’s Latin America strategy)



Reading Reaction Journal #6

Reference

Lifschitz, A. and Popper, Helen. (2011, March 5). Brazil at heart of Google’s Latin America strategy. Reuters. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE72409Y20110305?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Summary

This article discusses the new Google strategy to enlarge its market. According to the article, although today Latin America accounts for only 2 percent to 3 percent of the Company’s revenue, Google’s Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt believes that the rate should change soon with the rapid economic growth in the region. He also asserts that, of the countries where Google has operations, Brazil is already on its way to becoming the sixth-largest country in revenue. Thinking about the good economic prospects for Google in Latin America, the company has opened new premises in some countries and seems optimistic about the strong growth in the region.

Reaction

For Latin Americans it is very encouraging to perceive electronic commerce expansion in the region, especially for Brazil, which is the fastest growing country in South America and is about to become the sixth most profitable for Google. Brazil was the country that contributed significantly more to the performance of the region. Therefore, it is one of the most interesting and dynamic markets for Google, having received many praises by senior vice president of Google for the Americas, Dennis Woodside.

The Brazilian operation ended 2010 with 80% growth in revenue, a percentage well above the average high of 26% registered in other countries. This positive result has benefits to Brazil. According to executive Dennis Woodside, the staff of the Brazilian subsidiary currently has 250 employees, and is expected to grow 50% this year to meet the rapidly expanding Internet market in the country. That is quite the effect of economic recovery, but also the development of Internet and the development of electronic commerce.

RRJ #5 (Brazil digs deep for future fortune)

Reading Reaction Journal #5

Reference

Clanton, B. (2011, February 25). Brazil digs deep for future fortune. My SA. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Brazil-digs-deep-for-future-fortune-1031133.php

Summary

This article discusses a real possibility of Brazil becoming a global oil superpower. With the recent discovery of the pre-salt, Brazil has reservoirs that are estimated to hold 50 billion to 100 billion barrels of oil — enough to turn Brazil into one of the world’s top five producers of crude. The layer called pre-salt is a range that extends over 500 miles between five coastal states of Brazil, below the seabed, and includes three sedimentary basins.Oil found in this area is at depths that exceed 7,000 meters, under an extensive layer of salt, that according to geologists, retains quality oil. The article also mentions that development of the field comes during a time of turmoil in the oil markets, which seems a good moment for Brazil.

Reaction

Recent discovery of enormous reserves of oil that exist in the largest country in South America made the eyes of the world return to Brazil and broadens the debate about the pre-salt layer inside the country. Brazilians believe that the oil wealth from the region could be one more way to improve the Brazilian economy, which is already growing strongly.

It is obvious that there remain many technical challenges until the extraction is completed. There are many difficulties to be faced until the area of petroleum is reached. But the most important is that the lessons learned with problems in the past seem to take effect. Today the Brazilian government has a concern with the regulation of exploitation of the pre-salt by both economic and environmental issues.

Brazilian citizens have the consciousness that this discovery is not the solution to all problems of the country. We still need to resolve issues such as corruption, which today is the biggest problem in Brazil. However, how Brazilian politics has been showing changes in the last ten years, the population believes that this can be a great opportunity to improve investment in major areas like education, health and infrastructure which will bring positive changes to the country.

RRJ #4 (Delays cloud Brazil’s 2014 World Cup preparations)

Reading Reaction Journal #4

Reference

Cabral, P. (2010, July 21). Delays cloud Brazil’s 2014 World Cup preparations. BBC News. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10698973

Summary

This article discuss the preparations of Brazil to 2014 Worl Cup. There are no doubts that Brazil, the country of the footbal, will realize a memorable ceremony. However, there are some doubts over the organization. In terms of infrastructure there have been delays in all the cities chosen to stage matches. Brazil is experiencing one of its best economic periods in decades, so there are resources to carry out the necessary works. Most of the planned investments for the World Cup are state-sponsored which have pledged a total investment of some $13bn to boost the country’s infrastructure. However, there is a lot of red tape to cut through, since most of the investment will be made with public money. The government is expected to announce specific plans to deal with those problems and it is convinced that Brazil will be ready for the World Cup.

Reaction

This article reflects the sentiment of the Brazilian people with respect to preparations for 2014 World Cup. Although Brazil is front of a favorable economic scenario, which there are resources to carry out the necessary works, there is a concern about how well orgnised it will be, and if Brazil will meet the deadlines of the works. Brazilians fear that Brazil fails to comply in the management of buildings that need to be done before the world championships. Another interest among Brazilians is whether the works done will benefit only the tourists or it will leave a legacy for the people. What is at stake is not merely soccer or FIFA’s trophy, but rather the opportunity for the country to attract billions and billions of dollars in investment for its development. What really matters is taking advantage of the World Cup to build the infrastructure that will be in place in 2022, the year in which Brazil will celebrate the Bicentennial of its independence.

Song of the day

So cute that I could not resist…

 

RRJ #2 (Record Level of Stress Found in College Freshmen)

Reading Reaction Journal #2

Reference

Lewin, T. (2011, January 26). Record Level of Stress Found in College Freshmen. New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/education/27colleges.html

Summary

This article discusses the influence from stress on emotional health of college freshmen. According with survey showed by the author, the emotional health reached the lowest level since the collecting data started, two decades ago. Information is given that this index represents a common situation that more students are entering the universities with problems. The economic factors are putting a lot of extra stress on these students who are worried about their own college debts and job prospects when they graduate. There is also a gender gap. The women have a less positive view of their emotional health than the men.

Reaction

I was very interested in reading about the theme discussed in the article considering that  this is  a current problem which we encounter in various universities regardless of their location.

This article gave me some new information. The fact that students are worried about their economic situation is harmful because each one of them already has a very large load of stress during their university life. The students should learn to cope with the pressures and worry about work, exams, and their future professional life.

Another interesting aspect for me was how women and men’s reactions are different in how they spent their leisure time. The men tend to spend more time in activities that relieve stress, like sports, while women tend to take activities that include more responsibilities, that do not relieve stress.
Maybe universities should be more worried about the emotional health of their students. Investing more in recreation centers and creating psychological support centers could be a good start.

Finally! Elite Squad 2

Finally, I watched the movie “Elite Squad 2” yesterday :). Great!

RRJ #1 (Brazil takes off)

Reading Reaction Journal #1

Reference

The Economist. (2009, November 12). Brazil takes off. Retrieved January 25, 2011, from http://www.economist.com/node/14845197.

Summary

This article discusses how Brazil recovered its economic growth while facing the international economic crisis. The author praises the measure that improved the domestic consumption and  reduced social inequalities. The publication also made criticism about the increase of public spending and the lack of investments in education and infrastructure. Despite the criticism, according to The Economist analysis in 2009, Brazil will be the world’s fifth-largest economy from 2014. This publication also compares Brazil with the emerging group formed by China, India and Russia. According to the magazine, Brazil differs from other BRICs (group of emerging countries) in that it is a democracy, unlike China, has no ethnic tensions in its territory, as is the case in India, and, unlike Russia, has a diversified range of exports.

Reaction

This article was very interesting for me because I could have some idea how my country is seen from the perspective of other countries.

As a Brazilian I am very proud to see that Brazil in the last 10 years has changed its economics policies – inflation was tamed, and spendthrift local and federal governments were required by law to rein in their debts – and the Lula’s government has moved to reduce the searing inequalities. His efforts to combat poverty are working.

It is obvious that Brazil still needs to improve greatly to become the ideal country. It still needs to address some major issues such as education, health and violence. It is also needs to fight corruption harder. From my point of view this is the problem more severe and difficult to solve, since this is an issue that we have endured for as long as our memory can remember. However, I and a large proportion of Brazilians are confident that we will have good results for our country in the coming years. The infrastructure, education and health will slowly have achievements, it needs some time as well as patience. But the important things is that now Brazil has the financial stability to work on those issues. Today our economy is growing (rate 5% per year) and Brazil is likely to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, overtaking Britain and France in few years.

This is a prospect that leaves us, Brazilians, very excited. To paraphrase our former president, I think “never in the history of this country” have we been so confident that Brazil is taking off.

BRAZIL IN FOCUS