I'm sure very few people are complaining about our extra, extra long weekend. With classes being canceled on Friday AND today, we've been given an impromptu four-day weekend full of snowball fights, building igloos (check out the awesome ones on the quad! My friends and I fit 7 people into one), drinking hot chocolate, and of course, doing all of that work we left to the last minute. 

For those of you who have been walking around campus, I'm sure you've seen the crews that were hired to clear sidewalks, parking lots, and emergency routes. While I don't know for sure, I have a feeling that many of them are immigrant or day laborers who are hired for short jobs when work is available--usually low-paid, menial labor, and backbreaking work. Often, they are not paid, either at all, or what they were promised--this is called wage theft. They are hired one day at a time, and never know where their next job will come from. They often have moved here from another country, don't speak English well, have transferable job skills, or simply cannot find a job in our rough economy. There are many people who live their lives like this in the area, and too often, we ignore them or give them a perfunctory hello when we pass them on their construction sites, shoveling snow in a parking lot, or elsewhere. 

So, there's two things I recommend you do about this. First, educate yourself. Check out the following: http://wagetheft.blogspot.com/, http://www.ndlon.org/, and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601068.html. 

Secondly, thank the people you see outside. They are shoveling snow in freezing temperatures, all day long, with inadequate clothing, so that we college students can have snowball fights, get to the gym, or in the case of an emergency, get off campus to go to a hospital. Thank them, and let them know how much you appreciate what they are doing. I overheard some of them speaking Spanish yesterday, so if you've got some rusty Spanish skills from high school, brush up on them and ask them how they're doing, and again, thank them. 

Have a great day!

-Nehama

Just wanted to give you a heads-up that there is ONE WEEK left to apply for Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), which is the premier leadership honor society on campus and in the US. You can apply at www.odk.umd.edu.

From the same website, here is ODK's Statement of Purpose. If this is something that interests you, be sure to apply soon! Use your snowy weekend to get the application done. Best of luck!

Omicron Delta Kappa Statement of Purpose

I randomly woke up this morning at 5:00am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep.  It was exciting to see at 5:30am to see that classes were cancelled. 

It's nice to have a day of rest, especially after an already busy semester.  In the business of school and everything else going on as a college student I find myself just doing things to get them done without spending time to reflect.

I often find myself overwhelmed when I think about all of the injustices in our world and in even in our own community (on and around campus).  It's easy to just do and to keep doing.  I think that just as important as doing and taking action that we should spend time in reflection on how our actions impact the community around us.

If we are volunteering at a local school tutoring what does it mean that we're committing to one semester to get to know and mentor a child and then after the semester is over possibly not be able to return?  I remember one girl I tutored, Jocelyn, and I got pretty close and we stayed in contact even after the after school program was over, but life happens and you lose touch.  Especially when working with children what does it mean to go into their lives, care about them, and then we're gone from their lives?

What does it mean to be an advocate on campus?  Why is that there are so many groups on campus engaging in social change, but most of these groups are not conncected?  What would it look like if we came together for a common purpose?  Often times we have common goals, but maybe different perspectives on how to get to the same purpose.  What if we really critically thought through and thought through all of these perspectives to come to a better understanding on one another and being college students engaging in social change.

It's been interesting and exciting to see students from different walks of life come together to support Haiti.  I think it shows that we can come together and cross the boundaries that we often put up.

Just some things to think about.

Final thought: on Wednesday when it snowed it was a cool picture to look out the window with the trees covered in snow and see people playing in the snow together.

Enjoy the snow! Safety first!

Peace,

Sasha

They need people to work on press releases, outreach, social media marketing, designing/making/selling shirts, and much more. They are currently trying to find a time for their next meeting, so if you're interested, go to this Doodle to fill in your availability: http://doodle.com/crnfzw6wtfcpm5eh. Also contact Amber, the president of BSU, at amberjsimmons at gmail dot com. 

This is a great way to get involved in Haiti relief efforts! I'm part of the Hearts for Haiti UMD-wide effort, so I will pass on relevant opportunities when I find them. Hopefully there will be multiple events in which you'll be able to participate.

Thanks.

Nehama

P.S. Don't forget to check out the Terp Impact table at Stamp Fest tomorrow between 10 am and 4 pm!

However, the Kuna people inhabit many of these islands, and have been there for centuries. They have many unique traditions and beliefs, which have endured throughout time. It was shocking for me to see how modern culture has meshed with the past for these people. The Kuna man who owned our island had a cell phone, but no real shower. 

The many tourists who come through these islands have brought this modern culture with them, for better or for worse. We were only there for a short amount of time, and I couldn't help but feel that we were paying to have an authentic experience that was clearly inauthentic. But what is authenticity now? We went to relax and hang out on the beach. We didn't have time to take one, but there are some tours of "authentic" villages offered where you're able to see Kuna dances, hear Kuna songs, and buy Kuna artwork. Are those truly authentic? Are they a way to preserve culture, or are they a way to profit off of something that is disappearing because of tourists and the associated influx of the modern world?

Our trip there left me with many questions. I've done some basic research on Wikipedia about the Kuna Yala Archipelago region and the Kuna peninsula: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuna_Yala and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuna_(people). Feel free to check them out and do further research if you're interested. Their culture and history are fascinating. 

Another problem I noticed there, which I won't go into much detail about, is the very apparent effect that global climate change is having on the islands. As sea levels rise from melting ice caps and changing weather patterns across the world, soil erosion and higher levels of water are literally washing away some of these islands. On our boat ride to our island, I saw many tiny islands which were once much bigger. Without being explained the effect, I could see what had happened by seeing islands that were exactly the size of the shack on them. No one would build a shack on an island and make the shack the same size as the entire island. It was evident that the island must have been bigger in recent times, and obviously, the inhabitant(s) had not planned for this erosion.

Seeing global climate change in action was terrifying. However, that terror is necessary in order to impel us to do something. Take a moment to educate yourself on what global climate change is, and what the actions you can undertake in your daily life are in order to help create a more sustainable future for our planet. 

-Nehama

A lot of exciting events are going on campus.  It's hard for me to pick our just one to highlight, so I've combined a couple coming up this week.  A lot of time first semester we want to do a lot of things and get inolved, but we find ourselves overwhelmed with classes.  Second semester is an opportunity to do those things that we weren't able to do.  This Thursday, February 4 starting at 8:00am Stamp Fest is going on in the Stamp Student Union.  It'll be another opportunity to learn about and meet organizations on and off campus. 

At 5:00pm is the start of a new initiative that is a collaboration between students and staff at the university to discuss social change.  Social change: it just sounds daunting.  The Voices of Social Change: Speaker Series is an effort to bring stories of those who have acted in their communities to bring about positive change.  It is an aim to bring these grand acedemic discussions to reality and hear about practical ways that people are engaging in their communities. The first speaker will be Maryland Alumna Margaret Swallow who has worked in both the corporate and non-profit world and has worked with women in the coffee industry to empower women and to bring social change. The series will begin on Thursday at 5:00pm in the Prince George's in the Stamp Student Union.  Bring friends! To find out more you can visit the Voices of Social Change website or visit the facebook event page! Afterwards you can get some dinner and walk over to see Spike Lee speak.

I hope to see you at these events and would love to hear your reactions and thoughts!

Peace,

Sasha

It's the third day back and already a lot is going on around campus! It's the start of a new semester and an opporunity for new beginnings.  Every semester we make goals for ourselves and sometimes we're only able to reach a few.  Maybe you wanted to get more involved in your community and serve others, but you found yourself buried in school work.  Now is the chance to set time aside from our busy schedules each week and commit to serving others. 

Terps for Change is now accepting applications for new volunteers for the Spring 2010 semester.  This is an opportunity to do community service on a weekly basis and to really get to know the people and community that we are a part of.  The other part of Terps for Change is that you meet on a monthly basis with other volunteers to look at the meaning behind your service and the various social issues that you can choose to work with.  Finding a community of people with similar passions is a great way to be able to understand the complexities of community service and the idea of social change.

As I'm sure everyone has heard that there was a devestating earthquake in Haiti and there are many efforts on campus to raise awareness and support to our southern neighbors.  The facebook group University of Maryland Students Helping Haiti is a place where you can go to find out what students are doing on campus or to post an event a group you are with is having.

Have a great rest of the week and, like Nehema posted, please share your stories from break with us!

Peace,

Sasha

Welcome back to campus, and I hope each of you had a meaningful and relaxing winter break. Get geared up because here comes a whole new semester, full of new classes, opportunities, and ways to make a difference in your community!

I can't wait to highlight events happening on and off campus, discuss social justice issues, and share some experiences I had over my winter break. I was fortunate enough to go to Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua with some friends to backpack, explore, and do a bit of volunteering. I'll share pictures and reflections on that experience soon! 

However, I also want to hear about YOUR winter break! What did you do? Some of you went out there and got your hands dirty doing direct service on alternative breaks, while others of you took the initiative to learn more about important issues by doing research, watching the news, or reading the paper. I'm sure all of us have reacted to the disaster in Haiti, and I encourage you to look out for the various efforts on campus designed to raise awareness and money for relief projects. There are many occurring now, and I'm sure they will continue for much of the semester. 

Feel free to comment on this post and tell us what you did or learned over this break!

Peace out,

Nehama

This great article by Mashable outlines a few: http://mashable.com/2010/01/13/haiti-earthquake-donate-help/.

One of the easiest and quickest ways to raise funds is simply by sending a text message.  Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Haiti earthquake fund, or text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.  Charges will be added to your next cell phone bill.

AND it's working!    The American Red Cross has raised over $2 million for Haiti by text message alone...http://news.discovery.com/tech/text-messages-raise-millions-for-haiti.html.

I personally had a semester full of ups and downs, but I guess that's life.  I hope everyone got through their exams (some people, like myself, still have one or two).  Hopefully this break will give you time to collect yourself and look forward to an even better semester.  It's always good to reflect on what went well and what we can do to improve.   It might be a time to think about priorities and what things we might want to get involved with that we didn't have a chance to this semester. 

There are always ways to get involved.  If anyone has an amazing experience over break we'd love to hear about it once the Spring semester begins.  I'm looking forward to going to Urbana, which is a conference on social justice that is through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.  It'll be amazing to be with 17,000 other students interested in seeking justice. 

Safe travels and enjoy the break!

Peace, 

Sasha