news log #14 upfront article

"Marriage -- or Else"

In Afghanistan, girls are often sold for marriage. They are married at a young age-- even starting as young as eight. If they attempt to flee to a safer place, they face severe punishment. Some are successful, however: they make it to shelters for women who were living in terrible conditions with their families. A story that is well known is that of Aisha's [in the picture] who appeared on the cover of Time Magazine last August. She ran away from her new family, but her father returned her because he wanted to have good relations with the family. He regrets what he did now, because his daughter's husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law did something with the approval of the local Muslim clergyman. They sliced off her nose and ears. Fortunately, Aisha's father-in-law was arrested last November for his act. 

The percentage of girls getting married before the age of eighteen is incredibly high in certain countries like Afghanistan, Niger, and Bangladesh. If anything could be done to prevent horrible acts like this, it's time to take a stand. 

news log #13

"Housing and a Chance for Veterans"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/opinion/23sun2.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1295814646-D3XCmfAZo1ZE9ZKVWLkJHg

Summary: Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has promised to end homelessness among veterans by the end of a five year period. There will be some hard cases to sort through, however: those long term homeless people who have been on and off of drugs or alcohol and have been on the street for a long time. There is a program in California using the strategy called "housing first." Using a Section 8 voucher, a homeless person can have a permanent place to stay that provides addiction services, therapy, sobriety, and a steady job. Unfortunately, there is not enough money yet to fund programs like these nationwide.

Response: I really hope that one day the government will have enough money to fund programs that use the housing first strategy. It's horrible that war veterans come home and can't find a job simply because they were away serving our country and came back to higher unemployment rates and difficulty being hired. Those who have to live on the streets and fought for our country deserve a place to live and a helping hand.

news log #12

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/06/facebook-friends-mock-womans-suicide-message/?test=latestnews

Summary: A 42-year old woman, Simone Back, posted as her Facebook status that she was about to kill herself. The status read, "Took all my pills be dead soon bye bye everyone", and her "friends" on Facebook made comments like, "liar" "she OD's all the time" and that the overdose was "her choice". Not one person came to her rescue, but close friends did request her address or phone number to help her. Her mother finally found her hours after the post on the Internet, and police came for the body at 4 PM on December 26th. Back was declared dead an hour later.

Response: The fact that human beings can be so rude about something as serious as this is terrible and horrifying. A woman made a post about killing herself, and all others did was poke fun at her and mock her. On the other hand, why did Back post it on the Internet anyway? If she was serious about this, she wouldn't have made a post, which can be viewed as a cry for attention. She also seems to do this a lot-- one of the comments says she takes pills and OD's all the time. However, what the Facebook "friends" did was wrong, and they should apologize to Back's mother and really think before they speak.