Self Evaluation of My Academic Year

There are many things to say about this academic year. This year had good and bad things, but it was a good year in general. To make a self evaluation of this year we have to consider different topics, like the grades, the quality and requirements of the subjects and their teachers. But this essay is about mi self evaluation, for this reason is important to focus in this question: Has my performance been satisfactory? In first place, we have to consider that the year is not over yet, we have a lot of things to do yet…

How I said at the beginning this year has been good in general, but it had good and bad points. Some of the bad points have been the bad subjects, like quantitative methods and social theory II. These subjects were very bored, and the teachers are not very good. I have to recognize that in the first term, to quantitative methods, I went to class only a few times, because the teacher did her class with PowerPoint presentations. Theory II has not finished yet, but in my opinion, has not been a good subject, because the teacher, is very “dispersed” and she talks all the time about the “body” and things like that.

About the good subjects we can to mention Theory I and Social History of Chile. The first was a very good subject, the best of the first term, principally because the teacher is a very good teacher, and the matter of the subjects were very interesting. And about the second, social history of Chile, was a great subject, because the teacher is the best in his field. He was decorated with the national prize of history and he has written a lot of books. But both subjects were very hard, and we have to study a lot to approve them.

I had three subjects of English, and I think that I have learned a lot about it. This is my last year, and I would like to continue learning English, to someday travel to another countries and can communicated, or study without problems. Now I have a good basis in English.

Mi performance in the year has been good, I have not had any red grade in all the year (at the moment) and the career is good for my. But I have to make a big effort and study a lot. Sometimes I have been very tired, particularly at the mornings, but I have learned a lot. In summary all the subjects were difficult, but I could to pass everything without many problems. Now I hope that the year finish good too.

Actually there are many challenges for the sociology. These problems have to be resolved by the sociology to continue developing as a science. First, about the technology, the sociology and the social sciences in general, have developed a lot of instruments technologies to make investigation, like the statistic softwares . These programs have mean great developing and facilities to make investigation, increasing the speed and precision of the investigation. But there are many challenges about this. For example, the actualization of the softwares, the high cost and the complex use of them. You have to be an expert to use them, and the licenses to use them expired in a very short time. The solution is the expanding of this kind of programs, a deep teaching in the universities of them, or the piracy…


About social matters is important to develop a real integration of the people, decrease the inequality in the society, in the education, the health, the opportunities. The sociology has to give answers to this kind of problem. There are many others problems like the poverty, the discrimination. Some of these problems are reproduced in the education in the university. Differences between social classes played in education in university. People who get more social level have higher scores on the psu and therefore have easier access to university. This inequality can be seen also in materials that are available for study. Actually is necessary to generate more discussions in the career about social problems. I think that this is the solution, make more spaces to discuses about themes that are in the social context. This is similar to the education. Is important consider new theories and discuses about the sociology. This is apply in the last years of the career, but I think that is important do it in all the career, since the first year of study. Also, is important to include more Chilean theory, closer to our reality, not only European and north American sociology. For this reason are important the congres that are being developed in Chile and latinamerica.

A Piece of new

The piece of new that I have chosen is that the pope´s sculpture that the university of San Sebastian and Recoleta´s municipality want to stand in Bellavista neighborhood was rejected by the monument council. The reasons are principally because the monument is too invasive in the area. This is a problem that comes a few months ago, when the residents of the neighborhood criticized the installation of the sculpture. But the problem happened since long time ago, and for other reasons. The residents are organized to defend his neighborhood of different “devil” strengths, like the economical power. The problem is that the University of San Sebastian installed a big building in the middle of Pionono Street. The new faculty means an increase of the people that walk by the neighborhood every day. To that we have to add the problems of criminality, drunk, and noise that the residents have to support every day and night.
The proyect of the University means a big chance in the structure of the neighborhood, demographic and visual effects, and the municipality permitted this project without the consent of the residents.
I liked to heard this kind of news because it means that in some way the asking of the people are being heard by some authorities, and the rights of the citizen are being respected. The people, like the residents of Bellavista neighborhood, have to express their problems and the authorities have to hear them. In the same way, the people is not alone, because are institution dedicated to help and developed the citizen participation, like Ciudad Viva. This institution is working with the neighborhood´s committees to make that the authorities help and heard them.

Faculty facilities

The current situation in my faculty is better than last year, but this does not mean that it is totally good. There are some things that should be improving by the authorities, in a serious way. For example, last year we didn´t have a decent computer room. There were only a few computers and they were very slow. If there were a free computer, you wasted much time because the internet was very slow. If you didn´t find a free computer you could use the computers in the room of post degree and only before four o´clock. But now it is different, we have a much better computer room, with three different rooms and the computers are very good, they are very modern and fast, and you can always find a free computer.

Another better thing is the microwaves. Not long ago we had only two of them, and you had to wait in a line very long time. These microwaves are broken and now, there are four new microwaves. Now you don´t have to wait a lot of time. But the bad thing is that the authorities have to wait for the old microwaves to break down to replace them, they could have replaced them before, if they knew the real conditions of the faculty. For example the library. There is a lot of noise and you can´t study. We don´t have a real study room, where you can talk or discuss with your work group about a homework for example. This is funny, in the beginning of this term, the authorities told us that we will have a new study room. But it is the dining hall! Only with more connections and with Wi-Fi. This is shameful! And this show us wich is the real intention of the authorities to solve this kind of problems.

To solve these problems is important because having good tools to help us study better, and things such as better library and a study room, or good classrooms is important, because in this way we can focus only in our studies. For these reasons it is important that authorities can improve the facilities in our faculty, for example a real study room or a real library when we can read and study in a real way.

Election Day

I`m registered to vote in the elections since one year ago. I have already voted for the municipal elections last year. I think that it is very important to vote, because in this “democratic system” the minimal way to show your opinion is through your own vote.

Nowadays I don`t have to decide what my vote is yet, I have two options, ME-O and Arrate, I would never vote for Piñera, because I do not agree with his political option, and his “offer” for the country. And I think that Frei is not a good choice, because the “concertaciòn” hasn`t showed a good job. For these reasons I think that now it is the moment to make a change in the government. And this is the change that Arrate is promoving.

At the same time Marco Enríquez Ominami is an option for me because, he represents the change that the Chilean politic needs. He is a young person, and despite of I do not totally agree with his proposal, the important thing is that he is a different person, not like the others, or this is what he projects.

I have never thought to be a politician, because I think that politics is something corrupted and it`s driven by a little group of persons, and I won`t be one of them. Now, if I have to choose where to work if I were a politician I would like to work in the economy ministry because I would like to make a change in the society and make it more egalitarian. This is one of the problem of the Chilean society, among many others like the low quality of the health, the inequality education, the poverty, and the low opportunities to the citizen participation.

Summary from a career-related article from The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/19/us-death-penalty-bible

In summary, the article talks about a juror in Texas who pronounced a sentence against a man according to the bible. Now the question is how much the bible (and other sacred texts) can provide us laws and moral, or in another cases, sentences. Definitively, can the bible say to us how to live?.

In Texas Oliver Khristian was sentenced with the capital punishment because a murder 10 years before. The judges would have been based in a piece of scripture of the bible. Much of the judges admitted that they take the bible like a reference from where take resolution about many cases. One of the Jurors said: "the Bible is the truth from page one to the last page", in a clear reference to how to make sentences.

The passage in conflict is the next: “If he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death”. Also, this juror, apparently just one of a four-fifths majority of jury members who introduced biblical notions into the jury discussion later made it very clear that he was a firm believer in capital punishment, sentence that was used against Oliver Khristian.

The article finishes with an analysis about the connection between religion and laws and how faith and human rights could be extremely linked, for example how “prisoners the world over have held on to or even developed faith to see them through their mightiest challenges”. But principally the problem is when religion replaces the laws.

Criminal Laws

I don`t think that the capital punishment is something that reduce criminality. In my opinion a real solution to this problem of the society is something deeper than that. A good solution, for example would be a real rehabilitation for the prisoners. Now in the prison they learn new forms to commit a crime, and when they go out of the prison they are worse people than before. I am against the capital punishment, because we (and nobody) don`t have the right to decide when and how a people die (except in case of the euthanasia, that is something different) and this is not a solution to the criminality. I think that a solution is to develope stricter punishments to the criminal, such as more years in the prison (a life sentence) and a real rehabilitation program, from which once they are free they have tool not to fall in the crime again.
But in the middle the problem there is another thing. I am talking about the education and the poverty, these are the principal problems, a bad environment to the child, and in a country where there is a great inequality, and the differences between social classes, and the opportunities to climb to a better reality are very limited. In this context the people is obligated to commit a crime.
I am lucky, because I have never been a victim of a crime, but I have been a witness of some in the transport (pick pocketing), in the pick hours. Fortunately in all the times the passengers have acting by themselves and got out the criminal. But I know a lot of people who has suffered some kind of a crime. I am very careful in all the places and every moment.

What to do/Where to go in Santiago

If you are a tourist you can`t leave to visit some particular places in Santiago. For example you should visit the Bellavista neighborhood. There are many bars and pubs in the Pionono street. Also there are many souvenir stores where you can buy something typical for your friends. You can visit nearly of there the San Cristóbal Hill. There is the metropolitan park, and the metropolitan zoo. If you like the art you should visit the Bellas Artes museum, a great art center of Santiago (and Chile) and sometimes (in the Sundays) the entrance is free. You can travel in the Metro (the subway) of the city, one of the cleanest subways of south America, but you must be careful, in some hours of the day there are many people travel there and this would be a terrible experience. If you are travelling with kids, you could go to Fantasilandia, the most important amusement park in Santiago. There are many games an Roller coasters for the children and for the parents too, there the kids could be the entire day without getting bored.

If you are not travelling with kids you could go with your couple to the Forestal Park and spend time there, it is a quiet place in the middle of the city, and on the weekends there are many artistic events. In general Santiago is a nice city, but the Citizens sometimes are not, so many people are angry, and with a little threat could give you a great “Rosario” (an insult). You must be careful with the taxi drivers too, because sometimes they cuould charge you a lot of money. Anyway.. enjoy Santiago!

Education

My high school experience was good in general. Many times I have thought how I like to come back to live this experience, because I really enjoyed it. In my college the teachers are very close to students, because is not a big college, there are only two courses by level. I have to recognize I was not very studious, but I have good grades. It was not very hard. For this reason I would like to come back to school, because in the university I have learner to study very hard and, if I study like the university in the school I would be a genius. For this reason is important the maturity of every person, because each one is responsible of his own education.

In terms of technology my school is very different to the university; there are not so many instruments like the university. The teachers uses the power point just a little not like the teachers of the university.

Really, the school define your personality and your decisions in the future I think. The personality because you are in your formation like a person. And the decisions because you have to choose, between other things, your professional area, for example.

I would like that the teachers of the university would be closer to the students. Many teachers do not know who are their students, much less their names.

Transantiago: Before and after

I think that the Transantiago system is something that can’t be apply in Chile, like other countries. In the countries that have a similar system the people have a mentality large enough to have a transport system like this. In Chile the people don’t have the patience, the respect, the preoccupation to understand the system, at the beginning at least. This was the problem at the beginning; the people don’t have the preoccupation to study how they have to move in this new system and for this reason happen all the things that we know. But now is different, the people is used to the conglomerations in the mornings, the bad deal to the drivers, and the other people. This is the point. I don’t think that the system is better than the beginning, if the things look better is because the people is used to the system.
Other point is that the transantiago caused a hurt in the image of some people, like Iván Zamorano, who was declared guilty for the failed system.
But the Transantiago has good points too, like the noise and the polution, this system is healthier than the old.

I would like to visit...

In this second post I’m going to write about England. I would like to visit this country for many reasons. First, I have never been to another country outside of Chile, and I think in England because I could learn more English. I don`t know a lot of thing about, but something that I know is that England has a great history, and many places to visit, like castles, museums, and it’s closer to other European countries If I want to visit other countries. Also I know that the English people are very “cold” with the tourists and in their lives too, in general. Another thing that I have heard about England is that there is very expensive to live.

In England I would like to go to the football games, because in this country is the best football league, the premier league, with famous team such as the Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, among other teams that I always have seen their matches on television and this would be a dream come true for me. There are more important sports events, such as Wimbledon, an important tennis tournament. In England I would like to visit the Buckingham palace, the big ben, the Stonehenge and to travel on the famous red buses of London.

There, I would like to study in Oxford a subjetc related with the social science, like sociology or history, maybe do a Phd. But by the moment this is only a nice dream..

First Term: Good and Bad Points

The last term was very tiring for me, because I had six subjects and the mayority of them were very hard, with a lot of work to do. One of the subjects that I liked the most, was Chilean social history, with Gabriel Salazar, he was a great teacher and he knows a lot. Another subject that I really liked was social psicology, because there we saw really interesting themes about the society which we didn't know at the moment. The worse subject in the term was cuantitative methodology, because the class was in the evening on thuesday, and I have to confess, I didn't go a lot to this class in the term, It was really bored... But in general, the last term was good for me, because I approved all the subjects, and my grades were very good.

Another important thing for me about the first term is that I began to lead in my scout group. I have been scout for ten years, and this year is very important because I started to be a leader. I am very happy, because I work with children doing something that I really enjoy, and this is my way to provide my grain of sand to the society, because we are teching to the kids to live in a different way to the normal, like the school.

In the last term my little brothers began the scholl, they are twins, and they are seven years old. How I said, they began the school this year, and they are very excited, and very happy. Sometimes I have to help them in their homework, because sometimes they are a little lazy, but they are very smart, and I am sure, they complete the year satisfactorialy.

I hope that this term will be better than the first, and like the last, this will be succesfull for me.

SECOND TERM!!!!!!!

My blogging experience

Hi everybody, this is my last post, yeah, the last post. Here i am going to tell you about my experience in this task.

In every post that i had to do, i had to apply many of thing that i had learned in class about english, and another important thing is that, the majority of the themes about we had to write were about our area, more specifically the social sciences, and this made me was motivated to do it. I enjoy it, because we had applying our knowledge about the english and our career. Also, the themes of the post were very funnies, and interesting.

Another important thing is that we had to apply, the use of the english in his written form, not only in his oral form, like we use to use in normal class. Also, i prefer this modality of class (blogs) to the modality of the last year, because is more interesting and funnier.

One advantage of the blogging in the english class is, how i said after, that we could have another use of english different to the english that we use in class, because we have more resources, like traductors, google (where we can search information about the theme of the post), pictures, etc. Another advantage is that we could to do the task in our rate, independent to the other classmates.

By the opposite, one disadvantage of the blogging is that over time, this became bored, because all the weeks we have to do a post, and this is monotone.

Anyway, i enjoy it, it was a great experience, and i fell that i learn a little more about english. Thanks for learn my posts, the time to say good bye has come...

Good bye for everyone, I hope you will fine...

Felipe Hugo ---- {The Man Of the Hour} ----

Talk Review: Education and creativity

Well, Ken Robinson talks about the education and how actually the people is very interested about the education. I think the same, the education is a very important theme in the society, because it represent the future.

Ken Ronbinson tell us how the crativity is as important in education as literacy, or maths, or anyone subject else. I think this too. Now, Ken says that the children is loosing this capacity, because they are afraid to being wrong. This is consequence of the educational system, where the mistakes are the worst thing that we can do. All the education (the primary and secundary) is focused in the university, in the academic things, that, says ken, kills the creativity.

I think in the same way of Ken Robinso, the creativity is the gate to a better future, because throuht it the child may create a new future, and, how says Ken, is our duty to promove the children's creativity, because they are the future, and they will do their future. We have to give them the tools to do it.

My favorite subject

Hello everybody, today we have to talk about the subject that we like the most. The mine is Chilean social history. This subjetc is taught by Gabriel Salazar, a great chilean historian. The subject is about the popular subject ans about the differents form that him had been throughtout history, the context in what has been uncertain, and his form to relationship with his society.

I like this subject because the popular subject in the history has been exluded, the traditional history has not considered to him, and the new social history is serching to give him the space that he represents. Is give voice to someone that hadnot it. The social history is based in the study of the relationships of the popular sibject, in his many expresions like peasants, miners, "chinganeros", artisans, etc. with the others actors of the society.

The teacher of this subject, Gabriel Salazar has received many awards, the most important of them is the national award of history in the 2006. This is a motivation for my to study this subject and take him like an example to follow.

Emile Durkheim

Hi everybody, today i am going to talk about the person who i think is the best in sociology, Emilio Durkheim. He was a great social scientist who gives to the sociology a method of investigacion owner to it, and made a hug stuff of sociological investigation whiches meaning a great progress to the sociology, for all this reasons (and others) he is considerated one of the father of the modern sociology.

Durkheim was born in 1858, in Lorena, Francia. Since he was young he felt atracted to the social sciences, reason for which he study philosophy and later sociology in germany. His work contemplates works like "the division of the social work" and "the suicide". They are, in my opinion a master pieces of the sociologycal work, and they represent the example and the motivation for the future sociology. But his best work is "the rules of the sociological method" where he defined what are the social facts and how they can explain the social reality throught a own methodology.

I think that Durkheim is the best because he was interested in gives to the sociology a own methodology and make it different of the other social sciences. And for all this reasons he is my favourite.

My Career

Hi! , today i am going to talk about my career, Sociology. I am studying sociology since one year ago, (this is my second year).

I am studying this career because i am very interested in the social sciences in general, like the psychology and anthropology and i think that the sociology is a science that encompasses both.

Other reason is because i think that we must to do something for the society and for the others, contribute our grain of sand to make better our world, and the sociology is a way to achieve that.

Like sociologist we must to study the socials relationships and their expressions searching, with a critical seeing, do them better. We have the must to led the people to do his own society, make to them free people, removal them from the oppressive system. The sociology give us the power and the tools to do it, just we must to know how to use them.

In this year we have a great subjetc, social history, do it by Gabriel Salazar, a great historian. This is the best subject that we have this semester and my favourite by the moment.

A photograph that i like

Hi everybody!, for this post i have chosen a photo that i like very much. This photo was taken by my girlfriend with her camera. In this photo are my brothers Matías y Daniel. They are six years old.
This photo was taken in summer of this year, in february aproximately. I remember that those days we were in Casablanca, on vacations with my familiy. We rode on horses in the morning, and my brothers liked it so very much. They could ride on the horses alone, without help from us, but at the begining they were too afraid to do it by themselves. Later they overcome their fear and started to do it without us.

There were two horses, one of them was very slow, and we had to push him all the time. I think probably he was very tired. They are very pretties, the name of the horse in the photograph was "blanco", and was the older to both horses. The photo was taken when we went to deliver the horses to the ranch and "blanco" peeped his head to say goodbye to us.
When i look at this photograph i remember my family and my brothers, and i especially that day , because it was a great day whit them and with my girlfriend who took the photograph, and for all these reasons i chose that photo, and hope you like it too.

My Utopia

The utopia is a concept that Thomas Moore used to decribe his perfect world, an island more specifically, where the state work for all the people, keeping the justice and equality for everybody. My utopia is different.

In my perfect world everyone would work for the rest, for justice, for equality and above all to ensure the welfare of all people. The people would work for the future of his soons and grandsoons, for his environment, for that they would see the nature that we have, the same animals, the same plants that we have the lucky to have.

In my world would not have wars, would not have guns, this things would be prohibited.

There would not be tears or misery, all the people would help to the other, no matter who are...

there are not hungry, the earth would give us all that we need to live comfortably, and peacefully, and with the work for everyone.

From this we can conclude that this is posible to make it real, because all the thing are giveninig us from the earth there are there for us, now the problem is that the people is not conscious about that. Every moment and every second more people die for the wars, for hungry, and the most of people do nothing for that, the govermentes in all the worl spend a lot of money in guns and wars, while in some parts of the world the poeple dont have meat or medicines..,

this is my utopia, that the people work for the world, and for the rest...

My favourite technological piece

Today i going to tell you about my favourite technological piece, the digital video disc (DVD). Why is my favourite? because thanks for it we can manipulate a lot of information easily, like music, movies, mp3, and a lot of kind of files that we can need to carry with us.

We can say that the dvd is the technologial developed of the cassettes, the compact disc, the diskettes, and the VHS, is the maximum expression of all this inventions.

In the actuallity in almost all the houses are dvd players, even you can put one in your car, or carry with you a portable player to every place that you want.

Other reason is that the dvd is easy to use, because you only need a dvd burner program in your computer (thing that almost new computers and notebooks have) and you can save all the information that you want.
The dvd is a great invention, i use them all the days, when i listening music or wathing movies. In my house we have a dvd player since four years ago. Now I have a new player, because the other was not playing very good. This is better than the other, but i preffered the old player, because it has dvd and vhs player togheter, It was fantastic...

In my opinion the best of the dvd is that you can watching movies easily, in your own house, comfortably, with your girlfriend (o boyfriend, if you are a woman), with a cigarrette and a coffe, in a raining day... and all this thanks to the DVD

My new Blog

Hello everyone! This is my new blog for my english course. I am Felipe Hugo and I am nineteen years old. I am studying sociology, this is my second year. I live in Santiago, in San Miguel.
I have one sister an two brothers (they are twins). My sister is studying literature, and my brothers are starting school, they are six years old. I was born on october 28th (if someone wants to give me a gift)
I am really into sociology and the signature about itself, like the psicology and antropology (the social sciences in general). I absolutely hate biology and chemistry...
I have a girlfriend, her name is Rocío, she is eighteen years old. I have been with her since more than three years ago... She is studying ocupational therapy. She loves it, and she is very happy. We like the movies and in this blog i want to write about my favorites movies and the information about them. We have a lot of movies, we like to collect them.
And for only $500 you can buy me one..