THE END

Hello, well this is my last blog; I never had a blog, so the creation of this blog was a new experience for me. I think that this kind of activity is good for students, because it´s allows us to write on topics that interest us or are related to our careers.

I don´t really like the blog writing during class hours, because I think that it´s more helpful or profitable improve the speaking with conversation groups or listening. The blog writing should be homework.

The presentations to our peers was very useful for people how expose, but not for listeners. Well that's something I hope we can do better for listeners, it could be through the obligation to ask questions of our exhibitors or may be take the presentation outside hour class.

Respect to my classmates, mostly from the veterinary career and from the phD program on agricultural and forestry sciences, are very friendly and nice, I hope the best for them.

My two classmates from the agricultural engineering are old friends, I know the guy, Bernardo from my first year at university and it´s more since my first university day. About the girl Pamela I know she by Bernardo because she was a friend from his pass girlfriend and I know she more in the CEPOC laboratory last year. Both are incredible person very nice and friendly.

The teacher Lourdes makes class very interesting, where the students can participate and express with confidence.

Something that can be change it´s the hour class or give a break more long for to eat something more nutritious.

I´m very pleased with the course, my intention always was to practice the English and I think I did it.  

Transgenic food, the future???

Transgenic foods are also known as genetically modified foods. Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by  genetic engineering techniques. These techniques are much more precise than mutagenesis, where an organism is exposed to radiation or chemicals to create a non-specific but stable change. Other techniques by which humans modify food organisms include selective breeding; plant breeding, and animal breeding, and somaclonal variation.

Genetically modified foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. Typically, genetically modified foods are transgenic plant: soy bean, corn, canola, cotton and seed oil. Animal products have also been developed, although as of July 2010 none are currently on the market.

Many proponents of genetically engineered crops claim they lower pesticide usage and have brought higher yields and profitability to many farmers, including those in developing nations.

Future envisaged applications of genetic modified organisms are diverse and include drugs in food, apples, pears, generally fruits that and product that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as hepatitis.

Other advantages about genetically modified food are:

The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of ways:

1-     1- Pest resistance: Crop losses from insect pests can be important, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Genetic modified aliments can help to eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market.

2-      Herbicide tolerance: same of before.

3-      2- Disease resistance: There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plants with genetically engineered could be resistance to diseases.

4-      3- Cold tolerance: New crops in region that before couldn´t be produced.

 4- Efficient photosynthetic metabolism: Plant more efficient in convert the light energy into chemical energy thus they produce more.

5-     

PUBLIC EDUCATION

The student protests that are occurring this year have been very consistent. I think that the state has all its education (primary, secondary and college or university) in bad conditions. Although, some faculties of the state escape from these bad conditions, because their deans and students allow the entrance of the private sector for their profit, however the others faculties, more utopian, have refused this type of improvement and development and have sunk into a circle of resentment towards society and people's heads, hoping to change the paradigms that are established. 

I think the problem of public education is an important issue because, as may be possible that Chile wants to become a developed and important country in the world if their public education is poor in quality on the primary and secondary. The public university education is still good and with international recognized but if the state doesn´t do nothing to return more competitive the public university education, compared with the best universities of the world and not with the private country sector, our public university have the risk to become so bad like the actual primary and secondary public education. Chile is not entitled to be called developed country or belonging to the OCDE. 

People who are in the state has a serious confusion to say that most poor people are studying in private university education, because they include technical schools. And the problem is not help the poor people, is that it´s ridiculous that state give money or help private institution because it have a social roll on the country, I think that if the university or technical education is not a business they are destined to disappears, but if the state help him, there be create the problem that now exist a expensive education with a lot of professional on the country. The education cannot be regulated by the market, the state has to regulate and should not make it profitable for private education, it´s ridiculous that the state give money to some privates institution to make it profitable. Must be exist a successful policy of developing country and include private entities but not funded.     

ANTUMAPU FACULTY

Hi guys, today I´m going to write about ANTUMAPU faculty.

Antumapu it´s a great faculty, I think that the people who like the silence and nature, Antumapu it´s the ideal Faculty for them. It´s very green and the people who study here are very nice. One of the best things about Antumapu is the sport area, with a soccer field and two  small fields for baby soccer that can be tennis courts. Also it has a few weights and a volleyball court that can become in a basketball court. Antumapu it´s a word from mapudungu that means land of the sun, it´s the largest campus of the University of Chile with approximately 325 acres, it´s located on the La Pintana town, very far from the Santiago center, approximately one hour in public transport. Antumapu is composed by the faculties of Agriculture, forestry and natural resources engineering, and veterinary. Since 2004 I´m a student from the agricultural engineering faculty. Between the faculties of agriculture and veterinary there is a small zoo with well care and happy animals. As an agronomist student I will comment about my faculty. This has several mention such pomology, agriculture economy, oenology and soil.

I think that the best date to know Antumapu it´s September, because the weather it´s great with sunny and windy days. Also there is an Independence Day party very funny.

Antumapu buildings are very old, I think that is nice, but the problem is due that this old buildings doesn´t have modern equipment.

I studied in Antumapu because I believe that is the best agricultural faculty of the country and the University of Chile has a social and global importance in Chile and the world respectively.

Best regards

Bye         

Art and design to create images, photography

The meaning of photography word comes from Greece and his meaning is the writing or design of light. There are several kinds of photographs, such as: landscape photographs, artistic, naturals, insects, animals, sport, extreme sport, or at the moment (the commonly taken by people). A style that I like and admire very much is the avant-garde photography.

These photographers break the reality pattern and paradigms about what means to take photography. Photographer Abelardo Morell Cuban established in the United States is a very good example of the previously noted. Abelardo Morell's photographs remind us that photography is more about how we see than the tools we use to create it. As we become blinded by the computer technology, more and more artists are returning to the past, working with processes and instruments more than one hundred years old. Morell is one of those artists who burst onto the scene with a series of images made with a camera obscura, a lens less camera most often associated with Renaissance artists.

How he takes these wonderful photographs?

Morell takes an ordinary room (living or hotel room) and transforms it into a camera by placing black plastic over all of the windows, leaving a 3/8 hole through which the light passes. Then, he sets up his view camera in the room, points it at the opposite wall, opens the lens and lets the image appear on the film over the next eight hours. The result is a magical world which fuses outdoor elements with domestic scenes, allowing the viewer to see the existing reality outside the window. Morell has transformed many rooms into cameras, the results of these pictures you can see them on my publication. These are extraordinary images alter our perception of reality and our placement in it.      

Heavy metals in the air, be careful with your breathe. VENTANAS contamination

Ventanas it's a refinery and smelting situated in the Valparaíso region, near of tourist place such as: Maitencillos, Zapallar and Horcón. Ventanas it's  a division of CODELCO enterprise. Recently, few months ago, this division had judicial problems because the contamination that it produced affected directly the area, and specially a small school named “La Greda” situated in Puchuncaví, that caused the intoxication of children's school. This situation provoked that the “Health seremi” put a judicial demand against CODELCO. The first verdict impose that Ventanas refinery and smelting must stop its work, but CODELCO appealed this verdict and in the second resolution it was accorded that Ventanas could continue its labor but this division must decrease its heavy metal emissions.

I think that the causes of this situation is compounded by the money generated by Ventanas for the government or CODELCO, because this division is critical for the enterprise with its strategic work with the copper and for the local, people because its operation create jobs. The effect of this contamination is reflected in the nature and people. People who breathe this toxic air with heavy metals present health problems like cancer and other not so serious such respiratory complications. On nature we see poor vegetation.

To prevent this situation I suggest that the industrial zone need to be evaluated with an industry density in the area as a limit.

There are two solutions that I propose. The short time solution is to relocate the school in a healthy zone and the long time solution consists in change the industry and the industrial regulatory plan of the area.

Hi everyone, now I want to write something about the Japan radioactivity, specifically the Fukushima disaster. The radiation leak in Japan is a topic very serious. The radioactive leak occurred in Fukushima, a northern city, near to the ocean. This disaster produced that many people had to leave their homes and abandon their pets. Neighboring countries are also concerned about contamination through the wind and rain

.

Is important to say that the nuclear plants are near to the sea or some lake because they need to cooling her system, and this way with cool water they controlled the radiation. Also I want to say that the sea water is salt an causes corrosive damaged in metal, is very probable that the nuclear plant in Fukushima had a special system to removed the salt.

I know that the leak is due to a lack in the cooling system, because this system was damaged by the sea water. The earthquake, 8,9 on the Richter scale, caused that the sea water damaged the emergency cooling system that was electric. This earthquake caused a tsunami with waves of ten meters of height.

The comparison between Fukushima and Chernobil is interesant because the radioactivity in Chernobyl was caused by the explosion of an reactor and in Fukushima was caused by a lack in the electric emergency system and the pollution radioactivity was gradually expanding through the cracks produced by the earthquake.

Bye