Colegio AMA Journalistas

more photos!

2010-06-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

AMA Carnival Photobooth!!!

2010-06-11T03:32:00.001-07:00

Media: Necessary evil or evilly necessary?

2010-03-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

For our February unit in journalism, we focused on persuasive articles and debates as well as the topic of the influence of media on adolescents. The following are a collection of articles journalism students wrote about the impact of the media on teens.

Internet and Teens

I believe the use of internet has a positive effect on children and teenagers. The internet is a tool that provides information for any research or projects. The internet is a tool teenagers can use to do productive things that will only bring them more knowledge and will open their minds.

Internet is so broad that these days we can find any topic we like; therefore, we can learn much more about life. The use of internet should only bring positive impacts to childrens' lives and minds.

If a person is mentally stable, he or she should only obtain positive things from the internet. Furthermore, with the consent of the parents, it is on the children’s hand to choose what they want to search to help them understand the topic they want to.

The internet is a device that is quick, effective, and economic. Kids can use it all the time, because it is so easy.

Internet also offers a connection with the outer world and with what is happening. It opens more ways and a connection with people that live in the different parts of the world. These kids can communicate with old friends and stay in touch with them, and also family without spending a fortune. The children these days can stay in touch with friend that moved away; furthermore, they can be informed of what is happening with their lives.

The internet is such an important method to achieve what children need, because it offers them information of almost anything of what they want. Therefore, the key of internet to be a safe source is based on the fact of how to use it. Furthermore, it is also safe if it is being censored by parents, they are the ones that are able to control what their children are researching for.

If children have had a stable home and are mentally stable, internet should not harm them or nor should be dangerous for them. Internet should be only used to provide to the kid the information he or she needs to research. It gives the opportunity to children to be aware of the situation of the world, and; therefore, kids can learn a lot more of life than in the past. Independently, kids have the opportunity to learn more about what they want to and not what they said to learn.

Clara Secaira.

INTERNET, A SOCIAL MIRACLE OR AN ELECTRONIC DRUG

Internet has been a very bad influence for almost all of the youths of this last generation, and even some people of the past generation before this one. Internet has given an open invitation to all sorts of unmoral websites and opportunities. To name some, which will later be discussed in more detail, there is cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, and porno websites. However, the internet doesn’t just affect people mentally; it can also affect them physically as well as socially.
There are many kids who need outlets for pent-up emotions. The easiest and most anonymous way to release these emotions is cyber-bullying. This is the act of being mean, or taunting a kid, but doing it via the internet. Furthermore, the stalkers friends would not be able to know who it was who knew all of their secrets. Through this new identity, the user would is able to touch people on their most sensitive nerves and really hurt someone emotionally. Unfortunately, this act can, and has, led to suicides as well as permanent psychological damage.
Cyber-stalking is the act of following, observing, and learning about someone. However, these actions are not done literally; they are done over the internet on sites such as facebook.com or MSN. After the stalker has learnt enough about a person, the stalker will normally send the person a friend request. From there, they will try to emotionally befriend them, and in the end set up a face-to-face meeting. Once this has been set up, they will act really nice to the person, and if it is a female, end up sexually abusing her. This is also a really big problem for kids also, because, they could get kidnapped and ransomed.
Unfortunately, one of our biggest problems now a day with the internet is the creation, and visitation of porno websites. These websites are often used to induce sexual excitement, from which one will often move on to masturbation. For many kids this can be a really bad influence. They could get addicted to watching porno videos, and start downloading them to a computer, from which a younger kid might watch them. This could, if the child is a male, give him a demeaning view of women, because he has seen them nude in front of a camera. However, it is not just males who watch nude videos; there are also females who will go to such websites.
In conclusion, media has been a terrible effect on many kids and will continue being, unless drastic measures are taken to prevent actions like the ones mentioned above. If we want the young generations to be safe from all the influence and actions that happen on the internet, we have to start enforcing more rules. Otherwise we might as well welcome these influences with open arms.

Ruben.
02/11/2010

Internet and its effects.
By OmAr XiNgO.
This theme is very serious and doesn’t have an absolute answer. Like all the things, internet was created with good intentions; however, there are always people that use them with horrible intentions. internet is one of the most used media for communication, if it is not the most. This essay will talk about the internet, not how the community sees it; but the importance that it has in my life and if it has been useful to me or the opposite.
In my life, I could say that it hasn’t been a positive influence. As a student it is very easy to get distracted by anything while I am doing homework or some work for school. The distractions stop me from thinking of my homework and make me lose time doing another things. To get high grades it is very difficult and even more with so much stuff on internet. Virus for computers, sexual content, bad pages which only lead you to your own destruction; are some of the dangerous things about internet. Parents always tell us to be careful what we watch and where we go in the internet, and we think why all their preoccupations. is understandable the preoccupation for us, because This is a whole world full of new and dangerous contents. One more thing I see bad about internet is that in pages as facebook, sometimes you find applications that could be games in which we pass hours and hours trying to get new stuff or more money that isn’t real money. It is only a way to attract more people to those pages. My testimony is that more less, daily I pass 3 to 4 hours on the internet. This is between doing homework, chatting, playing, and downloading music.
I can tell you that today it is an easy way to find information, but for me it would be better without internet. Clearly talking in the way of not wasting time that I could use in other more useful things. And for the problem of where I can find information to do homework there is many valuable sources I can use. Such as interviews, books, newspapers, etc. those are very useful sources; however, be careful of what you see there, because as I told you: all the things have been made with the best of the intentions but are been used for horrible purposes.

Shoot-em-Up!
Violent Video Games are not what most people think!

Many parents are highly concerned about their kids playing video games, but why?
Who ever said that video games were bad for you, that they “miss-lead” your life? Video games don’t make you savage, wild and beastly only YOU can do that. Well, here is a word of advise to all those worried parents, teachers or anyone else out there; video games are good for you and stop telling your kids otherwise!
Personally video games are not my highest idolization, but I have caught many kids being stopped from playing, and not because it distracts them from work or study, but everyone seems to claim that it will harm you to play video games. Video games are always blamed for causing aggression and giving you square eyes. The truth is though that video games are good for you. As hard as it may seem, it is true! Video games have a long history, even before the 80's when Physic and therapists would use them to to treat people. These therapists would treat their patience from physical, learning and even from emotional disorders. Today researchers even suggest that fast-paced action video games and especially shooting games, which are so often criticised, sharpen your vision, improve your attention and work your memory skills. Inclusively these video games can develop your hand and eye coordination's.

You might think now, well these skills are only virtual but that is not true, these skills can help you better in real-life situations. Driving your car, or juggling more than one task at a time, are part of the physical daily skills you can learn from video games.
Daphne Bavelier a professor of brain and cognitive sciences told ABC that she has the job that most of teenagers would want. Along with her team, she studies video games. She is hoping to find a way of using these games for people in rehabilitation programs and to slow or even reverse the visual decline that comes from ageing.
BBC wrote about a group of scientist who trained subjects on a diversity of games and then tested the individual player in life situations, to make sure that refining visual and attentional skills were really coming from the video games being played. One group played Tetris and the other Medal of Honour a violent shooting game. After ten days the subjects were tested and compared to the players who had been playing tetris, the other subjects showed a significant improvement in visual and attentional skills.
Stop telling your kids that violent shooting games are bad for them, because that is a lie, and its been proven. Let them enjoy and let their capacity of visual and attentional skills develop. Be a good guardian to your child, don't try to interrupt his development in a negative manner. Be modern, stop the old fashioned tetris, give it a rest, and start playing the Shoot-em-Ups!

Article by: Samantha Batliner 

courtesy of:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=es&source=imghp&q=two+kids+playing+video+games&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Censorship in Guatemala

2010-03-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Our assignment: investigate an issue that we believe needs to be brought to light that is currently being ignored in the mainstream media, mostly out of fear. Like many countries, Guatemala has "selective reporting", often due to the fact that journalists who speak out tend to disappear. We are going to go where other journalists are not going...
Here is the first in our series. More to come this week.

GUATEMALAN AGRICULTURE AND PESTICIDES

Guatemala, being a third world country, depends on agriculture to sustain its economy and to keep the country afloat. In the media there is never any mention of the dangers of pesticides that are used on the plants. For example, it was never mentioned when the United States sent down outlawed DDT to Guatemala so that they could still make a profit off of the illegal pesticide. They made it really cheap so that the poor farmers could afford it. The farmers were ignorant to the fact that this pesticide was very hazardous, not only to their health, but to the environment around them. This is a huge flaw in the Guatemalan government regulations because they are not only putting the lives of many at risk, but they are also keeping the the dangers hidden from the ignorant farmers.

DDT has been proven to cause multiple types of neurological diseases as well as several different cancers. The neurological affects are mainly suffered by babies who had never even come in contact with DDT. The infants ingest the poison through the breast milk of their mothers, who had either been in the fields or whose husbands had been. The parents either did not wash up properly after returning from the spraying, or had not protected themselves from the pesticide that is blown back to their faces by the wind (usually little to no protection is given to Guatemalan field workers). As for cancer, the most common type is breast cancer, but these pesticides can also causes testicular, rectum, prostate, liver, stomach, bladder, endometrium, pancreas, and lung cancers. The cancer most affected by DDT is breast cancer. It is clinically proven that if a young girl is exposed to DDT she has a five times higher chance of getting breast cancer than one that was not, or who were exposed to it later in life.

The media should be informing the public of all the risks of using, and even being around, DDT. Hundreds of people are contracting unnecessary cancers because companies are afraid of losing some profit. One of the most effective, yet far-fetched ways to improve conscientiousness of the dangers of DDT would be to have complete media honesty and to have the facts in newspapers, television shows, news reports, and radio broadcasts. However, this requires a Guatemala without corruption where the government actually cares more about the well-being of the people instead of making profits.

Journalists:

Ruben Bergstresser and Rodrigo Paiz
Editor: Robin Smith

03-19-2010

A Poem About Pajama Day

2010-03-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month our school tried something new,

Instead of reading and writing and sticking with glue,

We all came in Pajamas, excluding for a few.

As we sat in our class when third period began,

The bell suddenly rang and all the kids ran.

They dashed to the library much faster than I can!

They choose books about princesses, pirates and knights.

Then they all found a big kid and turned on the lights,

And then even the teachers thought they were beautiful sights.

Soon the ruckus and rushing was totally gone,

And the kids all sounded like birds chirping at dawn.

But as soon as everyone got comfy and began to yawn….

The bell rang again, again and again.

So looking mopey and down the kids returned to their classes,

Wondering why the teachers disintegrated the masses.

Then at the end of the day,

Before we all go away,

The bell rang again, and everyone yelled “YEY!”

by Zane Angelo

Pajama and Reading Day

2010-03-18T20:40:00.001-07:00

To celebrate literacy, AMA held a Pajama Day. Students (and teachers, administrators, etc.) wore pajamas to school and brought their favorite book. In the morning, older students were paired with younger ones to read together, and in the afternoon we had a Drop Everything and Read half hour where we...well, you get it. Parents were invited to join us to read with their kids. Overall, it was a nice break from everyone's routing. But, I think Zane says all this better in his poem, posted next.

Who Said iPhone???

2010-01-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy of http://virulentwordofmouse

Remember a few years back? You remember those big ol’ “brick” Cellphones? Then they evolved to become these smaller cellphone with the antenna. Then they became smaller and smaller. Cellphones were amazing. You could call, text and play snake! Wasn’t that fun? Moreover, around 4 years ago, the first cellphones with color display came to reach. However, they were utterly expensive! Then, cellphone companies came to release cellphones with camera, and cellphones able to reproduce music. The Mega pixels increased as well as the memory space in them. However, Apple had released on of the most wanted items out there: The iPhone. This wonderful piece of technology has to be one of the most genius thing in our world today. In its debut, people stampeded, and unfortunately a few lives were lost in the process of attaining this object that does it all.
First of all, the iPhone's revolutionary design drove people wild! It was smooth, and it was a touchscreen. This drove other companies to imitate the iPhone immediately. Put in simple words this thing was “cool”.
Apart from its slick design the iPhone did everything. The calling, messaging, pictures, music and the internet! Yes the internet in a phone for all you “old schoolers” out there. This work of art had everything a click away! Let me rephrase that. A touch away. The iPhone was first released in 2007, and it was not so affordable. However, the iPhone 3G offered a faster internet service as well as a cheaper range for all of us not so economically gifted.
But that was not enough. Apple released the third set of iPhones. It was the iPhone 3Gs. Oh this bad boy was even cooler. Faster internet, it had a built in compass, and finally it could record video! Ha! Apple was setting all of us really nice with this one.
All of this was not the enough to make this cellphone so splendorous. What made the iPhone so demanded was the applications you could put in it. Needless to say that around 90% of them are useless. However, The millions of apps include GPS navigating systems, shortcuts to websites, games, finders etc. You need a weather forecast? The Iphone's got it. Wondering about how your stocks are doing? Need a converter, or a tip calculator? Don’t worry about it dude, iPhone has got you covered.
Seriously, this computer on your palm thing is simply marvelous. However, competitive companies are also handling these ideas pretty well. Blackberry and HTC have been evolving popularly among the consumers as well. They have released several products which contain the touch functions, the multiple application, and the consumer magnet! The app world has been a pleasant pass time for us gadget geeks, and a helpful device for busy men around the globe. So without further due, I will thank Apple and its iPhone for pleasing its consumers. But I’m just wondering: When is my iPhone going to start making coffee for me?

By: Pablo Cordedda

The King Cup

2010-01-26T07:53:00.000-08:00

This week the king cup was passing the eliminatory section for the quarter-finals. Here are some of the teams that passed. Real Madrid team was defeated by the Alcorcon by a score of 4-1. Another team that passed to the quarter-finals was Athletic of Madrid who defeated the team Marbella 6-0, this game was won by four goals by Maxi Rodriguez , one by Jose Manuel Jurado , and another one by Florent Sinama Pongolle. Valencia team gained the pass to the quarter-finals by wining by a global result . However on the last game they tied with the team Alcoyano 2-2, the goals of the Valencia team were made by Carlos Marchen and Nikola Zigic, the goals by Alcoyano were Victor Curto and Carpio. Villarreal team won 1-0, with goal of Giuseppe Rossi, defeating team Puertollano. This is how some of the teams won their pass; however there are other teams in the first division that lost against third division teams like Real Madrid.
Real Madrid, eliminated from the King cup.
During the eliminatory for the octaves of finals in the king cup, Real Madrid was eliminated after their loss to Alcorcon. Real Madrid defeated the Alcorcon yesterday 1-0 with a goal by Rafael Van Der Vaart, Alcorcon won by 4-0 in the 1st round. The total result was 4-1; these result gave Alcorcon the victory. But this is not the first time that Real Madrid lost their pass to important steps of the King Cup with second or third division teams. The first game in 1997 against Alaves; second with Toledo in 2000; the fourth was against Real Union in 2008. Again the Real Madrid disappointed all the people that believed that this team was going to win.
Kaka is frustrated on his way to the bench, while behind him two players of Alcorcon celebrate their advance to the octaves of finals.

By: Omar Xingo Perez

Losing our Lake: Environmental Concerns Become Reality

2010-01-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Losing Lake Atitlan
Hurricane Stan occurred four years ago, and in my Hometown Panajachel it was well marked that it was a disaster which affected most of the towns nearby, but what they forget to mention is that it was also a determining factor for the contamination of what used to be the precious lake that surrounds us, and what is now a
During the hurricane Stan all of the water treatment plants in Panajachel were destroyed due to the strong winds and rising waters, and at the time it did not seem all that harmful, so the topic was left ignored and forgotten by both the authorities and the people, who were more interested on resolving short term consequences. So then the Municipalidad decided to make a business out of connecting all the water and sanitary pipes to the river which was also connected to the lake. This is when things gradually became worse; so we add oil and gasoline from the boats that circulate the lake, dirty water and crap flowing from the river into the lake, people using soap to wash clothes and take showers in the lake , no water treatment plants to clean the water, and we multiply these times the period of four years, plus ignorance of the future outcomes of all these, and we have a: massive algae bloom which was destined to happen. Then I ask myself how can something which occurred four years ago still not be taken care of, and is still now contaminating the lake, and how does the Mayor just not care about what happens. How can this be possible? A past ghost from years ago is still haunting us so we decide just to run away or pretend that it is not here. So we actually decide to try to help the lake after we almost lost it once? It is ridiculous that we have to put something so beautiful in such state to realize the stupidity and self-centered actions we took so long ago and that some people still do. I believe this is a wakeup call for every person that lives near the Lake Atitlan, and also a warning to what is next to come if we don’t answer the desperate help signals we are receiving.
We already have Amatitlan as an example of what could happen to our lake if we don’t stop contaminating, but I guess that just isn’t enough to switch people’s mentalities over the situation we are in. Lake Atitlan is fighting on its own against the ghost of the hurricane Stan for far too long, and I think we owe the lake at the very least a hand to show support, and that we are also there for him, but we have to give a hand now!. So yeah we think the lake has gotten better because of the recent drop of temperature and the constant rain, but remember what triggered all this in first place was us, and the final catalyst was the hot sunny weather that occurred before, so what’s going to prevent the algae bloom from happening again next summer? Nature already saved the lake once I think it’s our turn to do it if it happens again. In the end we can never predict what weather is keeping for us but what we can do is stop the long term consequences that the lake was set upon.

By: Rodrgio Paiz

More Background on the Lake...

This world is about to lose an important body of water. In this district of Guatemala there a beautiful lake that is slowly withering away from us. This lake is called Atitlan. Right now its going through a cyanobacteria bloom and it might be lost to the excessive human growth. There are treatments that people are doing to save this beautiful ecosystem but all there projects won´t start making effects for at least more than 10 years unless they don’t take the necessary actions now.

This lake is known worldwide since its the only lake with a volcano view from any town that you live in. The lake is rare in its beauty and formation: it is a caldera with almost bottomless depths.
Panajachel is the most industrial of all the lake's villages, and its economy is based on tourism. Panajachel is one of the main reason for this cyanobacteria bloom since we don’t have a water treatment plant. The water treatment plant was lost in 2005 from a hurricane called Stan which devastated many cities and towns around the country. It’s been 4 years since the destruction of Stan, but no one did anything until it got serious in 2009.

I interviewed a man named Giovanni who told me about this cyanobacteria bloom. He told me that every body of water has cyanobacteria. This bacteria is the oldest bacteria existing in the world. The cyanobacterium feeds off nitrogen and carbon which are main components of some fertilizers used in crops. He also told me that all around the lake are major plantations that contribute to this problem. He said that just up the mountain, where people paraglide, there's a plantation where some corporate people plant over 600 lettuces in season. When I say corporate I mean Paiz and McDonalds which are the two of the corporations that plant. There are many other corporations that plant in this area of Guatemala as well, such as Starbucks whom has a coffee plantation in this region. These corporations use excessive amounts of fertilizers to reach the demands on the food to grow in Guatemala.

Giovanni also told me that cyanobacteria is found in the ocean but its more known as red tide. The red tide is a cyanobacteria bloom like what's going on in the lake. The red tide goes away but kills the fish in the part of the ocean that it appears. Like the red tide, the cyanobacteria in the lake only comes once a year, but each time it gets worse. This process will continue on and on until the lake turns into a swamp if nothing is done. Since this is a closed body of water this cyanobacteria can’t be washed out by the waves or by the current of a river.

We have to take actions to save our lake and it should be as immediate as possible before its irreversible. So people at home do all you can at home to make some results and hope that the government does something also. We can start by making a fostic tank at home where all defecation goes. Also, we need to spread eduction about not washing clothes in the lake, using soaps without phosphates, and not throwing trash into our water sources.
Hopefully someone of a higher power than the town people will do something. McDonald's actually is helping us with the lake, but in my opinion its just a marketing scheme so they can put a McDonald's in Panajachel (which the people are against).

by Morgan Housego

Photo of cyanobacteria in the lake. Courtesy of http://www.lakeatitlanhealth.com

Politicos: Loss of Faith in Guatemala's Governance

2010-01-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked to write a paper about politics. At first I wrote a paper about the corruption behind “saving the lake”. However, I realized that this is a topic that not many people are excited about. It is something that is known too well to want to discuss. So, when I was talking to some local kids, I realized what the true story behind politics is in Guatemala.

As I sat in front of a tienda some of my friends came up and began talking to me. I asked these kids how things were in school, what they thought was happening with the lake, and how they felt about our government. While we talked, I noticed something that completely defines politics in this country, disinterest.

While we talked I realized that my friends all knew about the most recent disappearance of money, the newest tax, and of course who the President is. What really surprised me, however, was their lack of interest and right then I realized that this is the true political story in Guatemala. Here, people have lost faith in their government. My fellow citizens know what is happening but disregard it, almost as if to protect themselves from disappointment. Politics in Guatemala no longer represent the people. Here, a free T-shirt and some money is enough to buy a vote, not because people are ignorant, but because their lack of caring can be bought with materials. People can’t be bought with false promises because people have lost the ability to believe, they have lost the desire to hope.

Toward the end of our conversation I asked these kids what they wanted to do in the future. Some wanted to own businesses, others wanted to work with computers, or as engineers or teachers. None of them wanted to have anything to do with politics or government. My story could have been about whatever the most recent political mishap is, but there is something more important happening. People across this country are losing or have lost faith in their government. People need something or someone to unite them, people need something to rally behind, and as the government does the opposite, people will only continue to rally behind the wrong cause, like violence. I believe that in Guatemala we need to rally behind each other, because it is all we have. For this reason I urge everyone reading this not to lose faith in Guatemala. Stand up and talk, let’s make a difference through learning, ideas and words, let’s rally behind each other, because Guatemala is not represented by politics, but by you and me, and what we decide to teach the next generation.

By: Zane Angelo

Weather: Wind and Doughts Rock Panajachel

2010-01-25T12:48:00.000-08:00

This rainy season the weather has been changing a lot. At the beginning there was not enough rain, now there is plenty. Unfortunately this rain might be a little late, since we will soon be commencing the dry season. There are theories that these odd weather patterns even caused, or at least accelerated the algae blooms that are occurring through out the lake. One way to back up this theory is that when the rains started, we could observe a highly visible change in how much bacteria was floating around in the lake. One reason for the rain to have so much effect could be that the lake was “choking”, and that the rain has been aerating it; which has slowed, if not entirely stopped, the spreading of the algae.

The wind has been picking up considerably over the last couple of days, this shows that the dry season is on its way, since the wind was coming from the north. On the way back from Antigua we could feel how the wind was buffeting the vehicle, as well as see the clouds and how they were being moved by the wind.

Many people around the lake, including myself, are hoping that the rain continues for a little while longer; both for the sake of the lake, and to grow food. Since it didn’t rain very much there was some trouble growing food, but nowhere near as bad as in a different part of Guatemala where they had a full drought. This drought caused a major food shortage in part of Guatemala, currently there is at least one food drive in Pana to help support the people that were left without enough food.

by: Ruben Bergstresser

Fashionistas - Fashion at AMA: What the Girls Think

2010-01-25T12:45:00.000-08:00

Fashion is considered the prevailing style in dressing. In the Academy Multicultural Atitlan (A.M.A), fashion is a theme that varies depending on each person’s view. For some of the A.M.A girls fashion is a serious theme; although not so much for the rest.

The way each person dresses depends on the style of each person; however, some of the girls think it is a fundamental item in their lives.

According to a survey taken on Wednesday November 10, 2009, 10% of the girls at Academy Multicultural Atitlan take fashion in a more serious way. 60% of them said fashion is not so relevant in their lives, but it is enjoyable to look nice. Furthermore, the remaining of the females said fashion is not something significant in their lives. One girl said “dressing up is an act you need to do in order to cover yourself; however, it is not a fun thing to do”.

At A.M.A fashion is not a remarkable topic for the girls; however, the majority of girls said that even when fashion is not an essential point in their lives, it is still nice to dress up and feel good about the way you look.

Dressing up for some of the girls is considered a way to express themselves, while for the rest is just a necessity they have to cover.

In conclusion, the majority of the girls of A.M.A School think fashion is a topic in which sometimes is fun and makes them feel good about themselves. They have clear in their minds that being the most fashionable person in the school is not their most important goal; in fact, they have a lot of other activities they consider more crucial in their own lives.

by: By Clara Secaira