Always Free
Issue no. 9 // October-November
El Independiente 3rd Year Blues What Happened While You Were Procrastinating Nigeria Officially Declared “Ebola-Free” after 42 days withouta fresh case. Outbrek killed 4,500 people after Liberian diplomat brought it into Nigeria
Suspected Nazi war criminals have been granted social securities from the United Stetes. A loophole in the legal system saw the government allow the criminals to keep thier securities if they fled the US a recent Associated Press report has found.
Some jobs come with a uniform. For an increasing number of employees, that uniform will soon include a badge that tracks everything they do. Many Companies such as Ebay, BP and Buffer will use trackers like Fibbit totrack how much their employees will work in exchange for discounts on health insurance.
Cécile Nolan
While I look about me at the renewal of the university spirit, I find myself feeling ancient. It used to take me a good 10 minutes to walk down this 10-second path from the university door to the cafeteria, stopping to say hello to one or discuss the upcoming Humanities talk with another student, or even to not-so-subtly make eyes at a romantic interest. But now, it takes me half a second to walk down that path on a bad day, recognizing the “University is the best years of your awkward 1st year body language, life”, was the maxim I heard over and the confident 2nd year flounce, the over again, usually by my parents traits and the names strangers to or their friends when they tipsily me. And how could they not be? My reminisce their hay days of youth year is gone. Drafted to the big city, and mischief. But I can’t shake this leaving us to go through the “HI-MYstrange feeling as I look NAME-IS-CICI-ANDaround the crowded It used to take me I - L O V E - P O T T E RYcampus at 14h00 on a a good 10 minutes GARDENING-ANDWednesday; a feeling to walk down this M Y - F A V O R I T E that half of my year 10-second path from C O L O U R - I S went off to war and that the university door to YELLOW” all over the cafeteria we were left behind. again. Isn’t that ironic; not yet 21, and yet I feel old. I walk out at break time, a determination in my step that will It seems that with every wellhopefully conceal my awkwardness rehearsed introduction I listen to or and give me an air of purpose. I perform, the nagging feeling that scan the landscape for familiar lives in my stomach grows, telling faces that I know are going to be me that I’ve been through this and rare this year. When I fail to find that I don’t have the energy to do someone to latch onto, I swiftly slip it again. So I wallow in my selfpast the open cafeteria door to get pity, nostalgically thinking about a glass of water. I then whip out my my 2nd year and how, because of phone and wait for the rest of my exchanges and moving to Madrid, it class to come and rescue me from was to be our last year all together a sea of unfamiliar eyes and smiles and we didn’t even know it. that seem to endlessly be greeting and meeting each other. Finally, So there you have it. Whether my class walks out and sits down you’re in a small town or the capital, next to me, huddling together for it is coming for you too. So enjoy social warmth and glancing around your time and get ready for the 3rd somewhat restlessly. year blues. I left high school gladly, with a spark in my eye and a spring in my step, eager to take on the brave new world that I was told university would be. Finally, an opportunity to truly be myself without the pressures of conformity, to study what actually interests me, and to grow and live amongst my peers!
Are Current Birth Rates a Threat to Society? Gracia Pujadas Driving to university, I’m still ‘waking up’ and thinking about how beautiful the Cathedral looks when it is hit by the first morning sunbeam. On the radio, a few economists were engaged in an intense discussion about the alarming number of children that are being born in Spain nowadays; or to put it more precisely, the alarmingly small number of children being born in Spain each year. According to the Spanish Statistical Office (INE), the national birth rate is decreasing faster every year. This, together with the rate of 1.26 children per woman in 2013, was inducing a heated debate between these economists, who feared that current population levels will not be maintained if this trend isn’t countered. Some regions of Spain present even more worrying figures, such as Asturias, where the birthrate is 0.64 children per woman. Furthermore, the age at which women are having their first child is increasing. You might be wondering why something as personal as having children matters to economists. Families are the basic units of consumption, which affects GDP. Furthermore, if fewer children are born, fewer adults will be joining the labour force in the coming years, which will inevitably threaten the Welfare State. Who will pay for pensions, unemployment benefits, health or education? The answer is a decreasing number of taxpayers. Problems arise when ‘population pyramids’ don’t look like pyramids anymore, as is the trend in first world countries. The Spanish Government has attempted to tackle this problem
without success. For instance, between 2007 and 2010, it was decided that every woman having a baby would receive €2.500, an amount which could increase up to €3.500 in special cases. So, the question is why this policy, as well as others taken by the government, didn’t encourage the expected improvements. Contrary to the expression “Don’t give me a fish, but teach me to fish!”, families were given a two-thousand-andfive-hundred-Euro fish, but not the framework for a lasting solution. Clever policies must be implemented; by this, I mean measures that help parents be effective caregivers and workers at the same time. In fact, Nordic countries are good examples of places that have implemented such measures; substantial financial support has been given to kindergartens by their respective governments, as well as to providers of extra-curricular activities for children, resulting in an increasing number of children per woman with more women employed at the same time. Nevertheless, I wonder if governments can actually act upon this issue or if it’s just a matter of people realizing how important families are and prioritizing oftenneglected family lives to stressful jobs. While I wish people acknowledged the importance of this problem, I fear they won’t, as it concerns society as a whole and leaves individuals unaffected for the moment. Human beings are essentially selfish creatures by nature and will not react to this problem until it is hopelessly late.
Spanish nurse tests negative for Ebola virus in the second test: the results suggest that Teresa Romero, who contracted the virus when treating two repatriated missionaries, is no longer infected. However, she will have to remain in hospital to fully recover from the infection.
Hong Kong Leader Reaffirms Tough Stance on Elections and Economic Discontent HONG KONG — The Beijing-appointed leader of Hong Kong, Leung Chunying, said Monday evening that allowing his successors to be chosen in open elections based on who won the greatest number of votes was unacceptable in part because it risked giving poorer residents a dominant voice in politics.
Tu Mujer se Parece a Julia Roberts Pedro Letai
Me lo dice la cajera del supermercado. No. No me gusta nada Julia Roberts. En todo caso se parece a Jessica Lange, le digo. Hemos hecho esta pantomima tantas veces, en tantos lugares. Supongo que la única explicación es que mi mujer se parece a Julia Roberts. Los días se torcerán de mil maneras distintas. Se inclinarán a un lado y a otro. Tendrán todo tipo de formas y estarán llenos de cualquier cosa. Billetes de lotería premiados, accidentes aéreos, agujeros en el cemento de mi calle, remedios para las nuevas enfermedades, enfermedades aún más nuevas y edificios altos de cristal de espejo, de esos que solo sirven para que los vecinos vuelvan a meterse en sus propias vidas y los empleados busquen un ascensor en el que nadie les vea. Perros vivos, peces muertos, mentiras, bibliotecas, un circo. Y no uno cualquiera. El circo mundial. Los días serán mil cosas pero las noches seguirán siendo lo mismo. Todo se detiene tarde o temprano. Sin excepción. Los trenes se detienen y los viajeros bajan. Lo he visto mil veces. Bajan y saludan a sus hijos y los hijos les cuentan sus cosas y las mujeres saludan a sus maridos y los maridos a sus mujeres y después se termina. Como los osos polares se mueren después de haber cazado unos cuantos miles de peces a zarpazos. Los pocos peces que se libran de los zarpazos también mueren. Y los paseos se acaban, llega el cansancio y hay que sentarse un rato antes de seguir, y hasta el amor
se acaba. El amor que dura para siempre también se termina aunque nadie lo diga, y se acaban las balas y las ganas y todos los ruidos paran y los turnos de los vigilantes nocturnos y la suerte también. García Márquez escribió ‘Crónica de una muerte anunciada’ con un solo adverbio acabado en ‘mente’. Después no hubo ninguno más. Mientras, nosotros escribimos idioteces como ‘estoy ABSOLUTAMENTE seguro’ o ‘me siento TERRIBLEMENTE triste’. Para escribir uno tiene que sentir vértigo y temblar ante el teclado como el torero ante el toro. El día que eso ya no pasa es mejor dejarlo atrás, matador. Aquella chica veía los toros desde pequeña, cuando tenía que estar viendo dibujos, o llorando sin más. Un día me regaló unos bolis verdes. A mí me gustaban porque Neruda escribía siempre con tinta verde. Ella lo sabía, aunque eso no significara que me quisiera ni que yo fuera a ser Neruda a partir de entonces. No son tan sencillos los crímenes. Conduciendo de vuelta a casa paré a poner gasolina. Me sentía bien. Como un barco que coloca el faro donde quiere. A lo lejos vi una pareja besarse sobre su propio reflejo mientras bajaba la marea, como si quisieran entrar por la fuerza en todos los poemas. Todo se detiene tarde o temprano. Digan lo que digan las novelas de García Márquez y todas esas películas con Julia Roberts.
Apple Inc. has announced surprising news for their corporation and the world. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been selling better than expected. Even though there is high competition amongst lighter mobiles with larger screens, iPhone continues to attract consumers willing to pay high prices for cutting-edge handsets. This has permitted the company’s quarterly profit to raise a 13%. Originally Apple though it would sell 37.8 million iPhones this quarter, but its expectations were surpassed by 1.47 million sales.
Google will change its search system to avoid piracy. After receiving an extensive amount of criticism from the entertainment industry complaints which have been going on for years - Google will change the way results show up when it comes to downloadable content. Now, links which provide illegal downloads will show up lower down on the page, whilst legal downloads which you can purchase from websites such as Spotify or Google Play - will show up first. The criticism hasn’t ended, however, as these companies will have to pay for this feature.”
Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement in Brief and Beyond Lau Kin Ling Eriko Wong Shu Lam Minnie Background Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to China in 1997 under the “One Country, Two Systems” regime which means that Hong Kong could continue to have its own political, legal and economic systems with a high degree of
and nominated by a 1200-member nominating committee instead of by civic nomination. Such tactics are to ensure that the future Chief Executive will be a Beijing-loyalist. Responding to this decision, student organizations mobilized students to boycott classes for one week from 22 September. A protest
autonomy from China for 50 years. The “miniconstitution” Basic Law has been implemented in Hong Kong since then. Article 45 states that, “the ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures”.
As of now, the Hong Kong government has been urging the protesters to end the ongoing movement, but with the steadfast attitudes between the two camps dialogues have yet to be made possible. Implications While mass protests are commonplace among countries across the globe, Hong Kong’s current movement
In 2007, the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China declared that universal suffrage may be implemented in 2017. In 2013, Benny Tai, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, founded the Occupy Central with Love and Peace Movement (OCLP). A peaceful, civil disobedience campaign, its aim was to stage a mass sit-in to blockade Central – the business district of Hong Kong - as a means to force Beijing to implement genuine universal suffrage in compliance with international standards in 2017. However, in August this year, NPC stipulated that candidates for the election would have to be patriotic
National Day of China. Further provocation with the use of tear gas and pepper spray has led to an increase in the movement and has come to be known as the “Umbrella Movement”, in reference to protesters using umbrellas to protect themselves.
“Being a former colony turned “Special Administrative Region” was also held at the entrance of Central Government Offices on 26 September. Upon the police violently suppressing the crowds, and arresting student leaders and protesters, a dissatisfied public started to flood the streets. Benny Tai then announced that the OCLP to begin on 28 September, earlier than expected day of 1 October, the
carries with it unique repercussions which have attracted the attention of the international media. 1. Challenging Beijing’s Leadership By condemning the decision of the NPC in it’s reversal of the democratic promises made when Hong Kong was handed over from Britain, the grievances of the protestors evolve around the city’s political future. Being a former colony turned “Special Administrative Region” and one of the world’s freest economies, Hong Kong possesses distinctive
features such as an independent judiciary and a capitalist system, and enjoys a higher degree of rights such as freedom of expression. Against this background, many consider the ability to choose our ruler without interference an as-of right to be defended, yet in the eyes of the Chinese leadership such demands are essentially viewed as
the pro-democracy spirit confronting their ruling capacity. 2. Shaping Regional Dilemmas It has been said that Hong Kong’s present mirrors Taiwan’s future, that has also been offered the “One Country, Two Systems” and therefore how the Chinese leaders handles the impasse in Hong Kong will surely impact the cross-strait relations.
Other regions of China with conflicts concerning the issue of autonomy include Xinjiang and Tibet. Although whether Hong Kong’s rave of oppositions could spread to these regions remains unknown, its potential in strengthening their desires is certainly on the agenda of the Beijing government.
rollados” como Liberia que ya llega a la alarmante cifra de 2069 muertos, el ministro de sanidad Walter T. Gwenigale es titulado en químicas, además de ser cirujano y doctor de la OMS (nótese la ironía). Nos escandalizamos por fotografías que la única culpa que tienen es informar. La realidad nos resulta grotesca, hasta el punto incluso de llegar a parecernos ficticia. Pero la niña tirada en el suelo de un hospital de Makeni, Sierra Leona, entre flujos humanos que no agua, es tan real como el texto que está usted leyendo. España al fin palpa la enfermedad, siente la incertidumbre y prueba el miedo. Perplejidad es la palabra con la cual se resume todo este circo mediático entorno a la enfermera contagiada de ébola. Ana Mato nos recibe de negro, augurando la que se nos viene encima, en un intento de calmar a la población con palabras política-
mente vacías. El único protocolo de seguridad es cerrar las puertas y seguir a la espera. Dejar en las manos de profesionales nuestra suerte. Si es que nos tenía que pasar dicen algunos. España es, por alguna razón más o menos desconocida, primera en todo. Primer caso de contagio del ébola fuera de África: España. País líder en abandono escolar de Europa: España. Cabecilla en el consumo de alcohol: España. Dentro de lo que cabe, poco nos pasa. No quisiera imaginarme cómo hubiéramos reaccionado ante un desastre natural y químico como el de Fukushima. Desde luego haciendo fila india no. Ahora que el ébola ha llegado a nuestro país, por fin podemos decir que sentimos verdadera empatía por África. Por fin el mal no es ajeno. Como una vez escribió David Jiménez “No es tanto el mal lo que nos incomoda, sino su cercanía”.
Ebola is Coming María Valls
Qué fácil es encender el televisor y mirar con indiferencia entre bocado y bocado los males ajenos. Qué fácil nos resulta sentir empatía y compasión por otros a través de un cristal, cuando una pantalla nos separa a nosotros de ellos, su ilusoria realidad de nuestro cercano día a día. Menos cuando el mal llama a nuestra puerta. “Ebola is coming” fue la portada de la revista Bloomberg Businessweek. Al final, ha llegado. Y así fue como cundió el pánico en España. Un país de pandereta en el cual la Ministra de Sanidad es licenciada en políticas y sociología mientras que en países a los que llamamos “menos desar-
español Giorgi Topuria
El Independiente version part 1
1. Sobremesa That moment after eating a meal when the food is gone but the conversation is still going at the table. Application: Llegué tarde porque la sobremesa alargó. Rough translation: I was late because the time spent talking after eating went long. 2. Estrenar To wear or use something for the first time. Application: ¿Te gustan mis zapatos nuevos? Me los estoy estrenando.
Rough Translation: Do you like my new shoes? I’m wearing them for the first time.
Application: El pirata es tuerto. Rough Translation: The pirate only has one eye.
3. Anteayer A one-word way of saying ‘The day before yesterday’. A shorter version of ‘Antes de ayer’. Application:Ella llegó de viaje anteayer Rough Translation: She came back from her trip the day before yesterday.
5. Te quiero A way to tell someone you care about them. Particularly when romance is involved, more meaningful than an “I like you” but less meaningful than an “I love you.” May be used as “I love you” in non-romantic relationships. Application: Te quiero Rough Translation: I really care for you but I don’t quite love you.
4. Tuerto A man with only one eye.
Do we still care about climate change? Gregory Tooth
It only seems fitting right now to write about climate change, seeing that the United Nations Climate Change Summit is currently taking place in New York. Climate change has always been a contentious topic amongst policy makers. We see elections in various countries where it is the major issue at hand, with parties acting as if they care. Now, if they care, that is another issue, but what exactly is the stance of the general populous? For me, climate change only gained traction after the widespread screening of the Al Gore documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. We have all watched the movie but what traction in our lives did it really play? After all, a movie is just a movie, and we are the ones who need to make actual changes. Kyoto Protocol Most of us know about the Kyoto Protocol, most of us learn about it at school. While the Protocol was signed in 1997, it was not ratified by the United States (the biggest power of our time before the rise of China), and hence, no firm action was really taken. This is unsurprising, as the world typically needs the United States to police international treaties. Now this sounds disheartening, that we as the human race are incapable of taking any action without the United States, but these are the consequences of World War II, where our modern world took shape. Now this is where my article changes its tone to a more positive one. The European Union has taken charge in the enforcement of changing our current energy needs to those more sustainable in the long term. This
also acts as a shift of traditional powers from not relying on the United States for guidance, which has really gained traction since the financial crisis and the rise of China. While correcting the current economic environment is probably one of the biggest issues that the European Union faces today, climate change has been set as a key and strategic issue in the preservation of the bloc. Extraordinary targets have been set for 2020 and 2050, with the latter targets taking shape in 20 percent cuts in emissions from the 1990 levels. Those are huge targets that currently the EU is meeting, with Germany taking the lead. At the moment, the 2050 targets seem unfeasible, with the goal currently standing at cutting the emission level from 1990 by 90 percent. The UN Climate Summit has been a melting pot of ideas on curbing climate change. Hearing Obama’s speech on climate change, one quotation stood out: “There should be no question that the United States is stepping up to the plate”. As said above, considering that the United States has not ratified or set any targets on emission reduction, this was said in vain. Graca Machel, the widow of Nelson Mandela said wonderfully, “There is a huge
mismatch between the magnitude of the challenge and the response we heard here today”, which truly does see through the façade of change that the United States is trying to portray. The world is not ready for the challenges of climate change. Targets are targets, but without the investment or time that is being set towards this issue, these targets are not feasible in the long term. The United States as well as Russia and Canada have not set any targets, with Canada initially ratifying the protocol before renouncing it. We live in a world that is dependent on energy and raw materials, which has been forged by our technological age. Our connection with climate change, it seems, only comes into play when there is something that can be put on our CV or an activity that we do for a day, but no one really thinks about what fuels go into charging their IPhone or the charge that goes into a computer so one can watch a movie or television series. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy watching these shows or making sure that my phone is charged, but maybe more often than not, we should go out and leave our phones at home.
Technology Series Giorgi Topuria
Part 1 : Why go Hi-Tech Have you ever wondered why there is an iPhone on the side of your bed when you wake up? Or why are you submitting most of your assessments through Campus Online? Or how you even ended up at IE University? The answer to all of these questions is simple: technology. I’d like to dedicate this series of articles to the most interesting aspect of technology. The cliché is that “Technology is all around you” is true, but the theme of this series is why technology exists and what is going to happen to us in the near future. So why are there intelligent machines all around us? It is very simple: humans are lazy. From ploughing to sticks, to tractors, we moved from 90% of the population
producing food to only a mere 5% needing to produce food. So all the food we consume in Europe is made only by 25 million people, and yet there is still a surplus. Over the brief history of our existence, we have been trying to reduce the hardships of labour. We’ve built stronger and more reliable ‘mechanical muscles’. This, as you all might know, caused the Industrial Revolution. Our ancestors’ muscles have been replaced by mechanical ones and this replacements were relatively successful and made their physical muscles redundant. Your grandparents started moving out of factories and going to universities. Simply, humans started doing more mental labour instead of physical labour. Now, approximately 40%
Photo of the Week Clara Butow
of Europe works in the service industry. One of the reasons why we are here at IE is because of the very change in the patterns of demand for labour (if you don’t know what this is, listen to your economics professor). Yes, that’s right; you’re here because of that change. We see that the service industry is the most profitable and that’s why we’re here. So our lives are becoming easier and we have a safe place in the future labour world. Great! Not so fast! Remember, machines moved human muscle out of the game. Human mental muscles will also suffer the same fate in the near future. In the next issue, I will share explain how this is going to happen.
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