Isela Reyes
Climate Change
Bush continues to reject the Kyoto Protocol, whose purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that could result in disastrous climate changes, sparking criticism among international leaders. The Kyoto Protocol, which opened up for signatures in 1997 but did not come into action until 2005, would lower greenhouse gas emissions through mandatory cuts that would put a limit to the amount of gas emissions that a country produces. Bush has stated that he is not against lowering greenhouse gasses; rather, he is opposed to a treaty that does not have 100 percent participation, noting that India and China have certain exemptions that he does not agree with.
Bush’ rejection of the Kyoto Protocol was never more apparent then on Monday, during the United Nations climate change summit, held in New York where republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, talked of a new plan that would “move past the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and includes developing and wealthy nations”.
Schwarzenegger also called on California as a major contributor that could get the ball rolling on helping the U.S. do its part to lower the amount of greenhouse gasses it produces. According to Schwarzenegger, California is responsible for changing the U.S. policy regarding climate change, doing so to bring a positive change where the Bush camp is doing nothing to reform. California has jumped on board this year when Schwarzenegger signed a 2006 law that requires the state to lower the amount of emissions 25 percent by the year 2020. The warp speed at which California moves through everything from politics to economy can help serve the country by pushing other states to follow its example. Specifically, Schwarzenegger wants California to pave the way for more affordable “clean technology” making it more affordable and as a result, more attainable to the greater public, which in turn will curb the greenhouse gas emissions that the United States contributes.
All the campaigning by Schwarzenegger and other international leaders is great, but may be to late according to scientists, who say that the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate are already present. The recent hit of storms and hurricanes over the past few years are most likely due to the damage already done to the climate, noting that the increase in the number and strength of recent hurricanes like Katrina and Wilma are a direct result of climate change. According to scientists, when global temperatures change, the amount and strength of hurricanes also increase. Scientists are also predicting that the glaciers will melt away within 50 years, which can lead to rising sea levels.
The changes caused by the increase in global temperatures is too late to stop because it is already here, but it is still possible to change the future by preventing the climate from changing any more than it has to, according to scientists. To do this, the United Nations needs to work together collectively to create a policy that will help change the worlds future. Something that Bush says he is not opposed to; rather he encourages a policy that will include full participation by all countries.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
tainted spinach
Isela Reyes
The use of pesticides on plants raise questions over the safety of consuming fruits and vegetables that have been exposed to pesticides. More recently, her in northern California, we have seen a rise in food safety concern ever since the news coverage of local farms with products that have caused some people to end up in the hospital. More notably was the E.coli outbreak in 2006 believed to have originated from the spinach that was locally grown in the Salinas area. The FBI and the Food and Health organization believed the outbreak was caused by the intentional disregard for food safety procedures by the employees at the Salinas produce farm.
A number of tests issued to the Salinas farm concluded that there was no contamination of the E.coli in the processing center of the spinach. However, further testing in the surrounding areas showed that there was contamination in the feces found in the pasture that was adjacent to the spinach farm. The Salinas factory that processes the spinach now tests each batch of spinach before it is processed and shipped out.
The food safety ban was placed in late august to prevent further disease was lifted two months later in October and it is now safe to consume spinach once more.
The use of pesticides on plants raise questions over the safety of consuming fruits and vegetables that have been exposed to pesticides. More recently, her in northern California, we have seen a rise in food safety concern ever since the news coverage of local farms with products that have caused some people to end up in the hospital. More notably was the E.coli outbreak in 2006 believed to have originated from the spinach that was locally grown in the Salinas area. The FBI and the Food and Health organization believed the outbreak was caused by the intentional disregard for food safety procedures by the employees at the Salinas produce farm.
A number of tests issued to the Salinas farm concluded that there was no contamination of the E.coli in the processing center of the spinach. However, further testing in the surrounding areas showed that there was contamination in the feces found in the pasture that was adjacent to the spinach farm. The Salinas factory that processes the spinach now tests each batch of spinach before it is processed and shipped out.
The food safety ban was placed in late august to prevent further disease was lifted two months later in October and it is now safe to consume spinach once more.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Bad Service
Isela Reyes
Journalism 131
A recent trip to an Italian restaurant left me baffled as I walked out with my co-workers, wondering how service could have slipped to such a poor standard. On a recent trip to Walnut Creek for a work meeting, my co-workers and I decided to stop off and grab a bite at an Italian eatery. We arrived around one and were quickly seated at a table. Our server showed up and made the usual server chit chat before asking us if we wanted drinks. Once we were situated with our drinks, we began checking the menu for what we wanted. Our server returned minutes later and asked if we were ready to order. He began by telling us the special of the day −or he tried to. “Our special of the day is…ummm…” he began, staring at the ceiling as if it would magically reveal the answer he was looking for. He seemed far too pre-occupied with checking out my co-workers to remember much, as he lingered far too long at our table.
Talking over our salads much later, my co-worker Julie sets her wineglass down rather quickly with an odd expression on her face. “There’s a friend on my glass”, she says. Carolina and I lean over and see her friend, a spider that is sitting on her wine glass quite near to the rim. She motions to the nearest server who comes and takes her wineglass, looking as baffled as Julie and walks away without saying a word. Our original server appears moments later and brings Julie another wineglass with double the amount of wine she had as a sort of apology for the spider. Our food arrives minutes later and we all get down to business putting some serious dents in our food. Our server, who is obviously interested in Julie, interrupts our conversations more than necessary to ask how our meal is.
Later our plates are cleared away and our server asks if we would care for dessert, to which Julie and I pass, but Carolina orders a cappuccino. We are sitting at our table talking and waiting for Carolina’s cappuccino. Fifteen minutes pass and we begin to wonder where her drink is. We scan the restaurant and see our server leaning against the counter up front flirting with the hostess, oblivious and ignoring the tables he is in charge of. We wait five more minutes hoping he will get back on track, but to no avail. Carolina flags down the nearest server and asks them to cancel the cappuccino and just bring us the check. The server, not knowing what’s going on tells our server and he walks over and asks why Carolina wants to cancel her drink. “It’s just taking to long, we need to go”, she replies. “You know what” he answers, “I’m going to put your drink in a to-go cup, because I think you really want it”. His tone of voice is what really annoyed the three of us, he sounded like she was a child who didn’t know what she wanted and he was telling her in a very commanding and final tone that she was taking her drink to go. “That’s fine, can you just bring us our check?” was her frustrated reply. Amazingly we have to wait another five minutes for her drink and our check, making our total wait time for a cappuccino twenty five minutes. He handed us our check with a bag of cookies to make up for our lack of service, I’m assuming, and he didn’t even take the cappuccino off the tab for Carolina, which she later told me, she would have appreciated more than a few cookies.
Journalism 131
A recent trip to an Italian restaurant left me baffled as I walked out with my co-workers, wondering how service could have slipped to such a poor standard. On a recent trip to Walnut Creek for a work meeting, my co-workers and I decided to stop off and grab a bite at an Italian eatery. We arrived around one and were quickly seated at a table. Our server showed up and made the usual server chit chat before asking us if we wanted drinks. Once we were situated with our drinks, we began checking the menu for what we wanted. Our server returned minutes later and asked if we were ready to order. He began by telling us the special of the day −or he tried to. “Our special of the day is…ummm…” he began, staring at the ceiling as if it would magically reveal the answer he was looking for. He seemed far too pre-occupied with checking out my co-workers to remember much, as he lingered far too long at our table.
Talking over our salads much later, my co-worker Julie sets her wineglass down rather quickly with an odd expression on her face. “There’s a friend on my glass”, she says. Carolina and I lean over and see her friend, a spider that is sitting on her wine glass quite near to the rim. She motions to the nearest server who comes and takes her wineglass, looking as baffled as Julie and walks away without saying a word. Our original server appears moments later and brings Julie another wineglass with double the amount of wine she had as a sort of apology for the spider. Our food arrives minutes later and we all get down to business putting some serious dents in our food. Our server, who is obviously interested in Julie, interrupts our conversations more than necessary to ask how our meal is.
Later our plates are cleared away and our server asks if we would care for dessert, to which Julie and I pass, but Carolina orders a cappuccino. We are sitting at our table talking and waiting for Carolina’s cappuccino. Fifteen minutes pass and we begin to wonder where her drink is. We scan the restaurant and see our server leaning against the counter up front flirting with the hostess, oblivious and ignoring the tables he is in charge of. We wait five more minutes hoping he will get back on track, but to no avail. Carolina flags down the nearest server and asks them to cancel the cappuccino and just bring us the check. The server, not knowing what’s going on tells our server and he walks over and asks why Carolina wants to cancel her drink. “It’s just taking to long, we need to go”, she replies. “You know what” he answers, “I’m going to put your drink in a to-go cup, because I think you really want it”. His tone of voice is what really annoyed the three of us, he sounded like she was a child who didn’t know what she wanted and he was telling her in a very commanding and final tone that she was taking her drink to go. “That’s fine, can you just bring us our check?” was her frustrated reply. Amazingly we have to wait another five minutes for her drink and our check, making our total wait time for a cappuccino twenty five minutes. He handed us our check with a bag of cookies to make up for our lack of service, I’m assuming, and he didn’t even take the cappuccino off the tab for Carolina, which she later told me, she would have appreciated more than a few cookies.
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