Friday, April 2nd, 2010
by Ms. Iaccarino
Salifu Kamara speaks to the eighth grade.
By Molly R.
The class of 2014 just finished reading the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, the story of Beah’s journey as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone as part of our African Connections unit. We were fortunate to have Salifu Kamara, another former boy soldier from Sierra Leone, come to talk to us on March 31.
The room was silent. The air was thick. We all were waiting for Salifu Kamara to speak. At first glance Salifu looks like the average college student: collared shirt and tie with a leg injury forcing him on crutches. But Salifu is far from average, for hiding behind his eyes is the haunting past of his childhood.
Salifu grew up in Sierra Leone during the civil war. He grew up in a poor house on a small farm where he had no bed and little education. But nonetheless he was happy. He would play soccer for hours on end like any other African child. When Salifu was nine, the army rebels came to his village and destroyed everything he once knew. He watched his family die, his sisters get raped, and his life change forever. Salifu became a child soldier in the rebel army at the age of nine.
While most nine-year-old children are learning how to multiply and do long division, Salifu was learning how to use a gun and how to kill. He stayed with the rebel group for about two months, making little friends along the way. The one boy Salifu was able to connect to was gruesomely ambushed while sitting next to Kamara. If there’s one thing Salifu remembers about being in the rebels’ army is that he was taught to be forceful, and was taught to kill. “My gun was my everything.” Salifu described, “Without it, you were gone.” Salifu didn’t even know what he was fighting for. It wasn’t until his arrival in the United States that he learned the war was over diamonds. Continue reading »
Popularity: 5% [?]
Friday, October 16th, 2009
by tom xi
Just a few days ago, one of the most important Asian festival past by us, and it is the Moon Festival. Lucky for Worcester Academy, it’s introduced and celebrated at the school. However, people were mostly enjoying the food, and the companionship of friends without comprehending the significance of this festival and we also ignored the most important thing about this festival, the moon.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
Sunday, October 5th, 2008
by fwanchang
In recent months and even years, the economy itself seems to be collapsing causing everyone around me to suffer. This is because the market is now uniting with the industry where the rich and powerful are consuming the weak and the middle class is subsiding beneath the economy. The number one reason the economy for lack of better terms sucks is greed. The Dot-com Bubble of the late nineties and market of this present decade are both influential in shaping the position we as a country stand in today’s society.
First, the stock market in the 1990s was easy because it was predominately risk free and the market itself was supposed to be for dot-com stocks, which later became the Dot-com Bubble of the late 1990s. “In the ’90s, the no-lose, risk-free, high-yield return was supposed to be dot-com stocks.” (Thomas Friedman, NY Times) However, some of the best and smartest people among Wall Street and the financial industry in general, forgot one of the oldest rules in investing, which is there is no such thing as a risk-free return. “Wall Street — the financial industry — became a bubble in recent years thanks to an excess of liquidity and the oldest bubble maker in history: greed. Some of the smartest people forgot one of the oldest rules of investing: There is no such thing as a risk-free return. When you reach too far for yield, sooner or later you get burned.” (Thomas Friedman, NY Times
The 21st century version of the market is primarily based upon subprime mortgages and financial stocks, and just like the dot-commers, the financial stocks became inflated to ridiculous levels and the salaries of Wall Street executives reached ridiculous heights where companies of superior status, such as Lehman Brothers, either collapse or are bought out.
“This decade’s version are subprime mortgages and financial stocks. Just like the dot-comers in the 1990s, the financial stocks got inflated to ridiculous levels and salaries for Wall Street executives reached ridiculous heights. You are now watching live and in color that bubble burst: “Thank you for playing, Lehman Brothers.” That’s really sad for a 158-year-old company.” (Thomas Friedman, NY Times)
It is now very obvious why this financial bubble became so big. It all started when you went out and got subprime mortgages, which allowed many people in the same situation to become homeowners. As the housing marketing began to give way, people could not cover their mortgages or sell their houses, which meant that their investments lost value, therefore the bank lost capital, and the pyramid began to fall. This event just created a domino effect where the bank lost capital and because of this they stopped lending, which then led to the current credit crunch. This credit crunch is what makes this calamity extremely lethal and the country cannot tolerate any prolonged situation where banks will not lend period.
In conclusion, this domino effect was created because people of the mid to late nineties thought they could basically use their houses as a bank to obtain the things that they desired. In other words the people were greedy to get their hands on things they wanted because they thought that the market was a risk-free region. As stated before, this is a big no-no in the financial district. Therefore, greed, one of the seven deadly sins, is a major reason why the economy of the 21st century is falling drastically. I like the way Friedman puts it, “We need to make sure that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas — and doesn’t come to Main Street. We need to get back to investing in our future and not just betting on it.” (Thomas Friedman, NY Times
Popularity: 10% [?]
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