Archive for April, 2006
Crazylegs Classic 2006
Yesterday was the annual Crazylegs Classic 8k race. I’ve run it three years in a row and am happy to report a new personal record: 37:36.
The race is always a fun time. This year saw almost 8000 runners complete the course. I think I’ll return to Madison next year to run it again. Say what you will, I’m happy to support UW athletics with my race fee.
. . .
You may have noticed that I haven’t updated the ol’ website lately, but things have been rather hectic trying to graduate and stuff. Two weeks to go!
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Apr 30th, 2006
The Coming Comeuppance
The global economy has changed drastically in the last 50 years.
The above statement is pretty hard to deny. The world is a much smaller place today, with global competition jobs and customers. India and China (and others) are rapidly industrializing, creating not just world class products and services but world class engineers and employees. The United States no longer holds a monopoly on creativity and ingenuity, like it did not so long ago. And yet so many people seem blind to the new realities of the global economy. Why is there such a disconnect?
The U.S. still has a very robust economy. We have survived the overseas shift of manufacturing jobs with relatively little disruption. (I don’t mean to disregard the plight of millions of laid-off factory workers.) We benefited greatly from the internet boom of the late 1990s, and we’re still reaping the benefits of new technologies. Yet I argue that much of our continued economic success is due to inertia, not ingenuity.
It is no secret that the U.S. education system leaves much to be desired when compared to other nations. Although harder (impossible?) to quantify, I also sense that U.S. students are less motivated and driven to succeed academically. I have no doubt that my peers in India and China are far more dedicated to academic success than me. And although many of these bright students eventually study and/or live in the U.S., this may not hold true for long.
At the risk of echoing some sentiments from President Bush’s State of the Union Address, we need to revitalize the science, technology, and engineering industries in the U.S. We need to expand programs in high schools and universities and cultivate the imagination of future inventors. If we continue along with a very mediocre mentality, we will quickly fall behind. The U.S. has great potential, but we need some encouragement to realize that greatness.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Apr 21st, 2006
Nostalgia
I’ve been doing some thinking lately. It all started when I was listening to a lecturer discuss the drawbacks and benefits to globalization. He was not trying to argue one side over the other, but was wiling to accurately characterize both sides of the issue. (In Madison, believe it or not, we hear a lot more about the negatives.) His main point was that in the last 50 years, global GDPs grew at almost 2% and more people rose out of poverty than any other time in history. This, at the same time as the rise of globalism. Causation? Maybe. Correlation? Certainly.
This got me thinking about nostalgia and the curse of wishing things were “like the good old days.” I think that our culture in particular has a problem with romanticizing too much about the past. In the context of the globalization debate, this leads people to argue against the accompanying culture shifts for no reason other than a nostalgia for the way things were. What people often forget is that things were pretty terrible for a lot of people for most of history. We don’t know much about the plight of the common man, largely because no one cared to record his history. The sweatshop worker equivalent 1000 years ago (or even 100 years ago, for that matter) was in no better or worse shape than the sweatshop workers of modern times. The difference now is that we have (more or less) global free press to bring the sweatshop workers’ plight to our attention.
This problem with romantic nostalgia is a severe impediment to national politics as well. I cringe whenever I hear some politician spouting off his or her desire to bring back the era of “family values” (read: Christian values) or fretting about the lack of innocence in children. As far as I can tell, our culture today is no less valued and our children are no less innocent. The only difference I can see is that we actually talk openly about personal problems. There were abusive parents, drug addicts, and sexual predators 50, 100, and 1000 years ago. To pretend otherwise is foolish and ignorant.
I would like to see people acknowledge and accept the fact that we’re not perfect. We’re all humans, trying to scrape out our own little existence and fighting against the internal conflicts inherent with the human condition. Our modern culture is no better or worse at dealing with life. (Just more open about it.) Be very careful when you find yourself feeling nostalgic for a time past. Chances are, those good old days exist only in your head.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Apr 13th, 2006
The Real Costa Rica Post
Writing about Costa Rica is proving to be much more difficult than I expect. I’m trying to incorporate so many thoughts and memories from the trip. Here’s what I have so far:
. . .
The question on everyone’s mind: What did you do in Costa Rica? Well, here it is, in detail:
Our trip started off with an early morning drive to Chicago. We left Madison around 3:30am Friday morning. I was driving, and hadn’t slept at all Thursday night, but I had an able navigator at my side to keep us on the road. Our caravan made it to the airport safe and sound, and we boarded our first flight. Fast forward 14 hours, and we’re in San Jose!
The first night in San Jose was a welcome change. Our 30 minute ride from airport to hostel drove home the fact that we weren’t in the U.S. anymore. (Let’s just say that traffic laws are considered more of a suggestion in Costa Rica.) We sampled the local food (gallo pinto, casado, etc. ) at the roof-top bar and enjoyed the warm tropical air. It felt pretty good to sleep on a bed again, after close to 24 hours of travel.
The next morning we met our liaison from the Monteverde Institute, Anibol. Together we departed San Jose and drove to the Arbofilia Rainforest reserve. Along the way, we stopped at a fruit market and tried lots of fresh tropical fruits. The fruit sellers were very generous and offered samples of their produce. Coming from the cold midwest, it was all very exciting!
We made it to Arbofilia, after traveling on some harrowing unpaved mountain roads. The first thing I noticed about the forest was how loud it was. There is so much life in the rainforest, all competing to be heard. Very different from the wintertime ecosystem we left in Wisconsin.
The second thing I noticed was how lush and tropical my surroundings were. The term “rainforest” is definitely not a misnomer. I’d seen plenty of photos of rainforest before, but actually walking around in one was a totally new experience. The Arbofilia research station is incredible–all the buildings are designed such that you are rarely enclosed by four walls. Our sleeping quarters were open to the forest, making it a lot easier to wake up at 6:00am every day.
While at Arbofilia, we were very fortunate to meet and learn from some very wise men: Miguel, Wade, and Miguel Jr. I was humbled to speak with someone who could share so much wisdom about so many different topics, all in a non-native language. One of my favorite moments with Miguel was when he let us hold 5000+ year old artifacts from the area. Actually holding the artifacts is much more powerful than looking at them through a quarter inch of glass at a museum.
. . .
I’ll put up some more Costa Rica info later this week. I promise.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Apr 9th, 2006
