The Rest of the 7.0%

A couple of days ago, my mom and I went to our local Dominick’s to pick up some snacks for school. We were surprised with the number of people that were waiting in line. The usual number of people at Dominick’s was almost doubled that day. Customers filled baskets, and some even filled carts. Apparently, Dominick’s is closing and announced their store closure sale. With almost everything 50% off, many people in the community took the closing as an opportunity to spend less money on essentials we could stack up on. My instinct was the same. I am guilty of this as well, but a lot people used the closing as an excuse to buy items they didn’t even need. Many customers were happy an excited about the great sale, but when I thought about the situation more, I realized that this closure was actually very bad for some people. Dominick’s is being replaced with Mariano’s in late December, and I thought about all the people that are losing their jobs because of this closing.

The article from the link above says “Dominick’s employee Teresa Torres, who has landed a job at Jewel-Osco, was out taking advantage of the sale Friday. Her cart was filled to the brim.” So what about the employees that don’t have a set job after Dominick’s closes? Do you think they’re happy shopping in the sale? The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that in the U.S., 2009 had the greatest unemployment rate, averaging at around 9.5-10.0%. Since then, the unemployment rate in the U.S. has steadily decreased, and the unemployment rate during November of this year was 7.0%. It’s great that the unemployment rate is decreasing, but what about the rest of the 7.0% that is unemployed? How low do you think the unemployment can ever drop? Does America need a specific percentage of people to be unemployed?

Digging Deeper into History

Figure 1: A photo of the 400,000-year-old thigh bone.

Taken by Javier Trueba, Madrid Scientific Films

Scientists recently discovered a 400,000-year-old thigh bone in Spain that has brought up new questions of the origin of humans. A cave that scientists have discovered multiple fossils from called “Sima de los Huesos”, was where the fossil was found. It was assumed the DNA found in the bone would be related to the Neanderthals, but the DNA turned out to be similar to that of the Denisovans. Read more about the discovery by clicking on this link.

After reading about this article, I started to think about the world's history. Every day, scientists are putting forth their best efforts to make history a bit clearer: specifically in this case, uncovering the origin of humans. There will always be missing pieces to history, and I believe that many of our findings will not be completely accurate. So, why do people try to find answers to history, and how do we know if our knowledge of history is correct? I also wonder if our version of history is affected by personal interpretations. 

Leave your thoughts and comments below!

Changing School Cafeterias One Tray At A Time

Taken by Joshua Bright for The New York Times

Most school cafeterias use the standard white, plastic foam tray for students to put their meals on. When students grab their trays, they most likely don’t think about where their trays came from or their effect on other people.  Who knew that changing the type of tray a cafeteria uses would make such a difference?

On New York Times, a recent article from Michael Wines says that schools in the Miami-Dade County are starting to convert from plastic foam trays to sugarcane trays. These new trays are compostable and can be created into compost for farmers. Penny Parham, the administrative director of food and nutrition of Miami-Dade’s school district, says: “I want our money and resources for food going into children, not in garbage going to the landfill.” By having compostable trays, money will be saved in the long run. Six school districts are also trying to provide healthier food for the students. "Using recyclable plates or serving healthier chicken" says Eric Goldstein, chief executive of school support services in New York City, "sets an example that students may carry into adulthood. "

After reading this article, I started to think about the extra money: What will the money will be used for now? I also started to think about America school systems. What causes schools in America to make the decision to switch the type of lunch trays they use and other decisions like this one?  I assume that eventually most schools in the nation will also switch to compostable trays because of the amount of money saved. How does these types of decisions affect all the school systems in America?