Self Evaluation of my academic year (2009). LAST POST!!

If I'm going to evaluate my academic year I have to say, first at all, that it is broken in two parts which are very different. I mean, it has been a year with very changes that have been occurred according to my necessities. If you read one of my old post, you will see that my first term was very hard. Now, on contrary, the situation is totally different. I am going to explain it, because the "lovely Judy" (Herrada, 2009) is asking for me.

The first term was an academic term with a lot of classes, which means with a lot of learning and knowledge. I had like 5 o 6 subjects, quantity that was in my top, on my limit. In addition to a lot of other activities, extra-academic ones, the situation was finally collapsing.

The academic element that most help me to handle that situation is, of course, good subjects or subjects that I really like. In generally it should be a common situation to me, because I really like this degree; nevertheless, fourth year is not such a good as the third one. Adding and subtracting, that first term is half good and half bad; it means, like 3 good subjects and another 3 bad or boring subjects.

Well, the point is that it was colapsating because it was too much. This unpleasant conditions made me took the decision of create a second term very relaxing and with time to focus on me centrally.

It is to say, now I am in a relaxing situation that is ending, just this quiet term is also ending.
In this term I have like 4 or 5 subjects, and are subjects very undemanding and light. I guess I have learned just a little, but it is something that I needed. How can I relation that idea with the other idea about I like this degree? Well, I am so relaxed now that I am sure I will read a lot of sociology in this vacations, at contrary of some friends that right now are collapsed and don’t want to se more sociology in some months. That is more strong when they have (as me) four years completed here, thing that creates the conditions that some friends now want to read about other topics because are a little boring with sociology points of view.

What had been my academic year, that is ending such as I wanted. We will see how is going to be the next one.

Free time interests/activities/hobbies

Mi free time is a lot. More even, is too much right now.

In my free time, that exactly never is "free" because is used in something, I read a little, I review my email to coordinate my political activities and other kind of things, I watch movies and I play soccer.

Nevertheless, in this period I have so much time that one central activity in my life is taking a rest. I am sleeping a lot; I needed. But I have slept so much that now I will stop now; I don’t want it more, I dont need it any more and for that it will finish in these days.

Well, awake, I am doing things that I like too to don't get stress. One activity I am doing more and more is playing soccer. It is very good, because with some friends we have made a soccer team and every day is getting more important to us, trying to outdo. For that I like this activity. I love soccer.

Also I like to participate in policy. Basically, I participate in two social-political organizations, and in a political-student organization of degree. I like this since years ago, when I started to learn with some friends and when I started to do of this something central in my life that I dont want never to abandon.

And finally, especially when I dont want "to do nothing", when I want to take a rest without things problems, I watch films in my house. I prefer to be alone without light (if I am not with friends in other house).

But, what I most like to do in my "free time" is, of course: being with my friends having good times. Speaking about life, getting hide o wherever, but centrally knowing how they are, etc. I do it in the University, where we drink a little of bear or where are relaxing out of classes. But I like most to do it with my friends of all my life, because I dont see them so much and also because they always are there to talk, when I need it and when I dont.
I would like to have more time to do all this, but centrally to see my friends that I have not seen in these days. For that, what I don’t want to do –sometimes-, when it is eating into my freetime, is to do to much stuff to university. I want vacations.

My Faculty

Never I had followed the questions one by one; I prefer to write in a free way. But, as Judy TOLD me do it as an obligation, I'm fucked.
1. The situation is a Faculty which has four degrees. A problem here is that one degree, Education, doesn't considerate is self as a social science. For that, have different opinions and points of view at the moment of to make political diagnostics and generate own positions related to the other degrees. The other degrees, that are Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology, are the rest of the Faculty. Also, and is the most important aspect, the current situation shows degrees without a definite orientation who, with the expansion of market, just follow it.
2. The things are needed to improve are new political-academics lines to re-structure the orientation of our disciplines, to start to finish the expansion of Market in the objectives of our sciences and to star to build public orientations: disciplines working at the service of the majorities of Chilean people and his main problems of inequality.
3. The first steps to dealing with this situation and to reach these objectives is to create a political force, among students and academics, who wants to revisit the abandoned project of Universidad de Chile as a public university at the service of Chile.
4. This situation only will be resolved only in the political dimension: by creating a new program to all the university, approved and supported by the high positions of the institution, who will re-structure all the degrees and faculties. That is to say, the problem exceeds this Faculty.
5. The real impact of these improvements (turnerd-from a big one political improvement) will and would be: (1) a more equality access to this University; (2) more autonomy and financing to the faculties and its investigations; (3) more activities and products to the civil society.
6. The steps are, first, to create a political force. After that, there will be two roads which have to be done: in one hand, an movement of construction of public activities, as free and alternative classes, forums, etc., to legitimate this idea; in the other hand, political pressing, as manifestations for example, to generate changes in the universitary policy.

A film

My movie -I mean it- is Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The movie is the second part of a history about the wolrd’s end because the final judgment day. A North American company created a new technology who, after, was used by the military forces of USA; but one day this new developed programs and technology reached an autonomy which begun a conflict among humans and machines to have the control of the opponent and the existence. The story line, which is about science fiction and a typical North American movie of action and explosion, is basically an expression about the paradoxes modernity: in terms of alienation, of can it be -at extreme- the subordination of the human to the machine.

I like the movie because, contrary the opinion of a lot of people, is not only a movie of action made it fast. Out of the central problem who it illustrates about modernity, the film has an excellent photography and music. It is not a surprise that it is a classic.

The director was James Cameron. However, he is not so remembered: his last-name is not an idea that is around the collective imaginary of the film. Who reached fame, at contrary, was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred a robot of the future. Is he a good actor? I don´t think so, but almost we can say he was made to this movie.

He starred a robot who travel to past to save the main character, John Connor, from other robot who also traveled, but to kill him. Then, the film will be about a constant fight to change the present to build another future: or the machine´s domination over human, or the human emancipation to have another opportunity.

British mining company against Peru's protesters

Once more, a country from the central capitalism has a conflict with a country from the periferic capitalism, this once, England with a mining company against Peru with its people. It is not something new: it is a old story about how imperialist countries come to this region to have cheap work force and cheap natural resources. And it is not a story who has end, a story who only appear in history books from the pass: on the contrary, it is something that continue ocurring now, such as continue the capital's wars, the massacres in other places, etc.

In this particular case, the problem is between a British powerful mining company and alliances of poor subsistence farmers and environmentalists. Actually, this corportation is facing a multimillion demand about claim for damages to protesters, who where allegedly tortured by police that, they say, is directing by Monterrico Metals, owner of this company.

Its evidence is a Peruvian journalist who also was detained with the protesters, and who received a series of photographs from a Monterrico supervisor, who, apeearly, change of position and give photographies that took about police operation. That shows how much difficult is to know the true of this cases: naturalized, it is not of commun sense to thing that a Britih companie would do that; and only with this lucky case we can remember that, as it was in the pass, today this companies continue using illegal or legal methods to make its mainly objetive: the accumulation of capital.

Honduran

Honduran is now a in a conjucture very important because is actually a nodal point in the power relations of Latin America: after the dictadorships made in a lot of countries to resolve the problems of domination existing in the period of 70-80 years, the posterior process of political (not social) democratization of the region had not seen the appearence of new "coup d'etat" until now in this case, the case of Honduran.

In its origing, the conflict appeared by the existence of two antagonist proyects related to the gouvernment of Zelaya. This (ex) president wanted to center his political program tring to make a popular consult to creat a new constituional letter. Nevertheless, a lot of actors belonging to dominanting gruops and classes opposed to this project and created the bases to this new dictadorship.

Then, for one hand, there is a "international comunity" giving his support to the return of Zelaya (who went out of the country), and, for other hand, there is a gouverment of fact who wants to keep the class domination existing and is opossed to Zelaya's return.

What will happen in this Hounduran's cojunture? Actually, Micheletti (on the gouvernment's head) is giving more and more space (in front of national comunity) to the Zelaya's political return. Zelaya is already returned in the country, but he needs to return to political power to finish his proyect.

It is very interesting to think how will be the outcome: surely Zelaya will back to the gouvernment, but surely he will do it with a political restriction (imposed by dominating classes of Hunduran) to don't re-create his popular consult and other things related. ¿Will he returns in that conditions? ¿To what? Is something that will se in a few months.

What to do and where to go in Santiago

Santiago is a sheet. I would recommend activities to this hypothetical tourist if he was with a group, a group who wants to have parties and have good times. In that case, the place it doesn't matter to much: only import the people who they will know, because that people will show them how is Santiago and how is Chile really -and not tourist places that don't teach very and important things.

The thing is, then, to visit places out of Santiago.

Like I said in my last post, Santiago is a very bad city, mainly because it wasn't build with a project: it was build at random. And how there was a social context in that history, the city was finally (above this random) a city of classes: very divided, polar, with a city to poor people and a city to rich people. It is very Ugly, without projection, and even more, without and idea of city! Ugly.

A tourist, instead of Santiago, should visit, for one hand, the south of Chile. That is a really beautiful place. I would recommend specifically Valdivia: go to see the nature, meet very good people, and have a quiet time. There, this hypothetical tourist will know new food, new customs, and a new rate of live, with people not so alienated as Santiago's people.

And a tourist should visit, for other hand, the north of Chile. I think it is not as good as the south, in terms of number of very good places. But the north is really great too, because their few good places are excellent. Traveling over there, it is very relaxing to see, at the same time, so huge places and so quite. I would recommend specifically San Pedro de Atacama, a retired place very relaxing and very beautiful as nature places.

But, if this tourist is looking for places not so quiet, I would recommend, finally, Iquique, because is city with a lot of movement and, mainly, a perfect beach.