Commitments to Peace

My first commitment to peace is honestly to have a smile on my face a little more often. I've been told by friends that I seem unapproachable simply because I look like I'm always pissed off all the time. It is not my intent to put off that vibe because if you know me I am a really nice guy. If that is what my friends think I can just imagine what the customers at work might be saying, so smiling a little more will not only change my image at school but at work. And my other commitment will be to help out the El Paso community by getting more involved in community service events. As a leader in my fraternity I am able to set up more events through out the school year to help out not only the UTEP campus but our city as well.

Inner Peace

For some people achieving inner peace can be very difficult. And how does one achieve inner peace? For me the closest I can come to being at peace or at least freeing my head of all the stress school, home, or work brings is playing basketball. The court is my sanctuary. There, I am in my own world where peace is everywhere. Unless I lose and then I no longer have inner peace. Haha. I believe to truly achieve inner peace you need to really know yourself, and find that "sanctuary" where you can escape to.

Cable TV, the real enemy

Cable TV, the real enemy.

By Michael Gallinar

I completely agree with Jon Stewart that cable television is fostering divisiveness in society, and you see it all the time. Every time you see the news or read the newspapers and there is a political peace, the media is always trying to split republicans and democrats like it was high school and you have the cool kids and the nerds.

I like the analogy Stewart makes about how the media has become our immune system; whenever the media over reacts to an issue we over react to it and we are becoming more and more sick as a people because of it.

But its not all the media's fault. Its partly ours for feeding in to it. The networks survive on television ratings, so we're pretty much feeding that which is making us sick.  

Don't Stand For Homophobic Bullying

It is hard most of the time to stand up for something that you know is right, when you're the only one standing. But that is when courage comes in to play. I have always known what the right path was in most situations but I myself had trouble taking it sometimes, because it was too hard. I am not one to judge people, never was, but I agree it is much easier to stand up for something when you have a lot of people backing you up or standing with you. The video did a very good job in conveying the message of coming together as one under one voice to stop a nuisance.

MEMO

Date: 2/ 11/ 11

To: 1311 Students

From: Michael Gallinar

RE: University of Peace

Our current efforts to achieve peace are without progress. The United Nations have been trying to tackle this issue for many, many years and it seems like every time we, as citizens of this earth, take a step forward we end up taking two steps back. It is insane to believe that War is the correct path to arriving at a world without violence and finding ultimate peace. Violence only begins more violence. Today's efforts include, but not limited to, disarmament of other countries. The problem with this is it is an ongoing process that ultimately leads to nowhere, especially when there are weapons manufactured every day in secret.

In response to this issue the United Nations mandated a school be created for the soul purpose of "promoting... the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence..." according to their mission statement. This graduate school of peace and conflict studies is the University of Peace (UPeace). The idea was to attack the problem at the source and start embedding the concept of peace in people through education. If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. If you teach that same man how to fish, he'll eat for a life time.

The president of Costa Rica during 1980, Rodrigo Carazo, encouraged the idea for UPeace, so it was only befitting to have the primary campus located in his country. On December 5th, 1980 the general assembly of the U.N. adopted resolution 35/55 and the University of Peace was born. There are seventeen members of council who govern the university: ten members appointed by the Secretary General of the U.N. and seven ex-officio members. Now, there are more locations all over the world including an office in New York, Geneva, and Central Asia. Their website, http://www.upeace.org/, gives contact information for all locations. They also give you a list of classes and academic programs you can register for along with a link to their library and other peace oriented organizations.

Creating Peace

First of all, what Greg Mortinson was doing for those people was very noble. By building a school for young woman, he has opened so many doors for advancement in knowledge and they might one day go on to bigger and better things. Seeing someone put that much dedication and hard work in to a great cause makes you want to become a better person as well.  There was something that one of the men in village said that I am a firm believer of and that was “Education is the light.” And it is, and it all starts with the education of our kids and the youth all over the world, because in reality they are the ones who will be managing things in the future. Some people might say that helping people in tiny villages like the ones in Central Asia is pointless, but the point is to make our world a better place not just our own home. We need to start somewhere, why not with education? With that, small villages like the one we saw can grow in to a flourishing civilization.

Its really sad to see how people around the world are forced to live but also inspiring in the way that they over come.

What is Peace?

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear peace is war. I believe that without war there can be no peace. Many people would like to think that it is possible but really that kind of thinking is fairytale. Not every person is born with a good heart, everyone on earth has had different upbringings and some are worse than others. In order for there to be peace we have to fight for it which is kind of an oxymoron. Just think about it, even in a house hold it’s difficult to keep peace with family members. There will always be conflict, which is just human nature. Of course there is a difference between conflicts at home and conflicts between countries, for example, I’m not going to invade my sister’s room only because she can’t keep the restroom clean. But countries do go to extremes sometimes.

I don't think i can picture myself living in a perfect world. And what exactly do you mean by peace? Does that mean no one ever fights or argues? That everyone is always in a happy mood? This is why I don’t see true peace being achievable, because it’s unrealistic.