During the year 2007, according to SERTUR (Servicio Nacional de Turismo), the number of tourists who entered the country reached a new record 898 million of arrivals. This same institution mentions on its yearly inform of the year 2007 that tourism contributes to a 3.05% of GDP.
Chile is becoming a developed country as its economy continues to develop. Still there is a major issue concerning not only our economy but also the global economy, and that is Global Warming.
Recently a report on the effect of this phenomenon in the economic ambit was released. The Stern Review concludes that “the benefits of strong and early action to stop global warming far outweigh the economic costs of not acting”.
Believe it or not Global Warming in endangering our economy and puting on risk our chances to keep expanding economicly. This affects directly our countries 5th main source of income, tourism. The Stern Review mentions that the “inaction on climate change could lead to a loss equivalent to between 5 and 20 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), versus a 1 per cent of global GDP cost to take actions that mitigate the worst impacts of climate change”.
The decrease on the GDP not only will affect our income but also, as Ana Lia Uriarte, Minister of Environment said “it affects our resources, we need to create and maintain the places that attract so many people to Chile on a yearly basis”.
One of the main concerns according to Greenpeace Chile in that one of our main natural resources, glaciers, are melting. This issue not only endangers the species who inhabit them, but is also puting in risk one of our most important touristic destinantions located in the south of the country, the glaciers.
Hugo Lavados said, reffering to a section of the Stern Report "hundreds of millions of people could suffer from hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the world warms", that this would be a “direct result from global warming which are results of a poor economy”. He also mentioned that “if people do not take an action to solve this problem soon, later we will all suffer the economic problems that this situation involves”.
Not only important figures are concerned by this issue, it is something that keeps concerning all sort of individuals in aour society. Paola Passalacqua a journalism student from Universidad Del Desarrollo in currenty involved in a recicling program concerning the university. She confirmed that “although some few peopleare trying to make a difference, change is almost impossible, we need a directed change that comes from higher authorities”.
Our nation is characterized as a nation who is far away from recicling habits and also less than concerned about the effects that this environmental phenomenon is going to have in our national economy a few years from now. The meassures to take are obvious, still authorities have done an impressive affort in order to dodge them. But, what will it happen later when everything collapse? That is a question to be asked to politics.
martes, 29 de septiembre de 2009
Texting blamed in crash that kills three teens
Yesterday morning a 20 year old journalism student identified as Juan Perez killed three teenagers when he crashed into a supermarket located in Las Condes. The police officers involved affirmed that “clearly there is something external that caused the crash” and that they found a “Blackberry device set in the texting mode” which belonged to Perez who lost the control of his car while texting as officers confirmed.
The three teenagers killed were identified as Paola Passalacqua (18), Paula Campos (13) and Pedro Flores (17). The three of them were waiting for their mothers to come pick them up outside of Montecarlo supermarket located in the intersection of Av. Las Condes and Charles Hamilton when Perez unexpectedly crashed against them.
The forensic investigation showed that Perez not only was driving under the influence of alcohol, but also he went over the speed limit of the area (50 kilometers per hour). Chief officer Jaime Burgos from Las Condes police department confirmed that “Perez must have been doing something else that distracted him while driving and made him lose the control of the vehicle”, a Peugeot 206.
The evidence confirmed that Perez was carrying a Blackberry phone set in the texting mode, which was found near the corpses while the forensics were analyzing the scenery for clues. People surrounding the place couldn’t confirm that he was texting but confirmed that “he was listening to loud music and seemed to have lost the control of the car”.
The journalism student claimed himself as innocent, but the parents of P.P, P.C and P.F claimed that they would press charges against him besides the ones imposed by the public system of justice, and not only for driving irresponsibly and under the influence of alcohol, but also for murder.
Perez told the police officers that he was “driving carefully and never took a glance off of the road”, but the evidence speaks against him. Witnesses who saw the crash confirmed that “he was speeding and driving from side to side of the road” and also that “the crash was fast and the kids died as soon as it happened…the place was a blood bath”.
Perez is waiting to be prosecuted next Tuesday for three different charges imposed to him by the municipal authorities: murder, driving irresponsibly and under the influence of alcohol. Besides the 20 year old will not only have to pay the damages caused to the supermarket but also millionaire fines to pay the damage made to the public property.
The three teenagers killed were identified as Paola Passalacqua (18), Paula Campos (13) and Pedro Flores (17). The three of them were waiting for their mothers to come pick them up outside of Montecarlo supermarket located in the intersection of Av. Las Condes and Charles Hamilton when Perez unexpectedly crashed against them.
The forensic investigation showed that Perez not only was driving under the influence of alcohol, but also he went over the speed limit of the area (50 kilometers per hour). Chief officer Jaime Burgos from Las Condes police department confirmed that “Perez must have been doing something else that distracted him while driving and made him lose the control of the vehicle”, a Peugeot 206.
The evidence confirmed that Perez was carrying a Blackberry phone set in the texting mode, which was found near the corpses while the forensics were analyzing the scenery for clues. People surrounding the place couldn’t confirm that he was texting but confirmed that “he was listening to loud music and seemed to have lost the control of the car”.
The journalism student claimed himself as innocent, but the parents of P.P, P.C and P.F claimed that they would press charges against him besides the ones imposed by the public system of justice, and not only for driving irresponsibly and under the influence of alcohol, but also for murder.
Perez told the police officers that he was “driving carefully and never took a glance off of the road”, but the evidence speaks against him. Witnesses who saw the crash confirmed that “he was speeding and driving from side to side of the road” and also that “the crash was fast and the kids died as soon as it happened…the place was a blood bath”.
Perez is waiting to be prosecuted next Tuesday for three different charges imposed to him by the municipal authorities: murder, driving irresponsibly and under the influence of alcohol. Besides the 20 year old will not only have to pay the damages caused to the supermarket but also millionaire fines to pay the damage made to the public property.
martes, 8 de septiembre de 2009
Campaigns need to be more grotesque in order to create an effect
All the time we see campaigns to prevent irresponsible acts from users of different products, such as cars, mobile phones, alcohol, cigarettes and many other. What we don’t know how to control is the abuse of all of them.
I think that we have failed to reach this goal, actually we have seen lots of advertising aiming to stop these abuses. But still there have been plenty of problems related to these campaigns which has made them less than effective. Lets take for example the latest campaign seen in Las Condes, Lo Barnechea and Vitacura, to prevent people from doing dangerous activities while driving. Still the people who created this campaign forgot the most important thing, they are trying to spread safe driving, therefore if people read the exhaustively long signs they posted on the roadside, clearly there are going to be more car accidents as a result of that.
Or perhaps we should take as an example the cigarette campaign to warn people that smoking is dangerous for help. Publicity in most developed countries tells in a harsh and direct way the harms that smoking can do for health. Here in Chile instead they show some cases which are not, by any means, grotesque.
What people need are shocking images and examples on how smoking, drinking and driving, and many other irresponsible conducts affect their lives and the consequences the have.
As horrible as it might sound people need images, and not images and words, just imagery that shows the real naked truth. Most of people tend to think that what they see is not real, or maybe that it is unreachable, and that is what happens in Chile.
People see things in pictures and advertising which are far away from truth that they know, and usually they tend to think that those things are never going to happen to them. Still there are some kind of images that have a greater impact on people, and unfortunately that in pain and suffering, death and blood.
People need commercial and images that dare to show the real last consequences of these acts: mashed bodies because of a car crash, dead lungs, bleeding mouths, and so many other things that appeal to a different sense.
The basic images which are not so grotesque either make people laugh or ignore them because they don’t affect them in a sensitive way. But tragedies do create that effect on people, a shocking effect and that is what Chilean people need. Roaside publicity will only cause more accidents, superficial images on cigarette cartons will not make people stop smoking, we need to create an impact with publicity in order to put a stop to this problem.
In order to stop abuses like these we need images as cruel as they can be and we need to spread them in many ways as possible. That is the only way that people are finally going to understand the impact of these abuses in their lives.
I think that we have failed to reach this goal, actually we have seen lots of advertising aiming to stop these abuses. But still there have been plenty of problems related to these campaigns which has made them less than effective. Lets take for example the latest campaign seen in Las Condes, Lo Barnechea and Vitacura, to prevent people from doing dangerous activities while driving. Still the people who created this campaign forgot the most important thing, they are trying to spread safe driving, therefore if people read the exhaustively long signs they posted on the roadside, clearly there are going to be more car accidents as a result of that.
Or perhaps we should take as an example the cigarette campaign to warn people that smoking is dangerous for help. Publicity in most developed countries tells in a harsh and direct way the harms that smoking can do for health. Here in Chile instead they show some cases which are not, by any means, grotesque.
What people need are shocking images and examples on how smoking, drinking and driving, and many other irresponsible conducts affect their lives and the consequences the have.
As horrible as it might sound people need images, and not images and words, just imagery that shows the real naked truth. Most of people tend to think that what they see is not real, or maybe that it is unreachable, and that is what happens in Chile.
People see things in pictures and advertising which are far away from truth that they know, and usually they tend to think that those things are never going to happen to them. Still there are some kind of images that have a greater impact on people, and unfortunately that in pain and suffering, death and blood.
People need commercial and images that dare to show the real last consequences of these acts: mashed bodies because of a car crash, dead lungs, bleeding mouths, and so many other things that appeal to a different sense.
The basic images which are not so grotesque either make people laugh or ignore them because they don’t affect them in a sensitive way. But tragedies do create that effect on people, a shocking effect and that is what Chilean people need. Roaside publicity will only cause more accidents, superficial images on cigarette cartons will not make people stop smoking, we need to create an impact with publicity in order to put a stop to this problem.
In order to stop abuses like these we need images as cruel as they can be and we need to spread them in many ways as possible. That is the only way that people are finally going to understand the impact of these abuses in their lives.
A consumer cannot be a rebel!
We are immerse in a culture where businesses are based in consumer needs. But if we take in consideration our need twenty years go, or perhaps more, when this consumer culture began, we would realize one thing, needs and people change.
Nowadays needs are not the same, people are evolving and so are the characteristics of our society. As highways invade our lands, and shopping malls display newer kinds of food and cleaning supplies we use them, and most importantly need those things on a daily basis.
We create new needs according to the reality in which we live. As people surrounded by highways we believe that having a car -and a fast one- is a must in order to move around. Also we believe that new kinds of exotic food sold by huge supermarket chains are a basic need; sadly we convince ourselves that exotic -.therefore unconventional and more expensive- products are the same as regular ones, and we add them to our list of basic needs as “regular” -simple- products.
It is impossible today to be rebel against consumer culture because it is everywhere you go. Our culture is all about consuming, we live around it and as a part of it. Consumerism is not buying designer clothes and spending money in the highest technology; it is also buying the music that makes you a rebel, the clothes that makes you different from everybody else, and depending on props to be who you are.
We are consumers, and every single need transforms itself in a certain kind of consume. As rebels there is a need to prove everybody else wrong in order to intensify your point; but as a person trying to differentiate itself from the rest, there is still a need to use certain resorts. John Lennon and Yoko Ono used their bed in order to be rebellious, Curt Cobain used T-Shirts, and so many figures that have tried to be defiant ended up buying like the rest of us and also selling themselves to the media. Curt Cobain sold himself to Rolling Stone Magazine and MTV Unplugged; Ono and Lennon invited the press to cover their “Bed Peace” movement.
All of them fall in the web of consumerism either buying or selling to be rebellious, trying to cover up that tendency with needs and rebelliousness. But in the end, when naked -with no props, no money and no media- they are nothing else but a peon in the game of capitalism, consumerism and media. They sold their souls to this culture and it is impossible for them to be outsiders. At the same time they are also trying to sell a new way of life, with new needs, new accessories and tendencies, nowadays it is all about selling and buying, and being rebel means consuming nothing.
Nowadays needs are not the same, people are evolving and so are the characteristics of our society. As highways invade our lands, and shopping malls display newer kinds of food and cleaning supplies we use them, and most importantly need those things on a daily basis.
We create new needs according to the reality in which we live. As people surrounded by highways we believe that having a car -and a fast one- is a must in order to move around. Also we believe that new kinds of exotic food sold by huge supermarket chains are a basic need; sadly we convince ourselves that exotic -.therefore unconventional and more expensive- products are the same as regular ones, and we add them to our list of basic needs as “regular” -simple- products.
It is impossible today to be rebel against consumer culture because it is everywhere you go. Our culture is all about consuming, we live around it and as a part of it. Consumerism is not buying designer clothes and spending money in the highest technology; it is also buying the music that makes you a rebel, the clothes that makes you different from everybody else, and depending on props to be who you are.
We are consumers, and every single need transforms itself in a certain kind of consume. As rebels there is a need to prove everybody else wrong in order to intensify your point; but as a person trying to differentiate itself from the rest, there is still a need to use certain resorts. John Lennon and Yoko Ono used their bed in order to be rebellious, Curt Cobain used T-Shirts, and so many figures that have tried to be defiant ended up buying like the rest of us and also selling themselves to the media. Curt Cobain sold himself to Rolling Stone Magazine and MTV Unplugged; Ono and Lennon invited the press to cover their “Bed Peace” movement.
All of them fall in the web of consumerism either buying or selling to be rebellious, trying to cover up that tendency with needs and rebelliousness. But in the end, when naked -with no props, no money and no media- they are nothing else but a peon in the game of capitalism, consumerism and media. They sold their souls to this culture and it is impossible for them to be outsiders. At the same time they are also trying to sell a new way of life, with new needs, new accessories and tendencies, nowadays it is all about selling and buying, and being rebel means consuming nothing.
martes, 1 de septiembre de 2009
Help me save Chilean lives
Dear Editor,
Have you ever been on a car crash? I hope not. I cannot say that I'm thankful for that too because about three years ago I should have died in a car accident, gladly somehow I survived. Do you ever wonder how many people die in our country as a result of car accident? Honestly, I don't have a clue but I know it is a lot. These accidents are taking innocent people lives on a daily basis.
I have seen many ads and campaigns aimed at teenagers and most of them are aimed at people who drink and drive, who talk on the phone, change the radio and many other activities ones does while driving. Recently I saw a new campaign -roadside banners- which are telling people not to text while driving.
As stupid as it might sound, some people do text and drive but we are still either ignoring or letting pass the fact that it is becoming a very dangerous issue in our society and especially for all the other innocent drivers.
I must admit though, that I was stupid enough to text while driving, and I'm not talking about years ago, I mean last week. I told my boyfriend and he asked me not to do that again and showed me a video which had an amazing effect.
I recognize and acknowledge the fact that Las Condes, Vitacura and Lo Barnechea are trying to prevent accidents caused by texting, but I don't think that roadside banners are the option, because that resort is also distracting drivers. A video not only can be seen in a safe place (away from the roads, preventing newer accidents caused by distracted drivers), but it is also a graphic way to show people the direct effects of their actions. It is also a vivid way to explain what are the consequences after the accident, the pros and cons and also it uses a device that we have seen before in some older campaigns -by Clinica Alemana- and that is guilt.
There have been a lot of campaigns similar to this one, but still the effects have been null, there has been a negation of reality. I think that appealing to cruelty, rawness and violent accidents it is a way to touch people. This ad I saw shows a scene with a girl texting while driving, and as a result: a bloody car, all of her friends dead, and two homeless kids on the other car asking mommy and daddy to wake up.
That's why I ask you, have you ever been on a car crash? Have you ever felt the fear of almost killing someone you love? I have. We need, as a country, to apply measures like these, to show people the importance and fragility of life to all of the people who drive. Lives can be taken away in a minute, and it might take a four minute video to prevent that from happening.
I am asking you in this letter to help save Chilean people lives. As a massive media who reaches a big proportion of citizens of this country, help me, you and everybody to save lives. It’s in your hands now to do something about it because I don’t have the influence or the power to make this happen, but you do.
Camila Vera Falabella.
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