Liberty+High+School+Global+Issues+Think+Tank


 * December 10, 2013 **


 * OPEN LETTER OF STATEMENT AND CHALLENGE **
 * inviting and challenging US ALL - student, parent, teacher, individual, group - to find the greatness in ourselves and start making the world the place it should be for us, our children, our ancestors, our species, and all living things.**


 * To All:**

OUR world is in need. There are so many problems that affect humans, other species, and even the future of our entire planet.

History has shown that a single person - or a "single institution" - //CAN// make a difference - there are so many examples: Theodore Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., The Dalai Lama, Rachel Carson, Al Gore, Aung San Suu Kyi, Jimmy Carter, All Nobel Laureates, and how many more? Institutions? How about the United Nations, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and The United Way?

Imagine what we can do together...IF we do //SOMETHING!// Time demands that WE make a stand - NOW! We MUST WE DO OUR PART ... ** NOW **.

What //CAN we do? SO MANY THINGS.// We only have to make them a priority over other activities.

First, ask yourself these questions: 1. What do YOU - or I - do that //really// doesn't make you/me a better person or contributes to making the world better? 2. What DO we do that actually makes the world a //BETTER// place?

Have you ever asked yourself those questions?

Do it. I challenge you.

If you are enough of a person to meet the challenge, the world is waiting for you. Join me.

Truly, Mr. Zahm

1. IMAGINE! Imagine what we could do individually and //as a group!//
 * What is the FIRST step? **

2. COMMIT to ACT, each, //individually//.
 * What is the SECOND step? **

3. MEET, DISCUSS, AND BRAINSTORM ACTIONS ... TOGETHER.
 * What is the THIRD step? **

F. ACT AS A GROUP! - SPEAK TO, EDUCATE, AND RECRUIT OTHERS - grow the number of people making the world better: this includes friends, strangers, and representatives in our school, our city, our state, our country, and YES, our world - the United Nations.
 * What is the FINAL step? **


 * Consider the following Five+ World (and Local) Problems: **

1.__War & the Threat of Nuclear Holocaust __ : In Ira Helfand's article, (Dec. 2013) [|"A Nuclear Threat Far Greater than Iran"], he points out that, while we worry about the nation of Iran acquiring even a single nuclear device, every ONE of the 14 US ballistic nuclear submarines in operation today, carrying 96 nuclear missiles, can essentially destroy the world for life as we know it. How could anything be more important!? And Russia and China have so many nuclear warheads that the total global nuclear warheads numbers near 20,000 - 20,000 ways to DESTROY life on a "massive" scale! Mr. Helfand appeals to humans to demand that we rid the world of these devastating devices. Well?

2. __World Population__: Is our population growing sustainably?

Currently, according to the United Nations department that studies population, there are 7.1 billion human beings and that number increases by about 85 million per year. By 2030, the UN predicts population to reach 8.5 billion; by 2050, 9.5 billion; and by 2100 (87 years), unertainty requires three estimates: High - 16 billion, Medium - 12.5 billion, and the LOW - 4.5 BILLION.

3. __Food and natural resources__: What problems are not related to growing human population?

Sufficient food and natural resources, such as clean water, do not reach all humans. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 children die of starvation related causes - EACH DAY. Conservatively, that is 15,000 x 365 (days in a year), or 5,475,000 children each year. (What about adults?)

4. __Global Climate Change__: Is the short term profit of the petroleum industry and the protection of the interests of the developed world //more// important than survival of ALL humans? Why not prevent a problem, rather than deal with the incredible aftermath?

According to James Hansen, (Columbia University Science Professor), in his opinion published on CNN.com ([|What We Owe Our Kids on Climate]), Earth's temperature has risen .8 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. As a result, we are experiencing changes that are making our world arguably unlivable. Think Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and all of the flooding (around the world) in just the last 5 years. Did you know that about 80% of the world's population lives within 100 miles of Earth's seas? That's 5.6 BILLION people who may need to BE relocated as sea levels rise. All of this is largely the result of our burning fossil fuels - coal, oil, and gas - to provide heat and drive our human industry. Alternative energy sources exist.

5. __The Current Global Mass Extinction of Species:__ Did you know that the effect of People on land and sea is the primary cause of extinction of species?

It is OUR use of natural resources, such as wild lands for agriculture, industry, and homes, that has destroyed and reduced the habitats of endangered species.

Going back 2,000 years, African Lions lived in Europe, Asia - including China and India, and of course Africa. In 1960 they numbered over 200,000 African Lions - mostly in Africa, only.

TODAY THERE ARE LESS THAN 20,000 LIONS IN THE WILD, and only in southern Africa, according to the non-profit group LionAid. (LionAid's estimate is the only one based on //field studies,// rather than second hand accounts used by "authorities" such as the United Nations or the IUCN - the International Union for Conservation of Nature).

Currently, Earth's species are dying off at a rate far higher than any normal period in Earth's history. The current rate compares to the five previous Mass Extinctions of the past, most notably the loss of the dinosaurs (and about 90% of all species), 65 million years ago due, in part, to an asteroid. Humanity depends on Earth's ecosystems to provide us with the Ecosystem Services that we have assumed would always be there: clean water, clean air, food, space, and raw materials. Plants provide clean water, clean air, medicine, and food; animals provide medicines and food, and maintain a balance within the ecosystems. We can not eliminate them without major consequences, like in the "game" Jenga.

6. __Education__: What percentage of the world today receives a High School education? College? How about PRIMARY/ELEMENTARY?! Nelson Mandela was credited with saying something like, "Education is required to fight world problems".

In countries that have developed educational systems, ed performance varies greatly and the amount of money spent does not necessarily correspond with greater performance level.

And how is - or should be - performance assessed? What role does creativity (of students AND TEACHERS) and instructional freedom play? According to 21'st Century Standards, they //should// play a larger role than they do!

7. __Natural Disasters__: Shouldn't our resources be taken from War and Nuclear Arsenals and used to protect and aid those who are most susceptible to natural disasters or who have suffered from them?

__ Questions to Ask & Some Web Resources __

1) Cystic Fibrosis Advocacy [] - What needs to be done to find a cure, for this disease and others, like Tay-Sachs? AIDS is controllable due to multiple anti-viral drug treatments. But CF involves a genetic mutation. - Where is the progress in “gene thereapy”/genetic engineering?
 * DISEASE/GENETIC DISORDERS**

1) LIONAID - How do we change the trend toward extinction? - What do we have to stop, habitat change and descrtuciton? 2) Wild Animal Sanctuary. org - How do we stop behaviors like this toward animals?
 * ENDANGERED SPECIES**
 * o Why do they take place?
 * o How do we change the mechanism?

3) World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - To sponsor a species - 1) SaveTheChildrenInternational [] - What problems face children? - What needs to change? - How can it be changed?
 * HUNGER/POVERTY/CHILDREN**

1) Inspirationgreen.com (green construction)
 * SUSTAINABILITY**