Christine Ongson -SLU’s Filipino Student Assocation

Source: REUTERS-Erik de Castro

What had started as strong rainfall on the night of September 25, 2009 soon morphed into a greater force of nature. Typhoon Ondoy (or “Ketsana,” as it is known internationally) made landfall, leaving the Pacific island country devastated and revealing the government’s unpreparedness. Within 24 hours, Ondoy had deposited 17.9 inches of rain—the most rainfall recorded in a single day in 42 years, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)—incurring $100 million worth in damages and 360 people dead. Ondoy did not stop there. Soon after, the tropical storm crossed over to neighboring countries Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, where it left similar trails of destruction.

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie, an entreprenuer and traveler living the American dream, saw an opportunity to help children in an unconventional way. While traveling around impovershed villages, he realized that children there had no shoes to protect their feet, their main mode of transportation. He returned to America determined to make a change.

Blake with the shoe that keeps on giving. Photocredit: Papermag.com

And so TOMS was born. Operating under the motto One for One, for every pair sold in the states, a pair would be delivered to a child without shoes in Argentina. Modeled after the Argentinian version of the Espadrille, but with rubber sole and fashionable patterns, Blake started selling shoes with expectations that he might sell a couple hundred pairs from his apartment. Soon, industry leaders like Fred Segal and American Ray became interested in the project. As soon as October of 2006 the shoe of tomorrow was the talk of the press making the pages of the likes of Vogue, GQ, and The Los Angeles Times all by the end of 2007.

As of February 1, 2009 TOMS has distributed more than 100,00 pairs to children in Argentina, Ethiopia and South Africa. If everything goes according to plan, they will deliver 300,000 more in 2009 alone. In less than five years, Blake and TOMS will have protected nearly a million little feet from cuts, sores, and infections as well as allowing them to access education in schools that require shoes.

With its astounding success in so little time, Blake has initiated other plans for the company. On April 16th he encouraged people to go barefoot for the day to increase awareness and is looking into building a factory in an impoverished nation to help people help those around them.

Photo by NASA

This year Americans  celebrate the 39th and most important Earth Day yet. Celebrations in St. Louis and throughout the world will focus on putting the environment in the political limelight as well as educating individuals on how to decrease their ecological imprint on our spectacular planet.

Notable events include:

• 20th Annual St. Louis Earth Day Festival-Includes demonstrations and hands-on activities as well as vendors selling environmentally friendly products and non-stop entertainment on two different stages. Attendees are encouraged to take alternative transportation. Those riding bikes will be provided with valet service on the grounds.
• Disney’s Earth- This Earth Day Disney launches it’s new independent film label Disneynature with the release of it’s new film Earth. With help from the creators of BBC’s Planet Earth, it tells the story of three animal families over a year in their daily tribulations dealing with the climate change. Compelling reasons to go: for every ticket sold this week Disney promises to plant a tree, narration by James Earl Jones, and most importantly polar bear, elephant, and whale babies.
• The Earth Day Network- This organization, promoting year long environmentalism is holding a celebration on the National Mall in Washington, DC hoping to attract 100,000 people where politicians and activists will encourage citizens to join “The Green Generation“.
• For more information on environmentalism and various other Earth Day celebrations in the St. Louis area please read this article and accompanying video from the St. Louis Beacon, a completely electronic and thereby environmentally friendly source of local news.

by Laura Bowman

Laura Bowman with Dr. Kimmel

I first heard about Dr. Michael Kimmel around the beginning of the fall semester last year. I had just moved back to my hometown to go to Illinois State University after going to SLU for a year, and as long as we are being honest, I was in a rather odd place. I was very glad to be back with my old friends, but at the same time there were (and still are) people that I wasn’t sure how I was going to navigate the rest of my collegiate years without seeing on a regular basis.

So in my state of dissatisfaction with college in general, I discovered Dr. Kimmel. I caught him on the Today Show doing publicity for his newest book, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, an exploration of the “guy” culture of American males ages 16 to 26. Dr. Kimmel, a sociologist at the University of New York Stony Brook, is one of the leading experts on men and masculinity today. He somehow managed to take everything I ever felt about the college dudes and bros surrounding me and explain it all in a delightfully intelligent manner (without the exasperated sighs and angry grunts that usually frequent my conversations on the subject).

OneWorld is proud to introduce you to its website, sluliveoneworld.org. The purpose of this website is to disseminate information and encourage dialogue about social justice issues, both local and global. This site is a medium for you to upload your thoughts, opinions, pictures, and overall experiences in order to compel others to create real and tangible change in the world. We believe that knowledge is the first step in the process of action, and by contributing to this site you will be a crucial part of that progression.

How to contribute: In order to ensure that we are receiving quality posts that are constructive and conducive to our mission, we ask that you send all of your submissions to oneworldblogging@gmail.com. New blogs and pictures will be posted by the website administrators every Sunday.

Guidelines: Blogs can address any number of issues, as long as they are within the context of social justice. Because we are a non-profit organization, we prefer not to endorse political parties or candidates. Any politically-themed contributions should present all sides of the issue, although the blogger’s opinion is welcome. Please no rants! Obviously, we ask that all submissions are sensitive to all cultures, religions, sexual orientations, etc. Blogs can be anywhere from a paragraph to a couple pages, depending on how extensive the topic.

With all of this in mind, we encourage you to submit your thoughts, research and passions for others to learn from. Whether it is a journal entry from a study abroad experience or an exposé on an unpublicized issue, every post has the potential to change minds and make others more cognizant of their global community. We are excited to see the kind of dialogue we can create on this website, and the way in which it will be used to change our school, city, country or world.
This website runs solely on your submissions and responses, so we hope to hear from you soon. And don’t forget to check the website every Sunday!

Thanks,
The OneWorld Staff

Picture courtesy of the Homelessness Project

Come to OneWorld’s first Social Justice Workshop! Natalie Ray, a social worker with Centenary Cares, a homeless shelter in STL, is coming to SLU to teach OneWorlders about factors contributing to, and stemming from homelessness and to share her experiences with the homeless community. Afterwards we will have a group discussion. This is a great opportunity to learn about an aspect of social justice and get ideas for what you would like to work on for the magazine. (Thank you for your idea submissions, we are looking at them and love them!) All OneWorlders are welcome! We would love to see our writers, editors, photographers, bloggers, general participants, etc… at this workshop!

-OneWorld Staff

*If you are planning on listening to Paul Begala, the workshop will end in time for you to attend his speech!