Why is Bogota’s mobility so deficient?

In Bogotá, the sale of vehicles has increased dramatically in the last years. Only in 2012, Fenalco said that 311,912 sales were recorded by the year. In this regard, the Veeduria Distrital has stated in their reports that in Bogota are circulating over 1,200,000 vehicles and expressed: “Whereas previously more than 600 thousand vehicles were circulating for near 14.500 km from length of the total of the road mesh last year, the double of the cars did it for something more about 14.800 km, when the thing to expect was that they were doing it at least in 28 thousand kilometers… “[i]

The mobility is part of one of the fundamental rights of the Political Constitution of Colombia: “Every Colombian, with the limitations of the law, has the right to move freely, throughout the country, in and out of it, and remain and reside in Colombia”[ii]. But this right is broken by the problems in the mobility in Bogotá.

Some of the reasons of the traffic in Bogota are: 1) The corruption in the adjudication (Constructions without studies and designs, without planning) and worse execution of the works in the roads infrastructure (Deficient and incomplete works, for example Transmilenio to the Airport), 2) Lack of maintenance of the roads and undue occupation of the routes between the others, the lack of information regarding the use of the new cards to the citizens over the new integrated system of public transportation.

The Veeduria Distrital has said that the increase in the traffic decreases the speed of the cars: while five years ago cars were travelling at 33 km/h, now they move at 24 km/h. The speed of the public system was also affected: the buses, busetas and taxis, before the 2010 were 53 minutes late when arriving to their destination, whereas this year it has increased in an average of 64 minutes late per arrival.

We can conclude that we are facing an absence of governmental politics to guarantee the right of free traffic, despite of the fact that the “Pico y Placa” equally contributed to the purchase of vehicles. The level of education does not exist for the efficient use of public services: Absence of a plan for the execution of the works and maintenance of the roads while respecting the public resources. Communication deficiency towards the citizens regarding the new Integrated System of Urban Transportation. This means that we need a better development in the mobility of our city and a better defense of our rights as citizens.

Leonel Riveros 8B

Image taken from here

---

[i]   Veeduría Distrital. Periódico El Espectador. Bogotá DC. 21/11/2011. Sección Bogotá.

[ii]   Constitución Política de Colombia. Editorial Legis.Vigesimo Séptima Edición. Bogotá DC. 2012. 14

We are destroying the planet

A simple piece of trash can do a whole damage to our environment. People sometimes don’t notice how harmful this is, they are making big mistakes they don’t even notice. But when the world starts to change they will start to see how much harm they did, not only to ourselves but their society.

When people are eating they just leave their packages and never throw them away. This is starting to happen in many places, maybe at work, school, doing tourism, etc.   For example, if you go to the beach and you go a little far you can see how many plastic bottles, packages, and old stuff are in there. All those things that go to the beach is our fault, nobody else’s.  All those little plastic pieces kill animal in our community. The plastic wraps around fish kill them. People don’t see this is a very harmful situation, but imagine yourself being the fish… you would be dying.

People who really do care for our world are trying to look for solutions to make it a better place. It’s a very difficult thing to do because our society is a mess, they talk and talk and say they’re going to try but it’s not true. They don’t do it, they just talk and never show actions. People don’t apply consideration because they leave wrappers, gum, etc. in the middle of nowhere. Some people, on the other hand, are working on contamination campaigns to motivate people to try and save our world. Maybe people do not notice what they are doing to the world, but when something goes wrong with our environment society will regret they never made something to change our world.

Many articles state that pollution is another big contamination in our world. Cars, buses, and other transportation systems damage the air in our community. People may stop this by riding a bicycle, not using their cars that much, using more public services, etc. People do think this is a great idea but do not apply it for personal reasons.

In reality some people do want to change the environment but other don’t. To have a good and clean environment is better than having a trashy and messy one. To start and make a change, people need to change their mentalities, and start noticing the harm they are doing to our world, animals, and even to themselves.

Rafael Bahamón 8A

Image: David Evers – Wikimedia Commons

Armin Van Buuren is the best DJ in the world

“It’s not just the love for music, it’s my passion. It goes beyond liking, and beyond a hobby, it’s about a way of living. Music is essential to my life”.

Armin van Buuren

Last year, Armin Van Buuren, a Dutch DJ who has always been recognized for being the best in his genre, was chosen as the best DJ in 2012. What  this magazine truly shows is the popularity of an artist, but being honest, he is the best of his kind. I specially choose to make an essay about him because my interest for Trance music started when I first listened to his. I’m not the only one who says that his music sounds like heaven, the media and people say so.

Armin Van Buuren jumped to success with his radio program, which has been known as a very important one: A State of Trance. In this radio show, he discovered the driving force behind his success: his passion for dance music. Nowadays, around 15 million (and even more) listeners stay tuned to his 2 hour show of trance and progressive. This show has received the “Best Mix Radio Show” award for several years.

Last year, after a rough time, Guetta gave Armin his throne again. “This feels surreal”, said Armin at the fifth time getting the first place as the best DJ in the world. Even though he was saying that House music was taking over, the trance master got out of the darkness and shined again. Literally Trance music is going “free” thanks to the newborn House guys. An example: The Wonder-Dutch boy, Nicky Romero, which for Armin is really impressive because his music introduces some Trance, could bring out a new genre. But becoming the most popular DJ is just one of his many achievements.

Armin is not the best DJ only for earning the first place of a magazine; he also holds the “Best Trance Artist” and the “Best Global DJ”. Furthermore, he has these and many other awards in different categories. In the 10º anniversary of a State of Trance 500, which was celebrated all around the world in 5 different countries, his songs were full to the top. In his natal country he has gotten many achievements, from medals to number 1 albums in many ranks.

My final reason to explain why Armin van Buuren is the best DJ in the world is a personal opinion. From the videos I have seen he’s one in a billion: his ‘events’ are like a giant parties, from the beginning to the end. Trance, to me, is like a drug, a very addictive drug. Many may say I have different feelings, or even a different personality, but from what I have read on the media, on many social-webs, it’s like reading my own mind. “Armin has always kept his focus on the music. And that’s exactly what keeps him going.”

Jose Didier Rincón 8C

 Image: edmlounge.com

The importance of learning English

Benjamin Lee Whorf said referring to language, “It shapes the way we think and determines what we can think about”. Speakers of different languages have a concept and experience the world differently, because of the communication they can have. The English language is our best friend when trying to connect to the world outside. It is the main language of general business and management and makes travelling overseas easier, that is why learning English acquires more importance.

Learning English acquires more importance due to the fact that we live in a multicultural world. It is a universal language that unites the world together considering the changing times. In today’s world more than 90% of the websites are created and written in English and 72.2% of health publications are in English. In addition, when people with different languages come together they usually use English to communicate. English is an international way for communication and expressing one’s feeling anytime and anywhere, it helps you a lot when looking for a job.

Learning and knowing English as a second language opens job and employment opportunities in the local and international job market. For example, Multinational companies like Citibank in Colombia prefer to employ people that speak English for the day to day operations.  In addition, my father told me that Cenipalma, an investigation center only employs investigators that know English because most of the literature and international conferences are written and given in English. This shows that knowing English not only improves one´s chance to getting a job than the one who doesn’t but also helps you when travelling for work or tourism.

Knowing English helps you have a better travelling experience to any part of the world, be it business or tourism.  You have to communicate with so many individuals starting from the airport, where all the announcements are in English, to the hotel and business meetings, or when you go to the stores for shopping. There are times where people have to use English to communicate with people in the same nation since different regions speak different languages.

Most of the people know that English is the most popular language actually. Besides the popularity, everybody should know that it is one of the most important skills to have for personal success, fun and any other part of life. If we can convince all people that English is a very important language to study, they would simply try harder to learn it in schools or in their own time.

José María Obregón 8C