Free School Meals in the US

In the United States, a school food service group said at a US Senate hearing on Wednesday that more poor children should be allowed to eat for free at school and the government should pay higher reimbursement rates for school meals.

Right now, most school breakfasts and lunches are free for really poor children. Those who are slightly richer are offered school breakfasts and lunches at reduced prices. The president of the school meal group, Katie Wilson, wanted the reduced price meals to be turned into free meals as well.

The school meal group also asked for an additional 35 cents reimbursement for each lunch and an extra 20 cents for each breakfast served. They hope that with this reimbursement, the food price increases would be offset so that the school can sell better quality meals which are more value for money.

Source:

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_346199.html

I think that this is a good move to start the war against childhood hunger. By giving more reimbursement to offset food prices, meals which are of better quality and hopefully more nutritious can be served to hungry children who have no money to spend on food.

In school, meals are extremely important as it gives children energy to get through the school day. If the children have no energy, they will not be able to pay attention in class and their results will suffer. We should not be taking food for granted; if you felt really lethargic, would you be able to concentrate?

Being able to eat more food (nutritious food!) can also make you less prone to illnesses as the body has enough strength to fight the ‘bugs’ off. Poor children in Africa are always hungry and are so thin you can see their bones prominently; they always look tired because they have no energy and some even resort to eating insects.

Some of us don’t even finish our food. That’s how much we people here in Singapore waste food. I’m not talking about those people who leave 1 or 2 grains of rice on their plate; I’m talking about those people who eat a quarter of the food and throw away the rest. Whenever you are thinking of dumping that plate of chicken rice because you are full or something, think of the children in Africa.

NTU student falls to death

Mr Hartanto Widjaja, an Indonesian and a final-year student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), plunged 4 floors to his death. Reports state that on the 2^nd of March 2009, he was having a discussion with NTU Professor Chan Kap Luk about his final-year project when he suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed the professor in the back before slitting his own wrists, running one story down and climbing onto the roof of a bridge that connected the building he was in to another opposite. He then fell off the glass roof and plunged 4 storeys to his death. Fortunately Professor Chan is in stable condition.

Picture Source:

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090303/ntu-widjaja.jpg

Why did Mr Widjaja do this? The answer was that his scholarship had been revoked two weeks before this incident happened. He had been warned three times to improve his grades but he would not try, resulting in his scholarship being terminated. His Grade Point Average had fallen below the 3.5 mark which is lower than a B.

Anyway, how did he sneak a knife into the campus in the first place? Does the campus have such low security that you can sneak in any weapon you want? If that could happen, a terrorist disguised as a student could sneak in a bomb and blow up the entire school.

Just because your scholarship has been terminated, does not mean it is the end of the world. Everything can be resolved; there is no need to overreact. If you commit suicide over some trivial thing, it is not you who suffer (Duh? If you are dead your suffering is over!), it is also not your teacher who will suffer (Your teacher is just your teacher. If you die, at most the teacher will just mourn for you; it’s not like the teacher’s life will change. The teacher could become so traumatized that he or she would quit but most likely it won’t affect them in the long run.).

The people who are really affected are your parents. They spent so much love and money raising you and you waste it all when you end your life. Who is going to care for them when they are old? Imagine the pain they will experience when their hard work is suddenly gone.

The person who committed suicide over a scholarship shouldn’t have done that. Come on, it’s just a scholarship. It won’t get you kicked out of school. The newspaper said so. So all of you who are reading this remember this: Do not end your life over anything. It is not worth it; it can be solved.

Source:

The Straits Times-2^nd March 2009

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_345743.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_345645.html

Fake post

Strike freedom! (drawn by yours truly if you do not know)

WOO HOO! I TOLD YOU I WAS GOING TO POST SOMETHING. UNFORTUNATELY, I DON’T HAVE TIME TO PUBLISH A PROPER POST. SO YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO DO WITH THIS FOR NOW (depending on your computer, you might not be able to see the different fonts in this post). PLUS THE CRAZY CHANGING FONT. HOPE YOU LIKE THE PICTURE. UNTIL THE NEXT POST, GOODBYE!