Monday, October 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Make Poverty History - Bono
Help us win the war...On terrorism...On hopelessness...On disease.
Let's make poverty history.
What are you doing today? Invest 10 minutes in making poverty disappear, whether that's hitting the park bench for lunch with the homeless, or sponsoring a child or school struggling to survive around the world.
Every second counts. And yes, the world depends on you.
Posted by ALO at 11:09 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Text Message Security Program Works
FERRUM, VIRGINIA--26 FEB 2008:
From Katherine Porter, photography editor at Ferrum College (VA) newspaper The Iron Blade:
"Students awoke to the sound of sirens and cell phone’s going off this morning after a young, Caucasian, male was spotted with a handgun located on him.
E2campus, a mass notification system that can alert students of important information via text message, sent out its first text message to individuals signed up for the service at 7:54 a.m. saying, “Possible shooter on campus. Stay indoors. More details to come.”
“I woke up to a loud siren. Then I looked out my window and saw a bunch of cops with large guns. There were cops everywhere; on top of buildings, on the sidewalk, just everywhere. When I found out what was happening all I could think of was Virginia Tech, I couldn’t believe this was happening here,” stated Orlando Romero, a junior majoring in Political Science at the college."
"Bradley Goode, a freshman who is a resident of Bassett Hall, explained that she is glad she signed up for the E2Campus service. “Without it I would not have known what was going on. When my roommate and I heard there was a possible shooter in our dorm, we locked our door and sat on the floor. We were both really scared, but impressed with the way that Ferrum has handled the situation. No one has been hurt.” "
After recent high-profile tragedies at schools across our country, campuses are finally using technology to their advantage. First tested at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, E2Campus alerts students of dangerous situations via text message, E-mail, and Palm Pilot (among other mediums). This mass notification system allows school and law enforcement authorities to get word out to students more quickly--helping to save lives.To learn more about how to bring E2Campus to your school, visit their website. If your school currently uses this system, drop us a line and let us know your opinion.
Posted by ALO at 11:21 PM 11 comments
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Words that Inspire: Robert F. Kennedy
The exuberant crowd did not yet know of this terrible happening, so Kennedy crumpled up the speech he had planned to give, opting instead to tell the crowd himself what had transpired that night. After delivering the news, Kennedy went on to give a passionate, ad hoc speech calling for healing and unity that has become one of the greatest speeches of the last century.
"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black." --Robert F. Kennedy, August 4th, 1968, Indianapolis
Posted by ALO at 4:26 PM 1 comments
Louisiana Students Start Saving World
Students' program earns former president's approval - News:
From Loyola University of Louisiana's student newspaper, The Maroon, written by Katie Urbaszewski:
"It's a dynamic team: Aaron Kirsh has the financial knowledge, Nicole Kone is involved with community outreach and Elliot Sanchez has the university connections. Together, they have developed an idea for poverty alleviation in New Orleans that Bill Clinton personally recognized.
Kirsh, finance senior, Kone, English writing senior, and Sanchez, philosophy senior, are in the process of developing a loan system that will give people in the low-income bracket the opportunity to start their own businesses and earn a better salary. They should have the Loyola Microfinance Initiative entirely organized by the beginning of the fall semester, Sanchez said. Loyola will provide the money, and students will run the program.
The three seniors developed the idea during the Clinton Global Initiative, a conference at Tulane University that students from across the globe attended last month to discuss and attempt to solve global issues. Out of 700 groups, theirs was one of nine that Clinton acknowledged as noteworthy plans."
Click the link above to read about their plan and how they plan to do it!
Click here for information on the Clinton Global Initiative.
Don't wait another day to start changing the world. Really, we all need your help!
Posted by ALO at 10:31 AM 1 comments
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Daily Iowan TV: 'Kristin's story' about inspiring women
Daily Iowan TV: 'Kristin's story' about inspiring women - Metro
From the University of Iowa, this story about a mother who is able to take the most dire of circumstances and turn it into an inspiration to us all. Please click the link above to watch.
As Sexual Assault Victims Awareness Month comes to a close, know what the truth is. 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. In 2006, there were over 270,000 victims of sexual assault--in other words, someone was sexual assaulted in the United States every 2 minutes.
What's worse? 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. 73% of rape victims know their assailants. And only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.
In a free society, in a peaceful society, in an intelligent society--we must do all we can to educate, police, and protect everyone in our communities from becoming victims or criminals.
(Figures and statistics from RAINN--Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
Posted by ALO at 8:59 AM 3 comments
Gators Chomp Up Renewable Energy
The Independent Florida Alligator: News - Poll reveals UF students willing to pay extra for renewable energy
The University of Florida is taking an important step in the field of renewable energy by creating a 50-cent per credit hour fee for students each year to be used to finance sources of renewable energy at "The Swamp." Read the above link by UF student Amelia Harnish to find out more.
Whether you drive a Prius or a Porsche, we all have an equally vested interest in promoting renewable sources of energy when practical.
Don't just sit there--get a few people together and DO something about it!
SAVE YOUR SCHOOL and SAVE THE PLANET!
Posted by ALO at 1:28 AM 316 comments
Going Green
...It's been a while! Like most of you, we have been incredibly busy, as well.
In light of Earth Day earlier this week, we thought we'd highlight one of the coolest sites advocating for better protection of the planet we live on:
Manly men need not be wary--no actual hugging of trees necessary to use this site. Rather, Treehugger can help you improve our environment by cutting your own carbon emissions and waste while saving you money on energy.
If you've ever wanted to get active in the great environmental wave sweeping the world, this is the place to do it!!!
Posted by ALO at 12:49 AM 0 comments
Friday, March 7, 2008
Eve Carson
Today we mourn the loss of one of our own--UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson.
An enthusiastic and vibrant senior at North Carolina, it has been said that Eve was "everything that was great about Carolina." Her accomplishments were many, but were nothing compared to the care she showed her fellow Tar Heels every day.
We would not be where we are today if not for the support and work of people like Eve Carson. And so, today, we are all Tar Heels.
If you have any stories you'd like to share about Eve Carson and how she touched your life, please post here. If you are a student and are looking for support through this difficult time, contact the Office of the Dean of Students or Counseling and Wellness Services at Chapel Hill. We are all here for you.
Posted by ALO at 1:14 AM 3 comments
Monday, January 7, 2008
Voting and YOU!
And remember--VOTE!!!
Headline from DeclareYourself.com:
TRIPLE TURNOUT IN IOWA
The youth turnout in Iowa more than tripled compared to the 2004 caucus from 4% to 13%! Young voters came out to support their candidates and their voices were clearly heard as Senator Obama took the lead for the Democrats and Huckabee for the Republicans.(Hey America--KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!)
Posted by ALO at 1:44 AM 0 comments
Keeping the Vote
“Voting is a civic sacrament.” -Theodore Hesburgh
While political minds have been focused on Iowa and New Hampshire, it's time for the rest of America to get up and get a plan for voting in your own state's primary. In this day and age, voting in your state party's primary or caucus is as important as voting in the General Election.
If you're not even registered to vote--do it! If you're in the armed services, you can register to vote AND get your absentee ballot here: http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.pdf. If you're not in the armed services, you can find EVERYTHING you need to know at MTV's Rock the Vote, or at your state's Secretary of State website (google it, lazy!).
It is going to take a considerable effort from the 18-24 year old demographic to effect any sort of change in this year's election, but it is already happening--a HUGE swell in youth voter turnout helped Democratic Senator Barack Obama win the state of Iowa last Thursday. The moral of the story? When you vote, people listen!
Posted by ALO at 1:28 AM 0 comments
Happy New Year!
We hope that everyone had an enjoyable New Year's celebration, and is ready to welcome in 2008. We sure are--the American Leaders Organization is looking forward to an outstanding year.
We already have many great things planned. "Operation: Vote!" is already underway at the US Naval Academy, registering and requesting absentee ballots for already over 200 students. We are putting in place a program that would register every single student at each US military service academy--that would mean a drive registering over 15,000 people to vote!
On top of that, we're teaming up with Washington/Baltimore area universities to deliver much needed books and supplies to Baltimore city schools. We're putting together care packages for troops overseas. We're helping struggling communities out by partnering them with businesses who can improve their local economies.
In short, 2008 is all about "what [we] can do for our country." We hope that one of your New Year's resolutions will be to take the message of the American Leaders Organization to your school and community--together, we can make America a better place to live!
A new oath holds pretty well; but... when it is become old, and frayed out, and damaged by a dozen annual retryings of its remains, it ceases to be serviceable; any little strain will snap it. ~Mark Twain
Posted by ALO at 1:06 AM 0 comments