A Window into Post-tramatic Stress Disorder and How The Miliary is Not Helping

A Seattle veteran was shot dead by a police officer this week after trying to force his way into a house where his wife and child were staying.
The Seattle Times reported that there were two guns found, one on his person and the other a few feet from his body. Reports said that the Iraqi war veteran was angry and unable to deal with a failing marriage, feeling used by the military after being discharged from the Maine Corp for the third time. Family members told the Seattle Times that he always felt better when he was armed, even though he had already returned to civilian life.
This is only one example of neglected Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The signs are apparent, say specialists, changes in behaviors can occur such as dependency on alcohol, domestic abuse and extreme anxiety. According to Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center’s website PTSD is a kind of brain trauma. It is the fear of a memory of a person who has been harmed or threatened in the past such as a car accident, rape or combat.
But, what is the military doing to help the 160,000 new U.S. veterans? It seems that it is doing little or nothing to help discharged soldiers resume their lives that they may have had before they had their tours. After living several years in a hostile foreign country, families are asking that the military help make the transition from soldier life to civilian life easier.
Yet, one Chicago medical center is taking the matter into their own hands. They are fighting PTSD by virtual reality, stimulating real combat scenarios for the patients. It’s called “Virtual Iraq”. Patients are faced with realistic scenes that are similar to those experienced in the Middle East. In doing this, doctors hope to rid their patients of the reoccurring nightmares, flashbacks and other ailments that seem to plague those with PTSD.
But family members say that it should be up to the military to spot those who are showing signs of the disorder and care for them accordingly. The military should be able to care for the soon to be returning soldier and help them learn how to act as a civilian. They should be able to walk down the streets of their home towns after being discharged without feeling the need to be armed or that they are in danger of someone jumping out at them from an alley way. It was up to the military to train these men and women of service. Now it should be their job to retrain them as civilians.

Holiday cheer Via Starbucks instant coffee

With the holidays approaching, one Seattle based organization is spreading the Christmas cheer early this year via instant coffee.
Beginning September 29 some Starbucks stores in Seattle began donating their Via instant coffee to people in need such as busy teachers, homeless shelters, fire fighters and the troops overseas. With the donations of left over pasties already in place to those in need in most stores, it was easy to add them to the “care package,” said one downtown Starbucks barista.
“I remember last winter with all the snow and they would come in asking for hot water,” she said, “this way, they get coffee with their hot water.”
However, donations to the Northwest Harvest and other local homeless shelters are not the only way Starbucks is attempting to reach out to the surrounding communities. Some stores are sending packets of Via overseas to the troops who are waiting to come home.
“Yeah, you can even write them messages,” said one in-store barista in Seatac.
Teachers are another focus of donations. Some are so busy that they can’t leave to classroom to take a quick coffee break. Depending on the age group of the kids, it’s tiring work and a cup of coffee is always well received, according to one neighborhood store.
In the spirit of good holiday cheer, most customers who come into the various stores participating in the drive are more than willing to drop the few extra bucks to make a small impact in another’s life.
“I’m glad we’re donating it instead of just making money,” said one neighborhood barista.
The drive was a district idea that staff leaders in the stores brought back to their teams. Not all Starbucks stores are participating, but those who are say that customers are eager to share with those in need.
“Some customers are unwilling to buy the Via for themselves, but are willing to buy it for others,” said a downtown barista.
The stores are setting up word boards and baskets to draw the customers’ attention to the drive. Some stores have set up more than one basket in order to give a variety of benefactors for the customer to choose from.
“Sometimes it can make the difference between a bad day and a good day,” said a downtown barista.

Seattle Lightrail - Godsend or a Gift from Further South?

The Sound Transit Lightrail opened this year sporting its brand new trains and stations, but is everyone as enthusiastic as it appears?
Nearly 100 noise complaints were filed since the opening along the route from Rainier Valley to Tukwila. Residents have complained about loud thumping, bells and alarms clanging, and screeching breaks. Most of the complaints seemed to have been generated from neighborhoods where the tracks are elevated, according to Seattle P-I.
Sound Transit has been scrambling to address the problem and a vote will be cast by the agency's officials for $1 million emergency aid money to try and fix the problem, a Sound Transit spokesman told Seattle P-I and King 5.
The plan is to apply a lubricant mechanism that applies biodegradable oils to the tracks along Rainier Valley to stop the screeching breaks and even applying sound barriers to block the bells and any other noise that may be generated.
In Tukwila, according to King 5, investigations are underway to find out the extent of the distrubances that residents have stated penetrated their walls and are well over what Sound Transit had promised at the outset of the project.
A Sound Transit spokesman told the Seattle P-I that the agency has recognized the situation as an emergency and hopes to resolve the issue in a swift manner.

Run For Your Lives

The Spanish flu, bird flu, swine flu, H1N1 - all of these names have been used at one point in history, resent or otherwise, to describe a rouge flu that shows up in its victims suddenly and kills quickly. However, it was increasingly frustrating for me to see people react to the virus as if it were the Black Death. I felt there was no immediate threat when hearing about it and even less of a threat when I actually researched the topic - the first time anyway.

H1N1 first reared its ugly head in 1918 when there was a sudden outbreak of the Spanish flu which baffled the American Red Cross. The virus spread to nearly every part of the world, crossing oceans and continents alike. What was most worrisome about this outbreak was that it was hitting healthy young adult. By the end of the two year epidemic, somewhere between 50 and 100 million people died from the flu and one-third of the population as a whole were infected.

The next time we saw the virus it had a different name and slightly different genetic make-up - the avian flu or bird flu. It was said that the virus was the cause of over half of the flu infections and related deaths in 2006.

Now, it has yet another name, swine flu. This name was dubbed on the virus by the pubic media. Scientists and doctors still refer to it as H1N1.

The 2009 pandemic is, I must admit, troubling. No child has an immunity to it or adult for that matter. It is found, however, that adults over 60 do have a slight immunity to the virus. Yet, most intelligent people would ask, "what makes this different from any other seasonal flu?"

Well, H1N1 seems to contain strains of five different viruses: North American flu, Avian or bird flu, human flu, and two strains of flu from Asia and Europe. The virus causes cytokine storm, which is the overworking of the immune system, and the victim dies - young.

Despite popular belief, the flu did not originate from pig farms in Mexico. It seemed to have arrived in the U.S. by a human carrier from Asia and spread through Canada and Mexico through new human carriers.

Pigs have been affected by this virus for years. It has only been in resent times that it had transmitted itself to humans. Stains of H1N1 have been seen in birds in Chile in August of this year, months later than it had been affecting humans in the U.S.

According to ABC news, vaccines for the virus are now available. Yet, the U.S. Center for Disease Control anticipate a shortage of vaccines and providers are going to have to be prepared to prioritize their patients since there isn't enough to go around.

Shockingly enough, people are dying of this virus, according to one Ohio paper. A perfectly healthy 18-year-old freshman at Miami University died after being hospitalized three weeks ago with the virus. It seems that the swine flu is picking up spread and has mutated to something truly threatening. Steps need to be taken into account in order to protect the body from this virus. Just don't overdo it.

Under The Watchful Eyes Of The Protectors

With the world ever racing toward tomorrow, there seems little being done about preserving our past. With the increasing use and development of technology, and the passage of time itself, it's easy to forget how those old, corroded buildings got there in the first place.
Soon those buildings and monuments and old bricked streets of old will be gone. Buildings that offer a window to the past will be knocked down and new ones will be put up. The voices of the generations that came before the 21st century will be silenced.
However, there is hope. The Seattle Chinatown International Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDPDA) are hard at work to preserve the community’s heritage. Established in 1975 as a community funded organization, they thrive to make the community a safe and prosperous place.

"It's important to preserve this area because this is the only Chinatown," says Program Coordinator for the Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area, Julia Nelson.
Armed with their mission to “preserve, promote and develop the Seattle Chinatown International District as a vibrant community and unique ethnic neighborhood,” volunteers and workers go out to protect the community’s most precious positions.
Originally founded in the 1880s when Chinese immigrants were employed for labor, the neighborhood is one of Seattle’s oldest. The Chinese immigrants were put to work on the new railroad system, coal mine digging and salmon harvesting.
In the 1900s, workers lowered the slopes that surrounded Pioneer Square and Beacon Hill neighborhoods to make room for Seattle’s first business district. Soon hotels and office buildings lined the streets of Jackson Street South and the people flooded in. Immigrants from other parts of Asia such as Japan, Vietnam and Korea came to the newly remodeled city in search of a new life. In the 1930s the area was proclaimed the official Chinatown of Seattle and was later renamed in 1951 as the International District that’s known today.
These sites are what the SCIDPDA and others are fighting so hard to protect. Through fundraising and spreading awareness through the city, the SCIDPDA raises money for affordable housing, public safety and transportation.
"Without these buildings being here," says local business owner Donny Chen, " [the surviving buildings] would never have stayed [standing] to this day."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB1zONFvQz4

Echos of an Empty Room

The building stands as a memory of its former glory, with its windows boarded up and its rooms empty. The scattered debris of the hundreds of people who used to roam the lobby and live in its rooms is a reminder that nothing lasts forever.
Built in 1928 the Publix Hotel stands out among the buildings in Seattle’s International District. It’s chipping white and blue paint brings a perfect image of antiquity to the mind. As people pass by its long silenced walls and locked doors they don’t even seem to notice the voices of residents that haunt the dusty building.
“On a sunny day, it shines,” says local business owner and lifelong International District resident Donny Chen, “no matter where you are in the neighborhood you always know where it is.”
Originally housing laborers, the Publix Hotel towers over the neighborhood and its white walls seem to glow around the stout dark colored buildings. In the 1920s, with the arrival of the first wave of immigrants to Seattle, the hotel housed many Chinese laborers who were brought to the city’s shore to help build the railroad.
Later, during World War II, the second wave arrived consisting of Japanese refugees trying to escape the treat and turmoil that was taking place in their homelands. Being a place with many rooms and cheap rent, the Publix Hotel was a perfect fit for the bachelors who suddenly found themselves in a strange new land. Unable to bring their families with them, many men took up residency in the building and worked as laborers and waited patiently for the chance to bring their families over to the land of opportunity. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050119&slug=museum19m
“There were never any kids to play with,” remembers Chen.
Over time, wave after wave of Asian immigrants arrived in the once small port town of Seattle. Between the 1930 and the 1960s many immigrants from all over Asia such as Vietnam, Korea and the Philippians and many found a safe haven in the Publix Hotel.
Eventually, used as a half way house, the hotel always seemed to have open doors for those in need and provided a safe place for those who had low income, but trying to piece their lives back together. Seattle residents such as former drug addicts, victims of abuse, bankruptcy and depression, all found a roof over their heads with the help of some Seattle case workers and were only charged an average of $75 dollars a month.
In 2002, the long time Japanese American family owned hotel shut its doors once the economy made it impossible to maintain the building. With the plumbing and lighting going, the building was seemingly falling apart and the family decided to sell the building to the Uwajimaja Company for later renovations. http://www.seattlepi.com/frontpage/seattle_pima1x220030719.pdf
The plan was originally to turn the building into an apartment complex for low income families, just as it always seemed to provide for. However, with the economy spiraling to new lows each year the renovations seem to be being put off longer and longer.
“We’re just waiting,” says one Uwajimaja representative Mr. Heroshi.
The Publix Hotel still stands tall, surrounded by the neighborhood that grew up around it. It’s soul reaching out to those who would listen to its lonely cries and the echoing voices of all the people it’s walls protected and waiting for the next chance to help those in need.

http://www.wingluke.org/

Going Back To The Playgorund

The squeaking of sneakers on the shiny gym floor instantly set the mood for fun as the players pile in and take their places behind the far black line on either side of the court. The co-ed teams fidget as they wait for the whistle to blow. Once the high pitched sound rings in the ceiling the players are off, grabbing the rhino skin balls and searching for their first target.
This is a typical sight on Tuesday night at the International Community Center on 8th Avenue in Seattle’s International District where people from all walks of life flock excitedly to their dodge ball practice in the upstairs gym of the community center. http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/attraction/international-district-chinatown-community-center-709-8th-avenue-s-seattle-wa-98104-usunity-center-709-8th-avenue-s-seattle-wa-98104-us
“It’s a lot of fun. You meet a lot of interesting people,” says Seattle Central Community College student and Dodge Ball League veteran Chris Kirby.
The league was established in January of this year and has had a great deal of success. Five adult league teams ranging from ages 18 to 60, with names such as The Pink Godzillas and Barb’s Bunch, they demonstrate their best plays every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. With three out of four teams returning of this quarter, the community center is pumped to see the turn out for the fall quarter sign ups.
“I’ve never been on a team before and [the dodge ball league] really teaches a lot of team work,” says long time community center volunteer and dodge ball team captain Kyle Paulson.
Similar to what’s played in the elementary school yards around Seattle, six players can be found on the court at all times, but in the Dodge Ball League, all is fair. It is required to have at least two on each sex on the court at all times as well or the team that’s lacking must forfeit. There is allowed to be up to fifteen players on a team and although there seems to be more men than women, the women seem more than willing to show what they’ve got on the court.
“It’s a game that everyone can play,” says the International Community Center assistant recreation coordinator Lori Van Norman.
They play five minute games continuously throughout a forty-five minute period. If the five minutes are up and they are still players on the court, the team with the least amount of players gets the point. The games move fast and the teams can get in as much as fifteen games per session. The rhino skin balls insure safety due to its soft texture and head shots are banded with the penalty on an automatic “out” if a head shot is made by a player.
“It’s really fun and exciting to play,” says Garfield High School senior Terhas Muruts, “It’s like being a kid again.”
Anyone can play, no membership or prior experience required.
“[It’s] open to everyone,” says community center recreation leader Britler Jacobson.
Signup sheets are available on the web at http://www.seattle.gov/ or enter the community center itself and sign up. It costs $20 per quarter and there’s three months or 6 games per quarter. Full teams are allowed to sign up at once or players can sign up individually and be assigned a team. And although the league is not city wide yet due to transportation obstacles, it seems that that is just around the corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ddLe7i7e0&feature=related

An Uphill Struggle

A small boy looks on from his uneven toothed fence as children laugh and sing on their way to school. They walk through the lush Nicaraguan valley with the mountain range to the west and the volcanic rock to the east, anticipating what their few, overworked teachers have in store for them. Clad in white collared shirts and blue pleated skirts and slacks they race to their rundown school house. Their matching black school shoes clack on the dirty wooden floors as they take their seats ready to learn.

He will not be joining them.

Some 40 percent of children in Nicaragua remain out side of the educational system. Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the world next to Haiti. With a birthrate of 2.2 percent and 40 percent of the population under the age of 15 the Sandinistas government has a trying task ahead of them.
In 1979 the Sandinistas gained political power and came face to face with the insufficient and all together neglected educational system. 50 -90 percent of the population was illiterate and living in poverty. 65 percent of the primary school children (U.S. elementary equivalence) leave much of the six year course unfinished. As a result, very few students enrolled in secondary school since they were mainly private and too expensive for the average family to afford. That means by the late 1970s only about 8 percent of the population was attending Universities.
Despite the discouraging numbers, the Sandinistas were able to more than double the literacy rate by 1984. In 1985 the enrollment in higher education jumped from 11,000 students to 38,000 students.

The former programs were shut down and replaced with subjects that would directly benefit the nation, such as agriculture, medicine, teaching, and social sciences.
The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, launched in 1980, established night schools for adults. With the self-teaching curriculum that the Ministry of Education provided adults and children alike were able to come and learn how to read, write and do basic mathematics. The campaign succeeded in bring the illiterancy rate down to 23 percent by the 1980s. In addition, the Sandinistas included the National Literacy Crusade from March-August of 1980 to educate the people in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions and land reforms. http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/26.htmaragua/26.htm
In 1993 Nicaragua was still concitered an uneducated country. The every growing classroom aged children made it increasingly hard for the government and vulenteers to keep up. In addition, almost half of the children of the villages and towns remained out of the system which made it almost impossible to educate them.
The Nicaraguan constitution state, “Access to education is free and equal to all Nicaraguans,” and yet this is far from being true.
Today, even once the schools are established, many factors still prevent the students from benefiting from the system. Such things as: not enough funds for books and supplies, 25 percent of the children between the ages of 3-18 are not in the system, therefore cannot attend; not having sufficient curriculum, cultural content, and teaching materials; no running water or heating in the school houses; and teachers that are simply unprepared to teach the growing classrooms.

According to the USAID, most students finish only about five years of schooling, and nearly 500,000 students remain outside the formal educational system. In 1999, 1,400,000 students enrolled for classes, 816,000 of which primary students, 300,000 in secondary school and about 16,000 in higher educations such as teachers in training, adult education and special education programs. These numbers are staggering if put next to that of the U.S. Over one-fourth, or 79 Million, of the U.S. population is currently enrolled in school. Preschool is at 8 million, elementry and middle school at 33 million, high school at 16 million and 15 million in higher education. http://www.usaid.gov/
Due to natural disasters such as Hurricane Felix and political corruption, the educational system of Nicaragua is virtually unchanged since the Literacy Crusade of 1980. The average Nicaraguan family lives on about $2 a day while the country has an unemployment rate of 50 percent.
USAID has made many efforts to help improve the state of the nation. In 2008 USAID helped farmers sell their products at a national total of $34.4 million and created over 15,000 new jobs. Over 1,500 coffee farms and 2,000 hectares of cocoa farms were certified and another 1,500 people were trained in natural disaster response and first aid.
USAID has also established child-centered model school networks in more hen 2,700 schools improving the lives and education of more than 480,000 students in primary and secondary school systems.

Monasteries and other independent organizations are at work in trying to improve the educational system in Nicaragua. Predominantly a Catholic society, it’s increasingly hard for the government to function as a republic when it comes to its schools. Many of the schools are run by Christian missionaries from the US and other countries and the Christian values greatly influence the curriculum. And yet, they are taught the basic fundimentals of education along side the Christian curriculum.
At this point, it seems that Nicaragua needs all the help it can get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Io5WTX7_Ow

Salsa in Seattle

Seattle WA- Twirling sequin skirts and long, nylon laced legs topped with strappy black heals. Dark button down blue dress shirts tucked into freshly ironed black slacks with a shinny black shoe finish.
This is what you see when you walk into The Century Ballroom on Broadway and East Pine on Thursdays and Saturdays where they host nights of salsa, meringue, bachata and the cha cha cha.
“You meet a variety of dancers possessing different styles and expressing themselves in their unique ways,” said three year Century dancer Vivaivha Bandari, “This helps me to learn and discover my style much faster.”
The club offers free lessons for the beginner and the rusty if you show up early enough. 8:30 p.m. class begins where professional dance instructors break down the steps one by one on the well lit wooden dance floor. No dance partner required. In fact, instructors encourage their students to mix it up.
Private lessons are also available through the website. http://www.centuryballroom.com/
DJs come out and spin their best for the growing request for salsa in Seattle. Many different people turn out to dance; students, professionals and others just coming to hang out. Dance floor opens at 9:30 p.m., age 21+.
This is one of many places responding to the city’s interest in salsa. Selena’s Guadalajara in 45th Ave. North in Wallingford clears the dance floor where tables normally stand and lay baby powder down to insure a smooth surface for dancing.
The Mexican restaurant’s warm, friendly and family oriented atmosphere takes pressure way from the beginner. It is a place where dancers, professional or not, can come and dance, says co-owner Laura Mendoza.
“Everyone just comes and does whatever,” Mendoza continues, “It isn’t about lessons or who can spin the fasted. It’s about feeling the music in here.” The heart.
After some neighborhood salsa clubs closed, friends and loyal customers urged the family to transform the dining area of their Aztec-Mexican art themed restaurant into a salsa and cumbia club. Although the Mendozas were reluctant at first, a year and a half has passed and it still remains a success.
Predominantly for the 30-somthings, the relaxed and welcoming feel brings people from all over the city as far as Everett, Burien and Tacoma. “[It is] more quiet here then other places,” says 22 year spinning veteran DJ Edgar.
The dance floor opens Fridays at 9:30 p.m., age 21+. They play cumbia and salsa music. Every third Friday of the month is strictly salsa.
The Rock Salt http://www.rocksaltlakeunion.com/ Friday and Saturday nights may be a place where city dwellers strap on their smooth bottomed shoes and hit the dance floor.
“We get 200- 230, [or] 300 people depending on what events we have going on,” said club manager Curtis Lindal, “events that are happening for like, Valentine’s Day. We will have live bands going on.”
Located in Lake Union, The Rock Salt splits its floors into two specific parts. Upstairs tables are cleared after 9:30 p.m. from the bar’s dining area to make room for the DJs who play reggaeton, meringue and hip hop. Downstairs is strictly salsa. Open bar, 21+.
“I don’t have a difference,” said house DJ Mauro Cano, “…all the places we got nice people.”
The bouncers scattered around various areas of both dance floors and the three outside with security wands help keep the club safe and everyone having fun.
“The DJ’s very good,” says long time Rock Salt dancer Jose Martinez, “the security and the parking [makes] it very comfortable.”

Due to the current status of the economy, some clubs, such as Selena's, are seeing a decline in clientel. However, not the Rock Salt. Due to culutres seen on television, like Dancing With the Stars, more people are starting to take an interest in salsa says floor managers.

"We're starting to see more of an array of people coming in," says Lindal,"we use to get a lot of latinos, but now we're seeing more of a veriety of enthnicity."
One thing is clear- no matter where you are in Seattle, if you have that salsa itch then there is a salsa club near you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJtWyfFWfrA