How Jakarta Smart City Will Benefit Its Citizens

     

       Nowadays, a city needs something to keep integrated and efficient on using energy as the complexity of the citizen’s lives, like study, health, energy consumption, and transportation. Other trouble for the city is the highest urbanization and increasing population in the city, so many countries have made a breakthrough to make their city become a smart city. A smart city is a city with investments in people, social capital and modern communication infrastructure, fuel sustainable economic development and a high-quality life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory action and engagement. The smart city has many features like smart parking, intelligent parking system, traffic management, smart grids, smart urban lighting, waste management, smart city maintenance, etc. Smart city program of Jakarta will bring many advantages for the citizens, such as helping the implementation of e-Government, improving the go-green environment, and creating efficient and integrated transportation.

     E-Government is government use technologies to combine service and information from government and reserved to the citizen. It is helping the citizen to get information about government, helping people to make some document and transparent. E-government model can be defined E-Government to Citizen, E-Government to Business and e-Government to Government. E-Government to Citizen provides the citizen with information and services with online access. A citizen should be able to access and find what they need fast and quickly. The government focuses on interactions between citizens and government to support transactions like ID card, insurance, and tax payment. Electronic ID card or E-KTP is a document that contains a number in the card. The number will be used as the basis for taxpayer identification (NPWP) and insurance policy (BPJS) in Jakarta. This function helps the citizen with fast and quickly to access information or pay a tax. E-Government to Business provides citizens with access to reduce burdens on business by enabling digital communication using the language of e-business and online access to get information. Online tutorials that help business understand which rules and regulations apply to them. The next is e-Government to government (EGG). It is a system which enables anybody to visit a city website to interact and communicate with city employees using internet access, social media, video and audio presentations, and in any way more sophisticated. EGG can improve transaction speed with consistency and reduce the time of employees have to spend on the task.

     Today, global warming is so dangerous for our earth and makes the world warmer every year. People must do something to prevent global warming with a campaign of good lifestyle and go green. For a city, a smart city is the best choice to make a green city, because the smart city is improving go green environment. The smart city has many ways to make the city more green and healthy like building environmental friendly public facilities, creating better water and waste treatment, and improving new energy resources. Building environmental friendly public facilities is the new concept of building to make more environmentally friendly for public facilities. The city has many public facilities which citizens need such as the library, school, and etc. Smart city building has planned to save more energy and reduce emission from glass house effect. The next one is creating better and waste treatment. The water system is the one of critical infrastructure and most important pieces in Jakarta. A smart city with water system will be energy saving up to 30 percent and 15 percent reduction of water losses. The last is improving new energy resources. For now, oil and gas are the most popular energy resources uses in the world but, they produce carbon dioxide emission which makes our earth warmer. The smart city has the plan to make energy efficiency and find new energy resources to change oil and gas energy. The new energy resources on the smart city are like solar energy on the building which use of the sunlight changed into thermal and electric energy.

     The big city must have a great transportation which is efficient and integrated transportation. The first thing to have a great transportation is fixing traffic management. Traffic management is a key to smart cities technology because it manages road operator and public authorities. Smart traffic management is a system where centrally – controlled traffic signal and sensors regulate the flow of traffic through the city in response to demand. The other way to make a great transportation in the city is efficiency in gas consuming. Transportation has much alternative gasoline now like using hybrid technology which combines gas and electric energy to be their gasoline. This way, gas consuming will be efficient and it will help the smart city to be a green city. The smart city has a way to make citizen integrated with their smartphone like GO Bus from Gojek app which is integrated with Transjakarta Bus. This app shows that transportation can integrate to citizen smartphone. Smart city will improve all transportation integrated and can integrate with the citizen to make all fast.

     To conclude, a smart city is the best way to fix problems in the city. It has many advantages to make the city faster, easier, and simpler to interact with government, help earth with the campaign against global warming and do go green, and give the best transportation.


By Muhammad Abdul Fatah

How Peer Pressures Can Influence You Positively

     Peers are people at your level. They are usually people you play with, hang out with or study with.  Peers play a vital role in your life. Peers can influence you to do something you don’t like or even change you to be someone you are really not. According to Dr. B.J. Casey, from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, “teens are very quick and accurate in making judgments and decisions on their own and in the situations where they have to think”. Peer pressure occurs when you are forced by the other members of your group to do something, both positively and negatively. People always think that peer pressure is really bad, but it is actually not 100% true. Despite people’s assumption, many people don’t know that students more often influence positively than negatively. Peer pressure among students has three positive effects, such as improving academic performances, developing life skills, and adopting good habits.
    
      The first positive effect is improving academic performances. Since you belong to a peer group, you will behave and act like the others. You don’t realize that the other members give you a little touch of pressure, and you will automatically do the same things as they do. No wonder, you will discover a lot of good things happen when positive vibes are around you, and maybe there will be a lot of positive changes in your life. Therefore, when the members of the group are doing well in class, having good scores, doing homework efficiently, you will be influenced to do the same. The members will persuade and convince you to do the same as they do because members of the group have to adjust with the others. With your peer group, you can discuss difficult lessons together. You don’t have to worry about the seriousness if you have a good peer group. Brainstorming with your peers is always fun and helpful. You will get different thoughts, new facts, and a lot of information. Despite the difficulty to solve analytical problems, you will enjoy it because you do it with your favorite people. The more you study with your peers, the more knowledge you will get. No wonder, those positive activities will improve your academic performances. There is nothing wrong to study with your peer group, as long as you belong to a good peer group.

      The next positive effect is adopting good habits. Peer pressure is not always bad. Peers may teach you a lot of good things and encourage you to follow them. Looking at what others do can give you positive changes in your way of thinking. We never realize that peer pressure can push you towards something positive. When you are lazy to do your homework or study, they will encourage and motivate you to do it, and they may help you with pleasure. Teenagers can be motivated to accomplish more and aim higher through competition. Everything you do is the reflection from everything that others do. So whenever your peers achieve something good, you will be inspired to work as hard as your peers do to achieve your goals. Good peer group will help each member of your group to reach their own goals and will be very happy if you can achieve what you really work hard for. Peer pressure encourages you to take positive actions that your peers are taking and persuades you to stay away from negative habits and activities your peers disapprove of. If you want to do something bad, your peers will force you not to do it, and they will keep you away from any harmful activities. Good peers will protect you from something that will harm you, and help you  improve yourself to be better. 

      The last positive effect is developing life skills. Having a group of best friends is fun because you get to grow and learn various things together. You also have a group to share and get experiences with. Parents may not deeply understand what are you going through, but your friends will always understand you because they are going through the exact same things. Your peers will absolutely be an important part of your life. These are also the people who will fight for you when you are in trouble and help you when you have complicated problems. And you will do exactly the same thing whenever your peers have problems. You must value your friendship by being a good friend as well. A good friend is always willing to be there when you need them, be by your side no matter how difficult the problem is and during the lowest points of your life. Peer group should care about other members of the group, and tolerate differences. Different person has different thoughts and personality, so there must be a lot of differences in the group. Differences will make the solidarity of your peer group getting stronger.

      In conclusion, peer pressure is not always bad. Even though in reality, people's mindset about peer pressure is always bad. But it is not that bad as people usually think and it can also be beneficial for students. There are some positive effects of peer pressure among students, such as improving academic performances, adopting good habits, and developing life skills. So, it is time to change your way of thinking as a student and use its benefits efficiently to improve yourself.

How Does Biogas Affect the Environment?

            Biogas is a renewable energy that is categorized as biofuel. In fact, biogas is called as an environmentally friendly energy because biogas does not cause pollution. Biogas is generally formed from a biodegradable material such as dirt, solid waste activity results of both urban and rural. Biogas production is done in fermentation, namely the formation of methane gas and carbon dioxide gas volume is bigger than hydrogen, nitrogen and hydrogen sulfide. Biogas is known as good fuels because its origin is from nature. It can be used for doing household chores such as cooking, washing and cleaning the room. By using biogas, we can affect the environment in many positive aspects. Biogas offers a lot of benefits, such as helping to reduce environmental pollution and balance the natural contents of earth.

           Nowadays, Biogas is considered to be non-polluting in nature. Biogas energy does not require oxygen.  It  means the preservation does not require any other fuel. Biogas is produced by leftover waste, food production, brewery waste, and waste from industrial as well as effluents in the city. Agriculture in biogas power plants promises an important contribution to supplying energy from renewable energy and also the disposal of an organic waste. Besides that, it can minimize the greenhouse effect. Minimizing the greenhouse effect also means that it is the efforts of global warming prevention. People do not need to cut down trees for firewood .So, the natural environment  is at least safe from forest fires.

               According to the researchers, the biogas is also capable of  improving air quality by reducing smoke and the amount of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels / firewood. So indirectly when many people are using biogas, it is not likely that global warming will not happen. Biogas  also triggers an improvement in the environment and hygiene. Hygiene is the science of health and prevention of disease. The use of biogas in the long term will bring a good impact in the environment, such as environmental pollution problems will certainly continue to decrease by  reducing pollution due to the use of efficient biogas.

              Biogas is also believed to stimulate economic growth. This is because the alternative energy biogas has many factors that can embody those beliefs. The first factor, it can increase the number of jobs for people. Biogas will open thousands of new jobs to the population. By opening the company that will develop the biogas, and the company will automatically create jobs on a large scale. Of course, the opportunity to work more wide open and the unemployment numbers will automatically be suppressed. The economic growth rate will be in line with the implementation of biogas utilization is bring significant changes in the economic sphere. In fact, biogas is easy for decentralized so that in the end easily accessible by people living in rural and remote areas. Next factor, the biogas technology use requires a relatively low cost. Of course, the application of biogas will be very widely used, not only because the technology is inexpensive but highly utilized technology for electricity production. The third factor, biogas only requires a little capital on a small scale. Besides the price is low, its use is also very simple and uncomplicated. By utilizing the plant, the waste produced by livestock. For example, a cow can provide enough waste in one day to power a light bulb throughout the day. In addition to the potential application of adequate (easy to make), biogas production also provides economic added value for society as a means of ready energy providers. So, biogas will provide a good change in the economic aspect.

           In short, many experts are predicting that biogas will benefit a lot more in the future. Today, people do prefer to use LPG than biogas. They think that the use of fuel is much more practical than biogas. Governor should strive to promote and optimize biogas considering LPG can be depleted due to falling into the resources that are no renewable. It is because biogas has the potential to reduce the use of LPG.Biogas is processed properly and impurities, because basically biogas is derived from waste, and must be relied upon as a substitute for LPG gas which is increasingly burdensome purchasing power. With the development of biogas to several years to come, its consumer would emerge from some quarters. Not only from among the population but also the government will use biogas as a source of primary power. The energy that we use today is originated from deep within the earth’s energy reserves. It means that this energy will be discharged at a time. Therefore, to avoid running out of energy, biogas is one of the best solutions. Certainly, biogas can be one of the alternative energies to generate electricity. At least 1 cubic meter of biogas can produce 6,000 watts of electricity per hour. As time goes by,  we all hope that biogas has been developed for the fulfillment of the world’s energy needs.

By Fernanda F.Dwi Putra

        

What Causes the Slump of American Idol?

     Who doesn't know American Idol? An American talent reality series that was firstly aired in 2001. As of May 2012, there  have been eleven seasons. It reached the highest talent show on TV and had a golden era. The winner of early seasons reached great success in music industry. They have had albums and concerts around the globe. Season one winner, Kelly Clarkson currently holds the record for the highest-selling album sales and concerts around the word, with more than 25 million copies. Whereas season four winner, Carry Underwood currently holds the record for the highest-selling album in the United States, with more than 13 million copies. However, for the past three or four years American Idol is facing a slump due to several reasons, such as the existence of similar talent shows, predictable winners, limited song choices, and unconstructive comments from the judges.

     First, compared to all of the similar talent shows, American Idol is left behind. Let’s start with The X Factor. The X Factor is American television competition to find new singing talent. It premiered on September 21, 2011 on Fox. As part of the British X Factor, the show's format has numerous differences from rivals such as American ldol. The competition is open to both solo artists and groups and has no upper age limit. The second similar talent show is The Voice. The Voice premiered on April 26, 2011. It doesn't have the same progress like American Idol. It has three phases for the contender to handle, which are the blind audition, the battle phase, and the live performance. Truth be told, most of the audience's heart lies on these two shows because of the judges. Simon Cowell, X Factor, thanked spectacularly enough that he dumped his loyal sidekick Paula Abdul for the riskiest stock on the market new judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. They were confirmed as the new two judges. With Lovato’s charm and the fabulous performance of Spears, how could you not resist? The Voice, a show with cooler celebrity panelists Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton- and better song selections briefly threatened to out buzz Idol but then suffered a ratings drop. Variations keep surfacing - the latest is Duets - but none has captured the public's full imagination.

     Second, the winners are predictable, as well as the song choices. The least-watched in the show's history - this year’s ldol story has been the program’s wilting status, a symptom of a larger loss of interest in the singing competition format. But now, Idol and the programs that emulate it have played out at the stories mainstream music once offered. The ingenuine rising innocent obscurity; the contender getting another try; the marginalized person pushing her way into the center - these scripts have been exhausted. The song aren't the only thing repeating; the winners too. Since David Cook earned the American Idol title in season 7, the following season always cited the "white guy with guitar" winners such as Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery, and the last winner Philip Philips. Before we say goodbye to the golden era of singing competitions, let's acknowledge Idol’s impact. The same contestants always win; the song choices are predictable.  Idol also reshaped the American songbook. More often, extolling the likes of Elton John, Journey and the Diane Warren-era Aerosmith Idol lent legitimacy to music previously dismissed as less than canonical. Today's music which are more popular and interesting can be more challenging for the contestant.  It can also attract more audience than the 70s songs. What really seems irrelevant about singing competition now isn't  song selection or even the useless advice doled out by the judges. Pop now still may have old-fashioned stars, from Beyonce to Adele; but they aren't taking us into the future. Neither is ldol with its focus on that fixed astral problems.

    Finally, the judges' comments are unconstructive. “The judges are so boring this year!" this statement from the American Idol audience is pretty shocking. Since the new judges are more popular and attractive  than the previous ones, American thought that it would take its place back to where it used to be- the top. Unfortunately, the idea was backfired. The problem with the judges this year is that they are so bland. Many people thought that Steven would be hilarious and great but he's either bored out of his mind, or he's stoned out of his mind. Neither can tell which. Every performance, no matter how bad or good, his comment was always "beautiful”. None can tell if he had a real opinion or not- many got the impression he didn't even care and didn't really want to be there. Randy is as useless as ever. He's supposed to be the “head judge” now and is trying to be a little meaner to Simon's shoes, but he's pathetically incapable of puling it off. His comments are as pointless and irrelevant as ever, only now he's  even more annoying. He overpraised his favorites shamelessly and didn’t  offer enough criticism to bad performances. Surprisingly, the best judge was J-Lo, who actually does offer constructive criticism. She was sweet to everyone and considers their feelings. She was like a less wacky Paula or a less annoying Kara. However, like Steven, she really never had anything bad to say to anyone. In fact, many people are chasing after the British gentleman Simon Cowell after his runaway to The X Factor. It  is true that Cowell gave nasty, unconstructive things to kids just to achieve their dreams. At times, he showed he really had a big heart behind all the bluster, and past contestants have talked about how generous with his money he was - and how he gave a lot away to charity and helped out people in need. More than anything else, he was brutally honest. He could be mean but he never pretended he liked your performance – if he didn’t.

    In conclusion, the slump of American Idol is caused by similar talent shows on TV,  stereotype winners, and the limited numbers of long choices. 




By Irena Arifa Khairunnisa

These Three Reasons Make Barcelona the World Best Team

     In 2011, Barcelona was the real champions of the world. They showed the strength and domination not only in Spain but also in Europe and even in the world. In 2011, they got 5 trophies including UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup Club. From all competitions, they took part in 2011 they only lost the Spanish Cup and they ended their campaign in the second place, where they lost from Real Madrid in their own stadium, Camp Nou. They put 5 players in 11 best players in Europe while Lionel Messi is the best football player in the world. The current team of Barca is considered the best team in the history Spanish football after setting 35 consecutive matches unbeaten. The current team in 2016 is known to have more devastating attack that the winning teams since the league was established in 1928. The brilliance of Pep Guardiola combined with the great unpredictable trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar make the attack unstoppable that it is much better than any other team in La Liga. Barcelona is the best football team in the world because of the quality of the players, the intelligence of the coach and the successful team management.

      The first reason that makes them the best team is the quality of the players. In the team, they have players such as Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Alves, David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, and etc, the first or even the reserve team have a high quality of playing. Each of them have the ability to ‘read the game’ and play the game with the style as the coach told. In addition, each player has good knowledge, mentality, and skill to change the game. They know how to score a goal, create chances to get goal, good possession ball, good accuracy of crossing, and also good teamwork. These things are very helpful when Barcelona play a game, so that they can create a fast and beautiful game with a good result. This is the result of  very hard training . Why is it so? Because they want to win the game and create the tactics and style of the play that the coach told them to play. Their excellent performance doesn’t happen instantly. It needs a lot of time to understand the characters of each player combined with a lot of practices. The players also have a passion to win the game, because the most important thing they need is a passion to feel the freedom and win the game.

       The second thing is the intelligence of the coach, Joseph “Pep” Guardiola. Who doesn’t know this world class coach? He is very famous, young, and one of the best coaches in the world. He’s only 39 and have gotten all precious trophies for the club in the world that every coach wants to achieve. All trophies he has got is due to his intelligence. He can know which and what tactics in the game the players should do, what pressure the players have, and what is the meaning of the game for themselves. He usually applies the formation of 4-3-3 in every game and wins a game with a high score, but the tactics can be changed to 4-4-2 if he believes that they will win the game in which one of the forward is replaced with midfielder player to balance the middle and to defense. One of his signature tactics is playing the ball possession in the middle and making a dangerous counter attack so that the enemy lose patience and play free in order to follow Barcelona style. The other thing is the characters of Guardiola. He doesn’t make distance with his players. So, he treats his players with love like the relationship between a father and his sons. He treats his players in such a way that they feel comfortable and trust him. This finally creates a very good relationship between the players and the coach that makes the players gives their best performance in every competition.

     The last reason is the team management. Barcelona manage the teams well and make the right decision. They have young players to replace the senior team. Barcelona choose and buy many young players from many countries in the world. For example, they bought Messi from River Plate when Messi was still 11 year old. And after that, Barcelona put the players in their academy called “La Masia” and develop the players with football training and mentality lesson to make good players with good skill and good attitude, something which is important for a player. The second is the management’s decision whether they want to buy new players or to sell the players. Usually, the management make the right decision, such as when when they bought Samuel Eto’o and David Villa. This was proven to be a successful buying,  and  they released Ronaldinho and Ludovic Giuly who proved to be ‘useless’ in their new teams. That decision is the proof that the management have almost always made the right decision.

        In conclusion, we know that Barcelona have a high standard and capability to win every competition they take part  because of  the quality of the players the intelligence of the coach and the successful program in managements.  From that three reason, we can say that the success of Barcelona does not happen instantly but  takes a long time, hard work and passion, things that we need to achieve something.


By Kevin S

Why Cooking Skill Is Beneficial for You

     Some people think that dining is just a simple thing so that you can eat anywhere. Even some of them think that you don’t need to go to the kitchen at home to dine because it looks more trendy if you can eat out at a big mall or at a fancy restaurant. It is fine if eating out is occasional to have variety in the menu.
But it should not be a habit because it may give health effects, especially to the digestive system. The reason is that we do not know very well the food processing and the food ingredients that are used.  There is a difference in taste between the food we buy in restaurant and food we cook ourselves at home in terms of the taste, ingredients, serving and price. Are you sure that the food you eat in fast food restaurant is healthy enough even though it is delicious and tempting? In fact, if you cook for yourself, there are some benefits for you. Cooking at home can boost your confidence, release stress, and impress others.

     The first benefit of the ability of cooking is to increase your confidence.  However, cooking itself is not an easy thing. It is a bit complicated when it comes to preparing the ingredients, spices, and cooking tools. It is also not easy to follow recipes exactly with many different steps of cooking. But it is challenging because you will be proud even if your food is still not delicious. Many people, who do not have enough time and cannot cook, do not even want to try to cook for themselves. So, they buy food mainly for practical reasons. Sometimes they buy food more than they need and it ends up in the garbage.  But when you cook food for yourself, you will certainly appreciate the food that you have cooked. There is definitely a sense of pride of cooking it and you will feel sad if the food you haven’t eaten up and been prepared carefully has to be thrown away. Therefore, you will appreciate the food so much even though it is only a grain of rice besides you feel confident you can cook it.  

     The second benefit of cooking at home is to release stress. When you prepare the dishes and cook them, you will focus on what you are doing and forget about the long process of making it. Some people prefer to listen to soft music while cooking because it makes them relax and lowers the stress level significantly. That’s why for some people cooking is one of their hobby that can make them live up their day and will help them get through the busy day.  Moreover, many people around, such as your family your parents, will like you if you can cook the meal. You will be loved by them, your family, parents, and friends, with your own cooking. This will help you increase your good mood and make you feel more relaxed. Cooking at home, if you do it with other members of the family, can be a very valuable interpersonal communication in the middle of routine activities. It can create a harmonious atmosphere at home because the family can choose their preferences of the menu or try a new menu while shopping for groceries. 

     The last benefit of cooking is to create a chance that can impress others. Cooking is so useful for your life which can help you in your future. For example, when you are having a dinner with your parents or friends with the food you cook, it will impress them by your cooking ability and it will affect the way your parents or friends look at you. Cooking skill is valuable that every woman should have which can impress others and it is one of her assets. You can also impress your friends by visiting them regularly and ask if you can cook in their home and eat together. Of course, your friends and neighbor will say yes because it is fun for them. After the dinner, you can also share your cooking ability to others. Other people will be very satisfied with your delicious food, you cooked and they will be impressed with your ability.

     In conclusion, cooking is the art of preparing foods and processing them in the right way. It is also an alternative thing or that you can do in your spare time because it will not make you sad but instead it will make you and other people happy. Besides, cooking your own food can guarantee the hygienic food, the taste of the food and of course it is more economical than eating out. Cooking is a survival skill that you need to sharpen by exploring and trying different recipes with different tastes. Cooking skill can help up increase your confidence, release stress, and impress your friends and family.

By Anonymous 

Research Tells You How Video Games Can Be Good For You

    

      
       The video game is a game that uses the interaction with the player interface through the images produced by the video games device. It generally provides a reward system (such as a score) which is calculated based on the level of success achieved by a player in the game. A video game, like other forms of media, can be grouped into many genres based on many considerations, such as how to play, what are goals, and the art in it.
Because the genre depends on the content, many genres are evolving and expanding. One genre can be a combination of other genres, but it can also be a default of the game. The question is that whether playing video games is actually beneficial or not? We often hear the negative effects of playing video games, such as abandoning school assignment, school lessons, etc. Then, the question continues as to whether there are some benefits of playing it? In the midst of the debate over the adverse effects arising from the video game, there is also research that shows some benefits acquired by the players of a video game. As we know, there are 2 types of video games:  online and offline video games. Online game is a type of video game or computer game using a computer network, usually the Internet access as a medium while the offline game is a type of video game or computer game that doesn't need to be connected to the internet. Both of online and offline game can be played single mode or multiplayer.  Although many people say that playing video games can give us bad impacts, there are also many benefits from playing video games. According to some research, playing video games can improve our brain skills, help relieves stress from a lot of activities, and improve our social skills.

     The first benefit of playing video games , according to a research, is improving our brain skills, which sometimes we don’t notice. Most people think that playing video games only just give bad impacts for our brain. We all know someone who seems to have a faster CPU than the rest of us, is able to retrieve information or react to something in a split second. For some, that ability might be strengthened through gaming, because new information is constantly displayed during the play, players are forced to adapt quickly. In one study, players who were immersed in fast-paced games were 25 percent faster in reacting to questions about an image they had just seen compared to non-players. For example, playing strategy games force the players to be always careful for every step they do, if we don’t , we might be lost in the game. It surely trains the brain to get used to thinking quickly and properly and make us think critically when dealing with a problem. Having better concentration is another skill someone gets in this brain skill. Some researchers from the University of Rochester in New York, United States do research on the positive effects of playing video games, In this research, the gamers aged between 18 and 23 years were divided into two groups. The first group consists of  gamers who are trained with the game Medal of Honor (a well-known FPS games). They play this game for one hour every day for ten consecutive days. The study says that the players of this game have to focus more on what is going on around them, then compared to those who rarely play the game, let alone who don’t play it at al. Gamers are also able to control some of the things in the same time or called multitasking. Action video game is profitable, and this is a fact said Daphne Bavelier, a neuroscientist from Rochester. "Our study is also very surprising because learning by playing video games turned out quickly absorbed person. In other words, the games can help people who have problems in concentrating "said Bavelier. Meanwhile, research for the second group consists of players who are trained with Tetris. Unlike the gamers of Medal of Honor, the gamers of Tetris just focus on one thing at a time. According to C Shawn, Bavelier’s partner, the conclusion of these tests is that they are playing Medal of Honor experience an improvement in visual skills. Various tasks contained in action games (such as track enemies, dodge enemies attacks, etc.) can train different aspects of the visualization capabilities of the school curriculum according to Professor Angela MicFarlane, The Director of Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia. She added that, if certain games can be played in the classroom legally and  become a part of the curriculum, perhaps students can feel the benefits of this research. For example, students who played the game Battle of Hasting (a game of war), where they serve as soldiers or generals in the game, also provides the  benefits to players.

     The second benefit of playing video games is to help relieves stress from a lot of activities. There are still a lot of research which is being performed to determine the specific link between stress relief and video games.  However,  so far there are a few theories that help explain why video games could be one of the best stress hacks in life. A lot of people believe that stress, depression and other mental disorders are the results of a patterned way of thinking. When you wake up feeling that way every day you must do your daily activities, but you feel too lazy. Your brain starts to be trained to expect stressed out, and your common stressors usually happen every day. So you are constantly living in a state of stress. Video games break the pattern and give your brain a mental break. It's basically all about re-focusing your brain on something else and getting into a different zone which is the world inside the game that you are playing. Scientifically, this fact is proven by research. Some researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, have started a project they called “Education Arcade”. The project is in addition to involving researchers, game designers, and students, as well as those interested in developing and using computer games and video games in the classroom. "While playing the video game becomes one of the most popular entertainment in the world and has done research on the positive and negative attitude towards the gamers, the game is still often underestimated. "That's a statement from Mark Griffiths, the professor at Nottingham Trent University, UK. To balance between the pros and cons of the game during the last fifteen years they did some researches. The result?  “Video gaming is safe for most gamers and health benefits," said  Griffiths. According to Griffiths, the game can be used as a distraction powerful to those who are undergoing treatments that cause pain, such as chemotherapy. By playing video games, the pain and dizziness are reduced, decreased hypertension, if compared with those who only take rest after treatment. As a result, your brain erases every mind burdens and reduce your stress, thus you feel more relaxed after playing video games.

     Finally, improving social skills is the last benefit of playing video games. Gamers are sometimes stigmatized as people who being insulated, but in fact, it is not true. The rise of multiplayer experience online has given way to a new form of socializing in which players work together to solve problems. But studies have shown that video games can also be the catalyst for friends to gather in person, in which roughly there are 70 % of all players playing video games with friends. In this case, we take an example, playing video games can improve the social skills of a shy person who is difficult to socialize in public. Shy people are more likely to make more friends in online games according to psychologists at the University of Munster. The research published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, found that shy gamers used online games differently from their more outgoing  counterparts. The Psychologists noted that although shyness can lead to a smaller circle of friends in real life, the gamers who were timid in face-to-face interactions used online video games "to compensate or overcome their shyness". They concluded that real lie shyness "is a predictor for the number of online gaming friendships," The paper, titled The Relationship Between Online Video Game Involvement And Gaming  Related Friendships Among Emotionally Sensitive Individuals, found that online games hold the potential to be socially advantageous for the shy individual. It also noted how it is not just about having online friendships, as gamers were able to meet them offline as well. However, the researchers cautioned that the study was conducted using a relatively small sample size of German gamers. They added that more research is needed on the subject. For those looking to "overcome their traditional social difficulties and generate new friendships" in the world of the psychologists, playing video games especially online games could be just what the doctor suggested. The study found that 52% of the teenagers played games that involved thinking about moral and ethical issues, 43% played games in which they made decisions about how a community, a city or a nation should be run, and 40% played games where they could learn about a social issue.

      In conclusion, scientifically it is proven there are many benefits of playing video games. However, some games, mostly played by children, should not make parents too worried about them playing games and focus the attention on the potential dangers rather than on the potential benefits of playing video games. Playing video games or other electronic games are quite normal for children or even adults in this modern life. Surprisingly, playing video games can be a tool that can help the teens develop their life skills or their cognitive skills. All the parents have to do is to monitor the proper games that match with their age and to remind them so that playing the games will not give negative impact to their academic achievement.       


By Tobby A

Is National Exam The Best Way To Determine Graduation?

  

    Indonesia National Exam is one of the methods that need to be passed through by the last semester students in Indonesia. This test which is a standard evaluation system of primary and secondary education in Indonesia which tries to equate the quality of education levels  is held annually, usually between March  and May.  
So is this year, the National Exam is held for SMA (senior high school) and SMP (junior high school) students while for SD (elementary) students it will be held in the beginning of May. During the past years, National Exam was held successfully, without any serious problems. But it doesn’t seem so in this year. In 2013, the implementation of the National Exam seemed very disorganized, screwed, and was probably the worst ever. Vice chief of Commission 10 of Indonesian Parliament, Syamsul, even stated in okezone.com, that the implementation of National Exam in 2013 was a total failure. Why did this happen? The failure of National Exam (UN) in 2013 was caused by three reasons.

    First, the failure of National Exam (UN) in 2013 was caused by the Government’s selfishness. The government forces themselves to make twenty packages of questions. So, everyone in one class will receive different questions from the other. In 2013  National Exam, there were only five packages of questions  compared to the previous years with only about two or three packages of questions, which is the first time in Indonesian history. Well, it’s a development, though, but if the Government isn’t ready for it, then they shouldn’t. The impact is the questions and the answers are not synchronized and seems perfunctory. It’s very unfair for a student who knows the right answers but forced to choose the wrong answers because there’s no right ones. Moreover, the Government also makes questions with a high level of difficulty, while the standard of education in each school is not necessarily equal. Once again, it’s very unfair. We all know that the Government is trying to develop the education quality in Indonesia.But let’s sit and muse for a moment. Like in the remote areas of Indonesia, the schools’ standard in those areas is very low, because of the shortage of teachers and educational materials. What if they encounter a very difficult exam, while they are actually still in below the required standard? The Government should think about this before they impose their desire.

    Second, the failure of National Exam (UN) 2013 was caused by the Government’s lack of preparation. You must have known about the delay of National Exam in eleven provinces in Indonesia, right? It was a hot issue for days. Again, this is the first time in Indonesian history. This was a serious problem because the Government had broken the rules they made. It is said that the implementation of the National Exam should be carried out at the same time and the same date in Indonesia. But what’s the fact? In eleven provinces, which consist of South Sulawesi, Bali, Gorontalo, West Nusa Tenggara, South Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South East Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, and Central Sulawesi, the National Exam was held on April 18, 2013. In the meantime, the actual date was on April 15, 2013. Why did this delay happen? The Minister of Education, Muhammad Nuh stated, that it was because of some technical errors, especially in distributing the questions packages to the East region of Indonesia. And why were these packages shipped late? Back to previous, because of the Government’s lack of preparation. They sent the original documents to the printing companies just 25 days before the D-day. It should’ve been sent at least 60 days or more before the D-day, to prevent the worst possibilities. This is very embarrassing, disgraceful, and very inappropriate. The Government should take responsibility, not only an apology, regarding this serious problem.

    Last, the failure of National Exam (UN) 2013 was caused by terrible management by the Ministry of Education. As the writer experiences it, this was the worst management of National Exam ever. Why? There were so many technical errors. There was a case on the second day of the physics exam. When the questions sheets were distributed, one student checked it. But it was a lame, lack of numbers of questions. So she exchanged the sheet, which meant that she must exchange the answer sheet too because the questions and the answer sheets were attached together. When she got the new sheets, she found out that the answer sheet was faded. She got panic, but the supervisor said it was okay. And this bad thing also happened to her friend. He had already answered about half of the whole questions, but then the answer sheet was ripped. So, he was forced to exchange the answer sheet, which meant that he had to exchange the question sheet too. And he was working on it from the very beginning, without the time extension. And there were many more technical errors, such as the one that happened in Garut, West Java. The students got the wrong package of questions. They got the English sheets, while that day, the subject was Bahasa. Another error that always happens every year, is the leakage of answer key. This is not the new thing, and it frequently happens in some areas of our beloved country. Apparently, the culture of cheating during the test has become epidemic. Sadly, the Indonesian government never seems to alleviate this problem successfully. 

    In brief, the Government should take responsibility for this catastrophe. The failure of National Exam in 2013 should become a lesson for the future. Instead, if needed, just remove the National Exam because it’s very unfair if the graduation depends on the National Exam. In addition, it is very unfair if students have to study for three years, but determined only by four days to pass? It would be better if the graduation is determined by education standardization, like in the USA. Of course, the students will not be depressed, and they will not cheat anymore. Go Indonesian education!


By Shofia Hanifa

Milk As A Home Beauty Treatment? Why Not !

     Due to its delicious taste and nutritional values, many people of all ages like to drink milk. It is a good source of protein and has many kinds of vitamins, calcium and mineral.  Especially for children, milk is a healthy drink which is good for their growth and their body immunity.  
Even as they grow older, they still like milk because of its sugary and delicious taste even though there are some others sugary drinks which are more pleasing such as juice and soda.  A glass of milk in your breakfast in the morning can help provide essential nutrients and energy for your activity during the day. There are also some dairy products made of milk in the form of food such as cheese, cream, custard, yogurt and many others. Milk has become a part of a healthful diet for most of us. Besides it is good for immunity,  milk can strengthen the bones because of calcium. In fact, milk has other benefits which are important for ladies especially those who want to maintain their beauty.  According to a legend, Cleopatra was well-known for her glowing, soft and healthy skin because of her milk baths that helped her maintain her skincare treatment.  Now, many women follow Cleopatra's way to bath in milk, not only to maintain their beauty but also to keep their skin healthy. Women will do anything maintain their beauty even though they have to spend a lot of money. Milk is a cheap skincare treatment for women because they spend less money than they go to the beauty shop. Nowadays, with only some dollars you can buy beauty products made of milk to maintain your beauty.  So, many women use milk to take care of their beauty because it  can serve as milk-based beauty products, skin care and beauty treatment.

     The first benefit of milk is to serve as a beauty product.  Due to advanced technology, there are many products made of milk. Women need natural beauty products to maintain their beauty.  Health experts  make many  beauty products from milk to maintain women's beauty such as scrub milk and milk mask. Scrub milk and milk mask have the same function which is to maintain healthy skin.  Milk mask is used to keep facial skin looking fresh and to prevent the face from look older and get rid of spots on the face. Scrub milk has an important function to which is to refine skin. Scrub milk can lift dead skin better. Bathing can clean up the skin and lift up dead skin, but simply bathing cannot lift all dead skin. In this case, scrub milk will help make the skin softer, and healthy.  After using  scrub milk, your skin  will be softer,  shiny and healthy and you look beautiful.  Scrub milk and milk mask are very useful to maintain beauty because milk is rich in vitamins and make the skin shiny.

     The second benefit of milk is its ability to cope with skin problems.   There are many women who  have skin problems such as pimples, spots on the face and skin irritation. So, many companies offer health products to cope with their skin problems.  However, some women get disappointed of these health products due to its low effects to the skin or even create skin irritation. To avoid such allergy, many women start to use milk to cope with skin problems . In addition, milk can decrease skin irritation. To get the good results, start by washing your face with milk or use milk cream on your facial skin. It is very simple and you can do it at home.  So, milk can be used to cope with a skin problem, not only skin irritation but also skin allergy on the face, pimples and dark spots on the face.
    
     The third benefit of milk is as a beauty treatment. Every woman wants to be seen beautiful and they are never satisfied with their condition. They want to be more and more beautiful. They never think of spending much money to go to spa or beauty shop in order to look beautiful.  Now, they can do beauty treatment without spending a lot of money and they can do it at home.  They do the treatment at home and use milk for treatment.  There are many companies that use milk-based products for home beauty treatment. For this kind of treatment, women can use milk, body scrub, milk mask and milk bath.

     In summary, milk is not only useful for children and grown-up people but it is also good for women who want to look beautiful.   Not only does milk have many other advantages for children such as to improve body immunity and to strengthen bones, but milk also has some benefits to maintain beauty. Milk is an affordable home beauty treatment for women who want to have smooth, gleaming skin like that of Cleopatra. 

By Cynthia Y

Three Simple Ways to Boost Your Self Esteem

    

      Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. Someone with positive self-esteem will generally approach things positively and consider own self a good person that deserves love, supports, and success in life. On the contrary, someone with low or negative self-esteem will generally think they are not good at things or someone who doesn’t deserve love or supports.
People with low self-esteem usually focus on the times they fail rather than the times they succeed. They find self-criticism so they feel insecure and inferior.  They think other people won’t accept them and let themselves to be treated badly by others. They also feel doubt about their ability to do good things. So, they  think negatively about themselves. Your self-esteem, which includes how you value yourself as a person, affects your mind, body, and relationships. Although you might not be aware of it, your self-esteem influences your life every day such as the choices you make, the way you feel in new situations and how you appear to other people. Positive self-esteem is a result of healthy living. If you generally feel good about yourself, you will be happier, your moods will be balanced, your energy will tend to be positive, and you will be open to communicate with others thus empower to others take on challenges. If you have healthy self-esteem, you will be less likely to blame other people for your mistakes or misfortunes. You will be able to accept criticism-and, therefore, more likely to learn new skills. Generally speaking, if your self-esteem is healthy, you will be most comfortable and will form secure and honest relationships. You will be able to deal with stressful situations. You will tend to make healthy choices, and appreciate good things in your life. Nothing is more important than how you feel and thinks about yourself. High opinion of yourself, who you are and what you do is basically a love for yourself.  It is also something that people often miss or have too little of in today's society.  Stop your inner critic,  use healthier motivation habits, and stop comparing yourself to others are the great ways to maintain your self-esteem.

     First, it is important to start with raising your self-esteem by learning to cope with the voice of your own inner critic. Your inner critic can spur you to get things done or to do things to gain acceptance from the people. But at the same time, it will drag your self-esteem down. This inner voice whispers or shouts destructive thoughts in your mind such as “you are lazy and sloppy” or “ you are uglier than your co-worker”. Do you have to accept this inner voice? The answer is No. There are ways to minimize that critical voice and to replace it with more helpful thoughts. You can change how you view yourself one way to do so is simply to say stop whenever the critic pops up in your mind. You can do this by creating a stop-word or stop-phrase. As the critics say you may something in your mind such as STOP or NO that you are not going there.  You should refocus your thoughts to something more constructive such as planning what you want to eat for dinner. In the long run, it also helps a lot to find better ways to motivate yourself than listening to your inner critic.

     Second, several things should be done to weaken the voice of inner critic and at the same time motivate yourself to take action and raise your self-esteem. First, you should remind yourself of the benefits. A simple but powerful way to motivate yourself and to keep that motivation up daily is to write down the benefits you will get from following this new path or reaching a goal. For example, try to make a list of yourself to do things such as how to get into better shape and to have more energy for your kids and for the people close to you. You can also try to make more money to be able to travel and experience wonderful new things together. When your list is done then put it somewhere where you can see it every day- in your workplace, your bedroom or on your fridge.  Second, you need refocus on doing what you really like to do. When you really like doing something then the motivation to do that thing tends to come almost automatically. When you really want something in life then also becomes easier to push through any inner resistance that you feel. So if you lose your motivation, ask yourself “Am I doing what I really want to do?” If not and if possible, then refocus and start working on that very important thing instead. After you have practiced stopping word or phrases then focus on one of these techniques. Over time it will become a habit and your inner critic will pop up less.

     Third, you should never compare what you have with what other people have. Things that people "have" can be money, friends, degrees, jobs, kids, titles, fame or others. Those things are not measurable but they may change. They disappear and obscure. It may mean nothing to different people.  Instead, compare who you are with who others are. Ask yourself question such as “Is he a good person? Are they making decisions that help others? Do they engage in things that improve their intellect? Do they take on challenges? Do they inspire those around them?”  And then, if you like who they are in ways that inspire you, push yourself to do similar things. There may be times when competition is appropriate, but life is not about competition. The sooner you stop competing against others to "win," the faster you can start working together to figure it out. The first and most important step in overcoming the habit of competition is to routinely appreciate and compliment the contribution of other people. Then, you can find happiness when you stop comparing yourself to others.

     To sum up, self-esteem is something that we carry all the time. The importance of self-esteem cannot be underestimated. It affects your behavior and thoughts. It also changes how you feel about and values yourself. So, you have to maintain your self-esteem to live a better life.



By Raysha AJ

Is Veganism Lifestyle Good for Kids? Well, Think Again !

      Many people mix up between vegetarian and veganism.  The two things are not the same. Vegetarian is an eating habit that doesn't allow people to eat meat on their menu while veganism is an eating habit that doesn't allow people to eat or use any products that contain substances made from an animal. Some people think that veganism is good for adults and kids.
When the vegans become parents, they raise their kids with veganism eating habit.  These vegan parents  introduce vegan food to their kids. The kids are fed with all kinds of fruits and vegetables or rice cereal. Then they will get used to other non-meat food such as tofu, tempeh and other wide variety of foods. The vegan parents also use natural products for their kids' personal care while for  clothing, they avoid "cruelty products" such as leather or wool. Vegan parents will check the clothing label to make sure they are on the right track. Kids who are raised with veganism lifestyle have to face several problems such as being withdrawn from society, suffering from nutritional deficiency, and suffering from food poisoning.

      The first reason is the fact that most vegan kids are withdrawn from society due to this habit. Kids become disenfranchised because vegan parents want their kids to become vegans too. When they grow up, some kids give negative respond to their parents’ lifestyle. It is because if they become vegans, they can’t choose and eat the food like other kids do. During their childhood, they normally enjoy whatever they like, especially food.  An example of this is actress Holly Paige who takes her kids to become vegans. She doesn't realize what happen with her vegan kids due to this belief  so that the skin condition of her kids become bad. Then, her kids become unconfident with their appearance because they look so skinny. They don’t look like their friends who have good skin. They are Berte, who is 4 years old, and Lizzie, who is 3 years old. One day, Paige felt worried when Lizzie smiled at her, and she felt horrified to see that the top row of the teeth of her kids was brown and full of cavities. Not only having physical problems, but the kids also have difficulty to make friends because they are not confident with their appearance and afraid to start making friendship. They fear that friends who try to approach them will be afraid of their appearance, and will stay away from them when their friends found out what they eat.

      The second reason that kids shouldn't be raised with veganism lifestyle is that the kids will suffer from nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiency will affect them greatly such as making them get tired quickly because they lack the energy that is supposed to get from eating meat. The kids’ muscles who have fewer nutrients will not grow well. They will be exhausted fast and can't play like other kids do. This happened to Jessica Hatfield who discovered her nine-year-old son Max, who was previously active, sporty child, became run down. On the same day, he had no energy at all and couldn't get out of bed. She was even more surprised when the nutritionist said his supposedly healthy diet -with no carbohydrates and only meat, fish, and salad –wasn’t giving him enough energy to fuel his activity. The next effect is that the kid's development is hampered because they need nutrients in meat, fish, milk and foods of animal products. Furthermore, forcing a kid to go dairy-free at a very young age, without replacing with calcium, also risks giving them bad teeth and poor growth of bones and will suffer from osteoporosis. Since bone-building of someone stops in the early 20s, weak bones in the kids mean weak bones for life. Kids need vitamin B12 that we can find in meat, protein that we can find in eggs and other kinds of nutrition. The last effect of this lifestyle is that certain organ functions will decline because of kids nutritional deficiencies.  The organs in kids’ body need some nutrition of vegetables and meat. If they lack these kinds of nutrition they need, their growth won’t be at best.

      The last reason that kids shouldn't be raised with veganism lifestyle is kids are prone to food poisoning. This is quite dangerous because kids who are prone to food poisoning are still in their growth stage. As a consequence of this lifestyle, kids can't receive proper vitamins found in veggies. If you learn about the digestive system, you will know that there are certain age brackets of children who receive vitamin that they don’t receive previously.  So, if they consume excessive nutrients, it won’t be good for their body especially for the kids who can't receive certain substances. If the kids are prone to food poisoning, then they will lose their spirits. At this childhood period, they should be active, agile, curious and they should play a lot and try new things. Their high sense of curiosity motivates them to know anything. The kids will easily get bored of something they don’t want. This will happen to vegan kids because they only eat vegetables, while most kids want to try different kinds of food to know new flavor and tastes of the foods.

       In conclusion, kids will be much healthier when they are given nutrition in accordance with the proper eating habits. If their parents are vegans it doesn’t mean that their kids  should be vegans too. Because all parents want the best for their kids, then the kids should be allowed to choose their own eating habit when they grow up.






By Nabilla A

Health Risks of Bodybuilding for The Young

 
    

  

      Nowadays, physical appearance is very important for everyone in many situations. Many young people try to do their best to look good. For that reason, many of them go on a diet, or do a martial art. Currently, one kind of sports that attracts the young people is body building. The reason is that they want to look attractive, but not necessarily want to become bodybuilders. Having an athletic and healthy body can be another reason for them to go the fitness centers to shape their body.  Still, a lot of them prefer bodybuilding than other sports because they can do exercise every time they want as the gyms are usually open from morning to midnight. In the fitness centers, they try hard to make them physically strong and powerful. They want to have a physique that they can show off  to their friends. Unfortunately, not many of them know that there are some disadvantages of body building such as  potential injuries, bad diets or even death.

     In the fitness center, there are several movements to do that such as running, cycling. lifting, etc. In fact, we need someone to teach and tell us about what movements that are suitable for our body. We have to keep in mind that not every style suits with our body. Again, you still need someone who can tell you about the best movement for you. However, since hiring a personal trainer is quite expensive, a lot of people just imitate every movement that other people do. The side effect of doing this thing is your body will be weakened gradually as wrong movements will harm yourself slowly. The common movement that is usually done in the wrong way is lifting a dumbbell or barbell.  There are a lot of different ways of using dumbbell which create different contractions on your muscles. Another movement in fitness called flat barbell press requires you to lie down on a chair and lift a barbell up and down for a few times. The purpose of this movement is to make your chest wider, your biceps bigger, and your spine stronger. This movement looks very easy to do, but people should do it seriously because if you lift it in the wrong way, it will press your chest too strong and make your spine bend.

      If you are obsessed with having an athletic body and having big muscles, you will never feel satisfy with your body. Then, you will try to eat something that can make your body bigger than before. Body builders usually consume drinks or food with lots of protein or zinc while supplement such as caffeine is linked to anxiety and high blood pressure. Protein may increase your weight and easily improve your muscles. Nevertheless, if you consume it a lot, it will harm your liver.  A drug that a body builder usually consumes is a steroid, a kind of stuff that will make your muscles bigger and looks good. At the first time,  the steroid may not do affect anything to your body. Yet, if you consume it more often, it will slowly harm your heart, liver, and even your brain. Many people are not well-informed or wrongly informed about the danger of. In addition, the media often doesn’t tell the truth about the negative aspects of using steroids. Consequently, many people think that steroids only have positive effects, but many young people don’t realize the real dangers of using steroids which can destroy their body and mind. Public believe that taking steroids will automatically make the users become built and muscular, which is not so. While using steroids, the user must still exercise. It is a wrong perception that consuming steroid is the only way to achieve a muscular build in order to have an admirable physique. People have to understand that their health is much more important that having a muscular body in a short period of time.

     Last but not least, the other disadvantage of body building is the risk of sudden death. It is true that fitness has a lot of advantages such as shaping your body, having lots of friends, and making you stronger physically. We should also acknowledge of this advantage. For example, there is one movement in bodybuilding called cardio. This is one of the most important things to do in fitness since its function is to increase your heart power. The movement in this part involves running or cycling for a few minutes. A body builder usually just skips this exercise because they think that these movements are not necessary. But actually, if the young do a lot of dumbbell lifting and just skip these movements their heart will become weak since they may break its pump. If this happens then the heart, whose function is to pump blood to all of our body parts, won’t be able to supply oxygen to your body and your muscles. Gradually, your body will become weak and suddenly your heart will stop pumping and your body will not get an enough supply of oxygen and then it will stop working. This incident is called heart failure.

     In conclusion, even though bodybuilding has a lot of advantages for people there are lots of side effects to your body if you do it carelessly. So, if you want to do bodybuilding to shape your body, you have to do it more carefully because bodybuilding has some disadvantages too such as injuries, bad diets, and sudden death. It's better if you don't force yourself and do it excessively. Simply practice it normally to avoid those effects or you need to hire a bodybuilding personal trainer if you can afford one.






By Abiandri

Why It Is Time To Stop Global Warming

     The environment is an important part of humans’ lives because it is the place where we live and interact with other creatures or with other non-living things. Changes in the environment will lead to an environmental imbalance which will surely affect human life. Often, these changes are not realized by humans due to some reasons.
In addition, they often do not care about the environment changes that occur. They are only concerned with their personal needs but do not think about what effects they create to the environment by the actions they have done. Therefore, many human actions cause environmental problems. The most important issue about the environment today is the problem of global warming. Global warming occurs because of some reasons, such as the use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and garbage dump.

     Firstly, global warming is caused by the use of fossil fuels. Today, almost all human energy needs are derived from the conversion of fossil energy sources, such as electricity generation, industry, and transportation. The increasing needs of energy become inevitable. This dependency on fossil fuels makes human unable to escape from fossil fuels in every aspect of their life. The dependency is like an opium that affects the community, ranging from the top to the bottom and in all parts of the world. Although there are alternative fuels, it is very difficult to replace the habit of using the fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, like coal, petroleum, and natural gas will produce carbon dioxide and other gases known as greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases absorb the sun rays (infrared radiation) reflected by the earth. As a result, the greenhouse gases trapped in the earth's atmosphere causes its temperature increase. This event occurs repeatedly and causes global warming. If people are not wise in using fossil fuels or unwilling to seek for alternative fuels that are environmentally friendly, the average temperature of the earth surface will rise gradually every year. Humans will feel the impact of global warming faster. Therefore, from now on we must use the energy efficiently so that the earth can be a comfortable place for humans and other creatures.

     Secondly, global warming can be triggered by deforestation. The condition of the forest is at an alarming rate. A lot of forests have been cut randomly. Humans are no longer concerned about the impacts caused by deforestation or by the damage of the forest. More forests in Indonesia, even in the world are diminishing. According to a study by US University of Maryland and the World Resource Institute, Indonesia has lost at least 15.79 million hectares of forest land. The world oxygen approximately 30% comes from the forests in Indonesia. However, the current forests in Indonesia have been damaged and bare. The destruction of forests in Indonesia is mostly caused by human activities. They think that they have the ability beyond nature. They also assume that the natural resources are abundant in the earth. People want to get the maximum profit by doing everything. The great number of deforestation and the increasing of fossil fuel usage cause the forest unable to absorb CO2 well. As a result, CO2 in the atmosphere increases.The increasing of these gases will eventually form a layer that resembles a glass. The layer is able to continue the sun rays in the form of light energy into the earth surface. However, this layer can not be passed by the radiant heat energy from the earth's surface. As a result, the heat energy will be reflected back into the earth's surface by the CO2. Then, the global warming in the earth occurs. If uncontrolled deforestation continually happens, it will cause the average temperature of the earth surface increase significantly every year. Therefore, people must realize that the forests are so important for their life in the future. It is suggested that people not only exploit them but also preserve them.

     Finally, global warming is worsened by the improper garbage management. In human life, garbage is usually derived from household and industrial activity. Garbage from industries and households is dumped carelessly. The waste that has been accumulated will produce tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). These gases are greenhouse gases. Methane (CH4) can be transformed into an energy source that can eventually benefit humans. However, the process of changing the methane (CH4) into energy still faces some obstacles. As a result, methane (CH4)  produced from a pile of garbage can't be utilized well and neither can the  carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not only derived from the accumulation of garbage but also comes from the burning of plastic garbage. Both cause an increase in the temperature at the surface of the earth. The phenomenon is called global warming. If we do not take actions to reduce waste, the surface temperature of the earth will always rise. 

There are several ways we can do to reduce the waste : 
1.Minimize the usage of plastic goods or materials.The more we use these materials, the more waste produced.
2.Choose the items that can be used again. Avoid using disposable items.
3.Recycle the goods that are not useful anymore.
4.Replace goods that can only be used once with the goods that are more durable. Try to use the items that are more environmentally friendly. For example, replace the plastic bag with a cardboard when we shop and do not use styrofoam because the two materials can not be degraded naturally. Of course, the ways should be better done because they not only can reduce the effects of global warming but also have no side effects either for society or for the environment. Prevention is better than cure. These wise words can also be used in garbage management strategies. It means, preventing the formation of garbage is better than processing or destroying waste. Because after processing or eliminating garbage new types of waste will inevitably be produced. The new types of waste can be more hazardous than destroying garbage. So from now on let's start to be wise to reduce the things that could form the garbage.

     In conclusion, the bad and improper actions performed by humans to the environment causes global warming. If humans do not want to change, their actions the earth will become an uncomfortable place for humans and other creatures. Thus, let's save our earth together. The ways we can do are reducing fossil fuels, maintaining and preserving the forest, and reducing garbage. If we perform the actions, the temperature of the earth surface will be stable and the earth can be a comfortable place for humans and other creatures.


By Johan