At night

"At night, the streets between the blocks in the UFC are almost deserted, because of the small stream of people passing through them, because there are few courses running at night. Despite the good lighting, this does not prevent the action of robbers, since for an assault, don't matter if the place is lit or not. Thus, policing must be constant, in order to avoid people who are there to study to be killed and lose a great future ahead."

        

Post Author: Amanda Bastos 

Trash on the ground, Consciousness in the garbage.

A big problem in our campus is the quantity of garbage on the ground. But is not that what I’m going to talk about. I’ll talk about the lack of awareness of some people who don’t care about our public space; to the place where we study and spend part of our time.

Besides visual pollution, the garbage’s accumulation attracts insects and rats, which are noxious to us; can hurt the animals we have in campus, like cats, that can eat something toxic or which the expiration date has over.

We have to be conscious and learn not even to throw the trahs in the can, but also know how to select items to recycling.

 Post Author: Dion Sales

Garbage in the Campus

Garbage is common at the UFC campus, even though it is a university and ,as such, people who attend it should be more educated, you still can see garbage throughout the campus, from plastic bags, cups and bottles to paper, generally fliers with event ads from the students themselves. Most of the time there is a garbage can right next to it.

I believe that’s a cultural problem, people are used to do it, they grew up believing there is no problem since there are garbage collectors to pick their mess, which is completely wrong.

To solve the issue I propose awareness campaigns in the campus, it sounds pathetic having to treat grown people like little children by teaching them to be more conscious about such a simple issue but I honestly can’t see any other solution.

Post Author: Arquimedes Gadelha

Trash all Around

There’s a lot of trash around UFC, specially close to the gate that leads to UFC from the parking lot – the gate that is close to the famous ‘’cantinho academico’’ – that is visited by many students and even teachers.

I was told by one of the security guards that people don’t bother cleaning the place because it’s not inside the UFC but it doesn’t make sense because even though the problem is ‘’outside’’ the campus, the trash is right in front of the gate that gives access to the college and that’s not good for the status of the university.

At the same place there’s another problem as well: people smoking weed! That’s right fellas, I said: PEOPLE SMOKING WEED RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE COLLEGE. As all you guys must know I’m really against any kind of drug and I had to point out that HUGE problem. By the way, everyday when I pass there in my way home those potheads offer marijuana to me and, obviously, I always denied it.

Post Author: Rafael Santos Silva

‘’talk to somebody else’’

We could say, though eventually, the difficulties inherent in implementing a higher education, especially for the student. It’s not so much misinformation, but insecure information or suggestions as the famous ‘’talk to somebody else’’ or the famous evasive and vague: ‘’it is not me’’

Conversely, the nature of the position, found in most of the creatures and people requested assistance concise, but satisfactory even by also visible, attendant interaction with the applicant. It’s rewarding.

Post Author: Luiz Ferreira

Lack of accessibility

Sociology’s course second floor
  

One of the environmental problems that we can notice around Benfica’s Campus (UFC) is the lack of accessibility of wheelchair users into some buildings, mostly at “Centro de Humanidades” area 3 (where Sociology and Philosophy courses happen). Just at the entrance of Sociology and Philosophy courses we can see that they don’t have any elevator or ramps, turning the access to the classes and the “Luiz de Gonzaga” auditorium a hard work. Paradoxically, we can see on the photos of “Luiz de Gonzaga” auditorium entrance that it has a wheelchair access, what is much strange, because if wheelchair users don’t have an easy way access to the second level of the building where the auditorium is located why they put a ramp there and not also in the entrances? Another problem that we can perceive is the corridors’ width inside the Sociology’s course building. They are so thin that if a wheelchair user is transiting along them there shouldn’t have enough space to other people walk along. The coordination and the departments of these courses have to find a solution to these problems because they cause a series of troubles to UFC’s students, professors and so on.

Sociology’s course entrance

Sociology’s course second floor 

Philosophy’s course entrance

Wheelchair ramp to the auditorium 

Post Author: Rodrigo Viana

Drugs

It´s also a problem surrounding Centro de Humanidades. There´s a lot of dark places and it´s common to see people smoking marijuana. We all know that Universidade Federal do Ceará is a respectful place and as a student it´s not a good thing to take drugs in front of others like nothing is happening.

We all know that security in the campus is weak. The guards don´t do much thing to stop people with bad behavior and it´s not okay when you´re walking and you smell the drugs in the air.

The majority of occasional users come to no long-term harm. They are also unlikely to harm others. Inevitably, some will run into problems, and, more seriously, some risk death as a direct result of their drug use.

No one is here to judge anyone, but we have to respect everyone around us. The sense of community should be taken to the higher level. This is also about education and how do you want to be seen as a person by others. Especially when you´re studying to become a teacher.

We must share all the possibilities that our university is giving us.  

Post Author: Antonio LaCarne

Security at UFC

This work intends to present some problems about security and possible solutions to UFC campus.

Many problems are causes of violence nowadays. Drugs and poverty are main factors to disturb a society. In our case, we are in a university environment. It is not different from other places in a city. Violence is there so we need face this problem how we can. Firstly students should remind the responsible administration about violence at campus. Secondly, politics could be created to protect the building and students.

José Claudio Melo Filho is a security guard. He has worked on UFC campus for 22 years. He knows the routine very well. You are going to check an interview with him.

Interviewer: What the biggest difficulties to keep safe all around?

J.C.: ‘There are two ways to keep safe this place: some security guards stay at entrances for pedestrians and cars. Other guards go around the campus. My function is avoiding that someone comes in with alcoholic drink and drugs. (…)

Interviewer: Is there a security guard in all gates?

J.C.: Yes. In each gate, there are guards controlling the entrance of people, cars and bicycles. It is not allowed cyclists riding bikes.

Interviewer: Do many thefts happen here?

J.C.: I do not know exactly because there are few months that I work here. Before I have worked on Pici campus.

Interviewer: You use only a club as your weapon, don’t you?

J.C.: Yes. It is not necessary a gun. We have the Military Police’s support to help us. On Pici and José de Alencar campus, there are armed security guards.

Interviewer: How do you approach a suspicious person?

J.C.: We are polite. We cannot be violent. First we advise that it is not allowed to use alcoholic drink inside the campus. “I’m so sorry but I will collect your drink.” Afterwards that one is taken to the security supervision. If he gets worked up, we will identify him. Depending on the case, we can call the police.

Interviewer: Thank you very much for your information.

Students can help to keep a safety university, if they observe people. They can inform the presence of strange people.

Post Author: Aline Jacaúna

Water Wasting X Water Absence

We students, live a big problem related to the water at Benfica UFC campus. I started to notice that the water is a problem since the beginning of this year. I realized that the water was always missing in the afternoons. And I checked in all drinking fountains and all of them were in the same situation. What’s the problem?  I thought. Well maybe all this water absence is the result from the water wasting with plants watering and faucets leakage of water. The restrooms almost never have water in the afternoon also. Sometimes just 2 or 1 of the large number of restrooms that we have in the campus are working. Maybe if the responsibles for the water management take an attitude and, if we students expose this situation for everybody this problem would be solved.

Another thing could be done. The management also could care of the drinking fountains which are almost always leaking water.

Post Author: Ítalo Tavares 

Trash at UFC

As everybody knows we have a big environmental problem right here around the university. I’m talking about trash. In my opinion I think that we don’t have a program for show the students and the community the relevance of act of throwing trash in the trash. I guess that is a simple behavior, everybody knows about the danger that the trash brings for the human beings, like diseases and infections. When you have a lot of trash accumulated it can clog the culverts in the winter. That’s why we have a lot of problems occasioned by the trash.

But isn’t it funny? We’re the principal guilty; we are who litter the streets. Most of that trash is compound for papers, plastic bags, plastic cups and newspaper. Inside of the UFC campus we see many garbage cans, but around the university on the sidewalks, unfortunately, we don't find any. So, in the end, maybe for some people is more easy to throw the trash on the street when actually this attitude just worsening the problem with trash. All we need is a polite attitude and I’m sure that being polite doesn’t hurt anybody.

So, there are some simple solutions for the waste problem, the University  can promote programs,  showing that the trash can be bad for us because it attracts animals and insects which can transmit diseases . The University  also can stimulate recycling of the trash, Promote more lectures about the environmental issues, workshops teaching what we can do with some things like plastic bottles, milk boxes, cans of soda. Many these things can be exploited and transformed in toys, boxes of jewelry, decorative objects, t-shirts and many things. I think that big solution is showing the population that  a simple attitude can change this reality. 

Interviewing a student:

·         What do you think about the trash at UFC?

Ricardo: I can realize that there are many cans of soda, water and other kind of trash around our campus, but I think that is not justification to say that only UFC has fault in this case. Many people throw their trashes in the ground. We have to think about our acts against our environment

·         What kind of solution do you suggest for this problem?

Ricardo: Doing campaign to do the people make themselves aware about the problem.

·         What do you think about the people that throw garbage on the ground?

Ricardo: It is not a good thing to do. When you throw garbage on the ground, you automatically prejudice yourself. Let´s be more responsible.

Post Author: Rebecca Correia

Trash on the ground

A good way to not pollute the environment is selective collection for recycling, but when I was walking along university campus a saw a lot of trash on the floor next to the garbage, Some people don’t have conscience and throw trash on the ground: look at the photos and see the cup in front of the garbage.

In my opinion it’s not enough to resolve the problem about trash in UFC, sometimes the dump are completely full but people still throw all the trash next to it.   

Post Author: Diego Cruz

Campus Sustainability

I believe sustainability is no longer just an ideal since plans of a new educational system is in the works for a better preservation of our natural sources. In the course of this new educational implementation, students such as ourselves are the main point for a “new start”. For now, I want you all to excuse me for the lack of pictures. I couldn’t take any picture, though I don’t think it will be much necessary since we are all frequently seeing the problems surrounding us in and out our campus. And for those, who are not aware of these issues for other reasons, I would like to apologize for the non-pictures content.

            In one of the Humanity Campus of our large University, things such as litter, violence, sound pollution and lack of a better system of trash collection are the problems inside and outside our walls. We cannot avoid the thought that we live in a big city fool of different people, from different places, with different backgrounds. It is necessary for us to be more perceptive about what is around our activities during the day, I know a lot of us still are adapting and getting conscious about what is “right” and what is “wrong” in this sustainable way of life.

            But here, in this short essay, I would like to approach a disturbing subject which some people may not agree it is a problem – sound pollution. I believe, of course, we need some days of fun and music in the campus, but not during classes. I am not against music and fun during events, though I am against it during the days and time students are having classes. So, for this problem, it would be really nice if it was only done during events or during our country’s holidays and holydays. Music definitely brings people together then why do not do it when we are supposed to be out of our students’ cares? Why does it have to be during nocturnal classes? Most of these musical moments happen to be during night. The loud music bothers and takes attentions away.

            Once and again, I am not against music in campus. Though, I am pretty sure it would me respectable to think on the ones watching classes. As we all say “there are days and days”, and I believe classes days are not supposed to be disturbed by loud music. 

Post Author: Natyelle Guedes

Bad conservation of the flora existing at CH-UFC

Walking around the campus of humanities, at UFC, we cannot state the real vegetation of the place. The existing trees are in bad conditions of conservation; the original plants and trees, as they are in those mentioned conditions, are grassed. Even worse, this grassed vegetation is being changed by other plants that do not match to the original vegetation of the place.

The uncharacterization of the vegetation is something that happened quite recently at the place. The vegetation of the campus has ecological attributes of the mangrove, but as the weather has been changing lately, leaves are dropping more frequently and plants are taking too long to grow up. The vegetation loses its humidity and tends to look more like the serrate ecological features.

Maybe, if the campus managers will care about the campus appearance in the future, some actions should be taken, like to shear trees more constantly, or to wash the plants daily in the summer, when the sun is too hot and it winds harder. Also, working at the maintenance of the original vegetation, and reforestation of the lost trees, are good ways for to keep the real vegetation at campus of humanities at UFC alive for long.

Post Author: Sandra Costa 

Violence inside and out the campus.

The purpose of this essay is talking about some of the environmental problems at Benfica UFC campus. We may realize or hear about many of them, such as trash inside that place or around it, violence against the undergraduates, professors and workers, insecurity to the people, not good illumination and so forth.  However, the main point that is going to discuss in this work is violence.

As we may realize, violence is a kind of theme that is discussed a lot all over the world. The manner to finish it is thought for many leaders of country governments, but the solution was not found by them yet. What to do? At Benfica UFC campus, many people have difficult to face that issue. There are some security guards, but it is heard that happens many cases of disorders inside or around it. It is possible quote some of them: robbery (mobile phone, money, cars and so on), attacked people, strange persons using drugs (probably may cause a type of violence because of the drug effect), and so forth. All that happen not only with students from UFC, but also with some students and workers that do not make part of the body of the university. That ones just work or study nearby it. The risk to be attacked increase because of some points: bad illumination, no supervision with who came in, free access inside the campus.  We can see how that type of environmental problem happens, according to the questions that were asked to a worker who passes inside UFC to go to his job. His name is Alexandre and he is 24:

§  What is your opinion about violence inside Benfica UFC Campus or around it? `Well, day by day the violence is increasing more and more near UFC. We can´t stay there in security any time of the day.´

§  Were you already robbed or suffered some kind of violence there?

      ´Not yet! But I had a problem like that but I could solve it.´

It is not simple think a solution for this environmental problem in our university, but we have to start thinking about it. The violence ends when all the people work together to find a solution for the matter. Talking with the authorities  is a good way to start. We have to know that violence does not go away fast but we have to try. 

Post Author: Ricardo Marques

Garbage and selective collection

As a student and a goer of the UFC Humanities Centre, I believe the trash issue is one of the problems that we, students and citizens, should care about. It is not pleasing for the people who come and go through the Centre to see a dirty or ill cared place. In my everyday going to the HC, I see people who do not respect the environmental and the other people (yes, when you do not respect the environmental, you are, even if it is indirectly, disrespecting other people) and throw the garbage on the floor – sometimes they’re in front of a dump and do not care of throwing the garbage on it. The HC is, at least, sufficiently equipped with dumps – the usual dumps and the selective collection dumps –, but they are not used most of the time and, when it is being used, we can see plastic in the glass’ place, metal in the paper’s place and so on. I can think of some possible causes of this: people do not know the minimum benefits of making a selective collection, or they just do not care whether their descendants will have a livable world or not, or they are not being well instructed in the using of it. Making the selective collection works is not a difficult task, it requires only some specific cares on how you are supposed to stock the waste (for instance, if you consume a carton of milk and you want to put it on the selective collection, you are supposed to open it, wash it and let it dry in order for it to be serviceable). I made a little research of the selective collection benefits and I’ve found some interesting points. If you or your city or your university campus is making a selective collection, you are helping to: lower deforestation, lower extraction of natural sources, lower soil, water and air pollution, reduction of production costs with the reuse of recyclables by the industry, waste reduction, prevention of floods, reduced cost with garbage collection, opportunity for stronger cooperatives and job and income generation with the collection and sale of recyclables. The prefectures, governments and rectories should offer a program of awareness of the selective collection benefits and should also guide people on how to utilize it appropriately and, in the case of Fortaleza, you would preventing floods in the areas of risk and avoiding people from losing their homes and, sometimes, their lives.

 

Post Author: João Yuri Nóbrega

Source

http://www.natureba.com.br/nature/selective-collection.htm

Problem: People

Solution: Braing washing  everyone that could possibly refuse to colaborate. If things get a bit... out of control,total apocalipse and no mercy.

  Among the many problems (that probably/obviously) exist in and around the campus,i'd say that people are the worst. I've seen people littering and,not satisfied about just littering,they decide to litter next to trash cans. By the way,maybe we need more trash cans. They seem to be always full,so we don't have enougth trash cans once people get in and out of the campus all the time.

   Information is definetely not a problem. I mean,global warming warnings are everywhere from News to Cartoon Network,so how can the future of the world (that happens to be the students of today,that will hopefuly turn our country and afterwards,our world,in a better place) not be aware of that?! Wether they're oblivious (which i doubt) or do it on porpose (which sounds unikely,but still more likely than the previous).

   As for a solutions,we could open up their heads (literaly or not) and put some sense in there (althought i really think brain washing or genocide would be much better succeded and interesting)

Post Author: Milene Fernandes 

Sustainability

Recently, we've discussed about Sustainability in our classes and our professor Andreia Turolo gave us an important task which was  write about some enviromental problems we have in our campus, located at Benfica a traditional neighborhood in Fortaleza very close to downtown. Let's read some essays from our group and see their points of view about these problems.       

Sharing English

We're a group of students of the Federal University of Ceará and recently with a help from our professor Andreia Turolo we've decided to make this blog in order to provide knowledge and discussions about important issues such as Sustainability, which is our first subject to be posted, Prejudice or arts, for exemple. So as english students all these themes are going to be presented in english.