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