Posts by Kimi Recor

It Never Rains in Los Angeles

Posted on January 7th, 2011

People move to Southern California for the weather. They may try to tell you otherwise (how many time have we heard that “I’m doing it for my career” line), but I’m pretty sure they’re doing it for the blue skies and endless sunshine. Photo Stephen Alvarez That’s why I moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I couldn’t deal with the consistent change in weather, the weeks of grey rain, clouds hanging low in the summer sky. I wanted a given, and that given needed to be SUN, SUN, SUN. So, you can imagine how traumatizing it was for me (and the rest of the So-Cal population) to spend half of December watching as rain deluged Los Angeles. Nearly 13 inches of rain fell…

Cycling Towards a Better Future

Posted on December 16th, 2010

Since it’s introduction to the public at the turn of the 20th century, the bicycle has always been placed high on every child’s Christmas wish list. Photo Randy Olson In some places, however, the bicycle is much more than fancy-free past time. Many African countries, such as Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa are relying more and more on bicycles as a main mode of transit. Most people in Africa don’t have access to public transportation of any kind, and spend hours every day walking to and from their place of business. When one spends at least four hours everyday walking, plus the hours of labor in between, it comes as no surprise that there is little time left for education, much less for any…

The Struggle of Haiti

Posted on December 10th, 2010

Haiti is once again in a state of turmoil after the presidential election results were announced on Wednesday. Angry mobs, alleging election fraud, flooded the streets, their violent rioting shutting down not only schools and businesses, but the Port-au-Prince airport as well. After January’s devastating earthquake, which killed over 250,000 people and left at least a million homeless, Haiti has been in a deepening state of despair. This fragile economy has only been worsened by a recent cholera epidemic, which according to international health officials, will affect over 200,000 Haitians in the upcoming months. After experiencing so much loss, frustration and pain this past year, it is easy to understand why this political standoff has caused so much pent-up anger in the Haitian community.…