Monday, April 2, 2007

News Outside The Box

“Show me the money” is a phrase that we can all apply to our lives. As college students, we are known for always being broke. But we manage to survive, with the help of our parents and financial aid services such as FAFSA. Furthermore, we have our own virtual job board at UIUC, with many available openings. Unfortunately, there are other places around the world where such good fortune cannot be found.

In recent years, Brazil experienced economic crises. This has caused a slump in the economy that fueled the ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor in the country. Today, Brazil is on the list of countries with the highest degree of unbalanced distribution of land and wealth. In addition, there is a far graver situation in Brazil today. Hundreds of thousands of young girls, as well as some boys, have been forced to turn to prostitution in order to survive. They have turned to the streets because they have no where else to go and no one to support them. Sadly, the high amount of tourism only adds fuel to the fire, since prostitution is the best way these girls and boys can get to the dollars that these tourists bring.

The University of Illinois’ Simone Dasilva, a Ph.D. candidate, will speak about the issue of prostitution in Brazil, in a lecture titled “Prostitution in Early Twentieth-Century Brazil: A Case of Tolerance and Repression.” She studies under the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and the lecture will be sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. It is a brownbag event, meaning you bring your own lunch, but admission is free and it will take place on Thursday, April 5 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Room 101 at the International Studies Buildingoom. For more information, e-mail: clacs@uiuc.edu, or call (217) 333-3182.

Joyce Choi Sophomore
English Major
Enjoys going to the opera

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