Page 7 “The Lion’ 8 Li EDITORS SHTICK: The World’s a Mess, No Big Deal: The Girl Effect By Christina Felizzi — Editor-in-Chief — clf5050@psu.edu “The world iS a mess — agree or disagree?” As | stare at my com- Lo puter screen at these = words, it makes me think, how could you disagree? This was : : the first image [ was presented with when I visited www.girlef- fect.org. So every- one wonders — how can we fix it? Invest in girls. Is it that simple? I didn’t believe it Alt and of course, it isn’t that simple, but as I learned more about The Girl Effect and what the Nike Foundation is doing to change the course of humanity, it made sense. The Nike Foundation believes in the power of human potential and working together to achieve something great. Working with numerous partners around the globe and cre- ating the Girl Effect sister-site, Nike is starting a worldwide movement towards a better future for us and our world. The Girl Effect is defined as “the powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their society.” If we can elimi- nate poverty, disease, and lack of education in Third World countries, girls are given the chance to shine and make a difference. They represent the nucleus of family life and if they cannot thrive, their families are sadversely affected. * the girl effect Here are 10 things that stay in the to girl s way of making a difference: : 1) Without a birth certificate or an ID, a girl in the develop- ing world doesn’t know and can’t prove her age, protect herself from child marriage, open a bank account, vote, or eventually get a job. That makes it hard to save the world. 2) 70% of the world’s out-of-school children are girls. Girls deserve better. They deserve quality education and safe environments and support that allow them to get to school on time and stay there through adolescence. 3) Child marriages are the norm in many cultures where women’s bodies aren’t considered their own property. Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls 15-18 years old. Girls have a right to be able to protect their health and their bodies. 4) When girls are educated about HIV, they stand a better chance of protecting themselves. But education is not enough. Girls need to be empowered and supported to make their own choices. People Poll with Caitlin Olszewski Who is your favorite super hero? Ray Gaspari - Undecided “The Silver Surfer” IST CHANGE STARTS Courtesy of www.thegirleffect.org Kenny Wilson “Basement Cat” 5) If girls have the skills for safe and decent work, if they understand their rights, if they are financially literate and considered for nontraditional ITH A their fair share of training and intern- 8 J ~ ships, they will be armed and ready ee for economic independence. : 6) Only one-half of one cent of every aid dollar spent in the developing world is earmarked for girls. And yet when a girl has resources, she will reinvest them in her community at a much higher rate than a boy would. If the goal is health, wealth, and stability for all, a girl is the best investment. 7) They're girls. They deserve their own category. They . need to be a distinct group when we talk about aid, educa- tion, sports, civic participation, health and economic. Yes, they are future mothers. But they actually live in the pres- ent. 8) Girls need advocates to write, speak up, lobby, and work to enforce good laws and change discriminatory policies. 9) We won’t know how to helps girls until we know what’s going on with them. Hey, all you governments and NGOs and social scientists: You're accountable! We need an an- nual girl report card for every country so we can keep track of which girls are thriving and which girls are not. 10) Boys, girls, moms, dads. If we don’t all rally to sup- port girls, nothing is going to change. Not for them, and not for us. Change starts with you. So get going. Puts in it perspective, right? We take for granted all that we have in the United States. As a white Ameri- can female, I’ve never known what it’s like to be under- privileged. Education, employment, health care, legal protection, housing, food, clean water: all of these things I have had the opportunity to have. But females in Third World countries, such as the females in Aldo Magazzeni’s photography exhibit at our campus, Traveling Mercies, “don’t know what it’s like to have those essential things. Magazzeni lived amongst people in Afghanistan and Africa and knows first-hand how the potential of women in those countries is being hinder. 600 million girls living in poverty — just think if those 600 million girls had educations and jobs and oppor- tunities. This one website really made me think about this concept and I’m only skimming the surface of what The - Girl Effect has to say. It seems so simple. And maybe it is. We just need to make it happen. Katie Lizza Undecided IST “Batman” jobs at an appropriate age, if they get Derek McMillan “The year is 2011. I am the Mach Rider” EEE EL elingmiy 2, 2009 HU Do you have relationship | ~ problems? i Going through a tough time ~~ inyour life? Questions that need to be answered? 2. Ityou answered yes to any of these questions, never fear, t fie advice column, is s here! Eilts nb HE Want to be heard? Ar EE HEA Fm Campus Speaks is 3 hew reoc- curring column of the Lion's Eye featuring editorials and opinion pieces submitted by faculty, staff and the student body of Penn State Brandy- wine. Readership of the Lion's Eye is encourage to submit their articles for publication. one can submit! Articles should be submitted to kabd4@psu.edu c005024@psu.edu English W3idLIC AFIS HR Loe } Lion’s Eye Staff Writer Adrienne Showalter “Emma Frost from X-Men”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers