AME News

Servern Suziki made this speech at a UN meeting in Brazil back in 1992 when she was just twelve years old. She was the founder of ECO, the Environmental Children’s Organization. Today, she still fights for the environment by speaking around the world about issues we need to fight today as individuals. Severn is an activist, speaker, author, and television host.

She was interviewed by Time Magazine in 1999, in which she was quoted saying, “I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur action. Now, a decade from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken…In the 10 years since Rio, I have learned that addressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, ‘We must become the change we want to see.’ I know change is possible” (Weights of Silence).

Here is the amazing, moving speech she made when she was 12:

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The Carribean Monk Seal, also known as the West Indian Seal, has officially been announced extinct as of July, 2008. This is the first seal species to become extcint as a result of human activities alone. It is truly saddening. Only old photographs and drawings remain of the Monk Seal.

“After five years of futile efforts in which not even a single sighting has been reported, the U.S. declared extinct, and also declared that no other seal species has been extinct because of us” (ZME Science).

Many animals are on the expressway to this same fate- polar bears, tigers, gorillas, cheetahs, rhinos, and whales- just to name a few of the literally thousands of animals which are currently endangered.

We have to do something now to change their fate.

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Help Endangered Animals

Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic disorder in which an individual’s X chromosome is mutated. This mutation causes mental retardation as well as autism and was not treatable– until now.

Mark Bear, the director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, is the scientist who discovered the mutation that is responsible for Fragile X Syndrome. Apparently, the mutation is responsible for regulating the synapses- connections- between the brain cells. Bear makes an analogy to the system and cars.

Bear states, “you really need both the accelerator and the brake to properly function. In the case of Fragile X, it’s like the brakes are missing. So even tapping the accelerator can have the car careening out of control.”

According to NPR, the drugs, which were identified by Bear and other scientists, do not correct the brakes in the system. The drugs “limit acceleration by reducing the activity of a group of receptors on brain cells known as mGluR5 receptors.”

These drugs have reversed all most all of the effects of Fragile X in mice. They are currently being tested on humans and one study found that the first dose had an effect. One dose!

“The implications for people with Fragile X are huge. If the drugs work, people with the disorder could see their IQs rise and their autism diminish.”

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