On September 14, I as well as a couple of other IA scholars went to volunteer at the Van Buren Shelter. At the shelter, we assisted with food prep for dinner and handed out food to the residents. We were able to see first hand how meals were made and disbursed among the people at the shelter. We prepared zucchini, squash, fruit, and main entrees to give out. We also assisted the main chefs with cleaning the kitchen and dining areas and washing the dishes. The best part was handing out the food to the residents. Many of them were happy to see us help out and lend a helping hand to keep their dining quarters clean. They were very welcoming of us and were really appreciative of our service.

Volunteering here relates to international affairs because homeless shelters isn’t only a problem in America. Homelessness is a very prominent issue throughout the world and although it is being addressed in most countries, it isn’t being dealt with fast enough. Many people suffer through homelessness and while the circumstances vary, overall it does a lot more harm than good. Helping these people out impacted me because it opened my eyes to the life that I knew very little about. The residents at the shelter were very big on having that community feel among themselves and sticking together to be there for each other no matter what happens. This made me very happy to know that the shelter isn’t a cold and hostile place but one where someone can come in and have a family stick with them and support them when in need.

The Undergraduate Bioethics Society held a meeting on September 3 in Enarson Classroom Building that consisted of information about the ethical problems of human-animal hybrids and chimeras as well as an open discussion for everyone to contribute to. Currently, scientists in China are trying to develop the first human-chimpanzee hybrid for the purpose of being able to create organs for life saving transplants and treatments for humans. This raises several concerns for people around the world and gets people thinking about the issues at hand. Is this ethical? Is this reasonable? Is it possible?

This event relates to international affairs because during the discussion, someone brought up the ideologies of other countries and how they perceive the move that China is making. Many countries could agree that China is making a cost effective move but in regards to ethics and morals, it may not be the best move. Different countries are questioning China’s laws and wondering how can they allow this to happen. A question I had during the meeting was where do we draw the line? What is deemed too far? After attending the meeting, the discussion had affected me because based on my morals, this is too far and unnecessary. There are plenty of ways scientists can do research to develop ways to advance the medical field and this way is one that shouldn’t have been brought to life. On one hand this may be acceptable due to China’s ethics and morals but on the other hand, China should consider other countries ethical laws and try to implement them in their laws to keep the peace between themselves and other countries.