Briefing+Book

media type="custom" key="9484168" __-Article Summaries-__ ---Sweet Scents for Tourists From this article, I got the following summary. Roses have always been a famous flower, especially for the Victorian writer George Eliot. He once wrote that he wished that the sky would 'rain down' their soft petals. Now, a little known museum in Italy is filled with 750 varieties of roses. This museum is placed in Modena and was started by Roberto Viti and his son Riccardo. The two wanted to escape the hussle and bussle and noise of the city life to live in the country, so that's why they made this museum of roses. This museum provides tourists with a museum filled with the sweet perfume of the different varieties of roses. Every year the museum of 45 hectares attracts about 500,000 visitors. This is really important to Italy because it helps it's tourism. This museum attracts many toiurists to Italy and helps the popularity of this beautiful country. It is just one more thing that Italy can use to get more money. Other than the fact that this museum of roses attracts many tourists and helps the tourism money for Italy, it really doesn' have an affect on the country. I agree that this Museum is a good idea, and I would definitely visit. Roberto should be considered a very important citizen of Modena because starting this museum may have been a very smart move. In the long run, people may lose interest in this garden of roses, causing Roberto a lot of trouble, but atleast for now this museum is a very wonderful attraction for Modena, Italy.

---2 Cellphones at Wheel!! In this article, I read that an Italian bus driver was caught on film driving with his elbows and talking on two cellphones, while taking a group of passengers to Rome's Ciampino Airport. It also states that Thursday amid calls to have him "sacked". In the article, I learn that using a cellphone and driving is illegal, much like our texting and driving law in Kentucky. The governer of the region, Renata Polverini, deplored the driver's 'reckless and unnacceptable" driving. She immediately asked that the regional bus company take action to help the situation. This incident might really cause some tourists to be afraid to ride buses in Italy. It made the company look bad and also the region. This was not anywhere near good for Italy. I think that this bus driver should be punished for what he did. His actions were against the law. I'm not sure on the consequences of breaking the law in Italy, but i know that if I had anything to do with it, he would be severely punished. He put the lives of his passengers in danger and also his own life. No one was hurt, but something bad could have happened. I think that also, the bus company should increase the rules and safety for their bus drivers.

---We Remember our Dreams In this article, I learned that Italian scientists discovered how we remember our dreams. A team from Rome, La'Aquila, and Blogna universities got together to and discovered that people will recall their dreams only if they experience a certain type of electrical oscillation during the phase of sleep associated with Rapid Eye Movement. In the article, the coordinator if the study, Luigi De Gennaro, states that "Only if the cebral cortex is flooded with slow oscillations called theta waves will the person have any recollection of his dreams when he wakes up." The scientists that have worked on this observation have had their work published in the U.S Journal of Nueroscience. The scientists say that the same phenomenon is at work during the day while we are awake and form solid memories of events that are more real to us than other things. This is called episodic memory. If you are trying to remember something and the electrical oscillations in the frontal cortex are not present, the memory will apparantly be lost forever. Also told in the article, the group pinpointed the areas in the brain that enable people to remember vivid dreams in October. I think that this discovery is really important. Not only is it important to Italy, but it is a breakthrough in science all around the world. Now, though, Italy gets the credit for this discovery and that is very good for the country itself. With this scientific breakthrough comes a lot of recognition and credability, which is good for any scientist in any country. The fact that people can now understand what makes them remember their dreams is very mind blowing. I have always wondered how I remembered or didn't remember my dreams. I'm amazed at how someone could figure something this complex out. I am glad that we have people in the world that know how to do these things, and people will now look up to these scientists in Italy for yet another scientific breakthrough.

---Did They Find Mona Lisa In this article, I learn about archaeloogists finding the crypt of the girl who is said to be the girl who posed for Leonardo Da Vinci's painting of Mona Lisa. It states that the crypt was found under the floor of teh St. Ursela convent in Florence after a foot of modern concrete was removed. To find this, not only did they have to get through a foot of modern concrete, but the archaeologists had to unearth a layer of ancient 35 inch wide bricks. The determined group of archaeologists finally finished this task and uncovered the crypt of Mona Lisa. The group found two bodies under about where the alter stood. One is older and one is thought to be Lisa Gherardini. The leader of this dig is Professor Silvano Vinceti. It took two weeks to find the crypt, but the group of men were on a hunt and they weren't going to give up. I think that this is good for Italy. People around the world have been wondering for years who posed for the Mona Lisa, and now people can stop wondering. Once the archaelologists dig up the complete body, the world will know. This is a big step for Italy and will draw many peoples' attention to the country. With more attention, the country can draw in more tourists, bringing in more money. Any art or history fanatic is probsbly amazxed at this finding. Maybe even once they find the complete body, they will find out more facts about who she was to Leonardo and maybe why he decided to paint her for one of his most famous peices of artwork.

---Venice Tourists Ships Rattle Windows and Nerves In readin this article, I learned that when the cruise ships and ferries come down the Giudecca Canal, some of the windows and even some walls of the paloozas have been known to shake. A worker at the University of Venice linguistics department states, "Oh, we feel them, even if they go very slow." She also claims that, "The windows shake at their passing. It used to be worse though, before the university switched to double glass panes." I learned that also, the people of Venice are beginning to question the affect that the mastodon-like ships are having on the fragile city. The citizens of this small city are also questioning how the water, air, and noise pollution is having an affect as well. They claim that they can no longer put up with something that harms and damages their city. Port officials have assured the citizens that everything is ok. They said that the west side of Venice is being monitered for air quality and ship emmisions, as well as noise pollution and other side effects. Critics suspect that they are not being toldthe whole truth about this problem. One citizen says that even though the tourists bring in millions of dollars, it just isn't safe. He questions whether or not the tourism is worth the damage of the city. Work is now underway for a new terminal and ferry traffic at Fusina. That will open in 2013. The port authority is also investigating ways to improve environmental sustainability and ways to better handle increases in traffic. I really don't think that this is good for Italy. It's good that the tourism is great, but the tourism wuld be completely depleted if the city of Venice is destroyed by the ships. It could lose the country money in the long run. Maybe the citizens are overreacting about the situation, but if I were there, I'm sure i would do the same thing. A simple solution would be to make the buildings more suitable for their environment. If something were to happen to Venice, though, it could really mess up the tourism for that part of Italy.