“A magazine for students
Spring Into Action This Spring Break!
by students.”
LCHS Plan Their Week Off.
In this issue: •
Teacher Appreciation
•
Basketball Home Coming
•
Snow Days
•
Texting while driving
•
And many more….
Spring is just around the corner. Winter is loosening its grip on the weather and le ng warmth and sunshine fill the bleak void. Granted , we had one of the mildest winters that I can remember, but spring is s&ll coming. With spring comes the fabled and an&cipated spring break. A week, a single week, away from school and the chaos and stress that comes with it. There is a plethora of ways that students celebrate spring break. Some stay at home and chill , and others go on adventurous vaca&ons. For those of you staying home…well you’re staying home. It’s pre y self-explanatory. What most of us do during our spring break when we stay here is play games, do ridiculous amounts of homework that is cruelly given to us, and suspicious and ques&onably legal ac&vi&es. When asking Jake Lutz,e a Larue county senior, “I’m being awesome and doing morally ques&onable ac&vi&es.” Another student, Lindsey Beckner, a Larue county Junior stated, “Over spring break, I plan to read.” But whatever it is you’re doing, just make sure your safe and not dead, or with a dead person in you’re trunk or closet. Trust me; it is an awkward situa&on to wiggle your way out of. The rest of us are going on a trip, to get out of this town and experience some culture. Some maybe going somewhere within the state, some maybe going another state such as Florida or Virginia, and the rest of us will be going to a distant land. For example, the band is going on a trip to the Bahamas, which by the way, is going to be insanely fun. The baseball team is going to the sunny state of Florida to play baseball, obviously, and enjoy the beach. Going to the beach is a popular choice, swimming and soaking up sun and skin cancer, trying to get that good tan before prom.
By: Kyle Hya
These trips are school related, and only a few of us are actually par&cipa&ng. On the norm, I vaca&on with my family, and several others do so as well. Vaca&oning with family is great, most of the &me. Granted. there are a few students that want nothing to do with their family, but the rest, I assume, enjoy going on a good long trip away from here and spending &me with family. “I might be going to Gatlinburg to the aquarium,” said Amber Carrier, a Larue county Junior, when asked what she was doing with her family. This may take you as close as somewhere in the state or as far away as the east or west coast. “A change of scenery is nice,” says Dakota White (Karl) a Larue county senior. But no ma er where you are going, just ge ng away is the name of the game. Whether you are staying here or adventuring off, you are s&ll ge ng away. By that I mean away from the school. That is what spring break is all about: leaving the stresses of high school behind you for a week and enjoying some &me off. The LCHS Cruise to the Bahamas for this Spring Break!
Teacher Appreciation Make a Teacher’s Day By Just Saying Thanks. By: Amber Carrier Larue County students appreciate our teachers. Teachers play a key role in every individual’s development here at LC. Teacher apprecia&on is expressed here in Larue County Schools, because teachers are that special part of the community helping us all grow up and because be er ci&zens. John F. Kennedy once said, “Let us think of educa&on as the means of developing our greatest abili&es, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our na&on.”
Larue County by showing up and telling them things like, “We appreciate the minimal homework, and the help with problems at school and at home,” “thank you for pushing us to success,” or “we really enjoy the personal talks.” Appreciate that teachers take the &me to explain problems one on one. Some students say, “Teachers at Larue County help out when students are struggling with grades.”
Other ways to show teacher apprecia&on are small gi>s or a thank you card. A good teacher has ambi&on, not just for oneself but for their class and more specifically, every There’s plenty to appreciate about individual student. A good teacher will make our teachers from best dressed to most aththat the classroom is a place for the ambi&on le&c or most school spirited; our teachers are to thrive – through encouragement, crea&vity, the best. If you are preparing teacher apprecia- sensi&vity and mo&va&on. These a tudes are &on work or ac&vity of any kind, it is wise to fundamental for success. Even in the face of first consider how much you actually know difficulty, teachers must be prepared to take about your teacher and why you feel a special the ini&a&ve, to reinstate energy in the classapprecia&on for him or her. According to sturoom and assure that each student is happily dents of LCHS, Mrs. Blackwell has earned her reaching his or her full poten&al. way to the top of the chain of most spirited. Between Coach Price and Coach Lindsey for Most Athle&c, Coach Lindsey won. With a big number, Coach Price wins the best dressed. So overall just say thank you to your teachers at LC. Students at LC know our teachers are great. We appreciate our teacher’s at
Student showing appreciation to Mrs. Blackwell
Snow Days! What Do Kids Do? By Lauren Kells Snow days in Hodgenville.
What do Larue County kids do when there’s no school and several inches of snow on the ground and ice on the roads? Some like them and some don’t. Those who are actually in favor of snow days spend their day enjoying several different things. Renee Patrowitz a senior at LCHS says, “ I like to sit at home and write or whatever suits me”. Erin Duvall says, “On my snow day I sleep in for as long as I can, then get up and make hot chocolate and watch movies.” Some students of L.C.HS. don’t like snow days because some have to do chores and work on whatever their parents le> for them to do. While some kids get to play others are stuck inside doing house work. When we have snow days, a lot of kids get excited about what they’re going to do. Then you have one part of the student body that hates snow days and rather go to school because they don’t want to be going to school &ll summer. Snow days can mean different things to different people; it can mean a free day, movie day, sleep in, or even just a day to make up homework that you never got done. So when you wake up and see a snow covered ground think to yourself “ what am I going to do today?” Think about all the fun you can have, or the work that’s going to be done.
Basketball Homecoming By: Dakota White
Ever since LaRue County started a school basketball team, they have been the epitome of excellence, winning many district &tles and awards for their successes on the court. Every team they face fears them, and for good reason. They faced Caverna in front of their faithful blue and white fans in a struggle for homecoming night, one of the most important nights in the basketball season. Their success on the court that night was achieved not only by the skill and power of the players, but also by the roaring and cheers from the beloved blue and white fans, and also by the week that preceded the game. The en&re week was spent in build-up to the basketball event of the season. Each day, the faithful fans of LaRue dressed up to support their team. It was all built up to a pep rally, where the basketball team was displayed before their hard game later that evening. In the days before that, first there was Superhero Day, Hundreds Day, Tourist Day, Cartoon Day, and finally, Spirit Day, where the en&re school and its students were decked out in blue and white. Most students dressed up for these occasions, as each grade wanted to win the Spirit S&ck, the prize for winning homecoming week. For some of the students, it was their last homecoming. For others, it was their first high school one. Everyone combined efforts in order to make sure that no one would forget this homecoming. The previous encounters between the two sides had favored LaRue. Previously in the season, the Hawks ba led to a 75-57 win over the Colonels. But Caverna was not going to be handled so easily like that again. The game consisted of both teams trading the lead many different &mes. Each team was in good form, and it seemed to be very close right to the very end. The student sec&on roared each &me LaRue took the ball down the court, and booed with each touch a Caverna player had on the ball. A>er many nervous minutes in the 4th quarter, LaRue started to pull away. They maintained the lead to the jubilant cheers of the home fans. The end score was 6054. It was a night the seniors, including Kyle Sheeran, Kyle Meredith, and Jonathon Firquin, were proud of, and they could not ask for anymore from their beloved team. It was the last homecoming of the senior’s high school careers. Not just the basketball seniors, but the cheerleader seniors and every other senior’s last homecoming, especially not excluding this writer. And I would like to close this ar&cle by extending my personal thanks to this school, because it’s been a wild and great four years. Thank you, LaRue County High School, thank you.
Seniors practice their Homecoming Dance.
Seniors and Juniors tie for the Spirit stick.
Former Queen Crowns Katie Barros.
The World of Tomorrow: Why You Should Be Wary of the Technology You Employ Daily By: Jacob Lutze It is no secret that technology is advancing far more quickly than anyone could have guessed ten years ago. It seems one can’t go a week without hearing about the “next big thing”. However, with rapidly advancing technology and rampant implementa&on of global posi&oning systems, where does one draw the line? With phones that post our current loca&on on the internet and devices that tell our insurance company how we are driving down to our current speed, when exactly do these ‘advancements’ become invasions of privacy? I say that the &me has come where ci&zens should be aware of exactly how vulnerable they are, and the implica&ons of con&nued advancement in consumer technology. “I am on my iPhone at least three hours a day.” The amount of &me Dakota White spends on his phone is not uncommon, but that doesn’t make it any less disconcer&ng. Now, don’t get me wrong; computers and cell phones are wonderful inven&ons, and I am typing this on a computer currently. The problem I have is that it is advancing far faster than society knows how to handle it. In the last five years, we have seen GPS’s and Smartphones take over our modern lives almost en&rely. Senior Kyle Hya said, “my phone is always on me and I never go anywhere without it.” More people than you would think have their phone on them constantly, even I carry mine around. It would be completely devasta&ng for someone to lose their phone, let alone all technology.
years. During this &me, light fixtures, televisions, microwaves, ovens and water heaters are all unusable. Those that have spent their lives cradling their phones and Wi-Fi networks would quite simply not be able to survive. The second problem with the technology level of today: there is no privacy. With Facebook, iPhone and other applica&ons able to track your loca&on, and post it to the internet, anyone can find you as long as you have cell-phone service/ internet access. And although there are certainly security measures in place to prevent this informa&on from ge ng into the wrong hands, all it takes is a li le know-how to break through these measures. Just take the recent Zappos breech or the nigh-forgo en Sony breech last year where the en&re Playsta&on Network was brought down because over two million accounts were compromised, credit cards, bank account info and even iden&&es were stolen. Your life is not nearly as secure as you think it is. The freakiest idea that this new level of technology brings along is the fact that a new bill was passed just recently that allows thousands drones (unmanned aircra>) to be implemented across the country as surveillance. The drones would even be allowed for private use, allowing local police to look into your windows without your consent. According to officials, the only common uses will be spo ng wildfires, real estate agencies and police surveillance, but we all know that this simply is not true. This technology allows the government to spy on you at any &me.
Students using technology
This poses a problem for society on two folds: first of which being if we ever experience an event where all modern technology is lost, such as high-al&tude electro-magne&c pulse (HEMP), which carries the possibility to knock out all electronic equipment in a large radius, your average person wouldn’t know how to survive. In this hypothe&cal (but not as much as you would think) situa&on, all of the modern comforts one takes for granted are lost. Anything that has a computer in it is destroyed, and most electricity genera&ng systems are rendered useless un&l the damage can be repaired, which can take months or
I am not trying to scare anyone from ever using a cell-phone again, and it’s likely that none who reads this will even care about my arguments. My inten&on is to teach people to be aware of what they are using in their everyday lives, and to realize that it is en&rely possible for all of that to be gone in seconds. So go outside, get some fresh air. Learn how it feels to live without a cellphone, or internet if even for just a day, because that is all it takes for it to disappear.
Texting While Driving By: Treven Flynn
Cell phone use while driving has been a debated issue across the U.S., not only talking on the phone while driving but tex&ng while driving. Distracted drivers are focusing less on the road and more on their conversa&on making it dangerous to drive. Would you want to be driving on the highway around people that are tex&ng? Would you even want to be in the passenger seat with a driver that is tex&ng? Tex&ng while driving is pu ng many lives at risk and the most logical way to solve the problem is to just not do it. But as humans we are a li le more stubborn than to just give up on something. Is it our right to be able to text and drive? A lot of people can argue that we should be allowed to text and drive because not everyone drives recklessly or crashes while tex&ng. Some&mes the text is important and one might think that it can’t wait. Some people can also argue that if tex&ng while driving puts us in danger and the driver is aware of the consequences, then the driver should be able to make that decision whether or not to put his/her life in danger. Tex&ng while driving has never actually been proven as a cause for a crash but many studies aim to show how tex&ng has increased the amount of related deaths. One study says from 2001 to 2007 tex&ng while driving has likely caused over 16,000 accidents (Chester, 2010). As a result of suspected death tolls related to tex&ng while driving, tex&ng while driving laws have been created in many states. Nine states plus D.C. have a handheld ban, nineteen states plus D.C. ban bus drivers from using cell phones, thirty states plus D.C. ban teenage drivers from using cell phones, thirty-five states plus D.C. ban tex&ng while driving, three states that don’t ban cell phone use in general ban bus drivers from tex&ng, 7 states that don’t ban cell phone use in general ban teenagers from tex&ng while driving (Cell Phone and Tex&ng Laws, 2012). “Tex&ng while driving is dangerous”, said Amber Carrier. “Driving is dangerous by itself, so anything that can make it more dangerous is bad”, said Cody Thompson. A member of the Texas legislature Rick Perry says that tex&ng while driving is a bad thing, but he thinks that only teenagers shouldn’t be allowed to do it. He believes teenagers are more easily distracted and the laws should only be made against them. Of course some people can say they should be allowed to text but others are aiming to protect drivers for accidents that could be avoided. Most people wouldn’t want to worry about that. I can completely relate to the lawmakers because the reason for crea&ng laws is to protect the ci&zens governed by these laws. Tex&ng while driving laws may eventually be placed in every state but it is necessary to protect people from avoidable accidents. Tex&ng while driving is dangerous and should be avoided at all &mes.
Collision cased by texting while driving
New Faces for the New Year Emma Searby By: Renee Patrowicz You now walk the halls of LaRue County High School, and perhas it’s your first semester here. You’re new to all of this, and you’re probably nervous. It’s a new school with new places to be, new people, and a whole new perspec&ve. Is it a good perspec&ve, or a bad one? Being that you are a new person here, you s&ck out those who have been here for a while. Do you think you will fit in with &me? And ul&mately, do you think the move was worth it to this school? When asked, new student Emma Searby confesses that “this school is much be er than my last school. I actually seem to fit in most days.” She seems to be bright and op&mis&c about being in a new school. So when asked, “What is your favorite thing about LaRue County?” She replies, “My favorite things would have to be the friends I have made and being able to spend &me with my fiancé.” It seems to be a very posi&ve influence on her and she feels very welcome in contrast to her previous home in Colorado. While on another point, new student Megan Underwood does not favor this school over her last. When asked, if she liked LCHS, she said, “It’s okay,” and that she missed her old school terribly. Also when asked why she favored her last school above this one she replied, “It’s too laid back for my taste, and it’s also less educa&onal than my last school.” So maybe it’s &me to step up on academic clubs now? Maybe she will fit in; only &me can tell. She is the student from another part of compe&&on, another part of Kentucky. Now we know of two new students. What do you think? As LCHS students, we should make them both feel welcome and accept them into this school with open arms. As for the students and teachers that have not been men&oned, we should also make them feel welcome as they are now every part a community as we are. And even if they have been here at one point or another throughout the years, they s&ll deserve a welcome. With that being said, let’s bring on the new kids!
Megan Underwood
Tornado Trauma By: Lindsey Beckner Students sit in the hall, cha ng, tex&ng their parents to let them know we were having a tornado warning, making jokes about how we were all going to die, and relieved to be out of class. Suddenly, Coach Armes races through the hall, yelling “Get down, it’s right outside!” We get quiet, this was real; there was an actual tornado outside. “I was scared,” freshman Chris&an Hensley admits, “I was worried about everyone.” Fortunately, none of the schools were hit, however not all buildings were so lucky.
“I was in awe of the power of nature,” states Ms. Hardin a>er seeing the tornado. “We should take the drills seriously, we don’t know when something like this will happen,” Coach Canter says, and with the possible storms predicted for the future, we should remember how important procedure is in keeping us safe during storms. Thankfully, with the help of the teachers and the prac&ce of the drills, all the students at LC schools made it out okay, but we should keep those who lost their homes in our prayers.
Downtown Hodgenville
A>er the tornado, buildings such as Save-A-Lot lost its roof, and homes of students and teachers, such as middle school teacher Ms. Hope Doresy, were destroyed in the powerful storm. “I started praying ‘keep them safe, keep them safe,’ ”Ms. Sorace says, who was in Bowling Green at a school conference during the tornadoes. Other damages include Landmark Apartments, and at least 20 houses. Luckily, only one person was injured and none reported dead, and we are thankful for every making it out okay.
Cheerleaders Make LCHS History UCA National Cheerleading Championship By: Erin Duvall In the past few years, cheerleading has grown at LCHS. Coaches Tara Wooden, Renee Wright, and the newest member of the coaching staff, Megan Willard, have brought cheerleading to a whole new level here at LaRue. This squad has overcome something that no other squad at LaRue has ever done… they qualified for the UCA Na&onal Cheerleading Championships.
huge accomplishment and making it out of prelims the first year you go is really hard. We were proud of our girls for just making it to semi-finals, but making it out of semis’ was a wonderful experience and something that is usually unheard of for first year qualifiers. I hope this gives the squad a boost of confidence going into the KAPOS State Compe&&on soon,” says coach, Renee Wright.
Yes, there have been good squads here at LC, but this squad has overcome many obstacles; from people qui ng to having injuries, this squad has worked it’s hardest. This squad has been together for almost 4 years now… the middle school squads’ double up girls (cheer both MS and Varsity) have been a part of this squad since the beginning and are now freshman.
This is the first ever LaRue County Cheerleading squad to compete in the Na&onals Compe&&on and to even make it all the way to finals; they placed 13th in the en&re na&on. Once again, history had already been made… this sets the bar high for upcoming cheerleading squads at LaRue. This program is believed to go even further, to keep this going, let it be the start of a new
tradi&on, and to grow to do well in the years Upon arriving at Disney World in Orto come. lando, FL, where the UCA Na&onal compe&&on was held, the girls had the opportunity to perform three &mes. Not only did the girls have fun and enjoy the Disney World parks and resorts, but they took the &me prac&ce. Prac&cing in the grass below their resort rooms, on blacktop gravel, and even ren&ng &me in a professional cheer gym; these girls stayed hard at work. Nothing was going to stop them at that point. They had made history already; there was no reason to stop the making. A>er performing in the prelims por&on of the compe&&on, the girls advanced to semifinals, where with a huge surprise they pushed through all the way to finals. “Ge ng here is a
It’s The End of the World As We Know It. And I fell Fine.
By: Lindsey Beckner
Let’s face it, we all know it’s coming, the end of the world, apocalypse, dooms day, Judgment &me, and etc. But when, how, why? Will the Mayan predic&on hold true and we all die in some great catastrophe? Or will some other predic&on bring about the end? Let’s look at the Mayan calendar, the only catastrophe with a set date. The end date, December 21st 2012 is the last day in the calendar, a>er that, nothing. The Mayans made the calendar using astronomical events to create periods, such as the cycles of the moon were used to create months, the length of days to determine seasons. So what event caused the Mayans to quit the calendar? Well, according to astronomer Raymond Mardyks, the Sun will align with the galac&c plane on the fateful day, a once in 26,000 year phenomenon (which, oddly enough, is the length of the Mayan calendar) (Apocoalyse). Popular beliefs state that this could be a beginning of a new era in society, or perhaps the signal for some great catastrophe. But some people believe otherwise…. Such as Nostradamus, a Frenchman from the 1500s whose prophecies predicted the coming of three An&-Christs, wri en in his book “The Prophecies” (An&-Christ). Historians believe two of the An&-Christs (Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler) have already come and gone. However, the third, and supposedly worst, of these is yet to come. Nostradamus states that he will be a gi>ed speaker and gain a large following. Though li le is known about this mysterious person, or even if the prophecies are even to be believed, the third An&-Christ is said to destroy the world. As religious as that sounds, Chris&anity has its own take on the fate of the planet. Finally, there is the Bible itself. It has its own li le “end of the world” bit, in the book of Revela&ons, claiming that when Christ is reborn, he will ba le Satan and the world will be the ba lefield (Armageddon). Signs include earthquakes beyond measure, unusual weather, and powerful catastrophes. However, there is no real way to tell when these events are finally happening, or simply natural events. So, whether you chose to listen to those hobos on the city streets holding signs saying “the end is near”, or if you just want to kick back and say “the world’s not going to end any&me soon”, end of the world theories will always exist un&l that fateful day of death begins, and someone, somewhere, will get to stand up and yell “I told you so!”
The Mayan Calendar.
Student Literature Caged By: Natalie Farrar Bright lights blind me from the usual darkness. I look around from the bars of my kennel at the other, white rabbits blinking rapidly as they also get adjusted to the light. Two lay dead in their cages, stretched out in contorted ways; all of their fur gone and their skin a bloody, scabby mess. Faint sounds of dogs barking in the distance sound in my ears, though most of my hearing is gone. I look up bleakly toward the single, metal door where a man dressed in a long white coat walks in the room, a syringe in his hand. Before the swinging door shuts, I glimpse a group of people standing around a hairless dog strapped down to a table, then the door slowly swings shut. The man stops in front of my cage and opens it; I shrink to the back of prison. He grabs me by the scruff of my neck and instantly, the needle pierces my skin. Instantly, my eyes glaze over, my body immobile as I am shoved back into my kennel. His footsteps slowly fade away as he walks out of the room. Pain sears through my body and darkness closes in. I know I will not see tomorrow.
People for experimenta&on using animals argue with ma strong, valid points. They say that reducing pain on humans is the pr concern, while the suffering or death of animals is secondary (Thom Dixon, 2000). In the UK and in the US all drugs must be tested on an before being allowed to go to the store. Banning tes&ng on animals paralyze modern medicine therefore endangering human health. Hu beings share 99% of their genes with chimpanzees and only slightly l with other apes and monkeys. Exposing these animals or injec&ng th with diseases to find answers of how to cure that disease results in a accurate guide to possible treatment. Furthermore, this reduces the harming humans by tes&ng on close, but non-human rela&ves (Thom Dixon, 2000).
Although supporters of animal experimenta&on do give v valid points, there is always a darker side to every story. Animals put through these tests are o>en not properly anaesthe&zed and are mi Animal experimenta&on is a serious issue in the world. So called ed by handlers or by the scien&sts themselves. Millions of animals d “tests” are performed on animals for many reasons. Scien&st test cosme&c every year due to experiments performed on them. In fact, most ani products or medicine on animals to ensure the safety of us as well as doing tested on are nothing like human beings, totally drowning out the id other various experiments (Ac&on Alert: Help End Drug Experiments on it benefits humans in a medical sense (Thomas Dixon, 2000). Studies Animals, 2006). But are these “experiments” as worthy as they sound? proven that most animal experimenta&on does nothing to provide p Many of the tests performed on animals leave them barely alive and forces ways of curing diseases or psychological issues (Ac&on Alert: Help En them to do unnatural things. Scien&st tell us that the tests they perform on Experiments on Animals, 2006). the animals help them be er understand why people have psychological Millions of tax dollars every year help fund government s issues, help find treatment for serious illnesses, gives new insight into &fic programs experimented with animals. Recently, $4.3 million we different surgical techniques, and find other answers. Let’s go back to realigiven to researchers to test on lab mice to see how chronic stress ca ty, however, they don’t. to alcoholism (Ac&on Alert: Help End Drug Experiments on Animals,
any rimary mas nimals would uman less hem a very e risk of mas
scienere an lead 2006).
Animals cannot cry out or tell us how they feel or if they are suffering. They obediently do whatever we force upon them to do without giving us their consent. Animals have the right to be treated as beings of value. You can be a voice for these animals. Help stop the inhumane and cruel experiments on animals. Say no to products tested on animals, protest funding of these tests provided by tax payers’ money, and support organiza&ons against animal experimenta&on. You can help stop unnecessary tests on animals and save lives. Be the voice and the hope for all animals by stopping experimenta&on of animals.
Natalie Farrar
very t istreatdie nimals dea that s have possible nd
The scien&sts “stressed” the mice by pu ng through a series of test such as giving them alcohol, forcing them to swim through a water maze, deprived of food, and placing electrodes in their head. A>er all of these tests, the animals were killed. Every day, people help fund these kinds of inhumane and cruel experiments without even knowing it (Problems in Animal Experimenta&on, 2010).
I Wait For You By: Megan Smith
My love is an ocean
In chaos and despair,
Timeless, consuming, perfect.
You think I’m not there.
As you rush through life,
My love is with in you,
Doing things on your own
Inside you, apart of you.
I wait for you.
I wait for you.
I wait for you in your sadness
I am your healer, your redeemer.
In your pain, and in your shame.
I am your father, you are my child.
I wait for you to call for me,
My love is never ending.
To trust in me, to talk to me.
You can ďŹ nd me within.
I wait for you.
But un&l then, I wait for you.
You want to surrender, You want to be free. Child, I am the liberator, The forgiver, your savior. I wait for you.
Megan Smith
Leaving You By: Bri any Lucas
A Fire burns all that I know And I cannot do a thing. As it rises up beyond my eyes, I get this strange feelingNot that I am doing right But that, by what I do Eventually and one day I’ll be fine without you.
For when a Storm comes upon me, While a Fire burns its way, Neither pauses in their path, Sun or Moon; Night or Day.
As Fire swallows up Everything I know, One day, I’ll be the Storm that rolls on And, like him, I will not slow.
Brittany Lucas
1984 By: John Slack
Throughout history mankind has sought to control and understand the human mind, both metaphorically and literally. However, this has both good and bad consequences, with this understanding having the poten&al to either allow growth for humanity or stagna&on for society. Lionel Trilling manages to tell of how 1984 by George Orwell presents the harmful effects of this control, with the totalitarian government using this power to control the masses with none the wiser. So, even though this understanding would greatly help humanity understand itself, the poten&al for so much evil is too great, with the North Korean government, my own personal experiences, and 1984 itself proving that “the triumph of certain forces of the mind” can produce “a state of things far worse than any we have ever known.”
derstanding for good is there, the poten&al for harm outweighs this. In a common occurrence is a friend pressuring another to do something, for popularity or something else, and this peer pressure can be very da ous, with many people being pushed to do drugs and risk their lives for chance to be accepted by others. Now true, this type of pressure will a exist and it is always possible for the pressured to walk away and do w know is right. However, if this type of pressure were to happen in the c room, that is a different story. I have seen teachers who use their powe classroom to suppress any debate or ques&ons that students may pose teacher, expec&ng the children to accept their teachings simply due to own authority and not because of logic or reasoning. This is different fr peer pressure because, instead of having the ability to walk away and s Governments taking control of the human mind do exist outside the student usually must accept the teacher’s orders due to fear of a lo the realm of fic&on, and North Korea is perhaps the best example of this, with grade or another punishment. This type of control that makes people ig its ci&zens’ fana&cal a tude and its government control over the people, their be er senses and own knowledge helps to breed a genera&on tha showing how, even though controlling the mind has its benefits, this control blindly accept anything they are given, producing blind loyalists rather can bring a horrible state of life. In North Korea, the ci&zens have an almost watchful protectors. Now some would say that this type of teaching is religious fervor for their leader, almost believing him to be a god and all knowubiquitous enough to garner any harmful effects, but the thing is that t ing. This was especially seen when their previous leaders, like the late Kim Jong of teaching is spreading, not only in academia but also in poli&cs and su -Il, died and the people were on the street crying and completely devastated at pa ern, if le> unchecked, would allow people to control parts of their the loss of their leader. Another thing is the amount of control the government but make them blind to the world around them. has on the people’s percep&on of the outside world, with no one being able to leave the country and constant propaganda convincing the ci&zens that the The blinding effects that the triumph of the human mind w rest of the world is horrible and inferior to their country. This power over the bring is effec&vely shown in 1984, with Big Brother and Room doubleth human mind as seen in North Korea as produced a na&on compromised of proving that even though this understanding has poten&al, it also can l people brainwashed into following their government without ques&on or horrible world and way of life. The novel centers around Winston Smith conscious thought, crea&ng a society of fana&cs. Now most can agree this type working in the Ministry of Truth and helps to alter history as the govern of control over human beings is wrong, but some say that this example should dictates and how he tries to fight Big Brother but is ul&mately destroye Brother is the main weapon used by the government to control the po not curtail all a empts of triumphing over the human mind and the pros outweigh the cons. S&ll, this real life example shows how the tempta&on to mispropping him up to mythic propor&ons and convincing the ci&zens to b use this understanding is great and if in the wrong hands, detrimental to socie- in him absolutely and completely, even to the point where they must h ty. contradic&ng thoughts in their minds at once. This type of thinking, dub “doublethink” in Orwell’s 1984 in the book is a way the government ex In my own personal life I have seen instances where people have the human mind and blinds people to what the world is really like. Lat suppressed their minds for numerous reasons, whether due to peer pressure story, Winston is taken to Room 101 to be broken and become a blind or even a teacher, that help prove that, although the capacity to use this un-
n school, whether angerr the always what they classer in the e to the o their rom say no, owered ignore hat will than not this type uch. This mind,
would hink lead to a h, a man nment ed. Big opulace, believe hold two bbed xploits ter in the fana&c
for the government, which is done by using his fear of rats to force him to betray his lover Julia and lose the li le bit of humanity he had le>. This control extends so far as to allow Winston to accept that Big Brother controls everything within the human mind and that “2 + 2 = 5”, forcing Winston to abandon ra&onality for blind obedience. The biggest argument against this point is that this is merely fic&on and this type of manipula&on could never be possible in the modern world, with the internet and such allowing everyone access to informa&on whenever they need it. This is true, but considering the fact that na&ons like North Korea do exist and other na&ons like China restrict the amount of informa&on its ci&zens have access to, the lines between fact and fic&on become ever more blurred, So yes, the triumph of the human mind has its downfalls and poses a great threat to free speech and even thought, but does this mean that humanity should stop trying to understand it? No, people will always try to understand the facets of the human condi&on and what makes people &ck, but the need to be cau&ous is always present. This power in the wrong hands can be very destruc&ve, and can threaten to take away that which makes humanity unique, its ability to self- improve and expand one’s horizons. Perhaps the way to truly understand the mind, and people in general, is not to think of it as a controlling technique but as a way to unite society. Most people do not want to be a maniacal tyrant twirling their mustaches in a mansion high above the heads of everyone else, most just want to get through the day and be er themselves and those around them. The pursuit to understand the mind and such will con&nue for years to come, it may never end in fact, but as long as people are careful not to blindly follow the person in front of them and learn from the mistakes of the past and present, then the triumph over the mind can be a force of good and not merely for control.
Conventional Wisdom By: Althea Freeman
The term conven&onal wisdom was originally coined to describe familiar, predictable, and therefore publicly accepted economic ideas. However, as of late, the phrase is used to describe what is trendy or “hip.” (Haupt) Although the conven&onal wisdom is generally accepted by the public, the reality that people believe pla&tudes such as playing violent video games causes violent acts in society, chemotherapy is the best cure for cancer, and excessive cell phone use is harmless, indicate that the conven&onal wisdom is not always true.
emplifying that the conven&onal wisdom that violent vi games cause violent behavior in children is indeed, wro (Essen&al Facts About Games and Violence)
Cancer affects the lives of millions of people o daily basis. Many lives are taken due to this devasta&ng ne&c muta&on, causing much anguish and sorrow. Man cer pa&ents are rou&nely exposed to chemotherapy as primary treatment for cancer. A study published in the nal Clinical Oncology in December 2004 showed that ch therapy has an average 5-year survival success rate of ju Violence is one of a parent’s biggest fears for their over 2 percent for all cancers. (G., R. and M.)The resear children. With so many forms of media, it is hard for a parent concluded that chemotherapy only makes a minor cont to keep up in today’s society. Violent video games are simply &on to cancer survival, yet it remains the usual treatme a variable that many parents want to use as an excuse for cancer treatment. It seems that a procedure with such raising a violent child. This irra&onal fear has caused uproar in success rates would not be the first treatment chosen, the gaming community. Recently, the state of California alas, the conven&onal wisdom tell us that chemotherap a empted to pass a law that would regulate the sale of viothe only choice when faced when cancer. lent video games, thus inhibi&ng the creator’s right to freeCellular phones have been in existence for ove dom of speech as well as expression. However, in the Suyears, and are currently being used by more than 3 billi preme Court ruling on June 27, 2011 was a victory for video residents of Earth. (Mercola) As with any man-made inv game players in a 7-2 decision. (BREAKING NEWS - Victory in &on, ques&ons have swirled around the concept of cellu the U.S Supreme Court: Jus&ces Reject California Game Law ) phones since the first conceived no&on of them. One of As stated in “Essen&al Facts About Games and Violence” from most prominent being: Do cell phones pose a health ris www.theesa.com, between the years of 1996 and 2007, vidConven&onal wisdom tells us that excessive cell phone eo game sales nearly tripled while violent crime offenses renothing to worry about. However, evidence is being rev mained steady and eventually dropping minutely lower, exthat electromagne&c radia&on from cell phones, cell ph
ideo ong.
towers, and other wireless technologies can create gene&c muta&ons such as tumors and cancer in the body. (Mercola) Recent studies find significantly higher risks for brain and salivary gland tumors among people who have used cell phones on a for 10 years or longer. (Limit Your Exposure To Cell Phone g geRadia&on) Health officials in France, Germany, Canada, and ny canIndia have already issued recommenda&ons to limit exposure the to the electromagne&c fields that cellular phones emit. e jour(Haupt) Man-made devices that emit any type of radia&on are hemogoing to be some kind of risk to human health, thus proving ust that the conven&onal wisdom is o>en wrong. rchers tribuConven&onal wisdom is generally believed to be ent for true with no formal inves&ga&ng. It can come in the form of old wives tales, myths, urban legends, and many other medilow but ums. Regardless of the structure, conven&onal wisdom is not always correct. Proving truth involves an inves&ga&on of all py is variable in a situa&on. So, next &me your grandmother is telling you stories of her school days when one of her peers er 20 crossed her eyes and they got stuck, do a li le cri&cal thinking ion and find the truth for yourself. venular f the sk? use is vealed hone