Ed. 100 - The Big One

OUR MISSION

SUBMISSIONS

Published monthly, The Talon strives to be an innovative student magazine that is entertaining, intellectually provocative, and visually engaging. We are conscious of the responsibility of writing and publishing, and we seek to create a dynamic magazine that is worthy of its readers. We show respect for our readers by exposing them to a variety of perspectives.

Ultimately, The Talon seeks to bring Graded to the world and the world to Graded.

The Talon wants to hear from you! We encourage submissions and ideas for articles and themes from all members of the Graded community. We publish in English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the writers and not necessarily of The Talon. For this reason, we do not accept anonymous submissions. Send submissions, ideas, and themes to talon@graded.br.

TALON STAFF 2013-2014

About the Cover

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Adam Hunt & Mariana Lepecki LAYOUT: Nicole Vladimirschi (Editor), Fernanda Fiszner COLUMNISTS: Daniel Almeida, Fernão Mesquita, Julia Abreu, Lucas Zuccolo, Luiza Gundim, Mendel Schwarz NEWS: Andrea Ferreira (Editor), Annie Groth (Assistant Editor), Paula Schulman, Faria Nasruddin, Pedro Werebe FEATURES: Clara Bezerra (Editor), Pooja Singhi (Assistant Editor), Karen Kandelman, Sylvia Yang ENTERTAINMENT: Kevin Bengtsson (Editor), Felipe Marquez (Assistant Editor), Bella Shim, MC Otani, Michael Borger BLOGGERS: Paty Kim, Carol von Mutius, Catu Berretta COVER ARTIST: Alejandro Torres PHOTOGRAPHER: Rafaela Goldlust ▪ ▪ ▪ TEACHER ADVISORS: Josh Berg & Mary Pfeiffer PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE CONSULTANT: Maggie Moraes SPANISH LANGUAGE CONSULTANT: Guillermo Loyola Ruiz ▪ ▪ ▪ E-mail: talon@graded.br

Out of all one hundred covers that have been made for The Talon, I suspect that none took as long as this one did. As you can probably tell, I scanned the front and back of all editions (minus two that are unfortunately missing from the archive).

Then, I arranged them in chronological. I even included the hundredth cover itself in the lower right hand corner. Although it was quite a lot of work, I enjoyed the process—it was interesting to see the old covers, their different styles, and how the covers evolved over time. I hope you will find it just as interesting to look at all the past editions.

For an alternate cover that I created, and an interesting GIF version of this cover, check out Talonline.

—Alejandro Torres

千代の富士?

You hold the 100th edition of this magazine. While it may seem like a good time to take a rest, we are driven to keep doing what we’re doing, inspired by a famous Japanese athlete, the sumo champion, Chiyonofuji, or 千代の富士, whose name is the theme for our next edition. He is considered the greatest sumo wrestler of all time, and he continues to hold a variety of records from his 21-year career.

His greatness aside, how is Chiyonofuji relevant to The Talon? There is a well-known story in Japan that after winning his 1000th bout, Chiyonofuji was asked by an interviewer about his next goal. He responded without hesitation, “1001.” Our goal for next month, is to produce a 101st edition of the Talon that is worthy of Talon history and our readers.

If you would like to contribute to our next edition on this theme, you would write about something specific that connects to such themes as determination, fighting spirit, adversity, perseverence, or endurance. Or not. You are always welcome to write on any topic, 750-900 words, submitted to talon@graded.br by Monday, 4 November, 16:00.

A green magazine, six years and counting! Since August 2007, The Talon has been printed on recycled paper.

editors-in-chief

100 Editions, What a Milestone!

Unveiling our round number obsession Mariana Lepecki

W

ow, 100 editions… boy, Talon, you’re getting old. Ha! Just kidding, I mean wiser, better, more refined and so on. One hundred editions represents quite a rite of passage.

Imagine how many captivating words, pictures and ideas have been collected in your InDesign files? Or better yet, imagine the diversity of Gradedtonians that have contributed a little piece of themselves with every article submission. Mathematically speaking, considering that we have on average 22 to 24 articles per edition (yes, I know, this is a very poor estimate, but for argument’s sake, just go with it, ok?) this means that the magazine has hosted over 2200 articles. That’s a whole lot of writing!

Though I am sure that this sheer volume of articles has lead to a lot of entertainment in the past, this compilation of syllables, phrases, punctuation marks and paragraphs you’re currently reading crushes my shoulders as I realize that I can’t drop the ball—especially in the 100th edition. I have to write a good article for this special occasion. How often do you get the chance to celebrate the “100th” of something?

But why am I especially feeling this pressure now? What’s so different about the 100th edition? Isn’t it just one number away from 99 and 101? No, of course 100 isn’t just any number. It’s a number that represents a large quantity, one that reflects how far the magazine has come. But then again, aren’t 98, 99, 101 and 102 also large quantities?

Don’t they also reflect The Talon’s history in a similar manner?

I apologize for the headache that I may have just caused with these lines of persistent questioning—but if you would really like to place blame on someone, you should be demanding an apology from the IB diploma, for this is what naturally happens to the brain after a year of TOK. Anyways, as it turns out, my inquiries weren’t too far fetched, for there have been some interesting psychological studies on our perception of numbers.

Before we delve any further into the topic, how about a little experiment? Imagine that you are walking down the Graded hallways with your friends after a delicious lunch when one of you remembers that your grade has a class meeting during Flex. You desperately ask your friends what time it is and they inform you that it is 1:10. What do you assume from this information? Is it really 1:10, or could it be 1:09 or 1:08 and your friend is simply rounding up? What if you’re friend said that it was 1:07? Would you assume that your friend was

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rounding up in this scenario? Probably not, right?

Though this might seem like a silly experiment (for it is obvious that we round numbers in order to simplify information), it was exactly this type of number perception that led economists Devin Pope and Uri Simonsohn from the University of Pennsylvania to conduct their study. Published in the journal of Psychological Science, their paper on the relationship between round numbers and human behavior led to very interesting results. It turns out that, besides helping us simplify information, round numbers also “intrinsically motivate us, even if there’s no obvious reward for reaching them.” For example, studying a sample of over four million SAT scores for a period of five years, the economists found that students with scores below a round number, such as 1980, were more likely to retake the test than those with scores above a round number, like 2030.

Interestingly enough, this round number motivation wasn’t limited to students and their standardized tests.

After perceiving this trend, the professors wanted to research it in other contexts, so they analyzed the batting averages of Major League Baseball players in the US from 1978 obamacare.com to 2008. When looking at data from players that had at least 200 at bats per season and focusing on those that had a batting average of around .300, they found that “players were nearly four times as likely to end the season with a .300 average than a .299 average.

Furthermore, once players reached an average of .300, they were more likely to take more walks at the plate. They’d do what was necessary to maintain that rounded average.”

Though at first Simonsohn and Pope thought that this result were a little strange, they were informed by various baseball statisticians and managers that there was no way that this was a coincidence or something that was imposed by contract negotiations. Therefore, these results also suggest a possible psychological preference for round numbers (though further research is needed in order to support this claim).

Please don’t take this article as an undermining of our celebration of the 100th edition. If anything, it demonstrates how there may be a natural human preference for round numbers, so it is logically consistent for special attention to be granted to this beloved round number. Happy 100th edition, The Talon!

May your success prevail in all editions to come!

Sources: nytimes.com; aolnews.com; chronicle.com

editors-in-chief

Keep My Soul, I’ve Got Hair Like a God How to properly achieve your achievements Adam Hunt Fertig

O

kay, new conspiracy theory: most of the people I know aren’t real people. They’re creepy webs of several people, collapsed into and represented by one person. Their hair isn’t theirs: it’s been crafted by a hairdresser. Their body isn’t theirs: it’s been whipped into shape by a personal trainer. Their grades aren’t theirs: they’ve got a tutor. So on and so forth. Each of those people owns a chunk, making a beautiful, smart, lusciously-haired superhuman. Sure, the “main” person worked hard too, but they’re not one hundred percent their own creation. Maybe seventy or eighty percent.

It’s important to note that I’m being an awful hypocrite. I’m not really a real person, either. I’m not all myself. I realized this recently while working on my college applications. I’m not the Adam Fertig described on that paper (I’d love to meet him, though—he seems pretty great). My non-realness worried me. I wanted to be self-sufficient, to not owe my achievements to other people. But why? If I’m benefiting from the help, I should be grateful.

In this example, people are helping because they get paid. But in a broader sense, more can be achieved through collaboration. So why do we help each other in the first place?

Theorist Jeremy Rifkin offers some reasons in a lecture for the British Royal Society for the Arts. He claims that there is a social and evolutionary need to collaborate. The most mentally advanced animals, like humans, apes and dolphins, all have a sense of empathy thanks to special “mirror neurons.”

It turns out that humans start to develop these mirror neurons at the same time they start to develop a sense of selfhood.

Knowing ourselves and knowing others go hand in hand. This gives humans an “empathic drive to belong,” which is why social groups expanded from the tribal to the global pretty quickly. Rifkin argues that to succeed as a species we have to “extend our identities” and strengthen our sense of empathy.

If we’re supposed to be extending our identities, though, then why does modern culture value extreme independence? Being able to survive and fulfill basic human needs is one thing—that’s important. Working selfishly and singlehandedly, on the other hand, is a code that society somehow approves of. Not only is it unhealthy, it’s impossible.

John Green, co-host of the popular Youtube channel “Vlogbrothers,” says that self-sufficiency is a myth: “The underlying idea of the self-made individual who heroically, on their own, builds a successful career in music or business or

writing or whatever is deeply flawed, and as long as we believe it, we will collaborate too little and judge others too often” he says in a video comparing rapper Drake and founding father Benjamin Franklin. Both Drake and Franklin have published material (songs and books, respectively) that congratulate themselves on their resourcefulness and entrepreneurship. As Green points out, though, Franklin was related to a wealthy printer and was recommended to his employer by the governor of Pennsylvania, a family friend. As for Drake, his mother is a teacher and he’s from Canada, a country known for its safety and kindness. Both men achieved what they did because they were helped out at some point.

Of course they had something to do with it, but claiming that they were self-sufficient trailblazers is just plain unfair.

Overall, self-sufficiency is a pretty weird concept to strive for.

The word literally means “being enough for yourself.” What’s so Ignacio Sanchez great about that? I’d rather be more than just “sufficient.” If that means I need to ask for help, that’s fine. That’s why there are seven billion other people here, after all. Yes, leeching off people or being too sheltered doesn’t do the world any good. But the ideal should be compassion and collaboration, not isolation and competition.

I then realized that what was bugging me about the help I was getting was that I was pretending I wasn’t getting it.

I was being ungrateful. Coincidentally, Thanksgiving is coming up, which is a bit of an ironic holiday when you’re talking about self-sufficiency. The Pilgrims would have died without the help of the Native Americans, but their collaboration didn’t really go that well afterwards. Still, try to stop and give thanks for anyone who helped you accomplish something.

If you can, share some of the credit with them. You owe it to them. And, not to sound grandiose, but you owe the rest of the world your collaboration, too. It’s time to replace the myth of self-sufficiency with the truth of co-excellency. We can do that by practicing gratitude and empathy, both towards the people who’ve helped us and the people we’d like to help.

In a small display of gratitude, then, I’d like to thank everyone involved in this magazine, ever, for helping it reach its hundredth edition. It’s a milestone for all of us. Lastly, I’d also like to ask future Talon staff members the following: please let me be a part of your creepy superhuman web.

Sources: thersa.org, youtube.com/vlogbrothers

the talon • 3

point of view

Exceptionalism?

A country’s struggle to get back on its feet Daniel Almeida

I

am not unfamiliar with loaded terminology; from lebensraum cans believed that, as a nation, they were at the “start of a to fascism, some words tend to carry more meaning than longer-term decline where the U.S. is no longer the leading might initially meet the eye. Such is the case with the term country in the world.” exceptionalism, one that, for a long time, stood amongst words ost recently, some would look at the kerfuffle caused like democracy, freedom and justice, but has recently come over American action or—better yet—inaction, towards the under criticism. For those who believe in such a concept, exsituation in Syria. While President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to ceptionalism takes heavy emotional meaning, one inevitably wrest chemical weapons from Syria, done through the United interlaced with nationalistic pride. For those who don’t, it has Nations, set at ease those Americans opposed to military inbecome yet another example of American chauvinism. tervention in Syria, some would argue that, in this process, There is nothing new about American America’s credibility as a protector of freedom was exceptionalism. A concept as old as the country undermined. The United States came off as an initself, the idea draws on a deep sense of moral consistent friend to democracy, one that oscillated idealism and responsibility that America should from action to inaction far too frequently. America’s lead by example. Defenders of the concept would credibility as a global power also took a blow, as a say that America, one of the most successful leader who cannot stand by the red lines that he drew representative democracies in the world, has can be seen to lose a significant amount of prestige had, historically, a distaste for colonialism and and not be taken seriously by future opponents. Such absolute rule, which translated into a desire to a precedent could lead to dangerous consequences. spread the same democratic ideals that led the Then again, all American presidents have had to deal nation to its success. with an electorate characterized by its polarized Last September, President Obama, when views on foreign policy. Voters do not want to attack talking about potential military strikes on Syria restoringpangea.com other countries, but also do not want America to look for a chemical attack blamed on President Bashar like a weak nation in the eyes of its rivals, or a nation al-Assad, termed the United States exceptional. By doing so, that cannot take charge of global issues. he reinforced the United States’ commitment to democratic Mr. Putin’s recent New York Times’ article wagged values and its obligation to promote such values on a global a disapproving finger at exceptionalism in an opinion piece scale. Obama isn’t the first merican president to bring up the that was condemned for hypocrisy. But, for all of Putin’s selfconcept; Ronald Reagan notably described the nation as the righteous statements and untrue assertions, he did raise an “shining city upon a hill,” while George W. Bush praised it as interesting point: “We are all different, but … we must not a “model to the world.” But given some recent, and some notforget that [we are all equal].” But I argue that American so-recent, events, one must ask if America truly is exceptional exceptionalism need not be synonymous with misplaced ideas among nations.According to a recent study conducted by the of arrogance, elitism and infallibility.

Pew esearch enter, for the first time in a decades a growing American exceptionalism, as framed by Mr. Obama, proportion of Americans just don’t see America as all that exvalues both strength and international prestige in a manner ceptional anymore. Current polling revealed that the American that does not set them as mutually exclusive concepts. Vulpublic is becoming more like their European counterparts, as gar definitions of merican exceptionalism, however, have roughly fifty percent of those polled did not see their culture wreaked havoc on both foreign and domestic opinion about as superior to that of other nations, as compared to the forty the United States. Therefore, it is only by leading through percent in 2002. A more striking revelation, perhaps, is that example that the United States can regain its former stature. the polling found younger Americans less apt than their elders As Mr. Obama asserted in his commencement address to the Air to hold such American exceptionalist attitudes.

Force Academy in 2012, “there are many sources of American Fair enough, exceptionalism is a loaded term, carrying power—diplomatic, economic, development and the power of negative nationalistic ideals of cultural and societal superiorour ideals.” America just needs to remember to use them all. ity, but, even when that is accounted for, the data shows that Americans simply don’t seem to feel too positive about the Sources: pewglobal.org, nytimes.com, economist.com current state of their country. A 2011 poll conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal found that a large portion of Ameri-

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point of view

Here’s To Us A celebration of the voices in my head Mendel Schwarz

H

ello, Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me Is there anyone at home?

—Pink Floyd I run my hands up and down the dusty walls as I saunter towards the corner of my room. My eyes are disoriented in the darkness that surrounds me. Suddenly, I touch a solid surface ahead of me. I turn my back towards it and slide to the ground, my ears savoring the merciful noise of rain.

By now, I can feel my eyes start to burn; I can feel an ethereal aura, the dull whisper of winter’s frigid winds. A hand glides over my face, touching ever so slightly my closed eyes, nose and lips. The wind returns with uncompromising force. I shiver.

This eerie presence comforts me, maddens me. My mouth opens and closes, opens and closes. No sound escapes.

A hand tightly grips my lips as a voice behind me starts to croon my favorite lullaby: “Nessa rua, nessa rua tem um bosque. Tem um bosque que se chama solidão.”

My eyes struck open. I squeal. This time, I can feel the sound leaving my chest only to be imprisoned by that hand.

That hand. I shake my head desperately but it does not let go.

The grip tightens. My eyes bulge with pain. It is a pain from within filling my chest and spreading quickly.

I surrender. The cold penetrates my skin. I see blue, yellow, and pink flowers turn black and curve under a weight that carries no form. I see birds take flight under a ruthless sound. I hear cries. How long has it been?

I close my eyes again. Now, I see her face. She gazes at me. The rosy lips, the loving dark eyes, the long black hair.

My tears go away and are replaced by feelings of nostalgia.

The lazy mornings spent under the sheets, the sounds of the ocean close by, the sun slipping away, making rooms for the stars to decorate our night. Can I feel once again? I feel her doting kiss. How long has it been?

I touch my lips. The hand is gone. Warm puffs of air strike my neck from behind. A pressure starts to build on top of my shoulders. I try to lift my body but I crumble under my own weight. My head hits the wall. I cry, I yelp, I scream. In response, my own echo fills the room. I hear laughter from

behind. I turn around and my nose scrapes the wall, wet with sweat.

Far away I can hear my neighbors’ voices. They yell and curse at each other. The rain muffles the sound of glass breaking. She starts crying. Oh, that sound. I have grown accustomed to that sound over the years. Her cries are a part of me like the soft touch of those I love. Oh, that sound. It reminds me of long ago. Long ago when I could talk for hours about my college plans, the years I planned to spend in Tel amidx.dk Aviv, my future career… How long has it been?

I feel it. I feel it next to me. I know it is still there. I look around. I hear footsteps. They draw nearer and suddenly the door swings open. Light slips into my room, blinding me. I hear my mother’s voice. “I can’t believe you slept on the floor What happened here? Are you ok?” She looks concerned. I utter a vague response and she hugs me. “You’ll forget all about it at school when you see your friends. I promise. Oh, Mendel, I hate to see you like this. It has been so long since that day…”

She keeps talking. My eyes slowly peruse the room in search for my night’s companion. Why did it go? I missed it. My mom leaves the room and I hurry down the stairs for breakfast.

7:30 a.m. Late for school.

I jump into my car, and my om starts driving. y fingers touch my lips and the eerie sensation returns. I can hear the slow, emotionless voice crooning; the frigid breathing on my neck; the weights on my shoulder. My eyes swell up again.

“Honey? Honey? Are you ok? We’re here.”

The car parks in front of a row of bushes, facing the eleventh-grade hallway. I put on my everyday smile and step out of the car. Immediately the familiar faces of my friends and teacher greet me. The electronic clock at the end of the hallway reads : a.m. I start to leisurely make my way up to A24, when I feel the weight on my shoulders again. I stop. My breath comes in short puffs. I can’t move.

“Mendel, are you ok?” “ eah, of course ” “Mesmo?”

“Yup, não é nada…”

the talon •

point of view

When We Realize...

There is no such thing as “greatest happiness” Julia Abreu

I

t’s part of the human experience to search for something greater than ourselves. We look forward to things that are out of our reach, sometimes hurting ourselves in the process, yet we keep on searching for what we don’t have—and maybe never will. What’s your goal in life? I just want to be happy and earn money. Just that? It seems like a plateful, but we take these desires for granted. Some people see a clear plan ahead of them, while others have a harder time doing so, but eventually we’ll merge paths and realize there are many things over which we have no control and others we should be in control of.

In TOK class, seniors are currently engaged in the Ethics unit of the course.

When learning about philosopher John Stuart Mill, we were introduced to his utilitarian theory of the Greatest Happiness Principle. According to Mill, humans should always search for and do things that will grant them the greatest amount happiness.

How do we measure happiness, though?

What makes your happiness more important than mine, or anyone else’s?

Perhaps it’s part of the human subconscious to look for such great happiness, and perhaps that’s also why we end up disappointing ourselves more than we should. Unfortunately, the more we have, the more we want. We teenagers live under the illusion that we’re invincible and that there will always be people taking care of us and holding our hands through our problems. We stretch our heads out far into a distant horizon, searching for our own definitions of happiness, but all we see clearly is satisfaction. This satisfaction is essential to human development because it allows us to see past our clouded judgment. I say this because I have seen this happening around me, with friends who are going through the same development process as I am.

We experiment, we fall. We surpass our limits, we get hurt. We must reach satisfaction and disappointment, and only then will we understand what it means to achieve different versions of “greatest happiness.” One thing I’ve learned only in these first few months of senior year is that none of what we seniors have right now will remain intact. We’ll go to college, get a higher education, meet our spouses, engage in our careers, and come back to visit a reality that was once ours.

I’d love to continue living under my parents’ wings, but how would I ever find my happiness if I never crossed over to the next phase in my development? The thing about teenagers is that they’re much more fragile than they seem, a paradox,

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because teenagers often appear tougher than they should.

The other day one of my close friends told me her biggest fear was losing one of her family members or one of her closest friends. I had never told anyone before, but as she spoke her mind that day I realized it was also my greatest fear.

It’s funny that we think the same way, because, as I’ve said, teenagers believe they are invincible and so are their friends.

Yet when we step away from ourselves and understand how fragile we truly are, that’s when we develop strength to surpass or at least mask this fragility.

Unfortunately, for some of us, this understanding only reaches our thoughts when a tragedy happens to someone close.

One of our fellow seniors was involved in a severe accident recently, and the day we received the news, even peers who were never friends with him felt the mixture of pain and compassion his closest friends did. We rose above our individual concerns rottingkittens.com and got together as a to show support for him and his family. Suddenly we were all aware that accidents happen to all around us.

Unable to categorize and measure happiness, I allow myself to experience it in different ways and different magnitudes. What’s the point of searching for something we can’t control, or wanting something that won’t suit us? Obstacles are placed in our paths so that we feel the pain of defeat as well as some sort of positive lesson from the experience. If there aren’t more than two ways of looking at things, then we might as well call ourselves flawless. Since we all know that “flawless” is perhaps the most distant adjective to describe humans, then it might be for the best to stop searching for it.

We should simply accept smaller, more significant moments, people, and events in our lives that will bring us just as much happiness. There is no such thing as achieving the “greatest happiness principle.” Instead we focus on the outcomes and the lessons learned from our everyday experiences.

This is dedicated to Georges, in the hopes of a healthy recovery, from the senior class of 2014. As the anonymous author who gave a twist to the lemon proverb would say, “When life gives you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and watch as the world asks you how you did it…”

point of view

100 Things to Do Before You Graduate You’ve probably already done more than you think Luiza Gundim 1.

Wear red to a basketball game and win a free soda.

26.

2.

Eat delicious food from all of the country booths at Celebration of the World.

27. Go one week without checking Veracross.

3.

Win a raffle basket at elebration of the World.

4.

Attend Zombie Zoo.

5.

Perform at Zombie Zoo.

6.

Invade the cafeteria during Middle School lunch to grab a snack.

7.

Help out at new student orientation.

8.

Work at alloween Benefit Bash.

9.

et your hair dyed at alloween Benefit Bash.

10. Go on the PGC retreat.

11. Freak out before the day of your Extended Essay panel, and then realize it wasn’t that bad.

12. Go to the library when it’s too cold to stay outside.

13. Go to the library when it’s too hot to stay outside.

14. Play soccer in the middle of the hallway.

15. Miss school for more than three days for one of the following reasons: Ilha do Cardoso, MUN, HACIA, Big 4, Big 8, GIN, AMIS, or Knowledge Ball.

16. Go on all four high school trips.

17. Have class outside when the weather is nice.

18. Watch the choir, band, and orchestra concerts.

19. Go to Senior Sunrise.

20. Dress up for all the five themes of Wacky Week.

21. Watch the Halloween Parade.

22. Don’t read What’s on the Docket and be lost during flex because you don’t know where to go.

23. Read What’s on the Docket (or the Ocki Docki).

heck Veracross every five minutes even though you know there won’t be anything new.

28. Go to school on a Saturday morning to take the SAT or the ACT. 29. Go to school every Saturday morning to teach at FALA. 30. Eat delicious Brazilian food during Semana da Pátria (and learn more about Brazilian culture, too).

31. Get lost in all the different websites you are supposed to check: class website, community page, Veracross, Naviance, Turnitin, Facebook groups, Aerie email…

32. Watch a high school play.

33. Meet people from all over Brazil and the world through MUN, HACIA, or GIN. 34. Not come to school during Senior Skip Day. 35. Tell your mom you need money for a cab and spend all of it at the snack bar.

36. Check the Graded Gazette just to see what’s for lunch that day.

37. Write an article for The Talon.

38. Realize you use Facebook for school more than anything else.

39. Take the after-school bus.

40. Miss the after-school bus.

41. Attend the college visits at Graded.

42. Talk to the rep of your dream college, hoping he or she will remember your name.

43. Start your personal collection of brochures, emails, and letters from colleges.

44. Have your yearbook picture taken by Bernard Moss.

45. Take a crazy class picture.

24. Eat at the teacher’s cafeteria at least once (the food is better—No kidding).

46. Be late for assembly.

25. Bravely climb the stairs to the third floor of the rts enter.

47. Show up to the wrong class when you don’t know if it’s a B or D day.

the talon •

point of view 48. Be late to school because of traffic.

49. Don’t do anything in class when your teacher is late because of traffic.

than fifteen people will answer.

77. Eat the cafeteria’s brownies.

78. Eat the cafeteria’s apple crumble.

50. Be so excited about a ToK class discussion that it continues even after class is over.

79. Clap during assembly.

51. Have a free block.

80. Come to school in PJs (that will happen inevitably in senior year).

52. Not do anything during free block.

53.

ave so much work that you can’t finish in one free block.

54. Have your friends bring you cake on your birthday.

55. Go to the roof of the auditorium or the Arts Center.

56. Go to the sound booth of the auditorium.

57. Try to open the secret door found on the last floor of the Art Center.

58. Try to print your homework five minutes before class.

59.

ail to print your homework five minutes before class.

60. Stand in the sun with your friends when it’s really cold.

61. Watch a movie during class while eating popcorn from the snack bar.

62. Go on Facebook during class.

63. Participate in the math competition at least once to get free pizza.

64. Get into college.

65. If you are a boy, shave your head when you get into college.

66. If you are a girl, have your friends write all over you when you get into college.

67. Speak a mixture of Portuguese, English, and sometimes a third language, and have your friends understand you perfectly.

81. Be featured on Talonline, the High School Blog, or the Graded homepage.

82. Sign up for five or more extracurricular activities during the activities fair and never show up to any of the meetings.

83. Forget to return a book from the library and receive an email entitled “Weekly Overdue otification” Several times.

84. Walk through the amazingly cozy lower-school library.

85. Skip school to do homework.

86. Skip school to catch up on a week’s worth of sleep.

87. Stay after school on a Wednesday, even though it’s early release.

88. Eat a cupcake on Thursday.

89. Participate in the Poetry Recitation.

90. Whine about the class weighting system.

91. Whine about CAS. 92. Whine about the IB in general.

93. Go to prom.

94. Have a last swing in the lower-school playground.

95. Joke about how Graded 2020 will actually only get done by 2040.

68. Stay at school over night.

96. Have a photo of you that is not your individual one published in the yearbook.

69. Go to Film Festival.

97. Become friends with a teacher and use his or her first name.

70. Pass under the bell.

98. Wear a funny hat for the Senior Awards Ceremony.

71. Ring the bell.

99. Survive the IB diploma.

72. Stay for lunch on a half day.

100.Read and collect every single edition of The Talon because you know it’s awesome.

73. If you are not a senior, invade the Senior Lawn.

74. If you are a senior, get pissed when people invade your Senior Lawn.

75. Paint the table on the Senior Lawn.

76. Send a survey to the whole high school, hoping that more

8 • the talon

point of view

From Z to Z Why do we actually celebrate birthdays Lucas Zuccolo

W

hat do you say when someone wishes you a happy birthday? “Thanks ”? “ ou remembered ”? “I’ve been getting that a lot today…”? Well, if you’re one Dr. Gregory House, your response might be a bit more longwinded.

“Ah, my birthday. Normally I’d put on a festive hat and celebrate the fact that the Earth has circled the Sun one more time; I really didn’t think it was going to make it this year, but darn it if it wasn’t the little planet that could all over again.”

A bit harsh on someone who was just trying to brighten up your day with kind words and a present, but not exactly the most scathing remark Hugh Laurie’s cynical and misanthrope character has unleashed, not by a long shot. And more than that, like many of his comments that grind any cheer and optimism into the ground, one of the aggravating factors is that it has a ring of truth to it. Why do we celebrate birthdays?

‘Well, it’s the day on which we were born.’ Right, that is the definition of a birthday. Loosely speaking, that is. Your actual birthday is a once in a lifetime thing. Your parents may have celebrated it, but you probably spent most of it sleeping in a uterus and then crying when they pulled you out. What you celebrate is that an integer number of years has passed since that day. Why a year? Why, because it’s… well… a full orbit around the sun… it’s a natural unit of time. Wrong on both counts. full orbit around the sun takes 3 . days. oughly. year is an even 3 . Well, odd, actually, but you get the point.

And it really isn’t all that universal—a year only makes sense on Earth, nowhere else in the universe.

And then there’s the arbitrary choice of your birth as a stand-in for your whole existence. Why is it so important? Is it when you came to be? Not really, that happens nine months earlier. Or even if you consider that to only be an embryo and not a person, forty-two weeks is a highly variable amount; babies born as early as twenty-five weeks still have a decent chance of surviving. Your birthday will be different depending on whether you spend the last few weeks in an ICU or a uterus.

In fact, your birthday is much more memorable to your mother than to you; I doubt having memory of your birth would be a very pleasant experience.

The simplest and yet perhaps most coherent answer is that your birthday is simply an excuse to be happy. Presents may signify a capitalist influence, and traditions like candles and a birthday song are manifestations of culture, but birthdays are universally expected to be good days for the birthee. It’s right there in the greeting: you don’t generally congratulate

them for being a year older, you wish them a happy birthday.

Once we’re conscious of this fact, however, it seems to defeat the purpose. How does choosing one day in the year to be happy regardless of anything else actually make you happy?

On the contrary, it seems to imply that all other days are, by logical conclusion, not happy. A rather depressing realization… if it were the case. Only human emotion isn’t a logical process, so it doesn’t follow that conclusion. Your birthday is a happy day, not the happy day. Say your average is ten happys a day.

Your birthday adds seven happys to that day. If it was a bad day, it becomes okay. If it was already a good day, it becomes awesome.

And while that may explain why we choose to celebrate birthdays, it still doesn’t validate the existence of birthdays logically. We could just as easily have chosen, say, the day you said your first word. Or the month you were weaned off your mother’s milk. Or any other such milestone of your development.

But then, any yearly celebration would present the same logical inconsistencies and flaws. ltimately, the root of many of these is the fact that we celebrate the memory, or the concept, rather than the actual event. Nothing we do on our birthdays carries the slightest resemblance to what was going on the day we were born. We don’t celebrate our birth, we celebrate that we were born; we celebrate ourselves.

Before putting an end to this rambling (and somewhat demoralizing) thought experiment, there’s one last interesting point to consider. Some people love their birthday. They look forward to it all year. They start a countdown a month before, begin planning their party two months before. Their first thought waking up on the day is, “ es, it’s my birthday ” Others are more low-key. No countdown, no party. Wake up like it’s a regular day. If someone happens to remember, they brush it off as quickly and discreetly as possible, trying not to cause too much of a fuss. If we accept our previous conclusion that birthdays are an excuse to be happy, does that mean those who don’t celebrate it don’t want to be happy? If it’s a celebration of ourselves, does it mean they don’t like themselves? Not really.

Most of the time, they simply don’t agree with the concept.

They just don’t bother writing an entire article trying (and possibly failing) to explain it.

the talon •

ponto de vista

Caro Leitor Uma crônica sobre o ato de escrever crônicas Fernão Mesquita

O

ntem estava encasquetado com o que escrever para a centésima edição da Talon. Você, ávido leitor de minhas confabulações Talonísticas, já deve ter algo em mente: “uma crônica sobre isso, uma crônica sobre aquilo...” Mas pra falar bem a verdade, nem sei se as pessoas realmente leem o que escrevo, já que grande parte do público da revista é composta por falantes da língua inglesa, e não do meu bom e velho português. Mas isso não tem importância. É a centésima edição, caramba lguma coisa legal tinha que sair Mas aí parei pra pensar: que tema é relevante o suficiente, interessante o suficiente, impactante o suficiente para merecer minha escolha para a centésima edição da revista que você, caro leitor, tem nas mãos? Que assunto é esse, ora bolas, que merece tamanho destaque? Será que falo da espionagem americana? Talvez... ue nada o próximo mês, quando você tiver o Talon fresquinho em mãos, saído direto do forno, a espionagem já será notícia velha Ser que escrevo sobre cem coisas diferentes, em celebração ao tema? Não... Tenho certeza que alguém já teve essa ideia e já escreveu algo assim.

O que será que poderia eu escrever?

Ali, em frente à tela do computador, eu quebrava a cabeça. E foi aí que me veio de súbito, caro leitor, uma ideia interessante. Para comemorar a Edição 100, o maior marco desta tão nobre publicação, não há nada mais representativo do que se escrever sobre o ato de escrever o acha?

E não é um processo tranquilo não, viu? Pelo menos não pra mim. Escrever dá trabalho à beça. É que nem pegar pedra bruta e pra lapidar. Demora. Tem que martelar e martelar e martelar até toda aquela casca grossa ir sumindo e o diamante que tem ali, em algum lugar, aparecer.

Você começa a escrever. Pra começar já é um martírio. Tenta escrever a primeira sentença. Fica horrível. Melhor tentar colocar um t tulo nisso tudo. o o tem nem tema ainda e j que ir colocando t tulo? ssim n o d paga tudo.

Olha a aquela sentença meio xôxa, insípida e tenta reorganizar as palavras pra ver se sai algo melhor... Depois vê que a coisa estava feia mesmo. Joga a sentença fora. Fica com pena. Traz

10 • the talon

ela de volta, tenta encaixar em algum lugar. Coitada da senten a as n o d . Voc aborta a senten a. Sofre. as sabe que é para o melhor.

Termina o primeiro parágrafo. O tema já vai tomando forma, mas está convoluto. A ideia é boa, o texto, não. Mexe aqui, mexe ali, p e uma v rgula acol e... st melhor elhorzinho... elhorzinho nada Vai pro lixo. Jogar um texto inteiro fora, aquela ideia que você lutou tanto pra parir, é de quebrar o coração. Mas não tem jeito. Às vezes, só não anda pra frente. A pedra que você achava que era um diamante não passava de calcário.

Mas tem outras vezes... Ah, tem outras vezes que escrever é como achar ouro de aluvião. Vem tudo de uma vez. Quase que de presente. Basta sentar na frente da tela de computador ou pegar naquela caneta que o negócio anda, evolui, desenvolve-se. O título, caro leitor, já vem de primeira.

Parece que foi feito para aquele texto.

E o que se sucede é writeitsideways.com apaixonante. As ideias comeam a fluir e a coisa vai tomando forma em ritmo impressionante. Tudo se encaixa perfeitamente e, num piscar de olhos, você tem sua crônica, ali, prontinha, como esta aqui que você tem em mãos.

Aí é só questão de examinar o texto, como diria a Maggie, “contra a luz”, procurando qualquer despropósito.

Lê, relê, lê de novo e de novo e de novo. Elimina-se qualquer impureza, qualquer coisinha que não agradou (mas não pode ficar perfeitinho demais, porque assim perde a gra a . eito isso, pode mandar publicar.

Escrever uma crônica, ou qualquer texto na verdade, não é tarefa fácil. Às vezes a inspiração vem, às vezes não.

Por vezes, o que você vai entregar vai ser algo de péssima qualidade, um diamante recheado de impurezas. Uma pedra falsa. Mas a melhor sensação do mundo é mandar o complexo texto, completo, para publicação. E quando ler meu nome lá, no Talon número 100, sentirei que a primeira parte de minha missão estará cumprida.

O resto, caro leitor, fica por sua conta.

point of view

A Different Point of View If you found a magic lamp, what would you do? Question submitted by Gabe Borger POV Team

M

ission Statement:

The Talon’s Point of View Section strives to provide readers with a plethora of interesting, engaging pieces that capture the unique perspectives of their respective authors in rich, creative, and entertaining writing. ere, you may find a provocative political piece, humorous personal narratives, sharp criticism, creative crónicas, and much more in both English and Portuguese. Our ultimate goal is to speak our truth and nothing but that truth “All you need is love, war and a liter or so of high-end bleach.”

For the purpose of what I have to say, I’ll be forced to ignore the highly xenophobic implications of only recognizing Eastern culture magic lamps as the only accepted form of wish-granting. Fascists.

As protocol dictates, after I gave that dusty old lamp a good rubbin’, I’d wait until the genie manifested itself to reluctantly grant my wish. As a side note, I should note that genies are inherently dull beings given that their magical prowess elevates them beyond the transient plant of human existence at the same time that they are bound to an object that can be used to the whims of human civilization. Ugh. Having thought about it, I would probably wish to become a free genie, pulling a classic switcheroo on the blue devil-demon-genie that granted my wish. How do you like them falafels? Upon becoming a genie that is not restricted to silly human existence, I would bend reality to my every whim; no longer subject to the shackles of modern day societal standards, I would reign supreme over the puny human race that dared stand as an obstacle to my rise to power. Having achieved a state of clarifying omniscience and omnipresence I would spend my time toying with the very fabric of reality itself, wishing into our world plane abhorrent beings that defy the very laws of existence.

Or I’d wish for unlimited lemon tarts. Lemon tarts are good.

“I cared for eight seconds. Then I got distracted.”

A magic lamp, huh? Wowee. That’s so… Arabic. I

think. At least that’s what Disney taught me. I mean, Aladdin wasn’t exactly an exercise in breaking down stereotypes, but it couldn’t have been that bad, could it?

You know, the problem is I don’t travel enough. I gotta go more places, meet more people. As long as they have air conditioning. nd decent airplanes. I mean, I don’t need first class all the way, but if they could at least show some entertaining movies Or some good music o wonder people don’t want to turn of their electronic devices. My iPod is the last, best hope for good music at thirty-two thousand feet.

Well, nowadays that would be my iPhone, naturally. Or iPad. Or something. Technology really is quite something, isn’t it? From a brick that could play music to a pad that can do anything from sepia’d panoramas to running from demon monkeys to even, quite unbelievably, making phone calls. Hah, and to think Kennedy was impressed by walking on the moon. If only he could see us now. Totally Clarke’s Third Law, right? It would look like magic. Siri would be, like, a genie. Except meaner.

Julius Caesar II That’s a very good question specially because there are so many things I’d wish for. Let’s assume though that I had a single wish to be granted. I believe education and intellectuality are keys to a successful human being. Therefore, I would ask to have all the information in the world, and not just all the stuff we learn in school. Imagine that I wouldn’t have to sit through so many years of school because I’d know it all. I’d become a successful woman earlier in life, and I would enjoy myself more. Not having to worry about doing piles of homework, which seem to increase exponentially throughout the years, would be fulfilling. ll I want in life is to not look at a math notebook or study endless pages of notes for a history in-class essay. I want to sit down on my couch, as I arrive from work, and just know what to do for the next day. I want to go out for sushi or have french fries and pizza every night for dinner with my friends, not having to worry about sleeping early to be awake during lectures. But then again, I’d also love to swim in a river of chocolate, like Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’d love to teleport to different countries and even dimensions at any given moment. I’d love to make myself invisible and prank my friends. Since I’m certain that those will never happen, neither will my original wish. I’m still

the talon •

point of view

sitting on my couch, doing nothing, except I should, because I actually have a lot of homework to get done.

Lucidity Guys, let’s be realistic—magic lamps don’t exist. Why? First of all, have you ever seen one in real life? One like that of Aladdin—golden, with an aura of supernatural power and beauty? I don’t think so.

For the purposes of answering the question, however, let’s pretend magic lamps do, in fact, exist. In that case, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to achieve anything worth wishing for, like ending world hunger or social inequality. We have to recognize that its ability to make wishes come true would be limited. Let’s take ending world hunger, for example.

In order to feed everyone, we would have to make significant changes in the way we produce, distribute, and consume food.

How would a genie be able to make these changes to every single person’s mentality, if that was my wish? How would he make it happen instantly? And wishing for something more tangible, let’s say, lemon tarts, for example, is simply useless.

I guess I’m just skeptical of the whole concept of wishgranting by a mere object, especially a lamp. A magic lamp would be better if it limited itself to its main task—illuminating. If you want something, be it lemon tarts or ending social inequality, you better go out and make it happen. Don’t wait for a magic lamp to find you.

Walter Mellon I will narrate a peculiar confabulation on a subject of distinguishable oblique nature: a lamp. In the eccentricity of dreams common to an abnormal siesta, I unearthed a lamp.

As I graciously scoured the bottom bulk of the philanthropic object, a man daubed in blue who for instance, due to immediate aesthetical association, I thought was Papa Smurf spoke in a singsong voice. I did not make much of his veracious words regarding my future desires and longings but I asked him to bring my pet platypus to me to answer to his yearnings instead. e gave the animal an inflammable voice which he used to recite his desires. He begged to become a human. And in that instance Johnny Boy became one equal to myself. Ever since that day I have lived in a house in the farthest corner of Ushuaia with Johnny Boy my master. Restrained by a peculiar

12 • the talon

fluffy pink collar Johnny acquired from the local shop, which offers such products as plastic cuffs, I answer to his ever longing. My platypus, my master.

I regret without a shred of doubt the day in which I gave voice and reason to my beloved partner in crime. Every since, the world has twisted and turn in such manner that I now withstand the harsh touch of a platypus turned human. Which is actually interesting because they are half duck, half fish and entirely human. But the undermining nature of this narration came from a dream. But still, these guys should actually rule the world. oral of the story? When you find a lamp, give it to your platypus, even if it’s a dream.

ToKid To answer this question, we must first unpack it by connecting it to ways of knowing and areas of knowledge.

When a question involves a magic lamp, one particular way of knowing, which was just recently added to the new ToK curriculum, comes to mind: imagination. Here, using imagination would be essential, because, if you came across a magic lamp, you’d surely use your ingenuity to decide on which crazy wish to wish.

The second consideration then, is to take the ethical implications that having any wish granted would have into account. For example, I could use my imagination to a crazy extent and ask that everyone in the world obeyed my every command. However, I’d have to consider the ethical implications of this. Would it be morally right to remove people’s free will and bend their actions to my favor? The answer would, of course, depend on what ethical school of thought you base your moral framework on, but that is a discussion for another question.

What would I do, though? In the end, I’d probably ask for the decisive answer to all my ToK questions...

news

An Interview with Alexandre Jabor Graded’s own Talon collector

Andrea Ferreira

M

agazine collecting is featured in the Guinness Book of World Record where the largest collection by a single party is 50,953. In honor of The Talon’s 100th edition, I sat down with middel school student Alexandre Jabor, who is well on his way to breaking this record. Alexandre is known for his impressive collection of Talons. Despite only being at Graded for a little over four years, the current seventh grader has a collection of Talons to rival the Graded Library’s.

Talon publishes and is a favorite amongst the community.

What are other favorite pieces from the editions?

AJ: I liked the Nerd Test from Edition 84 and the Facebook Conversation from Edition 83. I remember all these articles because they are the ones that [either] made me laugh the most, smile the most, or develop the article, story, joke, or answer the most in my head while reading.

AF: What is your favorite publication (besides the Talon)?

Andrea Ferreira: The Talon staff was amazed to hear that there was someone in the community who collected the magazine. an you name the first edition you started collecting?

AJ: I occasionally read National Geographic and The New Yorker. I also enjoy reading photography and film-making magazines.

Alexandre Jabor: I started with Edition 81 and 82. I lent them to friends who misplaced them.

AF: You seem to be really interested in journalism.

Do you currently write for a middle-school magazine?

AF: Wow! So how many editions do you currently have in your collection?

AJ: We don’t have a middleschool magazine, but I would definitely try to be on it if we did.

AJ: I have 16 Talons, two year’s worth.

AF: How long have you been reading and collecting the Talon?

AJ: Around two years, maybe a little longer.

AF: That’s impressive! That means you started reading the magazine when you were in fifth grade. What inspired you to start collecting?

AJ: It all started one day when I was going home. I was in search of a good read, but something shorter. As I passed the high school, I noticed a stack of magazines called The Talon.

I picked one up and started reading. I immediately forgot where I was and dove into “Talon Land.” After reading my first Talon I decided to start a collection and a reserved spot for Talons on my bookshelf.

AF: What has been your favorite edition of The Talon?

AJ: My two favorite editions are the senior editions of 2012 & 2013. I have always liked that idea of in 20 years, advice for the future, and the other things you find in the Talon’s senior edition.

Rafaela Goldlust

AF: If you could join the Talon staff what position would you like to have?

AJ: I have always wanted to be a reporter for the Talon. If you mix that with my gigantic interest for following current events, a News position, which is just where I’d like to be.

AF: In your opinion, what do you consider to be the biggest news story of the year 2013 so far?

AJ: That’s a good question. In my opinion I think I would have to choose the frightening and ongoing bloodbath in Syria. I have family in the Middle East and from the reports and the debates that I have been in, this situation is very delicate.

This could soon turn into another Middle Eastern war.

AF: Lastly, do you have any other passions or talents?

AJ: “Well, the related interests to the Talon would be my love for reading, writing, debate and my never-ending interest in current events.”

AF: Thank you so much for your time Alexandre. We hope you continue to read and collect Talons!

AF: The Senior edition is usually the largest edition that The

the talon • 3

news

Eike Batista: Vainglorious Bastard?

How to lose 35 billion dollars in a year Pedro Werebe

E

ike Batista, who once had dream of becoming the world’s richest man, may now be hoping that the Pope will come again to help the poor, or in other words himself. If the Pope does ever come back for Mr. Batista ,he is surely going to quote Proverbs 16:18: “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”

Eike Batista, a cocky, one-time billionaire, is now struggling to stay afloat in a sea of debt. The self-proclaimed financial genius, admired by many including President Rousseff, is now dirt poor and running from the law. He lauded his own business acumen in building OGX Petróleo e Gás in 2007, where he strangely decided to invest big money on massive oil deposits that were too deep for mere mortals to extract. He later bragged about his big accomplishment of investing in such a business and said that his greatest objective was to become the richest man in the world.

So how did Batista come to view himself so grandiosely?

Apparently, it all started with a psychic telling him to go to Machu Pichu and stare at the night sky. He dutifully did so and reported to Jô Soares, the talk show host, that it brought him great luck. Indeed Batista had had a lot of luck in his early twenties, when he went in search of gold in the Amazon. Soon he traded his pick and shovel for the keys to the gold mines themselves. He started his business as a gold mine owner, following in the footsteps of his father, the former O of a now billion-dollar company, Vale.

In 1983 Batista took over Treasure Valley Explorations, which prospected for gold in areas such as Brazil, Chile and Canada. He later named the company TVX, with a peculiar lust for x’s, saying that x’s bring great fortune. Perhaps that’s why he married an XXX wife, a former Playboy centerfold model and rainha da bateria. After divorcing his wife and making her an ex (no doubt for extra luck), he retreated to a more modest lifestyle in the hills of Rio. With a palatial pool, two home theaters and a view fit for orse gods after all he named his

14 • the talon

children after them), Batista was living a pretty comfortable life. Unfortunately for him, all that glittered was not gold. In an eerie foreshadowing of what was to come a decade later, Batista lost control of his business, which cost him 96% of TVX’s value.

In 2007, Batista’s eagerness to become the world’s richest man caused him great trouble as he overpaid for massive oil deposits off the cost of Rio through his company OGX. Paying extravagantly for oil was not the only way Mr. Batista boasted of his wealth. He also purchased a -foot cruise ship and transformed it into his own personal party yacht. But this was no ordinary floating balada bus for he reportedly invited Brazil’s soap-opera actresses for a groovy ride. In addition he also bought a US$ 500,000 Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren simply to display in the living room of his modest apartment in Rio. In 2012, although Batista had overpaid for several oil deposits, the market still valued OGX at 35 billion dollars. Batista said that businessweek.com by 2020 he would be worth 100 billion dollars. He also said that his company was sitting on oil worth 1.5 trillion dollars, which is greater than the value of all the minerals in Mongolia together. Boasting continued, and Mr. Batista kept promising investors that big amounts of oil would be on the way when truthfully, the oil deposits he had spent 1.3 billion dollars on were worth substantially less. In fact many of them were shown to be mere duds.

Batista’s ego was far too great, however, to allow him to admit defeat, so he did what he does best, he boasted some more. To keep up the fa ade of success, when oil finally started flowing from one of his wells, he proudly displayed it to the whole world using an underwater webcam. However, this was the last oil to flow, and as Batista soon became ravaged with debt, he had to liquidate most of his assets, including his cruise ship and precious car. Unfortunately, he might need those wheels to outrun his creditors.

news

The Buried Life Four friends and their list of 100 things to do before they die Annie Groth

E

veryone has dreams of what to accomplish before death.

It could be a simple dream of travelling out of the country or harder-to-obtain goals like winning a obel Prize. But no matter how large the dream is, it remains in the back of people’s minds. But waiting for life to pass by seemed too long a wait for four friends from Canada. In 2006, Duncan Penn, Ben Nemtin, Jonnie Penn and Dave Lingwood sat down and made a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they die.

Though the list was outrageous, the friends were serious in completing each item on the list. During the summer before college classes resumed, they rented a purple RV, nicknamed it “Penelope” and set out on a two-week trip to execute their bucket list.

Little did the guys know that they would soon cross off item number 53 from their list: “Make a television show.” After being contacted by MTV they were offered a show in which they would be followed around with cameras to see what they could do. The channel found them through their Youtube videos and loved the idea of the show; however, the boys were not as ecstatic since they were worried working for the network would cut into their creativity and autonomy over the project.

In the end they agreed to work with MTV and all they had to do then was figure out ways to cross out items such as “ 3 , et something named after you,” and “ . Design a shoe,” and “ , scape from a deserted island”—all of which they accomplished since the start of the show.

After having more success than the boys ever imagined, they were invited to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2010. Among the many questions asked was where the idea of the show originated. Jonnie told Oprah it all came to him in an English class in university. While he confessed he never read many of the poems assigned, “The Buried Life,” written in 1852 by Matthew Arnold, was a poem he would never forget., such as these: “But often, in the world’s most crowded streets / But often, in the din of strife, / There rises an unspeakable desire / After the knowledge of our buried life.”

“It hit us. It hit us so deep,” Jonnie told Oprah. “You have things you’re almost told to do, but sometimes, those things and all the things that go on in your life can bury you.

You can feel like the whole world is on top of you. We wanted to dig through that and live our buried lives.”

But these friends’ journey is about more than just living

life to the fullest. Whenever the guys accomplish something from their list, they approach a stranger and help cross off something from that person’s list. They have helped a woman in Chicago get over her fear of heights by going to the third tallest building in the world, the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). They have helped a homeless man reconnect with his daughter. And they have helped a teenager born without a hand afford the surgery for a bionic prosthesis.

While the four friends stopped producing episodes for the show in 2011, they occasionally still help strangers with what they want to accomplish and maintain friendly relations with MTV. Through oprah.com Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, mail, or a messaging on their site, anyone can contact the group to seek help executing a list. While not all items have been crossed off, the men consider it a working progress and have since extended it. “Be on Oprah,” for example, was item number 124. The full list of items can be found on their website theburiedlife.com.

All four members have now gone back to university to finish their educations. David ingwood, a competitive breakdancer, pursued a degree in sociology at Concordia University in Montreal. While he accomplished item 92 on the list (“Get married in Vegas”), his marriage was later annulled, and David has not thought of remarrying. Ben Nemtin was selected as a member of the Canadian National Rugby Team after high school and earned various academic and athletic scholarships to attend the University of Victoria. He started as a science major but then switched to major in business. Duncan Penn also attended the University of Victoria and later the John Molson School of Business. After college he helped start a charity, OA Projects, which has made a difference in Ecuador, Rwanda and Uganda by helping children and teenagers affected by the war through soccer programs. Jonnie Penn, who was fist struck by “The Buried ife” poem, double-majored in nglish iterature and History at McGill University. He is currently attending Cambridge University and has represented Canada at the Oxford University Debate Championships.

While these four friends have gone out to live their dreams and continue to help others while studying, they keep asking the very important question: What do you want to do before you die?

Sources: theburiedlife.com, oprah.com, mtv.com

the talon •

news

Thirteen Years in Review 100 big news stories of the current millennium Faria Nasruddin 1.

9/11: Two airliners crash into the World Trade Center towers.

sexual assault and Michael Jackson suspected of child molestation

2.

War in fghanistan: The mission to find and punish terrorists in Afghanistan by the US and an international coalition.

23. Recovery of Elizabeth Smart, a child who was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City

3.

Failing economy: American unemployment rates skyrocket

4.

Anthrax Scare: Government receives letters that contain anthrax spores.

5.

ideast conflict: On December Jerusalem.

6.

Stem cell research shows promise for treating medical conditions like diabetes.

28. Ronald Reagan suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and dies.

7.

Timothy McVeigh’s execution bombing the Oklahoma City federal building.

30. Red Sox win 2004 World Series after 86 years of futility.

8.

Former Yugoslav President, Milosevic, handed over to The Hague on charges of genocide.

31. Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans.

Senate switch: Jim Jeffords announces he is leaving the Republican Party to protest Bush’s budget plan.

33. Sago Mine disaster: a dozen men trapped in a West Virginia mine die.

10. American Airlines crash: Flight 587 crashes en route to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic leaving everyone on the flight dead.

34. Immigration protests hit the United States as hundreds of thousands demand they get a chance to live the “American Dream.”

11. Crisis in Iraq: President Bush accuses Saddam Hussein of developing chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

35. Enron trail: Jeffery Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay found guilty of conspiracy and fraud.

12. Sniper attacks: Arrest of two men end of wave a sniper attacks near the US capital.

36.

13. Corporate scandals: The CEOs of Merril Lynch, WorldCom, Johnson & Johnson, Citigroup, and others are accused of profiting personally from stock sales.

38. Mumbai train blasts kill 186 people and wound about 700 others.

9.

, explosions go off in

14. GOP rallies in midterm elections: Republicans take the upper hand in the House.

15. Catholic sex scandal: Allegations of illicit sex and molestation better the Catholic Church.

24. Qusay and Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein’s children, are found dead.

25. Election 2004: John Kerry vs. George Bush.

26. Natural disasters: 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean and tsunamis.

27. Yasser Arafat dies.

29. Sudanese crisis: Civil war continues.

32. Pope John Paul II dies.

37.

l- arqawi killed.

World up final: Italy wins

39. Israel- ezbollah War: Israel launches a series of bombs into Lebanon after Hezbollah forces cross into Israel.

40. Trans-atlantic plot foiled: nited States and Britain thwart terrorists’ plan.

16. Homeland security: Bush hires 170,000 employees to guard against terrorism.

41. John Mark Karr arrested in Thailand for the brutal murder of JonBenet amsey, a six-year-old beauty pageant contestant.

17. War in Iraq: arge-scale bombing in Baghdad.

42. Iran Nuclear standoff: Bush calls for isolation of Iran.

18. Loss of space shuttle Columbia: NASA loses contact within six minutes of launch.

43. “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin killed by a stingray barb piercing his chest.

19. Massive August 14 blackout: 60 million Americans and Canadians lose electricity (including me).

44. Amish school shooting: Five girls killed before shooter executes himself.

20. Spread and consequences of S S: Pneumonia-like flu kills 750 and infects 8,000 across the globe

45. North Korea nuclear test: UN votes to impose sanctions on North Korea as punishment for the test.

21. Gay civil rights: US supreme court changes the debate, which becomes a major topic in the 2004 election.

46. Yankee plane crash: Pitcher Cory Lidle killed when his plane crashes.

22. Celebrities and sex charges: Kobe Bryant is charged with

47.

16 • the talon

ega-church scandal: ev. Ted

aggard forced to resign

news as leader of Colorado megachurch, guilty of “sexually immoral conduct.”

48. Saddam Hussein tried, sentenced, and hanged.

49. Democrats win midterms: Democrats take control of the Senate.

50.

x- ussian spy poisoned: lexander itvinenki dies from polonium.

51. Massacre at Virginia Tech leaves 33 dead.

52. Mortgage crisis: NY sues Wells Fargo over mortgage crisis.

53.

ade-in- hina product recalls.

84. “Occupy Wall Street” protests spread across New York.

85. Prince William and Kate Middleton tie the knot.

86. Aung San Suu Kyi takes her seat in parliament 22 years after her election victory.

87. Malala Yousafzi is shot by the Taliban.

88. KONY 2012 becomes a viral video.

89. Xi Jinping replaces Hu Jintao as leader of China’s ruling Community party.

90.

54. Tension grows between the Bush administration and Iran.

55. Tony Snow resigns as White House spokesman.

56. Pakistan state of emergency called.

57. NFL Quarterback, Michael Vick, pleads guilty in response to a suspension for unlawful activities involving dogfighting.

58. Al Gore wins Nobel prize.

59. Obama elected in the 2008 election.

60. Wall Street crashes affecting the global market.

61. Michael Phelps wins a record of eight Olympic gold medals.

62. Mumbai attacked.

63. Michael Jackson dies at 50, after a heart attack.

64. A pilot lands a plane safely on the Hudson River in an emergency.

65.

flu sweeps the world.

66. Ted Kennedy dies of brain cancer.

67. Gunman kills 13 in Texas massacre.

68. Tiger Woods sex scandal.

ohamed orsi is gypt’s first democractically elected leader. However, since his time in power there have been violent protests.

91. Bashar l- ssad remains president of Syria during the Syrian civil war.

92. South Sudan’s independence.

93. The Royal Baby: Kate Middleton gives birth to a baby boy.

94. Brazilians protest the government, inspired by raised bus fares.

95. Resignation of Pope Benedict: Pope Francis of Argentina takes over.

96.

ightclub fire in Brazil kills at least

people.

97. Horse meat scandal all over Europe.

98. Snowden reveals secrets about the NSA. 99. Savar Building Collaspe in Bangladesh brings awareness of the harsh conditions of East Asian factories.

100. US government shut down.

Source: cnn.com

69. Nigerian held in failed bombing aboard US airliner.

70. Mexican Gulf polluted by BP oil spills.

71. Haitian earthquake.

72. Chilean miners rescued after nearly 70 days underground.

73.

ederal health care—a.k.a Obamacare—is planned.

74. WikiLeaks reveals US secrets online.

75. North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

76. Car bomb in Times Square.

77. Midterm elections: House shifts.

78. Judge orders U.S. military to stop enforcing don’t ask, don’t tell.

79. U.S. commandos kill Bin Laden.

80. Japan’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis.

81. Arab Spring.

News Corp Australia

82. Gabrielle Giffords shot and survives.

83. Steve Jobs dies of cancer.

the talon •

news

Graded’s “Most Likely to Succeed” Alum An exclusive interview with Instagram’s Mike Krieger Paula Schulman

B

efore graduating from Graded in 2004, Michel Krieger participated in a variety of activities, including writing for the first edition of the Talon. Known as Mike, Krieger attended Stanford niversity, and is best known for co-founding the billion-dollar photo-sharing and social-networking service, Instagram.

still keep this hobby nowadays?

MK: I played guitar and keyboards, and I still play pretty often. I moved around a few times growing up and playing an instrument was a great way of making friends in a new school.

Paula Shulman: How would you describe your overall Graded experience?

Mike Krieger: I was lucky to go to a high school that had so many different activities going—onlearning to shoot film, play music, play soccer, or learn mentoring skills were some of the things I did while in high school.

The small class size meant I knew everyone in my year, which is a very different experience than most people’s high school experience.

PS: Do you still keep in touch with any of your Graded teachers or friends?

MK: Because of Facebook, I’m still in touch with many of my teachers and friends from high school. So many of them are getting married now, I don’t recognize their names in my news feed. And more and more of them keep moving to San Francisco, where I live.

PS: During high school you started and produced a project called GTV. Could you talk a bit about it?

MK: In high school, I was part of GTV (Graded TV), which Lawrence Shackelford (“Shack”) advised, and Larissa Praire, Fabio Lomelino and I produced. We did a monthly television show that we’d present to the whole high school, and it was a mix of documentaries, parodies, interviews, music videos... one of my favorite high school memories.

PS: You used to perform at Zombie Zoo and were passionate about at Graded. What instrument did you play? Do you

18 • the talon

sickygram.com

PS: Were you already interested in media and computers during your high-school years? How did you go about the process of choosing a major?

MK: I was interested in computers, though I didn’t see myself pursuing them as part of a career—I wanted to be a journalist. When I arrived at Stanford, though, the entrepreneurial culture and being right in the heart of Silicon Valley got me interested in pursuing a career in technology.

PS: Like other Stanford University alumni including Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, you majored in symbolic systems. What is symbolic systems and how has taking this major helped you succeed?

MK: Symbolic Systems is an interdisciplinary major that Stanford has, which encompasses Computer Science,

news Psychology, Philosophy, Cognitive Science, and a few other subjects. It was an ideal major for me, since it taught me the core computer science concepts that I would later use to build software, but it also gave me a grounding in design, psychology, and other parts of understanding how society and human minds work.

PS: Is there any advice you would give to Graded high-schoolers today in regards to becoming over-stressed about the college application process and other life-altering decisions?

MK: Some stress is unavoidable. You also have to realize that there’s some randomness in these application processes, and you can’t get too hung up on places that turn you down. We don’t (yet) have a machine that takes in applications and spits out decisions, so there’s always human judgment involved. What was interesting to me was arriving at college after Graded, I felt the classes & the IB program put us a few steps ahead of a lot of students who had gone to school in the US.

PS: In your senior year yearbook, your classmates elected you to be the most likely to succeed. When and how did you decide to create a startup company?

MK: During college, I decided I wanted to create a startup in the first ten years after graduating college. I worked at eebo, a mid-size startup, for about a year and a half, before deciding to leave to co-found Instagram with evin Systrom, who I had met in college. I was excited about the problem we were working on—helping people communicate and share in the real world.

PS: How has the worldwide success of Instagram affected your life?

Aquila, Graded’s yearbook, 2004

you helped build is out there in the world. I also love hearing about how people are using Instagram in places like Egypt, to document the uprisings there. The whole team feels a huge responsibility to do right by the community of people who have joined Instagram.

PS: Do you have any tips to someone with a good idea?

MK: Being able to build out at least a prototype is a huge skill, and doesn’t require you to go to school for four years to study computer science; online prototyping tools like Balsamiq can let you express your ideas quickly.

PS: Since you have family in Brazil, how often do you visit the country? Would you like to visit Graded the next time you are here?

MK: I try to visit once a year; I’m sure Graded has gone through a bunch of changes since the last time I visited, so it would be great to stop by and see how it looks now.

MK: It’s still an amazing experience to see someone use Instagram on the bus, or at a concert, and realize something

the talon •

features

Points of View on Politics Seven questions and lots of opinions Clara Bezerra

F

or this edition, I collected a hundred points of view on issues of Brazilian and American politics by interviewing students and alumni of the Graded community. Here are some of the responses: Question 1: [Note: This question was posed before the US government shutdown ended] Will the US government shutdown have long-term consequences? If so, what will they be?

Anais Ioschpe: Depends how long it will stay shut down, because around 800,000 federal workers are being sent home for as long as the government is shut down, so I’m guessing that’s going to be extremely hard to pick up from, economically.

Thiago Lima: Yes, because it will drastically affect decisions that will, in the long-term, diminish the government’s already nonexistent power to dig the US out of its recession.

Pooja Singhi: Besides the sad fact that Yosemite National Park was closed down on its birthday, I think the US government shutdown will have major long-term consequences, mainly on the economy.

Jordan Walker: On some level, yes. On the nation as a whole, I don’t know. I guess it depends on how long it goes on.

Roberto Fajardo: This is embarrassing, but what can you expect from politics?

Felipe Marques: I think so, even though it is nearly impossible to accurately predict these repercussions. Short-term reactions have included public demonstrations in Washington caused by war veterans. I think this trend will spread to the Northeast and Northwest, as the blame will generally be shifted to Republicans.

Lucas Zuccolo: Apart from Democrats hating Republicans even more, no, I don’t expect a ton of long-term consequences, because they really can’t drag this on for much longer.

Spencer W. Shaw: Yes, ultimately it will just be like restarting a computer, but without saving your progress on an essay you worked really hard on because then your computer ran out of hard drive space so now you need to delete a bunch of pictures from your computer except these pictures have lives and families. Especially the international US families of which there are many here at Graded, they have to live on no paychecks. Either way, the US needs to get their stuff together or we are all screwed.

Nick Reinhart: No, I assume the government will become active again, and will be able to recover entirely.

Alex Daffara: I have no idea what you are talking about.

Viola Naldini: I think so because if the US government collapses, it will affect the whole world and other countries won’t want that. But I don’t really know.

Gabriel Borger: In the short run it’ll be chill, but in the long run the people will be able to feel the meaning of taxation without representation.

Jack Conway: The US government shutdown will most likely be without significant long-term economic or international consequences, but it will hopefully act as a wake up call to the American people to ensure that nothing of this sort will ever happen again within our government.

Vaughn Gardner: The US government’s recent shutdown will have some consequences but nothing in the long-term.

Kevin Bengtsson: I don’t think anyone can predict that. Except maybe Dick Cheney. But even he probably can’t.

Carlo Krell: The government is going to shut down?

Ali Zamat: The US government shutdown certainly has shortterm consequences. However, the government was created for the people which I believe assures us that there will be no long-term consequences that will hinder our daily lives.

Brian Wolfson: There will be stunted economic growth due to the US government shutdown, yet the damage won’t be so great if the shutdown is resolved quickly.

Daniella Kandelman: The US government shutdown may have long-term consequences, since it indicates to the international community that a major power is in a delicate state.

20 • the talon

Sylvia Yang: The S government shutdown will definitely have long-term consequences, with the most detrimental effects on the economy; the local economy of Washington is

features expected to lose SD ment is shut down.

million for every day the govern-

Michael Borger: I speculate the US government shutdown will have no actual long-term consequences, other than of course when it comes to re-electing representatives in Congress, most likely to many Republicans’ chagrin.

Sruthi Viswanathan: I believe some of the long-term consequences of the US government shutdown would be the bigger debt the country would be facing and the economic consequences such a debt would mean for the rest of the globe. By trying to avoid increasing national spending they are increasing the debt, and decreasing the chances of getting the money to pay it off.

••• Question 2: What do you think of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”)? What do you think is at the core of the debate regarding its effectiveness?

Obama forced Obamacare through Congress, which pissed off the Republicans.

••• Question 3: Has the National Security Agency overstepped its bounds?

Adam Fertig: If you believe in security, the NSA’s doing a pretty great job, and hasn’t overstepped its bounds. You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs, I guess.

Brenna Fertig (Grade 6): Well, I think they’re trying to help, but there are some things they could do better. I’m glad the Snowdude told us about them.

Annie Groth: In my view, Obamacare has great potential to help those who need it, but the core of this issue is that those who don’t need it think everyone else doesn’t either.

Daniel Almeida: Given the legitimacy of the NSA’s actions under constitutional law affirmed by ongress, it did not overstep its bounds; rather its methodology is simply the unfortunate product of a battle over national security that can be traced back to .

Jakob Naegeli: Yes. As I’ve heard it put, the NSA has violated the Constitution and have somehow made criminals out of those that exposed it.

Aliyah Kingsley: I think one of the major issues of “Obamacare” is calling it that instead of the Affordable Care Act, which causes some US citizens who actually need it to be against it for the sole purpose of its association with President Obama.

Max Kang: I think the National Security Agency has delved into the private lives of millions and overstepped its legal boundaries. What I want to know is, does national security really depend on spying on millions of people, and invading their privacy?

Leonardo Sabó: I believe that the nited States is unfit to begin “Obamacare.” Not even half of the American population knows what this is... How can a government even think about passing an act without making the people aware of all the implications benefits beforehand?

••• Question 4: Do you see any similarities between the Brazilian government and the government of your home country?

Paty Kim: In my opinion, Obamacare will benefit the merican people as it will make their health insurance more affordable and therefore accessible to those who would not be able to have it otherwise; I think the debate regarding Obamacare revolves around the role of the government and to what extent it can intervene to provide health care.

Alejandro Torres: I am by no means an expert in the government of Brazil or Mexico, but a similarity I see is that the new president of Mexico is “cleaning up” the government by getting rid of corrupt top figures, which is what Dilma did at the beginning of her presidency.

Julia Abreu: “Obamacare” is a reasonable plan to help out those who can’t afford health care.

Eric Bissell: I would say that it is mainly to do with the clashing ideologies of the liberals and of the conservatives.

Lisa Tokoro: I was born in Japan, and I can’t think of any similarities between the governments, despite the fact that they have similar numbers of seats in parliament held by women.

the talon •

features

Fernanda Fiszner: I see some similarities between the governments of Argentina and Brazil—like how they both try to protect the nation’s industries and give aid to the poor— but definitely not a lot.

••• Question 5: What do you think are the most important issues our current Brazilian government has to deal with?

Julian Dumas (graduate): I think that one of the most important issues the current Brazilian government has to deal with is the huge class discrepancy still visible in major cities.

Bia Soares: I would probably say that the main things the government needs to fix are the educational system, the healthcare system and public transportation.

Camila Isern: I think they should definitely focus on improving the government structure, since a large population of Brazilians are against it, as well as the issue of deforestation, which has recently been getting worse.

Danya Ejaz (graduate): I don’t know, I don’t live in Brazil anymore.

Karen Kandelman: I think it’s a problem that starts with the population, actually. We need to become more active, not just by protesting but also by not relying so much on government. In terms of the system, I think that it should be more transparent about its affairs.

Gabriel Estrada: Bad use of money gained from taxes. For example, instead of increasing education quality and healthcare we buy more cop cars.

Meoshea Britt (Grade 6): Money.

Matt Dias: I don’t know. I’m not sure if it shows I’m disconnected from current events or if there are too many for me to choose a few from the hundreds. Maybe both—neither is good, either way.

Liv Wang: I’d say that the way PT has been acting for the past year is worrying because it has too much power and not many other voices could be heard.

Pedro Almeida (Grade 2): They need to help everyone go to school.

22 • the talon

Kevin Kim: I think one of the most important issues our current Brazilian government has to deal with is setting its priorities straight.

Renata Sayão: The Brazilian government needs to deal with the social corruption that manifests itself as widespread drug use, crime, corruption, and resorting to the famous jeitinho brasileiro.

Isa Bruder: I think that the most important issue that the Brazilian government has to deal with is violence, since it happens because of problems with education and employment.

Maria Isabel Guinle: The most important issue Brazil has to deal with is the mismanagement of money that should go to education and public health.

Lara Fernandez: I would say that the most important issue our current Brazilian government has to deal with is the devaluation of the real.

Fefa Ferreira: The biggest issue that the Brazilian government has to deal with is the “reforma da previdencia” because the government is going to have to give money to all the hardworking retired people, but since that money has been mismanaged many people won’t have any money to fall back on after years of hard work.

Fê Sayão: I think the issue that needs to be addressed by the Brazilian government is the corrupt political system. It leaves the country with little money left to spend on what really matters.

Carla Hidalgo: The government’s lack of attention to poverty and public services has led to the separation between the community and the government.

Sam Fertig: Corruption, oligarchic laws, and remnants of the military dictatorship are all pressing issues in Brazil today.

Michael Kern: Corruption, mismanagement of money towards medicine and education, and the high number of political parties.

Julia Schulman: Lack of infrastructure is the worst thing.

Luis Wolfrid: The system in general is flawed and is still based upon the nation’s history and previous failures: furthermore, there is too much space for corruption and the government is not efficient.

Isabelle Chang: The three major issues that concern me are

features pollution, corruption and poverty.

Franco Torres: Corruption is the biggest problem.

••• Question 6: Do you know what Dilma’s opinion on the NSA’s actions is? Do you agree with it?

Faria Nasruddin: Dilma stated that the NSA’s actions are an invasion of privacy, which is a basic human right. While this is correct, it is also a well-known fact that spying exists everywhere. To me, she overreacted and insisted it was harming the people of Brazil, which it was not.

MC Otani: Dilma’s speech in the general assembly was a necessary one. Having fought against the Brazilian dictatorship and truly understanding what the infringement of human rights leads to, standing up against the NSA’s actions was the right thing to do.

Fernão Mesquita: Yes, I am aware of President Dilma’s opinion on NSA actions, and couldn’t agree more with her opinion on the matter. Rousseff was right on saying “a sovereign nation can never establish itself to the detriment of another sovereign nation.”

••• Question 7: Do you think the Brazilian political system is a standard democratic one?

ruption does not reflect the democratic ideology of political self-determination.

Fernando Abdon: political system is influenced by its nation’s history, and because of Brazil’s recent history of military dictatorship, its political system tends to be more liberal and democratic.

Leonardo Oliveira: Well, considering the “ideal” democracy, I’d see Brazil as being a democracy only in name, not only due to the social gap within the country, but also due to our representatives not staying true to the title they’re given.

Mariana Lepecki: Well, in a perfect democracy, you technically wouldn’t have corruption. But then again, is it even possible to have a government without corruption these days?

Pedro Quirino: I believe Brazil is only democratic on paper, since the only democratic action in this country is voting.

But it still is the best country!

Mendel Schwarz: I do not think so, since frequent scandals indicate there is too much power in the hands of untrustworthy politicians.

Maria Julia Galeazzi: Based on erriam-Webster’s definition of democracy, “a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting, a country ruled by democracy in which everyone is treated equally,” I believe the Brazilian political system can generally be considered a standard democratic one.

Fabio Rocco: I think the Brazilian government is democratic enough to keep most people under the illusion that they are being faithfully represented.

Nicole Vladimirschi: No, it wants to be, but it has grave deficiencies, such as a lack of popular representation and elected officials who represent their own interests, rather than their constituents. With a mandatory vote, how could the entire system ever be democratic?

Tamima Mourad: Brazil is a democratic country to a certain extent. Yes, Brazilians choose their leaders and vote, but it is mandatory. And, although the people choose the Brazilian leaders, these leaders do not always address the population’s needs.

Laura Fiuza: Although the Brazilian government attempts to create a standard democratic system, the constant cor-

the talon • 3

features

The Singularity

Technology for the 200th edition of The Talon, perhaps?

Pooja Singhi

I

n the age of smartphones, the engineered heart, expeditions to Mars, Venus, and Titan, it is no secret that technology is advancing rapidly. We stop to “ooh” and “ahh” at the latest knick-knacks produced by Google and Apple and the other masterminds of Silicon Valley. But, can we predict the future of technology? Can we predict what technology will look like after the time span of just another Talon issues, or another years? nd, depending on the predictions, should we try to reach this future?

One pioneering idea in science when discussing the future of technology is “the singularity.” Proposed by individuals such as John von Neumann, Ray Kurzweil, and Stuart Armstrong, “the singularity” is “a theoretical moment in the future when computers will become smarter than humans,” as defined by Tech News Daily. To clarify, this technology would be smarter than all humans combined, not just smarter than a single human mind. ow, this concept might at first seem unfathomable.

Human beings invent technology. So, then, how can the invention be smarter than the inventor? The way in which I most effectively explained this to myself was by studying how we will reach “the singularity.”

Logically, we need to develop two major components to reach this level of artificial intelligence: its hardware and its software. Let’s start with the hardware of “the singularity.”

The core differences between the meat of the human brain and the silicon of today’s most advanced computers make them extremely difficult to compare. owever, as stated by Dr. nthony Berglas, “it is probably fair to say that computer based speech understanding consumes well over . of the human brain volume. This crude analysis would suggest that a computer that was ten thousand times faster than a desktop computer would probably be at least as computationally powerful as the human brain. It would not be difficult to build such a machine in the very near future.”

With the future of hardware taken care of, let’s move onto software. In the book The Singularity is Near, Kurzweil asserted that quadrillion ) calculations per second will functionally equate to the human brain. Considering that supercomputers had already achieved around calculations per second, he estimated this artificial intelligence software to be at the hands of humankind by .

As the hardware and software of “the singularity” are perfected and computing capacity exponentially grows from the power of one human brain to all human brains combined, predictions for this technological phenomenon range from Vernor Vinge’s before 3 to urzweil’s . The celebration th of the edition of The Talon in could be accompanying the celebration, or possibly denouncing, of super-powered

24 • the talon

artificial intelligence.

But should we try to reach this future? Should we stride towards “the singularity?” t first, obvious benefits come to mind with advancements in communication, healthcare, applied mathematics, surveillance. But what about the flip side?

Initially, researching “the singularity” was quite straightforward. When I started researching the threats, though, what this overpowering of humans by artificial intelligence would mean for our lives, articles got strange. Terms like human “annihilation,” “elimination,” “enslavement” and “murder” filled the page, describing situations straight out of I, Robot and The Matrix. But, the more I read and the more I thought about the implications of “the singularity,” I realized that these articles were not fabrications or exaggerations; they were legitimate warnings to humanity.

Human beings are fairly intelligent. We can invent and manipulate and destroy. We include the minds of Albert Einstein, Adolf Hitler, Leonardo da Vinci, Pol Pot, Isaac Newton. But, these are individual human minds. Granted, human beings do share intelligence through letters and phone calls and websites and social media. But, at the bare core is an individual human mind. “The singularity” will produce an artificial intelligence system whose capabilities surpass all these minds combined. As Berglas and blogger Mark Kolto Rivera state, the fundamental goal of all creatures is survival. Since human beings threaten the survival of this artificial intelligence with the power of the “off” button, it will try to do away with mankind.

And, given its tremendous intelligence and unfathomable power, many scientists and futurists argue that it will likely succeed.

So, the question becomes: will the benefits of “the singularity” outweigh these potential dangers? Graded students remain divided on this issue. Some, such as Brian Wolfson, state, “I believe we should try to stop advancements towards ‘the singularity.’ We’ve all watched Terminator and I, Robot and know what can happen.” But others, like Renata Sayão, suggest, “Many times technological advances come through trial and error, solving problems as they arise. So, as we advance towards the singularity,’ the pros will definitely outweigh the cons.”

Until we get closer to “the singularity,” until we observe exactly what artificial intelligence will be able to do, exactly what it will “want” to do, I cannot steadfastly come do a conclusion regarding this debate. As scientists, engineers and information technologists race towards the mid- st century, we must not forget to analyze the consequences. We must not allow the potential glory and majesty of the future to hide its threats in the shadows.

Sources: technewsdaily.com, berglas.org, singularity.com, markk-rblog.blogspot.com

features

Is It Really a Man’s World?

Coco Chanel’s revolution

Karen Kandelman

O

ne hundred years ago in 3, oco hanel opened her first boutique offering casual clothes. Through it she transformed women’s wardrobes, by making the hemline and cinched waist of nineteenth-century garments disappear. Essentially, Chanel allowed women to wear clothes that were similar to those of men. She was responsible for starting the deconstruction of the “rule” that women had to wear constrained outfits.

Wanting to free women from the uncomfortable Victorian style of clothing while still keeping femininity, she was the first to incorporate men’s fashion elements into women’s daily outfits. In , oco hanel became the pioneer in creating the woman’s suit, which included a collarless jacket and a well-fitted skirt. She began a fashion trend similar to masculine attire: pinned stripes, straight cuts, and rigid structure.

However, the twist on her woman’s suit was exotic fabrics and the skirt bottoms. The most notable aspect of the Chanel design house was that along with the suit came a vast number of accessories that to her were entirely essential; bags, hats and jewelry became a staple of her fashion brand.

Another of Chanel’s iconic contributions to current fashion was her use of black. Before it was solely worn for funerals. hanel’s little black dress BD is still worn during occasions such as chic evenings, and her little black suit BS has been brought back by present-day Chanel artistic director Karl Lagerfeld.

Despite the fact that Coco Chanel changed how women felt and appeared, she did not consider herself a feminist.

She was simply an expressive person who wanted to dress differently, to manifest her individuality. By befriending personalities like Picasso, Cocteau, and Stravinsky, she even became surrounded by people who enjoyed breaking boundaries.

Chanel had always hated the Establishment, the affluent power figures of society, which is why she began her career by creating casual outerwear to defy elegant and expensive attire. Although she achieved overwhelming success, Coco Chanel came from humble beginnings and couldn’t tolerate an opulent lifestyle. Her millinery creations in her hat shop, which she opened in , were influenced by masculine elements rather than the Belle poque’s flamboyancy. hanel’s boyish “flapper” hat, for example, was quite original. Ironically, that first millinery shop was directly above an established clothing business for high-class ladies, who soon became interested in Chanel’s hats.

Besides being a legend in the fashion world, Coco Chanel was a savvy business woman, even though she did not regard herself as one. When she noticed that perfume sales were dropping, she created a new scent that differed from the ones that existed at the time. Her perfume, Chanel No , sold more than any other Chanel product and became a popular fragrance for women around the world.

Chanel also became known for her fearless disposition. She was eager to be inspired and lead her life in both a reckless and poised manner. For example, after calling off her engagement to the Duke of Westminster, she claimed, “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel.” She considered herself a strong, sometimes intimidating woman, who was determined not to be submissive to her male partners. She maintained that her former lovers were quite uneasy around her, because she was able to stand her ground, and throughout the beginning of the twentieth century such an attitude was profusely contested. Yet Chanel continued to test society’s limits.

The downfall of Coco Chanel happened when other designers began to mimic her innovations. Lagerfeld took over The ouse of hanel a decade after her death in and astutely made it into a billion-dollar company. He explained that hanel’s mediocrity during the ’s was caused by her departure to Switzerland after World War II, where her collaboration and affair with Hans Günther von Dincklage, a Nazi officer, worsened her reputation. In addition, the reat Depression in the 3 ’s left her unable to sell in large quantities, therefore forcing her to produce Nazi uniforms. As a result, she was considered unethical, and the public rejected her work.

Even so, Chanel should be celebrated, as she gave rise to a fashion movement that broke away from the standard norm, redefined women’s style, and continues to inspire designers today. As suggested by her famous phrase “my life didn’t please me, so I created my life,” Chanel proved no one should be confined to expectations instead, each individual should strive to achieve her own milestones.

Sources: time.com, biography.com, goodreads.com, metmuseum.com

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features

In Honor of The Talon’s Landmark o nd e

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s you probably know by now, The Talon has reached a mileth stone and published its edition after twelve years of the magazine’s history. People come and go, but The Talon has been here for editions, and will be here for many more. But sentimental tangents aside, this important occurrence made me reflect on other noteworthy achievements.

While looking through the news a few days ago, I encountered an article celebrating the history of film, and I couldn’t help but marvel at how far filmmaking has come. As an avid fan of movies myself, I enjoy well-produced films, and love ridiculing ones that are not so successful. So, I decided to talk to Graded students and look through film reviews in order to create a list of important movies in history, ranging from the s when the first movie camera was invented, until today.

The Jazz Singer (1927): Although many people might not have heard of this musical, it plays a significant role in film history because it was the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences. Directed by lan rosland, the film shows the story of a man named Jakie abinowitz, who defies the traditions of his Jewish family. Filmmakers around the world were astounded by this new use of sound, and wanted to incorporate the same in their own productions.

Citizen Kane (1941): Yes, perhaps the most cliché answer possible, and yet so deserving of its fame. Citizen Kane is definitely a revolutionary film, and its director Orson Welles was the first in cinematic history to be nominated for awards as a producer, actor, director, and writer. The movie is known for its many innovations, including overlapping dialogue, layered sound, non-linear storytelling, low-angle shots and many more cinematic elements that would be followed by many directors after him. In this movie, a group of reporters tries to understand the last word spoken by Charles Foster Kane, a millionaire newspaper magnate. It is a definitely a mustwatch movie if you haven’t seen it already.

Psycho (1960): ombining suspense and horror, this film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, has been consistently praised as a work of cinematic art. It challenged the commonly accepted

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standards of violence and sexuality in American cinema. Despite the fact that it was filmed on a low budget, it is still ranked among the greatest films of all time. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Hitchcock raised the bar for horror movies with this masterpiece after years, the movie still leaves viewers feeling unsafe in their showers.

Star Wars (1977): This successful blockbuster loved by people of all ages marked the start of an epic space franchise.

Created by George Lucas, Star Wars spread a worldwide pop culture phenomenon which still exists today. The total box office revenue generated by the films in this series reached approximately .3 billion dollars. It set the formula for successful adventure-action films—the cliffhanger thrills infused with the modern FX—that is still used in films today. It created possibly the most popular crossover between film and pop kosmosaicbooks.com culture to date please don’t kill me Harry Potter fans).

Avatar (2009): While some might believe this film does not deserve a position on such an influential list, I could not leave out this visual masterpiece. Research suggests James Cameron started producing Avatar in , which means it took roughly years to perfect the film before its release. lthough the director planned to release the movie in , he concluded that he didn’t have the necessary technology to create the visual effects he wanted. Critics have praised its groundbreaking visual effects, and it soon broke Titanic’s record directed by ameron as well , and became the new highest-grossing film, yielding more than two billion dollars.

As much as I’d like to continue this list by adding another movies and including my beloved Toy Story you all love it deep down, too), I think you get the gist of the continuous development in film. trend of progress has become increasingly evident through the innovative examples of movies that strive to break previous boundaries. In the same way, I hope to see the The Talon develop, progress, and astound th people like it has until now. heers to the edition, and to the many more “ ’s” to come o

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Theme History How well do you know The Talon?

Features Team

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th n honor of The Talon’s edition, the Features Team decided to create a crossword puzzle centered on previous editions of the magazine. The answers to the hints are either past Talon themes or trivia about the first edition. Note: Spaces between words are omitted.

Across . What new raded facility was featured in the first edition of The Talon? . ovember , 3 and January , are important dates because of... int: sk the answer to 3 down . . lbert instein once stated, “I want to know all od’s thoughts; all the rest are just ______.” . ebras, newspapers, old photographs. . “ s leg timas.” . What current employee at raded wrote for the first edition of The Talon?

3. n apple falling on ewton’s head gave him one of history’s most famous _________. . Indiana Jones, Superman, ercules.

. White ollar rimes, “ ensal o,” The oal llocation Scam. . word-guessing party game that was published by Hasbro in . . “I’ve got the in me” is a fragment of a song by American hip-hop recording artist B.o.B. Down . lso known as capital vices. . Douglas dams: “I love ______. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

3.

Sunrise, awn, oodies. . The title of dition 3 of The Talon referenced a point in time. We have now reached that point.

8. Bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid and a stimulant drug. . dvertising character portrayed by Dean Winters in insurance advertising campaigns by Allstate. . The theme of the nd edition of The Talon, this term is used to describe an ideal place or state. . The future is full of these. “What ?”

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entertainment

Adventure Time is Not for Kids... ne

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ll right, let me just add three more drops of explosive diarrhea.” That is the first line uttered in the opening episode of Pendleton Ward’s critically-acclaimed Adventure Time, on artoon etwork. This is immediately followed by Princess Bubblegum admitting that she used to date r. ream Puff, whose corpse is on display on a platter. pon his revival with the poop-infused “decorpsinator serum,” he demands that she “give him some sugar, baby.”

Within the first minute of the show, we are introduced to the weirdest concoction of nonsensical and grotesquely disturbing statements one could imagine. nd it’s exactly this messed-up oddity that defines Adventure Time. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It definitely does: it’s one of the best things that has graced the world of television in a long time. Don’t let the psychedelic colors and subject matter fool you, this is not a children’s show. Instead, it’s a brilliantly bizarre but cunningly well-disguised adult show that has found its way on to artoon etwork.

Okay, so what exactly is Adventure Time? I’m not sure.

I do know one thing: the cartoon has two protagonists, Jake the Dog and inn the uman, as the ridiculously catchy theme song reminds us. Together, they live in the andy ingdom of the magical and of Ooo, where they spend most of their time on adventures hence the title of the show . Saying it like this makes the show seem so ordinary. lich , even. But it’s so much more than that. verything is just so weird… Jake the Dog can stretch his body to morph into the most unusual shapes to get things done. ine, it’s a cartoon, things like that can happen. But the and of Ooo is a magical land of candy people, animals and other weird critters, including an aggressive dude with a lemon for a head and B O, a talking video game console.

It is in this setting that we find amazing characters like ady ainicorn, a flying rainbow unicorn and Jake’s girlfriend. or some unexplained reason, she only speaks in orean no, subtitles don’t appear on screen . Though unintelligible to most non- oreans, the things she says are pretty weird, and even dirty at times: “ h Do you remember when we got completely naked, and frantically ran around in the farmer’s cabbage patch? Giggle That farmer got crazy mad ” This is the same show that contains the single greatest monologue in history better than any Shakespeare soliloquy .

“Hello? Eat my tarts! This cosmic dance of bursting decadence and withheld permissions twists all our arms collectively, but,

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if sweetness can win, and it can, then I’ll still be here tomoro to i fi e o e te d iend e e.” onfused?

So am I. It really doesn’t help that the character that produces this piece of spoken gold is a gingerbread man named the oyal Tart Toter, who rubs a pigeon against a squirrel as he says this. othing is properly explained, and nothing has to be, really. It’s nonsense, and that’s exactly what makes this show so funny.

In the pilot Adventure Time short, braham incoln makes an appearance. This ridiculous anachronistic moment of comedy comes about when inn’s mind is transported to ars, where be is just standing there, telling him to believe in himself. e also makes an appearance in the actual show, as the ing of ars. gain, this is never explained and I don’t think I want to find out how be incoln got to ars in the first place. mongst all this there’s inn, a human being. o, the human being. e’s the only human in the entire world. In any other cartoon, this would probably be fine, and the writers and watchers wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. But this is Adventure Time we’re talking about. or a children’s show, things begin to get unusually dark. verything is just so tragic rom watching this cartoon, we find out that a mysterious war, the reat ushroom War, has ravaged the planet in the past. Once we find out about the nuclear nature of the war, questions arise: is the magical land and its people the aftermath of radiation from nuclear warfare? If so, then everything is kind of messed up. Is Adventure Time a tragic, post-apocalyptic tale following a lone human in what has remained of the world? That’s what it seems.

Things get worse when we learn more about the Ice ing, the princess-stealing antagonist of the show. e has blue skin, a freakishly large nose and magical ice powers. e’s insane, too, but our glimpses into his insanity are soul-crushing. e used to be a human before he found a crown that slowly began to take everything from him: his wife, his mind and his small nose. It’s sad. So very sad.

Say what you want about Adventure Time, but I refuse to believe that this is a show intended for kids. Sure, it just so happens to air on artoon etwork, and kids watch it, but there’s just no way a show with perverted unicorns, demented gingerbread men and a nuclear reat ushroom War is directed at your younger brother. This is a show for people like me, and older. Or maybe I’m just a loser. I don’t know.

entertainment

Spider-Milestones

Look out, here comes the 100th issue! elipe h, the one hundredth issue. In the comic industry, having your series reach issues is a sign of success. sign that not only did the audience like your character, they liked it so much they bought your comic book weeks in a row and are still expecting more. So how should a comic franchise celebrate th th their , , 3 th issues? Well, why don’t we completely wreck the established story arcs and continuity at least that’s how the writers over at Amazing Spider-Man did it. Their -issues celebrations have become a weird tradition of some sort, with fans bracing themselves for the worst when the next landmark comes near. But why do fans hate ASM’s hundred-issue th celebrations so much? Well let’s look back at each issue up to the latest one, Amazing Spider-Man #700, and see why these milestone celebrations couldn’t quite go up the water spout. #100: It doesn’t seem too bad at first: the cover seems nice, highlighting Spider- an with a caption asking “The Spider or the Man?” — a bit unusual, but hey, it’s arvel. fter stopping a couple of bank robberies, Peter drinks a concoction that was meant to completely do away with his powers, passes out and has a weird dream where all his arch-nemeses beat him up and he sees the disembodied head of his dead girlfriend say that being Spider- an is “ his blessing and his curse.” Then he wakes up only to find o t e e t o e t i o .

This was the comic that started the infamous—and thankfully short-lived—“Six- rms Saga.” an, the s were weird. #200: This one starts off with Spider- an being drugged and rendered powerless by ysterio. Lovely. This story, titled “The Spider and the Burglar Sequel,” deals with another issue. aving escaped from prison, the man who killed ncle Ben returns for some unfinished business having to do with some stashed loot hidden somewhere beneath the Parker house. pon learning this, the now-powerless Spider- an vows to stop the criminal, and even kill him if necessary. Which he does The Burglar was apparently working for ysterio all along, and they both devised a plot where they would fake unt ay’s death in order to scare Peter into revealing the location of the money. There’s a fight and the Burglar supposedly shoots Spider- an. Surprise Spider- an was alive all along. But the important thing here is that Spider- an eventually corners the Burglar, they prepare to fight and then the Burglar dies of a heart attack.

Oh ,and Spider- an conveniently gets his powers back. #300: Oh man, this is the good one. ASM 300 is a follow-up to

arques

arvel’s “Secret Wars” saga, where Spider-Man gets the black suit. Issue 3 represents the end of the “Black Suit Saga,” though: after a plethora of personal issues, Spider- an ditches the black suit. The symbiote, the parasitic alien material that turns into the black suit, conveniently falls on ddy Brock, a reporter from the Daily Bugle who blames everything wrong with his life on Spider- an—even his cancer. ou all know him better as Spider- an’s arch-nemesis, Venom, who spends the entire 3 th issue tormenting Spider- an, since he now knows Spidey’s secret identity through the symbiote’s ability to share previous hosts’ memories. They fight, Spidey wins, and of course, there’s the obligatory “Venom shall return” panel. #400: Pardon the pun, but I speak for most Spider- an readers when I say I have an issue with this issue. irst off, it was set during the infamous “ lone Saga,” so exaggerated, overly dramatic writing was expected. Secondly, this story was happening when unt ay was having a severe crisis of well nobody really knew what she had, but she was having it. The issue focuses on Peter and ary Jane’s last moments with ay.

The writing pulls heartstrings you didn’t even know you had. ay says some extremely touching last words to Peter and J, and, more importantly, reveals that she always knew Peter was Spider- an. Tears streamed like twin rivers from my eyes as I read this. Only a few issues later do you find out that that unt ay was a clone, and that the real unt ay was in a cryogenic chamber. Oh boy. #500: Spider- an travels through time, he pulls a Wonderful Life, the status quo returns. Despite some incredible art by father and son duo John omita Jr Sr, the less said about ASM 500 the better. ostly because there’s way more to talk about #600-700: Oh yes. These are the two issues everyone bought, then raged incessantly about. kicks off the “ nds of the arth saga,” wherein we find out that Dr. Octapus is terminally ill and has only one year to live. Thus, he initiates his final plan—one that involves robots, bringing back the Sinister Six, robots, blowing up the arth, and robots. Spidey may have won earlier, but the robots collected data on him, data that Ock uses with a dying breath to e n e o it ete e Peter-in-Ock’s-body dies, and Ock-as-Peter is now the “Superior” Spider-Man. The fans boiled in rage: Dan Slott, the writer for , received actual, serious death threats. s of right now, only a few issues before , Peter Parker is dead for good. et’s hope the writers say this was a clone from the s.

the talon •

entertainment

Knowledgeable Also pronounced Knowledge Bowl ichael Borger

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he pun had to be made. veryone was most likely thinking it, but was too scared to say it because of possible criticism and judgment. Well, I said it.

To those who are unfamiliar with it, nowledge Bowl is an extracurricular at raded, as well as in many other international and merican schools. It focuses on testing and discerning which school, represented by teams of five, knows the most about basically anything and everything. To be part of the raded team that attends the tournaments, one must know every single world capital, speak the basics of at least six different languages, and be able to balance chemical equations in less than three seconds.

Just kidding, but one must know a lot or at least seem like one knows a lot my case . s captain of the team that went to uritiba, I heard various questions with answers that neither I nor my teammates had ever heard of. Therefore, winning or losing a match really depends on the set of questions for that round, since there are infinite potential questions.

With that said, here are ten toss-up questions to see if you have what it takes to be part of the team. The questions range from academic trivia to pop culture to miscellaneous knowledge, to see if you’d make a well-rounded B member.

The answers will be posted later on Talonline along with the points table that will prove whether or not you’ve got what it takes to be part of the team. Without further ado, let the round of questions begin: Toss-Up #1 – Chemistry: Discovered in during a solar eclipse by rench astronomer, Jules Janssen, this second lightest element is also the second most abundant element in the known universe. This element is also credited with having played a large role in the Big Bang or the creation of the universe. ame this element that is the first element in the noble gases family.

Toss-Up #2 – South American History: friend of San artin’s, he helped conquer and successfully liberate hile from Spanish rule. This man of Spanish and Irish heritage is considered one of the founding fathers of hile, in spite of his serving as hile’s second dictator. ame this South merican revolutionary who was one of the leaders of hile’s independence after defeating the Spanish in at the Battle of a pu.

Toss-Up #3 – Human Anatomy: sed for treating or even potentially curing cancer, this flexible tissue is found within human bones. It makes up about four percent of the human body and is used during stem cell research. Simplistically, it’s known as the source of all blood cells. ame this part of the human body that is known for its gelatinous consistency.

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Toss-Up #4 – Geography: With such attractions as the olden ate Bridge and lcatraz Island, this alifornian city is a popular tourist hotspot. nown for its vibrant city life, it’s the 3 th most popular tourist destination in the world and the sixth in the nited States. ame this city where arvey ilk served as one of this city’s supervisors during , which made him the first ever openly gay person to be elected to public office.

Toss-Up #5 – Language Usage: When used in a sentence, it’s used to replace the subject when the subject is repeated. xamples of it include “itself” and “themselves”. ame this specific type of part of speech whose name begins with an adjective that denotes a mirroring effect.

Toss-Up #6 – Physics: car travels at km h for hours on a highway that spans kilometers. When the car reaches the end of the highway, the car comes to a stop in seconds.

What was its acceleration to the nearest tenth?

Toss-Up #7 – Geometry: rhombus is a parallelogram with four equal sides, two equal opposite acute angles, and two equal opposite obtuse angles. Suppose a rhombus has a top-right interior angle of . What would be the degree measurement of the top-left interior angle if the two angles are supplementary?

Toss-Up #8 – Pop Culture: fter defeating Justin uarini in American Idol’s first season, she went on to win the rammy for Best Pop Vocal lbum twice for her albums Breakaway and Stronger 3 . ost recently, she’s been in the news for some sophisticated controversy involving a Jane usten ring, one of the three only known pieces of jewelry by the authoress. ame this pop singer whose repertoire includes hits such as “ y ife Would Suck Without ou” and “What Doesn’t ill ou Stronger .”

Toss-Up #9 – Music: lthough he detested the term “Impressionist,” his pieces are usually defined as such. longside aurice avel, he is one of the best known impressionist musicians of all time. renchman, he is known for his unorthodox musical schemes and dissonances. ame this late th early th century composer who wrote Clair de Lune.

Toss-Up #10 – American Literature: Born on pril , , this poet and authoress wrote poems such as “Phenomenal Woman” and “I now Why The aged Bird Sings.” The latter was also elongated as a novel centering around a teenage frican- merican girl during and afyter the black civil rights movement. ame this inspirational woman who was awarded the Presidential edal of reedom in .

entertainment

Steaming about Streaming A.k.a. “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse” Otani

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hen was the last time you bought a vinyl?

D? single on iTunes? ow do you listen to music? Since the internet, ouTube, apster, the invention of the revolutionary iPod, and the digitalization of music, the way we listen to music has drastically changed. rtists’ public successes are no longer measured through D sales, but by the number of hit singles and placement in the iTunes Top . s the digital purchase of songs takes over, the vinyl tape phenomenon has spread to the D industry, where Ds are slowly being made obsolete, leading us to believe in the imminent transformation of physical music from being a common aspect of life to an antiquity. Today, most of us stick to buying on iTunes, using ouTube, and, occasionally, listening to the radio.

But, yet another form poses a threat to our ways of listening to music: streaming. ompanies such as Pandora, Spotify, and dio are now taking over the music industry, where songs are streamed rather than bought. With Spotify’s launch in Brazil pending, it seems appropriate to speak of music streaming, especially because it is so controversial. rom a listener’s perspective, as long as there is Internet, streaming music is the most affordable and efficient way, for not only is it significantly cheaper, but it does not force us to buy a song. Do I regret purchasing acklemore’s “Thrift Shop”? fter more than 3 plays, yes, I wish I had wasted those . on something else. Thus, streaming is practical, offers a wide variety of music, and is almost limitless. But this is what generates the problem.

In the last five or so year, making money with music has been a tricky subject. ow to ensure that the listeners pay? Who should receive the loot: the labels, the artists, the producers or the lyricists? Because programs like dio are streaming music, they must pay royalties to the owners of the music, the labels and the artists themselves. Because streaming services are still an emergent market, the owners of the music have the power to charge huge sums, and due to their accessibility and fast-growing popularity, labels take advantage of them. ven with its million subscriptions, Spotify has to pay much to the labels to actually make a profit. bout of its revenues are consumed by copyright and royalty fees. In , it reported a loss in million dollars.

Pandora and Spotify are currently asking for regulations and relief from such heavy royalties from the merican government. eanwhile, many artists such as upe iasco, aroon , Pink loyd, Blondie, and most notably, adiohead, have spoken

out against subscription streaming services, by removing their music from them. In spite of the large sums paid to the labels, very little money actually gets to the artists themselves. or the artist, the money received for the sale of one D would take approximately , plays on Spotify. ot too long ago, adiohead’s Thom orke launched a public campaign against the service, inviting other artists to boycott and calling it “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse.” ike Thom, I am also inclined to believe that soon, the “gates” that stand between an artist’s music and the listener will eventually be wiped out, leaving us with a direct connection with artists, without large companies intervening. This will not happen soon. or now, it seems like Spotify will keep growing. any artists have joined Thom’s side, but most are still queasy about the idea of boycotting Spotify.. Smaller artists see this as a huge medium of finding their way to the general public, and thus, very few would agree on removing their music. s Josh osenfeld, the co-founder of Barsuk records, a label whose music is currently on Spotify, stated, “the smaller the profile of the artist, the more likely the artist is to feel that it’s essential to have his music available in all places where listeners are listening...

Similarly, the more financially secure the artist is, the less the artist is concerned with making sure to cover all bases when it comes to collecting royalties.” This explains why such big bands like Pink loyd and adiohead have removed their music from such streaming services, being the only ones who can actually afford to do so.

This debate goes on. Should we do as the Spotify’s O Daniel k has put it, give the streaming services time to expand and wait until there is a consistent number of listeners to generate enough money to satisfy them and their shareholders? Or is it a waste of time and money that only results on the well—being of the labels as the artists receive nada for their music? or now, it seems like the former will prevail, for a massive collective boycotting would be necessary to stop it, and especially since the streaming service model is only getting started. iTunes has just recently launched the iTunes adio, while Dr. Dre has not too long ago announced the new Daisy streaming service for the end of 3. mong consumers, streaming’s popularity is rapidly increasing, yet seems like streaming still has a long way to go. ey-ho to you, capitalism.

Sources: business.time.com, pitchfork.com, usatoday.com, digitalmusicnews.com, nme.com, and news.yahoo.com

the talon • 3

entertainment

Breaking Bad as Modern Greek Tragedy Warning: spoiler alert Bella Shim

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reaking Bad ended while ago. But just for old time’s sake, I will analyze the ways Breaking Bad is parallel to the classic reek play, Oedipus.

Affluent background Oedipus is the son of ing aius and ueen Jocasta of Thebes. e was well off from birth, considering he was the descendent of a great king. But later, his father threw Oedipus out because the oracle predicted that Oedipus would murder him Walter White was the co-founder of ray atter Technologies with lliot Schwartz. e created the soon-to-be billiondollar company, but could never enjoy the wealth because he foolishly took a buyout of , before it truly flourished.

Both characters arose from a prosperous background, but were eventually cast aside, forced to start from nothing.

Intelligence When Oedipus is on his way to Thebes, The Sphinx greets him with a riddle. naffected, Oedipus solves the riddle without a problem. It goes that the Sphinx went mad when she was duped and killed herself. Walter? Walt is smart and lucky. The last episode, “ elina,” summarizes everything. e outsmarts everybody, gets the money to his family, skillfully murders people through retribution, and saves Jesse. Their intelligence is also their curse: Oedipus used his intellect and figured out the truth that he was really better off not knowing.

Walter brilliantly manages to hatch a plan to narrowly escape the wrath of his enemies. But what he doesn’t realize is that he is falling deeper into the rabbit hole that will lead to his demise.

Anger When Oedipus comes to the crossroads, he is faced with another carriage going the opposite way. The driver strikes Oedipus to get him out of the way. nraged, Oedipus savagely kills him and the person in the carriage — guess who that was. urthermore, when Teiresias and reon point out that Oedipus was responsible for the murder of ing ais, Oedipus reacts irrationally, lashing out at both men. e rants and accuses them of blasphemy. We see similar characteristics with r. White.

Walter, a promising chemist, was never able to achieve his full potential: he was never given credit for ray atter his D agent brother-in-law showed off his achievements and his high school students never bothered with chemistry. e was victimized, humiliated, and undervalued. With all that anger bottled up, White recreated a new image for himself, as eisenberg.

With this new identity, he would become the merciless drug lord of his own powerful empire.

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Hubris ubris is probably the most important elements in both works. Both Oedipus and Walter White are smart, but they’re blinded by their conceit, which ultimately causes their downfalls.

Oedipus is full of egotism, saying things like, “ ere I am—myself—you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus.” e thinks he has outsmarted the gods by believing he has prevented the course of destiny. Blinded by hubris, Oedipus does not realize the fact that he’s already fallen for it. e also brags about his brains and his ability to solve the riddle of the Sphinx. It’s only towards the end of the play that Oedipus realizes that he has killed his father and commited incest with his mother. ow can one forget about Walter’s notorious tirade to Skyler? “I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? o. I am the one who knocks ” Walt flaunts his hoard of cash, refuses to accept help, barks orders at everyone else and has an insatiable thirst to harvest more money. In Breaking Bad’s finale, Walt finally admits that his drug activities gave him satisfaction and that he succumbed to hubris: “I did it for myself. I liked cooking meth. I was good at it.”

Fate Oedipus was always trying to set things as he prefered, like preventing the oracle’s predictions of his fate, saving his city and finding the murderer who killed the king. e initially tried to go against the oracle’s predictions by running away from his adopted parents it seemed like he was going against his destiny. But it turns out he screwed up because he ends up returning back to his biological parents, killing one of them, and sleeping with the other, flawlessly succumbing to his fate The same applies to Walt. e was trying to do the right thing to supply his wife and his children with the necessary funds to survive. Despite his atrocities, he tried to set things right, but that caused his own destruction. Initially, Walt was a meek chemistry teacher. owever, he soon becomes a monster and a machinator. It becomes obvious that this drug occupation suits him well, too well. The flash-forward in Season ive was clearly a use of dramatic irony. The audience was given a taste of Walt’s future and the ricin hidden behind the electrical outlet. This demonstrates how everything had already been determined o matter their attempted precautions, the characters could not escape their destiny.

entertainment

Category Is: Old Things “ an, that’s so old” ntertainment Team evin: Rocks Do you know how old rocks are? They’re pretty old, man.

Think about the oldest person you’ve ever met. ow think of the last rock you saw. That rock was way older than that person. Isn’t that mindblowing? I think it is. If you look around you, most of what you see is much older than you. nfathomably so. I think it’s quite beautiful—we humans come, live our futile existences and then go, and we think we’re all high and mighty. But we’re not, really. We have less than a century on this arth to enjoy. ocks have millions upon millions. I think they deserve more credit than we give them.

Felipe: Characters I’ve been thinking about something here that’s totally weird: have you ever thought how old some characters actually are? Think about it, Batman’s first comic came out in . If we consider he was in his, what, late ’s, by now he’s lemme do the math here for a sec over years? Seriously? Wait, then again he IS Batman so he’d still be kicking rear over years old. What about ario then? ario’s technically , right?

Though he looks about 3 in the first game. If I saw a -or-so man jumping that high, I’d say he’s on something. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty sure it’s shrooms.

MC: Your-mom. our-mom. That one person who no matter what others say, will always be at your side, complementing you for your achievements, reminding you of your unworldly beauty, and being the target of insults directed at you. specially if your-mom goes suburban wife from the ’s style, bringing breakfast in bed on your birthday with a huge smile and preparing yummy dinners on Tuesday nights, moms are the absolute best. long with our fixations for antiques, vintage, and s reminiscers, your-mom will never be too old. o matter if she is a soccer mom, a big-sister mom, a working mom, a PT mom, a trophy mom, a hippie mom, or a B birth control fail mom, yourmom deserves great recognition and respect. ave you thanked her and said “I love you” today?

fitting then when someone says “name something old,” urope comes to mind. When we think of classical things, almost all of them come from urope, be they music, art, or language.

There are, of course, some notable exceptions hina, esopotamia, and so on , but we nowadays consider classical or ancient has more often originated from urope. or instance, many humans are essentially uropean, regardless of place of birth. lthough we all are technically born on our respective continents, our mentalities and ideologies are usually derived from classic uropean notions or at the very least have traces of these uropean influences. Why does this matter? Well, other than recognizing this for the sake of it and reflecting on one’s thought-processing, it also kind of lends itself to creating some irony around the uropean financial crisis. I mean, urope used to be the center of the world in basically all aspects. ow, it’s merely that pretty touristy spot you go to for vacation that just so happens to be in between hina and the nited States.

Bella: Sliced Bread “The greatest thing since sliced bread.” This phrase is attributed to the invention of a loaf of bread. That’s been sliced. It’s actually an invention. Before man’s greatest creation, life on earth was difficult. People actually had to bake their own bread or buy them in entire loaves. They were forced to personally cut their bread, resulting in irregular, deformed shapes. Oh, woe was them Then came the hero of lazy people, r. Otto rederick ohwedder, who saved them from their bread-slicing misery. By , he created the perfected bread-slicing machine, put it into service by the hillicothe Bread ompany. To be honest, this guy was a marketing genius.

By reducing the awful workload people had when slicing bread, he had people eating thinner slices more often. By increasing the demand for bread, this propagated a new market for sandwich spreads, like peanut butter and jelly. So, thank you, r. ohwedder, for facilitating life and increasing obesity

Michael: Europe Whenever we learn about ancient cvilizations, many of them are within urope or at least in its proximity. rom reece to ome to acedonia, civilizations thrived for thousands of years on the continent we call “ urope.” It’s only

the talon • 33

entertainment

Talon Toon

We were close last time... elipe

arques

Monthly Update The ups and downs of September dam unt ertig

It’s the th edition Please feel free to submit congratulatory livestock to s.Pfeiffer’s office, or send an online slaughtergram to talon graded.br.

34 • the talon

ongrats to the Varsity soccer girls for making it to the finals. s for the other teams... points for effort.

S o Paulo, apparently going though its teenage phase, has decided to defy other arth and throw weather tantrums.

entertainment

Talon Tunes Yay! It’s back!

evin Shimba Bengtsson

I

t was dead for a few editions, but it’s back “Talon Tunes,” not to be mistaken with “Talon Toons,” is the section where your peers this time completed by some of our beloved alumni recommend songs for you all to check out. Trust me, this month’s choices are fantastic we really have a great taste in music here at raded. rom rapper Josbi to film composer ans immer, these selections won’t disappoint.

Kevin Bengtsson “Diamond ightning,” inus the Bear “This song is about a high-school acid trip,” declares vocalist Jake Snider before an acoustic performance of the song. I really have a thing for songs about high-school acid trips. Just kidding. But boy do I have a thing for this song. Despite lyrics about liquid concrete, tripping on constellations and diamond lightning what in the world is that? , it’s an incredibly moving song with a cascade of glistening guitars that make the listener feel like they’re floating in some colorful dreamy goo.

Nicole Vladimirschi “Down the oad,” ven though it is mainly instrumental, this song doesn’t cease to get me excited for any occasion. It blends B, electropop and hip-hop seamlessly. This rench quartet will musically hypnotize you, leaving you three and a half minutes later feeling transported to a blues-infested, pug-filled, sepia-tinted paradise.

Henrique Carneiro “ ush ife,” John oltrane I really like John oltrane’s recording of “ ush ife” because of the extremely lyrical tenor saxophone sound achieved, the deadly accurate timekeeping by all members of the group and the brilliant use of motifs by all players in their respective solos. oltrane also explores all harmonic nuances that are offered by the pianist c oy Tyner, and he adds his own touch to the chord changes, which also highlights the very rich musical communication of the players in this version of oltrane’s quintet. isten to it if you have the chance. ou won’t regret it.

Max Kang “One Day,” ans immer There are way too many good things to be said about ans immer. very single score he makes fits its respective movie perfectly, balancing beauty and epicness into one orchestral

perfection after the other. In “One Day,” written for the i te of the Caribbean soundtrack, the strings swell, the horns shout, the drums thunder, all to create an absolutely magnificent experience. It’s more than just a song it’s a journey that gives me shivers every time I listen to it and makes the movie so much better than it would be without it.

Carlo Krell “ ncharted,” Josbi Songs are like different types of food. I don’t have a favorite one. sually I associate songs with events or people, and, given today’s circumstances, the first song that came into my mind was Josbi’s “ ncharted.” ever heard of him? Well, he’s a student from J who has a lot of potential and has certainly gained my respect. This song not only has a good melody and catchy lyrics, but it also reminds me of relief and satisfaction because every time I finish something extremely time consuming and difficult, such as studying for a physics test or playing an important varsity game, I listen to it.

Annie Groth “Valerie,” my Winehouse my Winehouse’s voice is perfect for this soulful tune about a redhead named Valerie. The song is relaxing yet upbeat, with sudden changes in tone that only Winehouse knows how to do. isten to it, then press replay.

Ali Zamat “ old our ead p,” acklemore acklemore is pretty awesome. e will write a hilariously silly song about male nether regions and then follow that up with an extremely serious one, with a strong message. This is the latter. With a pretty sick instrumental and a nice, simple beat, acklemore raps about being positive and optimistic in the face of the hardships in life. It’s a great combo and makes a tune worth keeping on repeat.

Adam Hunt Fertig “The World Is Waiting or the Sunrise” This ballad was written in by ene ockhart and rnest Seitz, and has since spawned over one hundred covers. The melody is simple and the lyrics are short, but it’s got a charm that’s attracted musicians like es Paul, Willie elson and Benny oodman. Best listened to at while sitting on a roof.

the talon • 3

clawsure

“Graded” Voices nte net eo e e t to The Talon’s 100th edition Daniel lmeida

bet.com

Meredith Cohagan (Grade 11): “That’s what I’ve been trying to convince everyone for years ”

haltonparentsblog.ca

Kenneth McDannon (Graded 10): “ th edition? I can’t believe it’s happening It’s just like that gypsy woman said.”

news.softpedia.com

Lara Cooperton (Grade 9): “The Graded Gazette will sure have a run for their money now ” academiclearninglabs.com

presswire.dk

en e tfie d n i e tment): “Come to think about it, aren’t we all just 100th editions?”

Aaron Knipp (Grade 12): “The written word is back, baby ”

O

verheard at raded

In Math Teacher, in honor of r. Bair: 3. Does anyone know what that is?

Student: The fraction of people failing the course?

Teacher: The fraction of IB ath S seniors who think three to the third is nine.

W

e hope that you have enjoyed this and all of the past editions of the Talon. With its collection of articles written by raded’s artists and writers, the magazine harbors a rich history of our school. We’ve had a blast participating in the Talon and are honored to be the staff that had the opportunity th to celebrate its edition appy Birthday, Talon

MUN Chair Retreat (Rio) Student : Where’s the hrist?

Student : In your heart.

Discussing physics Student: ravity is just that awful thing that makes your boobs sag.

In Math Class Student, to teacher: “Do you know how to twerk?”

36 • the talon

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