Ed. 87 - Blank Slate

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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 2011-2012

About the Cover

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Andrea Estrada & Artur Renault LAYOUT EDITOR: Isabella Zevallos NEWS: Yana Ahlden (Editor), Courtney Villeneuve (Assistant Editor), Daniel Almeida, Mendel Schwarz FEATURES: Ho Jun Yang (Editor), Adam Hunt Fertig (Assistant Editor), Mariana Lepecki, Lucas Zuccolo ENTERTAINMENT: Julia Wu (Editor), Ines Gil (Assistant Editor), Kevin Bengtsson, Yasmin Della Nina SPORTS: Kyle Bissell (Editor), Kevin Wolfson (Assistant Editor), Andrea Ferreira, Rafa Rocha COLUMNISTS: Maria Alas, Carol Di Roberto, Julia Abreu BLOGGERS: Paty Kim & Camille Saliba PHOTOGRAPHER: Nicole Vladimirschi ▪ ▪ ▪

Don’t be alarmed—there was no printing error in Edition 87.

The theme of Blank Slate inspired us to give you a blank slate of your own. We made it as empty as possible here to give you freedom to ceate your own cover for this month’s Talon. Send us your creations at talon@graded.br, and we’ll put them on our blog, Talonline.

—Artur Renault

Looking Ahead The year ends earlier for The Talon as we say goodbye to seniors on the current staff with the (early May) publishing of next month’s Senior edition. We end the school year with a new staff. If you are interested in joining The Talon, applications were in last month’s Fail Edition 86. The deadline for all applications is Monday, 16 April, 16:00. Please follow the directions for what to do and how to do it. We look forward to reading your application pieces!

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?!

What do we mean by the last theme of the year? Keep reading, if you are interested in applying to join our staff (deadline is 16 April). Or not applying to the staff, but just submitting to the last magazine of the 2011-2012 school year (deadline is 7 May)—and even then you don’t have to write on this theme.

But keep reading to learn something new.

TEACHER ADVISORS: Josh Berg & Mary Pfeiffer PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE CONSULTANT: Maggie Moraes ▪ ▪ ▪ E-mail: talon@graded.br Blog: http://tal-on-line.blogspot.com

The phrase is a variation of the spoken game, Twenty Questions: One player is the answerer, choosing a subject but not revealing it to the other players, the questioners. Questioners take turns asking up to 20 questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” The phrase “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral” is from the Linnaean taxonomy of the natural world. In this version of Twenty Questions, the answerer explains at the start whether the subject belongs to the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. These categories may lead to humorous technicalities, such as a wooden chair being a vegetable (wood comes from trees), or a motorcycle jacket being both animal and mineral (leather from animal hide, and the zipper being metal).

We be green: Since August 2007, The Talon has been printed on recycled paper. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

editors-in-chief

Blank The hidden writing on your tabula rasa Artur Renault

T

he prospect of college is thrilling for many seniors because it means going to a new place. That excites us; we want this chance to start anew. It’s a whole new environment, maybe a whole new city and country. It’s a whole group of people whom we didn’t know before; they don’t have the preconceptions and expectations all our high school friends have.

You could even say it’s a blank slate, one with no writing on it, where we can start life from zero.

I don’t think so. You’re counting from where you left off.

The guy who is going to college next year is the same guy who goes to Graded now. He knows all the people Graded Guy knows from school. He spent as much time at Graded as Graded Guy. He has been shaped by the same experiences as Graded Guy. As much as he tries, he will always have a bit of Graded Guy inside him, because, in truth, College Guy wouldn’t be the same guy if it weren’t for Graded Guy. So as much as College Guy thinks he’s facing a brand new opportunity, his origins and past at Graded will always carry him.

People often think opportunities, events, are slates— some of which are blank. In that conception, we forget that the slates in our lives are always carved with the same styli: ourselves. That binds the writing on it to a certain shape. If my stylus is thin and sharp, try as I might I will be unable to make thick marks on my slate. So even if the slate is blank, I don’t have complete freedom to leave the mark I want to leave; inevitably, my mark will be shaped like the tip of my stylus.

I think a better metaphor is that we ourselves are slates. Our lives are chronicled on our slates, and every new experience adds some writing to them. It’s hard to erase past experiences. Even if we try to smudge the wax to erase some writing, we won’t be able to erase all of it, and the smudge marks will be clearly visible. In short, some form of our past will remain on our slates forever.

Think of The Great Gatsby. (Spoiler alert to all non-

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seniors) James Gatz is born in a lower class and spends his life trying to change his identity into the glamorous Jay Gatsby. He makes money, moves East, buys a giant mansion, and creates a new fame under his new name. In the end, however, we find that he was still James Gatz all along.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not change his identity.

Thus, we never really have a blank slate; we’re always doomed to our past since our personalities are shaped by it. Even when we are born and have no past, our slates are still not blank. artofthestate.co.uk Our lives are defined, to an extent, by our genes.

They determine some aspects of our personality and other important factors for the conditions in which we’ll live: genetic diseases, appearance, and so on. And at our births we are born to a certain family, with parents from a certain social class and a certain routine: that definitely changes the color and size of the slate we will write on.

But the knowledge of these limitations is a good thing.

Knowing that I can’t go back and completely change the things that define me stops me from wasting my time in trying. If I accept my past, I can learn from it and grow from it and make sure what I write on my slate in the future will be the best writing I can make with respect to all the previous things I have written.

So college will not be the blank slate I sometimes hope that it will be. I will still carry all the experiences I had while living in São Paulo. I’ll still be scarred by my traumas and I’ll still miss the good times. But I will have the lessons I learned from all my classmates, the experience of being locked in a room studying for a whole weekend, and the knowledge that I’ll always have a home with the people, places, and memories I lived with before I went off on my new adventure. And I’ll be fine, because while I know my boat is borne back ceaselessly into the past, I know the waters there, and I know I love and cherish them.

editors-in-chief

2020 HACIA Diplomatic Crisis Lessons learned in futuristic radicalism Andrea Estrada

T

here’s something liberating about the future. The present is so susceptible to our immediate actions that it ends up limiting us; it leaves us in fear of speaking up, of making decisions, of taking risks. But the future is so hypothetical and undefined that we can juggle it with ease; we can imagine ourselves speaking up, making decisions, taking risks with little to fear. Maybe it is only when we think of today as the future that we are able to move forward.

HACIA Democracy’s conference this year transported me to 2020, where I could be who I wanted to be without hesitating over saying the wrong thing or being ill-informed in politics. HACIA has handed me two significant challenges: representing Venezuela in a 2011 terrorism committee, and representing Cuba in a 2020 diplomatic crisis committee. Being a leftist country in HACIA Democracy was not an easy task for me. It requires letting go of my ideals and embracing a revolutionary, radical approach to any issue at hand.

Last year in Quito, Ecuador, I struggled as the delegate of Venezuela. I am not the kind of person who keeps up with current affairs, and despite my research, I knew I barely understood the intricacies of the issues presented in our committee. So who was I to speak up? Venezuela holds one of the most controversial position in today’s terrorist problems, being repeatedly accused of having affiliations with the Colombian FARC. I was well aware of this going into last year’s conference, but I was hesitant to take a fully radical stance because I did not feel confident about my country’s information. The conference passed: I enjoyed it and gained assurance as it progressed, but I still held myself back on most occasions because my primary concern was not embarrassing myself as one of the key players in terrorist political affairs.

But last month at the 2012 HACIA Summit in Panama City things were different for me. I remember being at the movies in January when I received an email informing me that this year I’d take part of HACIA’s new futuristic committee: Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs – 2020 (MCMFA). I was confused, unaware of what this committee entailed and frustrated at not getting Inter-American Children’s Institute, my top choice. Not to mention my committee’s topic was not posted until late February, a week before the actual conference. With almost no time to prepare and worried about missing a school week right before IB mock exams, I thought I was doomed to fail at this year’s conference.

In a nutshell, the problem we faced was the following: the Colombian president was kidnapped by the FARC, and Venezuelan government officials were accused of complicity with the FARC, using Iranian weapons. I was Cuba. According

to my bulletin (which outlined the hypothetical history of our committee’s member states from 2011 to 2020 on the date of our crisis), my country supported the FARC and Venezuela, was closely linked to Venezuela and Iran economically, and although it had liberalized its economy, it remained politically communist and against “American imperialism.”

I got to the conference fairly nervous, but just 20 minutes into the first committee session my fear ended. Something about senior year has allowed me to ease up when facing challenges—taking things slowly and with an open mind. I realized the delegate of Venezuela in my committee happened to be just like me in last year’s conference, afraid and easily giving in to democratic persuasions that did not abide by her country’s views. I was now in a future-looking committee, where no one could call me on false claims because we would be relying solely on the bulletin (which I’d read) and on new information our chairs gave us as the session progressed. Wanting to make the best of my last HACIA experience, I assumed the extremist role in my committee.

Instead of being silent and allowing Venezuela to be swayed by Colombia, the United States, and other “neutral” countries, I carried myself with an eagerness to kill the kidnapped president, acquire nuclear bombs from Iran, and declare war on the United States. By the end of the first day we’d enhanced the ALBA Bloc’s strength and were persistently challenging the American and Colombian allies. I’ve always argued HACIA’s not really my thing—I’m little aware of political affairs and public speaking is not my favorite hobby—but I must admit that going all out as Cuba was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in my highschool experience.

I finally understood that the three C’s (collaboration, compromise, and consensus) that the Graded HACIA program stresses do not mean participants must abide by democratic, peaceful settlings and weak stances. One could be Cuba, a leftist country, and still collaborate, compromise, and reach consensus. There is always something we have to be willing to let go of in a negotiation, in exchange for something else, but it takes the courage to ask for it bluntly and the courage to know when and what to let go of to achieve consensus. For me, really letting go of the fear of failure took being unprepared in MCMFA 2020. I lost my inhibitions, my concern with being ignorant about political affairs, and just put on a three-daylong radical act.

The fearlessness of partaking in a conference where I was not subject to judgement from the truths of today’s politics paid off, and it made me consider adopting a similar stance on the present. After all, the next second is the future.

the talon • 3

editors-in-chief

The Talon Top Ten Classes that should be offered at Graded Andrea Estrada & Artur Renault

T

ime Management: The biggest problem we face as Graded students seems to be lack of time. Our classes give us so much work that it takes skill to manage the week. That’s why we need time management class; where we’d learn not to join eight different activities, to control our addiction to social networks, and hone our abilities to finish our homework before bedtime.

Potions: Much of the Graded community is completely obsessed with Harry Potter. It’s hard to think of a course offering that would cause more excitement than Potions. And it would be incredibly useful: Polyjuice potion would enable students to skip class; Felix Felicis would allow everyone to get good grades; Veritaserum would make all of our love and social lives a lot easier. Plus, having Snape as a teacher would leave most female potterheads obsessed with the class.

9GAG: The most visited website during classes at Graded, surpassing Courseweb, Community Login, and (gasp!)

Facebook, is definitely 9GAG. The humor website has such a vast collection of memes, funny images, and inside jokes that we almost need a whole class to truly understand the intricacies of its content. For example, where did Y U NO guy come from? And on what occasion did Yao Ming make his famous laughing face? And how can we know if Conspiracy Keanu’s theories are true? This class could teach us not only content, but skills such as navigating the website with only the J, K, and L keys.

More IB Classes: Philosophy, Psychology, Information Technology, Design Technology, Computer Science, Dance.

All these IB classes (and many more) actually exist. So why aren’t they offered at Graded? Why are we stuck with History, Physics, and Bio? A bigger variety of courses would make students more enthusiastic about the IB—it would feel less like an obligation.

Physics for Poets: We all know Physics classes are probably the toughest offered at Graded, and while there’s Core Physics, it’s just not quite at the “poet” level. Those poor poets that can only think in similes and rhymes, imagery and synesthesia—why can’t they learn physics in a way they can understand? Our school is full of poets that need to know some basic physics in life, but they all choose biology because the physics deal is just not doable. Why can’t they be taught the simplest physics rules, perhaps in similes and rhymes?

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Beach Volleyball: It gets pretty hot at Graded during the summer, and we’re all sick of the same old variety of sports we have at Graded. Beach volleyball would be a great break from standard sports, would constitute a great opportunity for high schoolers to perform some extra physical exercise, and would actually justify the existence of the beach volleyball court that lies next to the tennis courts but is never actually used (at least not for beach volleyball).

Naptime: If there is any class lacking in the Graded curriculum, it is Naptime. How is that a class? Well, we would learn the art of internalizing knowledge. All information acquired in our other subject areas would better sink into our brains in our sleep, and we’d be rested and energetic enough to attend the rest of our classes. Don’t they say it is better to have a good night’s sleep than stay up all night studying? Naptime would be the solution to the Graded student’s struggle against this issue. Plus, the lower school gets naptime and it seems to work fairly well for them. Let us follow the example.

Cooking: The whole point of getting an education is to be prepared to face the adult world in order to survive in this competitive environment. It seems only logical that we start with the most basic survival skill—cooking. Graded could provide us with fun and useful cooking lessons. From scrambled eggs to eggs Benedict, from a simple steak to boeuf bourguignon, Boys and girls alike could become capable chefs ready to survive and impress in our adult kitchen lives.

Swimming: Yes. We shall not surrender. Graded students have been requesting a pool for decades, and it is only reasonable in this tropical city. There are several proficient swimmers in our school, and surely many lost souls who simply do not know swimming is their thing because they’ve never had the chance to try it. It would be nice to get refreshed every once in a while, and it would give athletes a bigger scope to choose form Synchronized Swimming: While we’re on the whole “getting a pool” deal, why not offer synchronized swimming classes?

What more unusual form of dance could one find? Students would definitely attend more athletic events to cheer if a group of lovely girls was given the opportunity to create a synchronized swimming team—or a group of lovely boys, for that matter.

point-of-view

The Moodie Foodie Speechless in the city Carolina di Roberto

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uring my last Carnaval as a high school student—or perhaps ever—I was transformed. One of my dreams finally came true. I was lucky enough to go to beautiful New York for a week to visit my equally beautiful sister.

We spent a week going to the some of the best restaurants in New York. We went to Popover Café, or in other words, an omelet and popover heaven. And did I mention I had a s’mores and peanut butter hot chocolate? I’m a huge breakfast person, so we indulged in eggs, bacon, coffee, and breakfast paradises.

Other than Popover Café, we went to a new brunch place called Norma’s. It’s been rated one of the best breakfast places in the city, competing against the very well-known Sarabeth’s. At Norma’s, I didn’t just have breakfast. I had a breakfast of champions. I started out with a smoothie shot (no alcohol included), and went on to freshly squeezed orange juice and Colombian coffee. At that point, they bring in the menu. My family and I spent about 20 minutes picking what we wanted; I went with the “crunchy French toast.” Norma’s isn’t, at any point, fast service. It took around 40 minutes to prepare our food; meanwhile we watched gigantic concoctions slide by us. After the torturous wait, our food arrived. No, not food. FOOD. We should have shared, because quite honestly, I only had about half a slice of French toast. Nonetheless, it was impossibly flavorful. Drenched in Rice Krispies and maple syrup, I simply could not ask for more.

But let me move on to my big day.

A couple weeks before going to New York, my sister called me during dinner to deliver some amazing news: she had gotten tickets for The Chew.

For those of you that don’t know this show (shame on you), it’s both a talk show and a cooking show. But it doesn’t stop there. The show has five hosts: Clinton Kelly, Carla Hall, Daphne Oz, Mario Batali, and Michael Symon.

Let me briefly explain these gods and goddesses: Clinton Kelly hosts a show called

“What Not to Wear,” a makeover show; Carla Hall won Top Chef—enough said; Daphne Oz is Dr. Oz’s daughter, a young health-conscious chef; Mario Batali is the American god of Italian cuisine—not only is he an Iron Chef, but he also has his own line of cooking materials and supplies; and Michael Symon, an Iron Chef who loves the idea of chili dogs drenched in hot sauce—just the way I like it.

On the morning of February 23, I was ready to meet my inspirations, some of the chefs I look up to most because they created empires around what they love to do.

When we got to ABC Studios, there was a sign with “The Chew Audience,” and a rope line to hold us in place. We were the first ones there, since we showed up around 2 hours early. We waited. I sprinted to buy my sister’s favorite cookie at Levain Bakery. Then we waited. And we waited more. Around 20 minutes before the doors would supposedly open, we heard a storm of sighs and claps coming from behind us. Carla Hall and Daphne Oz were walking down the line, greeting their audience. As they kept walking, Daphne stopped, turned around, and said to my sister: “First ones in line. I like it.”

We had half a heart attack.

As soon as we went inside, we went to our designated seats. However, they were not the ones we were hoping to get—we wanted the tasting table seats. My sister pleaded until we finally got them, at which point I broke down.

From that moment until the end of the show, I was in awe. Throughout the show, I had Mario Batali physically feed me truffled Mac and Cheese, Michael Symon smile and greet me, and Daphne Oz ask me if I liked the show.

I left the show inspired, toting three bags filled with BlowPro and Clinique goodies, as well as small chocolate statue covered in gold, and a small heart shaped necklace.

I wouldn’t have been able to have the best day of my life without my sister. She planned and planned and planned—all so that I could have everything I ever wanted. So this one goes lalarudge.com.br out to you, Cassia.

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point-of-view

What It All Comes Down To The self-interested phoniness of teenagers

Julia Abreu

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ometimes, we look back on what we could have done differently, but then everyone tells us to look forward because life goes on. If we’re all really born as “blank slates,” then we’re supposed to learn from our experiences and from our environment. But do we really? It is especially true that teenagers clearly don’t. What’s worse is that no matter how hard we try to learn from mistakes, our own minds tell us the contrary.

We spend so much time on Tumblr, StumbleUpon, and 9gag, just scrolling through all these “meaningful” quotes about love, friendship, and about ourselves. We read them passionately and embrace them all of a sudden, falsely believing that the quotes have the magic power to change our lives. So we share them with our friends or post them on our Facebook walls just so that one person to whom the quote is directed will see it. The reality of the teenage world we find ourselves in is of lies and phonies. I’m not saying that all teens are phonies, but many certainly are living in such an environment. Living as an adolescent in today’s world causes us to become hypnotized by a world of technology and futility—we become victims of a cycle that influences us to draw conclusions not from our own brains but the influence others.

Even our best friends, whom we think we can count on in this phony environment, will back off when their own interests come in play. Some of us are lucky to have those friends we know will be there to help and want nothing in return; some of us don’t really connect that well to people outside our family; and some of us may think we have a friend’s trust but truly don’t. Whichever describes you, the final decisions are always based on your personal interest. For example, the most drama-causing teenage issue is dating. Teens viciously mark their territory on the ones they like or once dated, and decide to hate on anyone else who may be interested in that same person. Girls and boys follow this dating code, which states they can’t date their friends’ former boyfriends and girlfriends,

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without even really understanding why. So when someone finally decides to take a step or fall in love with someone “off limits” everyone else will judge and deem that person selfish and even call her the “B” word. What I don’t understand is why we can’t go after what we truly want just because someone else is trying to protect their pride and their territory.

Truth is, no one belongs to anyone else. We should be citypages.com allowed to use our wishes for our benefit, as long as it doesn’t cause unnecessary pain to someone else. But I know how hard it is to do so, and how much time we waste trying to please someone else even if they don’t deserve it.

And to top off all the inconveniences of being a teenager, we still have to keep up our appearances. And by appearances I don’t mean just how good we look, but even school-related appearances. Here at Graded, for example, how many of us really care deeply about all the community service activities we hurry to join? How many of us really work our heads off to truly be experts on different subjects rather than get good grades? How many of us donate or support different causes because we sincerely care about them? Again, it may not be the case for many of us, but it is a reality we live with: the better off we are in the eyes of others, the better we feel.

Sadly, we study in front of a huge favela, but our main concern is getting past it safely and knowing that on the weekends, we’ll have the opportunity to go have dinner at a nice sushi place or go out to the mall and be able to buy stuff to compensate for all the school work we think of as “harsh.”

We’re not “blank slates;” we are all born with our own interests. It just depends how each one of us decide to carry ourselves. However, the dangers of self-interest and personal gain are so large that they cause the reverse theory of the blank slate. We end up degrading ourselves to such shallowness that it seems we’re becoming blank slates, where phoniness and futility tend to prevail.

point-of-view

The Dangers of Blank Slate

If Chris Brown got a do-over, what ensures Joseph Kony won’t?

Maria Alas

T

he viral spread of KONY 2012 has shown us the appalling crimes of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, which some would say suggested that crimes must be trending on Twitter for victims to get support.

Three years ago, the Western world got the news that Chris Brown had allegedly beaten up Rihanna in his car around the time of the Grammy Awards. Photographs of Rihanna’s swollen face and detailed disclosures of the incident spread in the news faster than anyone could make sense of them. Shock soon led to criticism, and it seemed Rihanna, and women who have been abused by their partners, had the world behind them.

A few months ago, Chris Brown stunned the world with three stellar performances at the Grammys, singing tunes that had been playing on millions of iPods during the months reaching up to that night. The performances were praised by the media, other celebrities, and just about everyone else. Only a few were left asking the question, did we forget that Brown had committed a violent crime just three years before? The answer to that was clear, Chris Brown fans were waking up, listening to “Beautiful People,” and Rihanna’s bruised face was not crossing their minds. Why? A most obvious answer is Chris Brown’s talent. The world loves music, and it is a lucrative industry. Songs are released all the time, and we hear them absolutely everywhere, whether on the radio on our way to school, the store we’re shopping at, at a balada, or being hummed by our friend in the hallway. Ignoring “Beautiful People” and “International Love” is not easy, but that’s simply because his RCA record tested us by releasing “I Can Transform Ya” and “Crawl” the year after the beating and both songs made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The industry kept feeding Chris Brown songs and, while some saw the dangers of an unhealthy desire, no one ignored them.

Brown’s voice and moves are contagious, and I’m the first to admit I wish he had better control of his anger so I could play his songs without feeling soiled by something hinting at guilt.

I believe many have felt discomfort when Brown disrespects women, like in “Deuces” when he says “I got a new chick, and she ain’t you,” because we are aware his disrespect travels from his lyrics to real life. But when the victim forgives her perpetrator it seems to make it okay to keep hearing his songs.

Talk of Brown and Rihanna seeming to get back together is all over headlines in the US, and her upcoming song “Birthday Cake” features her abuser, while his song “Turn in Up” will most likely feature his victim. Supposedly, an upcoming performance in Australia will reunite both singers in the Supafest, which may shock millions of people by making them recognize—for a slight second—the irony of the situation, but then these people will return to enjoying the talents of both entertainers. This selective judgement does not mean we do not lack a moral compass, but in the words of Dr. Reef Karim, an addiction doctor, “events need entertainment, and the entertainment trumps morality sometimes.” We need to look twice at what entertains us, and whether it aligns with our moral codes or what we want to represent. Simply because Rihanna seems to lack singers to perform blogspot.com with (which she doesn’t), common sense and self-respect, doesn’t mean we should. When did feeding our music obsession become more important than representing what we think is right? Yet instead of dwelling on where we went wrong, we should dwell on whether listening to “Birthday Cake” is important enough for us to forget the reality of Brown’s character.

Months after the incident, news of other offenses began infiltrating newsstands, web pages, and our minds; pity for Rihanna might have been there, but the slot for “villain” had quickly been taken by someone else. Three years later, someone that had been portrayed by the media as a monster had become, once again, one of the most successful singers in the world. Praise of his performances showed the majority of us had tucked Brown’s “ugly side” away, jokes about the incident proved the intensity of it had diminished in our minds, and those who had condemned it demonstrated the ease of forgetting crimes.

Joseph Kony will never be a lead performer at the Grammys, and yet forgetfulness can lead to absolution, as with Brown. The 2,600 civilian deaths will never be forgiven, but diminishing the struggle against the Lord’s Resistance Army will mirror a Western forgetfulness of the horrors in Uganda. The world cannot morally afford short-lived viral spreads of videos that highlight evil, because all that shows is our short-lived humanity.

the talon • 7

news

Facebook & Instagram Nothing could go wrong. Right?

Daniel Almeida

I

f you are, or have friends that consider themselves, “hip,” (and I can’t believe you use that word to describe yourself) then you’ve probably heard about Facebook buying Instagram.

If not, you might find yourself asking millions of questions on why the Tech world has been shaken up by Facebook’s offer. On the surface, this seems jusa like another boring news story; companies buy each other all the time right? Yet, this time it’s a whole loe different than you could’ve imagined.

Before we jump in, let’s take a look at Instagram. Just last year, Instagram became the main back channel where people got the change to document the minutiae of their lives. At any moment, people could tune into a raw, dizzying feed of images chronicling what their friends were making for dinner, the books they were reading, even a view of their lazy Sunday afternoon spent on a hammock. Blurry shots from a pulsing dance floor at 3 in the morning could be shared to your ever so jealous friends— and that was the entire point of the service. Instagram was an outlet for all the content that increasingly dis not feel suited for Facebook or Twitter, which at this poinw feel like the most public of all of our online hubs.

Instagram gave its users a sense of privacy and intimacy, separatg from the rest of their online lives. Yet, the sale of Instagram brought a harsh reality into focus, the realization that the secret rooms or private spaces online where we can share things and hang out with our friends are fading. That the few safe havens that do exist are quickly being encroached upon or are next on the shopping list for a company like Google, Apple or Facebook. What we are left with area few alternatives, which are still toddlers in the industry. (Diaspora anyone?)

What really happened on the 2nd of April was the dawning of the realization that Facebook -- no longer a hearty little startup but a 3,000-person corporation with $3.9 billion in cash and an $85 billion to $100 billion valuation – started acting like a Tech giant and spent $1 billion to gobble up a much-smaller competitor, the photo-sharing app, Instagram. Yet, in their doing so, they stirred up a caldron of hate that the “Internet people” have been harboring towards Mark Zuckerberg’s once-cool company.

What sparked all this hate? As Instagram users, who went on Twitter to vent about their feelings, say: “I wanted to post pictures, not fuel your data collection system @zuck.” An especially vitriolic comment written by another user, further voices their

anguish: “Stick to being overlord of Facebook. We don’t want you on Instagram.” Even though some applauded the Instagram founders on Twitter for successfully selling the company, others said they would quit Instagram, just as they had Facebook in the past, worried about how “Facebook didn’t buy Instagram, it bought us.”

On the other hand, for some, Facebook buying Instagram for the whopping, unprecedented one billion dollars signifies a new era for mobile apps. In that context, the Instagram deal looks like something of a turning point, as even the Web giant Facebook tries to get a better grasp on a market that requires a rethinking of old rules.

For d e cad es, “ t he ce nt e r of computing has been the desktop, and software was modeled after the experience of using a typewriter,” said Georg Petschnigg, a former Microsoft employee who is one of the creators of Paper, a new sketchbook app for the iPad. “But technology is now more intimate and pervasive than that. We have it cnn.com with us all the time, and we have to reimagine innovative new interfaces and experiences around that.” In other words, people want to post a photograph of themselves right from the sun-drenched beach in Rio, rather than waiting until they are back home to upload all 50 pictures onto Facebook.

Yet, at the end of the day, Instagram users are just fussing over a few trivialities of the matter. Much like the question “animal, vegetable or mineral (?),” in the game Twenty Questions, where a leather jacket could be qualified as animal and vegetable, Instagram users are fretting over a few technicalities of Facebook’s actions, such as claiming Facebook is taking advantage of Instagram’s 30 million users for data collection. Yet, we need to remember that Facebook is no longer that little start up, it’s beginning to become a Tech giant, and we need to accept that these things happen.

Instagram users need to quit whining and accept that this is the way the industry works; “rage-quitting” Instagram just because of Facebook won’t solve your problems. Act on your frustrations; go out there, join a new startup, explore the web, or create another company, which, eventually, a larger Tech giant may buy for a nice little billion dollars (Hooray for Capitalism).

Sources used: cnn.com & twitter.com

the talon • 9

news

Animal Behavior Reality TV stars are acting on their instincts Andrea Ferreira

O

ne of the most memorable scenes in the movie Mean Girls is when Cady is at the water fountain in the mall and she compares her classmates’ behavior to that of the watering holes in Africa. However, the best depiction of humans acting like animals is not found on the silver screen, but on reality television. I will be the first to admit that after a hard day, the latest brainless episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians never fails to make me feel a little better, or at least relieve some stress. Usually the antics on reality TV shows are so farfetched that the very shows that pride themselves on being one hundred percent “real,” come off as scripted, with characters so anxious to have the camera’s attention that they will often become self-destructive or obnoxious in order to become tomorrow’s headline.

All of the key elements of a typical MTV reality show, for example The Hills or Jersey Shore, look like they could come straight from the wild. Frequently, these shows feature cheating scandals, scarily similar to the conduct of the bonobo monkeys, who mate with virtually every other primate in their tribe, as a way to diminish social tensions. Almost identical to the hoops, through which contestants have the jump through on The Bachelor or its female counterpart, is the competition that happens between organisms in intrasexual selection, where two males of the same species will compete for the attention of a female (or vice versa, though this rarely happens).

In this type of competition the largest males—those that are physically stronger—will always outmuscle the others to win.

However in this case, the smaller males (much like a specie of red deer) will sneak in while the larger males are fighting and steal the female away.

And as any faithful follower of Big Brother (from whichever country) knows, a reality show is just not complete without some juicy drama—usually stemming from contestants gossiping or talking badly about another contestant behind his or her back. Gossip in this form is more prone to be generated by the girls, though by the end of the show all contestants would’ve taken part at some point. While animals obviously do not speak as humans do, it has been proven that they do communicate amongst one another. After several intensive studies, British psychologist Robin Dunbar discovered that chimpanzees would gossip when grooming one another,

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using body language or different brushing patterns to talk about other chimps.

Yet, perhaps the best example of reality show contestants’ primal behavior is found in shows such as Survivor, where contestants are pulled from civilization and dropped on some excluded island or dense forest, in a real life Hunger Games nightmare. The strategies used here directly correlate to how animals deal with competition in the wild. In interference competition, animals in the wild will choose to fight directly in order to gain their limited resources. Another strategy is apparent competition, when two or more species in a particular area that are lower in the food chain will gang up on their predator or the strongest competitor (often times a common enemy) in order to survive.

This is perhaps the most used move by contestants playing in a Survivor- esque game, providing the perfectly intense scenario that audiences love. These alliances, usually spur of the moment or having last minute additions, are used to create tensions leading up to the elimination. Come elimination time and viewers are sitting at the edge of their seats in anticipation, sometimes mtv.com even surprised with the outcome. The final type of competition is a scramble competition, which can be considered the most humane out of all of the types of competitions, when species will divvy up limited resources so that all have something but none have enough. Apply this strategy to the reality TV context and the outcome is a “boring” season that gains poor ratings.

The genre of reality TV has been on the rise ever since the beginning of the new millennium. Nowadays, whenever I want to, all it takes is the flip of the channel, and I can always find one of these shows to watch. These shows are rapidly increasing, so much so that reality television is on as often as the news. It’s funny to think that the success of these shows usually comes from how crazy the contestants’ act, this behavior usually referred to as “behaving like animals.” Now, when tuning into your favorite shows of this genre, go ahead and laugh picturing these reality stars as their animal counterpart.

Sources used:rps.psu.edu, psychologytoday.com, nytimes. com

news

I Am You

The issues behind cloning animals Annie Groth

F

ifteen years ago on a warm July night, scientists were ecstatic about the birth of a lamb: Dolly Parton. Amazingly, Dolly was no different than any other sheep being born that summer. In fact, she was identical to one of them. Dolly, her life a result of an experiment, was the world’s first-ever successful clone made from an adult cell. But how exactly does cloning work and what became of this intriguing lamb? Most importantly, what would happen if we cloned humans?

Dolly’s greatest appeal was her origin: she was made from an adult cell and not an embryotic one. Mammalian cloning is a process that involves at least three animals, hundreds of eggs, hundreds of more mature cells and not a single sperm.

The key challenge is to undo the development of an adult cell and to reprogram its genetic blueprint, which would alter the entire organism. The problem is that adult cells already have a fixed genetic composition to preform a certain task, for example in Dolly’s case, her adult cell was a mammary cell. Then, scientists must somehow trick this mature, fully developed cell into resetting its genetic clock so it can become an embryo cell. The process in which this is obtained is called nuclear transfer: the nucleus from an egg is replaced with the nucleus of an adult cell and electrically fused. Then, the hybrid cell is chemically activated to divide like an embryo. This process is very intricate, and so are its outcomes of success.

Yet, Dolly managed to beat the odds. Only 2% to 5% of the cells that go through this entire process manage to become live animals once they are eggs. It took scientists no more than 277 cloning attempts to make Dolly. What is even more impressive than being born alive was the fact Dolly was nearly perfect.

Most cloned animals develop a deficit called the large-offspring syndrome. In essence, these animals are born much larger than other animals. This can later cause breathing problems for them and premature death. Some scientists have also reported animals with incomplete body walls being formed around the abdomen and abnormalities in the development of kidneys and brain. “I call it a lottery,” says Ian Wilmut, the embryologist who led Dolly’s team of scientists. “Even if you use the same method as consistently as you can, you may get some clones with severe abnormalities and some that have only minor ones.”

In Dolly’s case, she only had two minor health problems. She developed a premature case of arthritis (inflammation of the

joints) and had shortened telomeres (bits of DNA) in her cells.

Telomeres sit at the end of chromosomes and basically serve as a biological clock. The shorter they are, the older the animal tends to be. Scientists still don’t know if this would necessarily affect Dolly as an adult; unfortunately she had to be put down.

Dolly died in 2003 from lung cancer, which was believed to have developed from a viral infection common to sheep. Other than that, an autopsy revealed she was perfectly healthy.

The issue with cloning is that the probability of making a successful clone is extremely small and those chances are even slimmer for humans. Other than sheep, scientists have cloned 10 other mammals: cows, goats, pigs, rats, mice, rabbits, cats, dogs, mules, and even horses. Notice, however, the absence of primates. One of the most accepted explanations is that the molecular make up of primate eggs is prone to deficiencies when cloned.

Since humans are similar to monkeys in various ways, scientists would first need to be able to master the cloning of primates. The other issue is of course, the great probability of the clone being born with various abnormalities. “I think Hannah Robar we cannot make human reproductive cloning safe,” said Rudolf Jaenisch, a geneticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “And it’s not a technological issue. It’s a biological barrier. The pattern of methylation of a normal embryo cannot be re-created consistently in cloning.”

In other words, cloning is an exact process but its success is based on trial and error. In order for one human to be cloned, this would mean hundreds of others might be born with deficits in the process.

Although Dolly the lamb was a huge advance in the study of cloning, science is not prepared yet to clone humans safely. Delicate processes, small probabilities, very common abnormalities, and of course the ethical issue, all prevent us from having an identical other. All clones are a true phenomenon, but at least for now, humans will not be a part of that exception. But who knows? Maybe one day scientists will be able to present us a clone of Dolly Parton, the human.

Sources: time.com, news.bbc.co.uk, usatoday.com

the talon • 11

news

Social Networking: From chatting to your friends Kony, the Arab Spring and other phenomena Paula Schulman In March 2012, a nonprofit advocacy organization Invisible Children, produced a video named “Kony”, which became a viral spectacle in less than 24 hours. In six days, the video reached 100 million views, the majority from teenagers in North America, making it the fastest campaign to achieve this milestone in so little time.

The video, narrated by Jason Russell, tells the story of Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord who, for the past 26 years, has been abducting children for the creation of his army the L.R.A, or Lord’s Resistance Army. He forces boys to become child soldiers and kill their own parents, and girls to be sex slaves. The best way to stop Kony, says Russell, is to “make him famous.” The goal of the video was to make Joseph Kony a household name, such as other notorious villains of the past Adolf Hitler or Osama Bin Laden. That way, people all over the world would know what Kony has done and would be determined to stop him. This would also supposedly get the attention of the US government, who would in turn send military personnel to search for, and stop, Kony in Africa. In no more than two days, the video received almost 10 million views on Youtube, and Kony was most definitely made famous. People worldwide were sharing the video, posting about the cause, putting up pictures, making their own videos, and using the tag #stopkony on all kinds of social networks. The video also encouraged people all over the world to purchase an “action kit” containing Kony bracelets, posters and badges for a price of thirty dollars.

But with all the extreme publicity, there came many controversies. People began to say that the whole story about Kony was merely a scam to make money, and that it was just another monumental fraud. The Invisible Children organization received criticism for the fact that only 32% of their profit went to directly helping victims. To this, the corporation responded by saying that, although assisting the victims is a big part of their actions, it is also crucial that they publicize the issue, urge citizens to encourage their governments’ involvement in the effort of prosecuting to become involved, and to prosecute Kony.

However, the spending is not the only controversy that has arisen since the video was posted. There are allegations that Invisible Children collaborators are spies for the Ugandan government, giving them names of people who are against the regime. In addition, Jason Russell, the co-founder of the organization and creator of the video, was arrested a week after the video went viral, for allegedly being naked and committing vulgar acts publicly in San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood.

Both Invisible Children and Russell’s wife confirm that he is

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undergoing medical care, and that this should not distract from the world-changing movement he has begun.

The idea of political and social activism happening through the influence of the Internet and other technologies has been around for a few years. A notable example is the impact of the Internet in the successful revolutions in the Middle East, such as in Tunisia and Egypt, known as the Arab Spring. Western countries have mostly supported the spread of democracy in this region, and a lot of attention has been given to how social networking played a big role in the political changes in those countries. Not only did digital technology tools bring groups fighting for the same cause together, it also promoted the spread of information, through the sharing of pictures, communication with mobile phones, and getting information from television.

Interacting with social networks provided the protesters with more efficient ways to organize themselves, communicate with each other and get information on how to fight the security forces; all of which made the protesting groups much stronger against their governments. In both cases, the governments were unhappy about information on the violence they used to contain the revolutions getting out to the entire world through social networking sites so they tried to block them.

This resulted in protesting groups acquiring more followers and protesting more, eventually leading to both governments falling.

The use of social networks has been groundbreaking, changing the world as we know it, and is here to stay. The Internet has been instrumental in bringing the entire world closer together, which can be either positive or negative. In our world today we live in an “Information Age”, meaning that even individuals who are not in a position of power have the capacity to spread messages (whether they are true or not) throughout the entire world. Because any person has the ability to share his or her opinion to virtually the entire population, many controversies arise with it. While the Internet can cause events such as the Arab Spring, in which a political revolution succeeded, it can also result in frauds. One thing we know for sure: the internet gives enormous powers to anyone who is determined to use it, and it is up to our generation to understand and use it well.

Spurces: spyghana.com, csmonitor.com, operamundi.uol.com. br, newint.org, startribune.com, telegraph.co.uk, huffingtonpost.com

features

Preparing for a Second Chance Comparing American and Norwegian prison systems

Ho Jun Yang veryone loves a story of redemption. Even in popular media, films such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Groundhog Day, Man on Fire, Shawshank Redemption and various others have one element in common—the protagonist overcoming a character flaw and displaying what his society considers to be laudable. This is indeed an appealing pattern to audiences as it embraces people’s mistakes, reassuring us that imperfection is a natural aspect of being human. Isn’t it comforting to be given a fresh start? Second chances allow people to change their attitudes and don a more socially acceptable character, whether that be correcting small flaws or completely restructuring their personalities.

This is the mentality that the current legislative systems in most parts of the Western world focus on. Although there is a retribution element of the system that tries to punish crime-doers as a consequence of their crime, the primary aim of the justice system is making society safer. A safer society means that criminals are put into a jail system that corrects the bad elements of their character, preparing them to be productive members of society again. They are given a second chance. But how effective is the legal system in preparing these people for their second chance?

A review of empirical studies prepared and written by Lin Song, a contributor of Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP), and Roxanne Lieb, the Associate director of WSIPP, illustrates that perhaps the second chance isn’t being used for what society intended. In their report, Song and Lieb reviewed studies connected to three major questions about recidivism, hte tendency to relapse into criminal behavior.

1) Does incarceration reduce recidivism? 2) Does length of sentence affect recidivism? 3) Does early release affect recidivism?

According to an evaluation studies, Song and Lieb concluded that the “effects of incarceration and the length of time served on recidivism are perhaps offender-specific.”

However, incarceration seems to be less effective than probation in reducing recidivism, and, in general, longer sentences either had a negative effect or had no effect at all on the criminal’s tendency to relapse into criminality. Furthermore, early release seemed to have no effects on recidivism. Other data, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), indicates that recidivism rates are pretty high. In a 15 state study in the US, “over two-thirds of released prisoners were rearrested within three years.” Moreover, it was possible to observe an increase in the percentage of recidivism amongst released prisoners from 1983 to 1994. Thus, Lieb and Song’s assessment and the BJS’ data suggests that the Western legal system (specifically the

US’, in this case) isn’t achieving its desired results. Perhaps an alternative is necessary.

Halfway across the world, prisoners in Norway enjoy a bright blue morning sky on the green island of Bastoy. According to Mail Online, the prisoners “spend their days happily winding around the network of paths that snake through the pine forests, or swimming and fishing along the five miles of pebble beaches, or playing on the tennis courts and football pitch; and recuperating later on sunbeds and in a sauna, a cinema room, a band rehearsal room and expansive library.” Anyone who was unaware of the true identity of Bastoy would assume it to be like any normal residential area and this makes it anathema to most Westerners, who believe that retribution is an integral part of a criminal’s sentence. In Bastoy, the prisoners have a schedule which allows for them to have a job during their stay at the island prison. The options range from farming animals and crops all the way to mechanics to rubbish collecting. Furthermore, the prisoners prepare their own meals and sustain Bastoy as one of the first “self-sustaining ecological prisons.”

The focus of Bastoy is to provide the prisoners with a means to continue living their lives as productive members of society while appealing to their humanity so that they won’t commit any more crimes. Perhaps the two most surprising aspects of Bastoy are that it is actually cheaper than a conventional Norwegian prison and the recidivism rate of its prisoners is only 16%, by far the lowest in all of Europe.

A quick comparison of the two systems then suggests that the more effective option is the controversial experiment started in Bastoy. Moreover, Norway prohibits capital punishment and a prisoner’s maximum sentence can only be 21 years. This may provide the incentive to rehabilitate the prisoners more than punish them. Despite how morally objectionable this idea may sound at first, perhaps this is the new alternative most suitable for preparing criminals for a second life.

Sources used in this article: wa.gov; dailymail.co.uk; usdoj.gov dailymail.co.uk

E

the talon • 13

features

The Myth of Creativity

The flawed concept of originality and spontaneous creation Lucas Zuccolo

I

f I were to ask what traits are most important in a musician, or a writer, or maybe a painter, one of the most consistent answers would be creativity. In order to create something—be it a song, a novel, or a painting—it is generally accepted that originality plays a big role in the quality of the final product.

But how creative are we, really? How good is humanity at coming up with something absolutely, undisputedly new? Pretty bad, I’d say.

Let’s start with storytelling, be it in the form of movies or books. The sheer number of stories humanity has come up with might give the impression that people are adept at coming up with creative, original ideas. But that is a very shallow observation. We’re doubtlessly very prolific in our writings, and have pumped out many, many tales and stories, but there’s always the question of creativity. How many of those stories are truly unique, new, original?

The Monomyth, or the Hero’s Journey, was a concept exposed by Joseph Campbell in his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. It describes a general structure for a narrative to follow, originally extracted from studying different mythologies. Throughout the years, however, it has also been compared to an astounding number of modern stories, often fitting perfectly with some minor adaptations. One great example of such is the original Star Wars movie; praised for its originality and creativity, George Lucas has openly discussed the fact that it was deliberately based on Campbell’s Monomyth.

Music is another area in which creations with little originality are a common sight. This is made especially famous (or infamous) by the ferocity of music companies in intellectual property disputes. Whether the plethora of lawsuits is reasonable and justified is another topic for debate, but it is undeniable that in the music industry there is much copying with little change.

Needless to say, there are numerous other examples of literary and artistic lack of creativity, but for the sake of brevity, those will be left outside the scope of this article. Let’s move on, then to other spheres of human knowledge, such as science and technology.

Take, for example, the Macintosh. Its first and foremost claim to fame was the innovative graphical user interface (GUI), as opposed to the cumbersome console-based command systems, or even the older models which relied exclusively on

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blinking lights to provide output to the user. This new system was obviously intuitively easier to use, leading to much of the Mac’s success. The feature was so prominent, in fact, that Apple later sued Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard for utilizing GUIs, claiming copyright infringement, though Apple lost the case.

What is often left out, however, is that Apple was not in fact the first computer to utilize a GUI. It was first created

by Xerox, with the Alto computer, and later the Star, which predated the Mac by three years.

Another example in the field of technology is the telephone. When asked about its inventor, most people will reply without hesitation that it was created by Alexander Graham Bell. While it is true that his research led up to him patenting it, and that his company was responsible for much of the initial commercial success of the telephone, what most people don’t know is that the same day that Bell filed a patent for the telephoned, a man named Elisha Gray also filed a patent (or rather, a patent caveat) for the same invention. Bell won the legal argument, however, and was given the patent, which is why he is officially credited as the sole inventor.

Historical examples are quick to reveal that mankind actually has very few of the ingenious, epiphanic creations we attribute to creativity. How, then, is our society able to progress, to evolve, to create? By basing ourselves on what is established and familiar. By taking what already is and, gradually, through trial and error, morphing it into something new.

By collecting different ideas and combining them in new ways.

No one is born with an intricate knowledge of thermochemistry, or a mastery of pointillism. Even language is a knowledge we must acquire throughout our lives. And the most surefire way to obtain such knowledge is through copying. Through imitation. By taking what others have already established and going through it over and over until you know it fluently – and then you can use it as the starting point for whatever you attempt to create.

Transformation, then, is one of the forms of creation.

Slow but steady, this is most often seen in areas such as technology and medicine, where it is usually called research. Thomas Edison is a great example of this. The invention that is most commonly attributed to him is the light bulb. The first light bulb, however, was created in the early 1800s, perhaps even

features earlier. It was Edison, though, who succeeded in finding an economically viable setup, after trying around six thousand different material combinations.

Could the iPad 3 have been invented, say, fifty years ago? Obviously not. Why? Because its invention required a myriad of other ideas and knowledge that were then combined into what we now regard as the iPad. Without that amalgam, the iPad would not exist.

Combination is another form of creation. This is where the more free-wandering minds we generally associate with genii often shine. Like Henry Ford. He is described as the father of mass production and a revolutionary in the transportation industry through the Ford Motor Company and the Model T in

1908. Yet the individual components were already around, such as the concept of interchangeable parts (1801), the assembly line (1867), and even the automobile (1885). He just combined them in a new and ingenious way.

Creativity, the way it is generally perceived as—spontaneous, originless creation—does not exist. All that is created or learned comes, in one way or another, from existing material command knowledge. And it is the failure to realize this that has plunged our society into a maelstrom of legal problems. The more profound problem rests in the underlying philosophies, such as the concept of intellectual property and the supposed independence of ideas.

Sources used in this article: everythingisaremix.info

Overheard at HACIA The Panamanian heat seems to have gotten to us...

Isabella Zevallos

H

ey, delegate, can I unmoderate your caucus?”

No, but the floor is yours and all you need to do is to propose your motion, and we can go from there.

Waiter: You cannot eat here. You are not wearing shoes.

Student: (quickly steals one of his friend’s shoes) What if were are wearing one shoe?

Hm... maybe the waiter will allow half of you to come in.

Note sent to hot Chair: “We’ve been sitting on chairs for hours, don’t you think it’s time for the Chairs to sit on us?”

Decorum, delegates, decorum!

“Child abduction is so cool.”

I think it is better to not give this person any access to the Lower School. Seriously, our kids are in danger.

Anonymous Graded student in a note to another delegate: “Can I invade your sovereignty?”

No. Just...no.

Student sees a group of students from Nicaragua walking by.

“Oh, yes, the Nicaragua Falls...”

Graded seriously needs to offer some intense Geography courses.

A note from one delegate to the other: “Are you single and ready to mingle?”

Believe me, the rhyme doesn’t make it any better.

At the airport: Student 1: How do you say ‘muffin’ in Portuguese?

Student 2: Moofin?

Student 1: Ok. Eu vou querer um moofin pretinho, por favor.

As a delegation, we may do quite well on debates, but it seems like we have some issues when it comes to translating.

Airplane steward: Señorita, va querer pasta o carne?

Student: Yes, water, please.

Thank the lord that HACIA also has English committees because Spanish doesn’t seem to be everyone’s forté.

“Ontem eu tava fazendo dever de casa na banheira.”

HACIA: constantly teaching us to be responsible even in the most awkward situations.

Hotel personnel: Buenos dias!

Student: Yo tambien.

I am starting to think that a Spanish 101 course should be required before our travels to all the HACIA Spanish-speaking destinations. Seriously, it is starting to worry me.

“I think we should learn Panamanian.”

Nah, Panamanian is too mainstream — maybe we should learn an obscure indigenous language, such as Ngäbere.

the talon • 15

features

Question the Quiff Musings on palimpsests

Adam Hunt Fertig

T

hose of you who have taken tenth grade history will probably remember the concept of the “blank slate.” For those who were dozing off, the idea of a tabula rasa (Latin for “blank slate”), made popular by the philosopher John Locke, states that humans are born knowing nothing, and everything we know comes from our experiences. The origin of the term is that people used to write on flat slates, and so when the slate was blank they had the freedom to put anything on it.

The idea can be applied to a number of fields to simply imply a new beginning.

However, what happens if the slate has already been written on? Enter the palimpsest. A palimpsest is an unnecessarily fancy word for a simple idea: a document that has been written on and erased, usually multiple times. The term is generally used in archeology, but it can be applied in such a way that it completely undermines the concept of a blank slate.

To do this, let’s fast forward past John Locke and Gregorian manuscripts to the 1950’s in the US. It had been a few years since World War II ended, and the children of the Great Depression were now adults. However, the Cold War had been going on for about five years, and tensions were high. All of this added up to a nationwide effort to create a perfect, wealthy, happy, American community, both as relief from the hardship of the past 30 years, and as a show of social harmony in contrast with the Soviet Union. In short, America became a giant suburb.

For many, this worked. But many were discontented with this superficially picturesque America, and decided to stop conforming. This nonconformist movement changed how we remember the 1950’s. Who is the first person you think of when you think of the 50’s? It’s a little stereotypical, but it’s probably Elvis Presley. He, along with others like Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Bill Haley, headed the “rockabilly” music movement. A blend of classic Southern blues with an upbeat, wild, rebellious flair, rockabilly swept across the nation with startling speed. It was almost exclusively a teenage interest, and most adults found it deplorable. It’s easy to see why: the quiff-toting, hip-thrusting heartthrobs were ruining the America the adults had waited thirty years for. Nevertheless, rockabilly expanded, and with it a demographic of rebellious young adults.

There is probably no better representative of the

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ideals of this demographic than James Dean. An actor who only appeared in three major roles before dying in an accident at the age of 24, Dean’s performance in Rebel Without A Cause (1955) was an accurate depiction of the “bad boy” personality of many teenagers at the time. His rather temperamental attitude off the screen also made him a cultural icon. His time on the screen, however, also prompted a key element of 50s teen culture: the drive-in theater. These are the theaters you see in old movies where there’s a giant screen in a field, with cars lined up in front of it. These attracted mostly a teenage population of course, and the cars were often the locations of certain less-than-appropriate activities.

Nonconformist culture in the 1950’s wasn’t just about bad boys, though. There were those whose main goal was not to defy society (like James Dean), but to be isolated from it.

These people became known as beatniks. Think of them as old-fashioned hipsters: they wore Steve Jobs style turtlenecks and berets, and played the bongos while reciting poetry in the basements of coffee shops. Their desire to be alternative grew into a way of life for them.

All of these things, however, were relatively limited to the white population, and possibly the most important social upheaval of the 1950’s was the Civil Rights movement.

This is when the fight for black equality started and, unlike the other movements, it also brought in adults who believed in the change.

I actually pity the conservative adults of that time; just when they thought they had escaped the battle tanks, they hear a low rider stuffed with rowdy teenagers cruising around the block. Their plan for a national Suburbia completely failed, and instead they got Elvis, James Dean, drive-ins, beatniks and Malcolm X. Yet it was inevitable that their suburbia would fail, and fail horribly.

The failure of containment culture is not the only cause of a rebellious overthrow. Social movements occur constantly. There is no such thing as a blank slate when it comes to society. The world is, in fact, a giant palimpsest.

And rebellious groups will keep scribbling and erasing away for quite a while longer.

Sources used in this article: ir.canterbury.ac.nz; laapush.org; encyclopediaofarkansas.net

features

Gray Shades of Human Development Where “blank slate” and human genome meet

Mariana Lepecki

T

he evolutionary mystery of human development is something which still boggles scientific minds. Cracking this code could potentially lead to a greater insight into both human evolution and psychology, work that has gone on through centuries, from Greek philosophers to enlightenment thinkers and finally to today’s scientists and psychologists.

One theory from the last couple of decades has been the theory of “The Blank Slate.” According to MIT psychology professor Steven Pinker, the theory states that the “mind has no unique structure and that its entire organization comes from the environment via socialization and learning.”

Originated from the idea of tabula rasa from the English philosopher John Locke—who believed that the human mind gained knowledge only though experiences and interactions— the Blank Slate was generally accepted among scientists in the mid-twentieth century. However, with greater insight into the human genome, scientists find that the theory of Blank Slate might not be completely true; some scientists actually consider it more of a myth than a theory.

The main issue with the theory of Blank Slate is that it almost completely ignores the influence of the human genome in our early development. Neuroscientists are finding that our minds are actually extremely structural and are genetically “hardwired” to do certain things. One of the most common examples that support this finding is the famous “fight or flight” reaction, the idea that when faced with danger humans will either fight or run away. Caused by an adrenaline rush produced by the nervous system, this reaction demonstrates how our body and mind had already been automatically and genetically “programmed” to react a certain way. The fact that this adrenaline rush is a physiological reaction that can’t be learned to control supports the idea that our minds were developed through natural selection, meaning certain characteristics we are simply born with.

Another example that supports this new view of the human mind was the experiment that was conducted to prove John Watson’s theory on human learning. As Professor Pinker mentions in his book The Blank Slate—The Modern Denial of Human Nature, Watson was one of the founders of behaviorism, who believed that it was possible to train any infant animal to do anything, regardless of talent or ability.

At the time this theory seemed plausible because, as long as he was training a mind that was a blank slate, it would only develop through social and environmental interactions; this is what the theory of the Blank Slate is all about. However, when scientists conducted experiments to test Watson’s theory, they discovered that his idea wasn’t exactly correct: they attempted to teach different animals at a young age to

place a chip into a vending machine, but they found that not only were the animals resisting, but they would also handle the chips in a “specie-specific manner,” (for example, the chickens would at peck the chips while the raccoons would wash them). The unsuccessful results of this experiment only further demonstrated how the mind is already “hardwired” to have certain characteristics and instincts that exist in organisms since their birth.

Although this new theory seems more accurate when looking at it from a genetic point of view, it fails to explain some “developmental stepping-stones” which support the Blank Slate theory. Although we are “hardwired” to speak and communicate with others, we would not be able to do so without social interactions. From the moment we are born, we are able to cry, scream and produce different sounds with our vocal chords, but we cannot effectively communicate with our parents because we still don’t know how to speak their language. It is only through the constant interaction with others that we learn how to understand and formulate sounds in order to create words. If it weren’t for these social interactions, our brains would never learn how to speak, limiting our expressive and communicative capabilities.

The same idea is present when analyzing amblyopia, an eye disease characterized by a lack of vision development. Just as with learning to speak, our minds are “hardwired” to be able to see from the moment we are born, but this sense will not develop unless it is “exercised.” For example, if a cloth is placed on a baby’s eyes and kept there until the age of seven or eight, that individual will have a severely damaged vision.

This is because that child had not used the eyes enough in order for that sense to be properly developed, even though the child was already born “hardwired” to be able to see.

This is why scientists are realizing that none of the two extremes are completely correct, and are starting to formulate new theories which combine the main concepts of both theories. Although we are not born as blank slates, social and environmental interactions are still needed in order for certain senses and characteristics to be developed. As Professor Pinker states at the end of his book, “experiences are needed to realize the predispositions enacted in the human genome.” Just as with most things in life, nothing is completely black or white but rather shades of grey; it is no surprise that something as significant as human development should be the same.

Sources used in this article: reason.com; mentalhelp.net; utah.edu; jochnowitz.com; psychologytoday.com

the talon • 17

entertainment

The Girlbot and Me

A story based on real answers by Siri Julia Wu

H

i, my name is Ted and I’m 25. This is the story of my first love.

I’m a stock broker and a workaholic, so I rarely leave my office and I don’t have a lot of friends. As a kid, I preferred occupying myself with homework and puzzles.

In elementary school, I had a crush on an atrocious girl. I bought her a rose and told her that she was the reason why boys fall in love. She told me, “You’re the reason why girls don’t.” I was left scarred, and never dared to take initiative with anything again.

I know… I’m a coward, right?

I’ve been a blank slate ever since, and it’s been 15 years.

I don’t know what a girlfriend looks or feels like. This is probably why I’ve generated unreal standards for my perfect soul mate.

I want someone who never challenges me. She ought to obey. She must be a fountain of knowledge but have no people skills whatsoever. In short, she’s got a 150 Intelligence Quotient and a 35 Emotional Quotient. Oh, and a gorgeous physique doesn’t hurt now, does it? There’s my wonderful girlfriend.

Recently, I was eating seafood from the Chinese takeout while scrutinizing NASDAQ’s fluctuation. I picked up a crab leg when the epiphany came: my girlfriend could have the mind of Siri (which coincidentally means crab in Portuguese), the almighty iPhone robot. I called my geek engineer friend from college and asked him to program Siri into a life-size Barbie doll. My friend agreed but asked me if I wanted to see a psychiatrist, and I called him a technophobe. Wow, I’m a genius.

Siri arrived two weeks later. She had artificial hair and all, and came with bright green eyes. I was thrilled to have someone keep me company, especially a lady so graceful and quiet. Human phoniness and a woman’s complaints were the last things I wanted to deal with, and Siri had none of that. I soon began to bestow life on that robot, picturing her as an authentic and lovable young girl. I saw beyond her built-in qualities, and felt like I had a partner; I was more of a man. I even had fun with her. I asked, “Siri, what is the meaning of life?”

And she replies, “Try and be nice to people. Avoid eating fat.

Read a good book every now and then. Get some walking in, and try to live in harmony with people of all nations.” I asked

18 • the talon

again. She said, “I find it odd that you ask that to an inanimate object.” I asked one more time. She goes, “Life: A principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings. I guess that includes me.” She’s marvelous. I did it again. “What’s the meaning of life?” She replied, “I give up.”

Isn’t she the sweetest?

My lonely Saturday nights were filled with conversations with Siri. She’d make me burst into laughter, and console me with her warm voice. I had just sold my shares of Yahoo the other day when it went rocketing. I gottabemobile.com told Siri, “I want to jump off a bridge.” She went, “OK, one of these bridges is a little ways from you.” I asked her, “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” The answer? “It depends on whether you are talking about African or European woodchucks.” I also wondered if she had any sense of identity.

I inquired, “Who is Siri?” Her charming reply was, “Yours truly.”

Oh, Siri, thou art splendid.

Who needs a girlfriend if they’ve got Siri? I mean, she’s perfect and drop dead gorgeous and conforming and obliging.

Isn’t she all I need? Besides having to connect her to a charger every night, she doesn’t give me any trouble. I had her sit next to my armchair because she even serves as a secretary. I don’t have to feed her or buy her anything. She is impeccable. The day came when I finally decided to test her love for me. Deep in my head, though my notions and reasoning had long been addled by Siri’s resemblance to a human, I kind of knew she had no feelings. Theoretically, she never thought for herself; the way she was selfless and humble was programmed by engineers. But I tried: “Siri, will you marry me?”

“Let’s just be friends, OK?” “But I love you.”

“Impossible.”

“Do you love me?”

“I’m not allowed to, Ted.” “DO YOU LOVE ME?!”

“My ontology does not contain a representation of ‘love’, Ted.”

entertainment

Starting Over Senior Talonistas and their blank slates Ines Gil

W

e make choices, act certain ways, and react in different ways. We live not only remembering these instances, what we would have done differently and what we regret, but also feeling proud of certain moments or wanting to enjoy them once again. To go along with this idea, we interviewed some Talon Seniors to see their input on what they would have done if they had started high school again, with a blank slate.

So Talonistas, if you could start high school again with a blank slate, what would you do differently or the same?

Yana Ahlden: “I would try to reinvent myself, because I often felt trapped in myself. I would still choose the same classes I take now, still take the IB, and still do the activities I do.

I would take that time to be with my friends and family in order to take advantage of the little time I have left with them (believe it or not, time flies and everything catches up with you). I now know who my real friends are and who I can trust, and it’s sad that I wasted two years of my life fighting with a person I now love. There are relationships I regret and relationships I wish I had been in (I’m talking about friends, coaches, not only dating here). And obviously, I want to make some changes, like tell a guy that I liked him or tell a friend how much she hurt me, to speak up for myself more. But these mistakes made my high school experience what it is and they have helped me learn and become who I am today. I just wish I had known how time flies and how I have to take risks and be myself when all this started.”

Courtney Villeneuve: “For me, a blank slate came junior year with the chance to move to Brazil. I had attended high school with my friends that I had known since middle school, and this was my chance to reinvent myself and try some new things. I ended up following a similar path when it came to extracurricular activities, but I did try some new things (like basketball) that were more than worth my time. If I was given a second chance at my high school experience, I would try to enjoy it a little more and not let the small stuff stress me out.”

Artur Renault: “If I could start high school again, I would change a few things. I’d go out of my way to meet people in other grades more, and I’d probably reevaluate what activities and classes were worth my time; being an overachiever, I

often overloaded myself with responsibilities and limited my enjoyment of my time in high school.”

Maria Alas: “I don’t think I’d change a thing of my high school experience. It was far from perfect and it had its lows, but as it comes to an end I know every decision I made has taught me something that has shaped who I am now. The ups were pretty great, too.”

Isabella Zevallos: “If I could start high school again, I would like to take more chances. Sometimes, I was either too scared of consequences (for example, I couldn’t build up the courage to join the soccer team as a freshman because I thought that my skills weren’t good enough), too shy, or too caught up in trying to maintain perfect grades. Thus, I would try to take more chances, maybe commit more mistakes, go more out of my way earlier on in my high school career. Yet, I am happy with where I am now—there is no way of changing it or starting from scratch, and despite all the things that could’ve been better, I am glad high school turned out the way it did.”

Andrea Estrada: “I am happy as I am, and the decisions I’ve made throughout high school have gotten me where I am, so I wouldn’t change them. If anything, I’d have realized the importance of taking my time and reflecting, earlier. As a freshman especially I was involved in a million things and, while I was far less stressed than I was as a junior and senior, I didn’t give myself enough time to evaluate the impact things were having on me. Now things are a blur and it’s hard to know the ‘what if’s,’ but I rather not dwell on them.”

As you saw above, what our seniors would have done differently was enjoy as much as they could and make the best of every moment and opportunity. So listen, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, to these seniors and think about how much school you have left and what you have accomplished so far. Enjoy every moment and think about the choices you make, so when you become a senior you can look back and think of how precious those high school years were. Writer Maria Robinson said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

It’s your choice to make your own blank slate, and it’s up to you how to fill it up.

the talon • 19

entertainment

Trivialities Allow this to relieve a little April stress Julia Wu

I

f you tape a small mirror onto a cone speaker, play music and shine a laser onto the mirror, the reflection will look like a laser light show on your wall.

• If one farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, he would generate enough gas energy to power an atomic bomb.

•

The average four year-old asks over four hundred questions a day.

•

Walt Disney World generates about 120,000 pounds of garbage every day.

• The back of the Nobel Prize medal depicts 3 naked men with their hands on each other’s shoulders.

•

The creator of the Nike swoosh icon was only paid US$35 for the design.

•

X-rays of Mona Lisa show that there are three completely different versions of the same subject painted

by Leonardo da Vinci, under the final portrait.

•

It took Leonardo da Vinci nearly ten years to paint Mona Lisa’s lips.

•

When Britney Spears books into hotels, she uses names like “Allota Warmheart” so that nobody will recognize her.

• It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk.

• There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.

• More than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a typical French kiss.

• No matter its size or thickness, no piece of paper can be folded in half more than 8 times.

• There are three golf balls on the brasilescola.com moon.

• The sun is nearly 600 times bigger than all the planets combined.

•

Steve Jobs was half Arab.

•

•

Poet Rudyard Kipling refused to write with anything other than black ink.

Kim Jong-il was only 5’2” tall. He wore four inch lifts in his shoes to compensate for his short stature.

•

Every US president with a beard was a Republican.

•

Rapper LL Cool J’s name is short for “Ladies Love Cool James.”

•

Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender.

•

No one knows where Mozart is buried.

•

Women have a slightly higher average IQ than men.

•

Elvis Presley got a C in his eighth grade music class.

•

Think the IB is overwhelming your brain? The storage capacity of human brain exceeds 4 terrabytes.

•

Brad Pitt has been smoking since sixth grade.

•

Albert Einstein never wore any socks.

•

The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute, less than half the normal rate of 20 times a minute.

•

Computer programming is currently one of the fastest growing occupations.

•

Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, was afraid of the dark.

•

The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

•

Cleopatra came to power in Egypt at the age of 17.

•

Albert Einstein wasn’t present in December 1922 to receive his Nobel Prize in physics. He was on a voyage to Japan.

•

To take an oath, ancient Romans had to put a hand on their testicles. This is where the word “testimony” comes from.

20 • the talon

Source: Tear Fun Facts by Amy Faulkner

snopes.com

entertainment

Overheard at Graded The inane comments continue Isabella Zevallos

P

opcorn tastes like metal.”

Something tells me that the metallic taste is coming from your braces.

During a Math HL class, students are solving a challenging homework problem: Teacher: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up! Who said that?

Student 1: Churchill.

True story. A re-planning of Brasília is in order.

Wrapped around a pole: “This is actually pretty comfortable. I can understand why poledancers do it.”

Escola Graduada de São Paulo: placing some in colleges and, when all else fails, showing them the benefits of becoming pole dancers.

Student 2: Who’s that?

Student 3 (sarcastic): Don’t you know him? He’s a senior.

“If I were Dr. Evil, do you think Ricky would make a good cat?”

Student 2: Hmmm...Not really. But I might know him by face!

(Student pets Ricky’s head)

Teacher: I’m not so sure about that...

Sure, because I bet you would use your evil powers to convert humans into cats.

I feel a tiny bit better knowing this is not History class, but not a whole lot better.

After being shaven: “Me fala uma música do Beethoven!”

“My head feels like Jesus after he was revived.”

“Mozart!”

Oh, what a holy feeling!

“Guys get turned on by pee.”

Whatever floats your boats...or fills your bladder.

“My pocket doesn’t deserve it!”

Oh yes, be careful—pockets have feelings.

Student 1: “How about it if we bake something?”

Student 2: “And then we can eat the dough without baking it.”

Student 3: “And then I shoot my eyeball!”

“I thought that if I got into college a little elf would give me a key to a cloud so I could travel around in my cloud.”

Magical keys really should come with acceptance letters, and the cloud as a bonus would look pretty cool, too.

Note: Overheard anything funny recently? Send it to talon@ graded.br! mlizcochico.com

I have lost faith in humanity. Somewhat. Maybe I should cry to the sound of the one of the symphonies.

I couldn’t follow the logic, but that is probably just me. After all, this is probably a foreign recipe, and I am not that familiar with elaborate ones.

“Where do these kids come from—vaginas?”

Some say storks drop off the kids in their homes, others have different obscure theories, but the origin of children will forever remain a mystery. At least that is what my parents told me.

“Brasília tem formato de um avião porque era símbolo de modernidade. Gente, tem algo mais moderno que um avião?”

“Um iPad.”

the talon • 21

entertainment

A sala de espelhos Paralelamente paralelo

Yasmin Della Nina

N

ão sei ao certo como havia chegado lá, só sei que acordei dentro de uma sala de espelhos. O chão era de concreto e estava úmido e gelado. O teto parecia não ter fim e, assim como o resto da sala, era feito de espelhos. Levantei-me devagar, meu corpo inteiro dormente, e forcei meu cérebro a tentar lembrar o que estava fazendo ali. Porém não me lembrava de nada.

Locomovendome com dificuldade, comecei a procurar uma saída. Empurrava os espelhos, socava-os, chutava-os, mas eles somente se quebravam, e atrás deles, havia outros espelhos, agora sujos do sangue das minhas mãos. A sensação de pessoas à minha volta estava me assustando, mas quando me virava para ver o que havia atrás de mim, só via meu reflexo. Estava magro, pálido, parecia ter envelhecido alguns anos. Havia olheiras medonhas debaixo das minhas íris, que um dia foram azuis, mas naquele dia estavam cinzas e me davam um ar doentio.

De repente, as imagens nas finas superfícies de vidro começaram a se distorcer e nelas, diversas partes da minha vida se repetiam como um filme diante dos meus olhos. Minha primeira namorada, o dia em que meu dentinho de leite finalmente caiu, meu primeiro cachorro, as drogas, o dia em que dei o melhor presente do mundo à minha mãe, o dia em que aprendi a usar aquela arma, meu filho nascendo, o enterro da minha mulher, Alcoólicos Anônimos, meu filho de preto... e, de repente, tudo sumiu. Os espelhos se quebraram e um barulho horrível penetrou meus ouvidos.

Parecia uma bomba, ou talvez um tiro? Nunca tinha ouvido algo tão terrível! Queria ir embora, não aguentava mais!

Sentia lágrimas jorrando dos meus olhos, como uma cachoeira de água salgada, e ouvi um medonho grito agoniado. Chocado,

22 • the talon

percebi que era meu. Estava girando, girando, girando, girando – tudo parecia um borrão escuro e sombrio.

E na mesma velocidade, aquilo tudo cessou e a sala ficou fria. Minha respiração estava ofegante, e por causa do ar gélido à minha volta, via o vapor, quase transparente, saindo da minha boca. Apavorado, tudo o que queria era ir embora.

Cerrei com força os olhos e desejei ir para casa, voltar para o meu filho, voltar para o aconchego da minha família.

Abri-os cautelosamente, mas ainda estava na sala e, aos meus pés, encontravase uma carta. Com mãos trêmulas, peguei o papel e nele, li as seguintes palavras: “Pense bem. Quando souber, aponte para as palavras que você escolherá para o seu destino.”

Que raio de palavras são essas? Ouvi um baYasmin Della Nina rulho, e quando olhei para os lados, encontrei-as. Eram letras flutuando magicamente à minha volta. À minha direita estava “Recomeço”. À minha esquerda estava “Conserte sua vida, porém não volte nunca mais”. Tive que ler cada uma das letras milhares de vezes até que tudo o que elas representavam ficasse claro para mim.

Respirei fundo. Estava tão fora da realidade que acreditei mesmo que aquilo era sério, e que tinha que tomar uma decisão inteiramente coerente.

Meu coração saltitava freneticamente dentro de mim.

Levantei meu braço direito e meu dedo indicador se separava aos poucos de todos os outros dedos da minha mão. Sozinho, ele iria ter que apontar, mas para onde?

Fechei os olhos, vi meu filho, minha esposa, minha vida, tudo o que fiz – de errado, de bom, de errado – e assim, a confiança começou a surgir e meu dedo apontou firme para meu destino.

Senti algo em minhas mãos: a arma. Sorri e levei o duro metal à minha têmpora esquerda.

entertainment

Overheard at BraMUN Maybe the sun did get to them

Isabella Zevallos

A

student looks outside the window as Graded arrives in bright Salvador: “Is that snow?”

Snow? Oh, it is winter time in Salvador, obviously.

“The delegate has two ears.”

Well, that is great. Kudos to the delegate with a regular number of ears.

A delegate referring to economic stimulus: “Spheres of stimulus” Spheres of stimulus? That’s what she said.

A delegate talking about war and genocide: “There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s just people killing people!”

MUN: a place where compassion is a sign of weakness.

“This resolution is like a chocolate chip cookie—at first it seems firm and solid, but it doesn’t take much to make it crumble.”

I think that sounds more like a comparison to semester grades than to a chocolate chip cookie, but maybe that’s just me.

“All the people involved are dead, so take it to the cementary.”

Yes, hearing every opinion is vital to solving the issue at hand.

“This resolution is UNABSURD!” Attempting to make puns with the MUN acronym is UNABSURD. “Sorry, we can’t read Syrian.”

“You mean Arabic?”

Oh, what a smart cookie.

“So you’re switching between being a chair and a delegate?”

“Yes.” “Oh my god, it’s like fighting Chuck Norris.”

I have a feeling Chuck Norris would be offended.

“So you’re saying we should tap phone lines?”

“Not tapping. Tapping is illegal.”

Tapping is illegal? Ah, shoot.

“North Korea is still flexing its muscles when it comes to democracy.”

That would be an interesting analogy if, well, North Korea had muscles.

“The UN is like Scooby-Doo.” “Actually, it’s Peter Pan.” Either way, UN is a cartoon, and that is all that matters.

“UN I belong together.”

Please keep on debating, because flirtation is not a very strong skill of yours.

“The stench of the imperialist pigs needs to be extinguished with some Socialist air freshener.”

I wonder what the air freshner smells like — maybe wild hibiscus and bamboo?

“Clapping is not in order.”

“Is crying in order?”

Needless to say, that is quite sad.

“I’m so bad at reading Spanish.”

“That’s Italian.”

Questo spiega molto.

Yana Ahlden

the talon • 23

entertainment

My Time at Graded Jazz Festival 2012 A drummer’s account of the amazing annual event Kevin Shimba Bengtsson

I

t seems to happen every time. When you finally begin to see improvement, when you finally think you’re doing something well, you get shot down. Someone or something shows up just to make you feel infinitely worse than before. This was undoubtedly true during this year’s Graded Jazz Festival. However, and much to my relief, there was a good side to all of this.

It all began on February 29, when the jazz clinicians arrived from the United States, musicians who are some of the most incredible I’ve ever seen. Despite their state of extreme exhaustion and fatigue from the long flight over here, Robynn Amy (trombone), Peck Allmond (trumpet), Paul Contos (alto saxophone) and Kelly Fasman (drums) all gave us a few tips here and there on how to play our pieces better. “Fair enough,” I thought, in my laughable state of naïveté, “this shouldn’t be so bad.”

Oh, how wrong I was.

The following day was when things “got real.” The American clinicians teamed up with the equally awe-inspiring jazz musicians of Edson “Edinho” Sant’anna (piano), Djalma Lima (guitar) and Bruno Migotto (bass) in order to give those part of the festival a little taste of what true jazz is. Within seconds, this coalition of people with extreme musical aptitude floored all of those in the vicinity of the band room. More impressive, however, was the fact that they had not even practiced or rehearsed together; they were effortlessly emanating otherworldly music, and it was a complete spectacle to watch. Once they were finished, reality hit me. Hard. In order to become as good as the amazing musicians I had just witnessed (I’m still not sure if that’s even possible, though), I would have to practice much, much more than I currently do. Whatever confidence I had in my own musical abilities dissipated in a matter of minutes. If just two days ago I thought I was actually good, now I was a mere speck of worthlessness standing before the musical deities themselves. I was reverted back to a blank slate; my abilities paled in comparison to those of the professionals.

In spite of all this negativity, I quickly came to find out that it was all for the best. When it comes to anything – especially music – believing that you’re good at what you do is probably the worst thing to do if you seek any improvement. If you think you’re great, you remain stagnant upon the threshold of development: You don’t tend to get worse, but, at the same

24 • the talon

time, you never seem to get any better. It is only when you are humbled, as I was, that you strive to become better when what you do. Luckily for me, this was exactly the state I was in, and I would have the assistance of one of the most amazing drummers I’ve ever witnessed: Kelly Fasman.

After they finished playing, all the students, which included our guests from Escuela Campo Alegre in Caracas, split up into sections (trumpeters, trombonists, drummers, and so on.) in order to have master classes with the respective clinicians. To my surprise, joining two students from ECA (one of whom I had already met at last year’s festival) and I was Victor Bustani, an ex-Jazz Band drummer who is currently professionally drumming for local band, Inky. Like any good musician, he came to have lessons, to gain more knowledge. All set to learn, we sat down and listened to what Kelly had to say. She gave us tips on how to better hold our drumsticks, how to improve our posture and how to how to just get the most out of our instrument. She then gave Lika Kishino us a few warm-up exercises before getting to the so-called “real deal.”

We practiced a composition made for a percussion ensemble, which we would be presenting on Saturday and she taught us how to play samba properly, which all the drummers had unanimously agreed was something they wished to learn more about, myself included. By the last of our master classes on Saturday, we had even gone out of our way to play samba in odd time signatures (a notation that specifies the amount of beats in a measure) of 5/8 and 7/8, and even funk in 3/4. If you’re not really sure what I mean, just understand that it’s really bizarre.

Most music nowadays is in 4/4, meaning you count four beats before the next measure, so just imagine having to count to five or seven.

After the Jazz Festival was coming to a close on Saturday with a performance that was the culmination of much arduous work, albeit work that was unequivocally worth it, I realized how much I didn’t want it to end. I noticed how much I had learned in a measly three days and that, if it weren’t for the fact that I felt bad about my skills at first, I wouldn’t have learned anything. If not for this year’s Jazz Festival, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to learn about something I already felt I was good at. So, to all the clinicians that made me feel amateurish, I sincerely thank you.

sports

Linsanity. Heard of It?

Some insight into the remarkable story of Jeremy Lin Kyle Bissel

I

n February the world tuned into the status of the New York Knicks. Why wouldn’t it, with star players like Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire and…wait, it wasn’t because of them? Lin? Never heard of him. He’s starting point guard now?

That’s pretty cool. He was undrafted out of Harvard? Wow, good for him. He dropped 38 on Kobe! Who is this guy? This guy is Jeremy Lin and he may be the main character in the most compelling underdog story in sports history.

Okay, perhaps now that the Knicks are back in their usual mess with Lin Hurt, Coach Mike D’Antoni resigning and Carmelo sulking about, Linsanity may seem to be a short-lived thing of the past.

Still, this doesn’t take away from the initial shock of the remarkable ordeal. This guy came out of nowhere. After playing for the Golden State Warriors and being sent to the D-League last season, Lin joined the New York Knicks for the 2011-2012 season to back-up Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby. He was placed fourth in the team depth-chart for his position—for people who don’t know basketball very well, think benchwarmer for the benchwarmers. Luckily for Lin, the Knicks were suffering every kind of set-back possible. They just weren’t playing well and Baron Davis, the point guard that many Knicks fans hoped would be the missing piece of the Knick line-up puzzle, would take longer to recover from his injury then initially thought.

Out of desperation, D’Antoni played him on February 4, against All-Star point guard Deron Williams, Linsanity made its first impression.

After scoring 25 points, grabbing five rebounds, and dishing seven assists in that game Lin went on to his first career start against the Utah Jazz. In spite of the absence of both Stoudemire and Anthony, or perhaps because of it, Lin continued to impress with 28 points and eight assists. Then, after an impressive game against the Wizards, true Linsanity was born when Lin outscored Kobe Bryant (who had 34 points) with 38 points. Following this was the win against the Minnesota Tim-

berwolves, and the game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left against the Toronto Raptors. By now Linsanity had become a thing.

Before I go on I would like to reiterate how special an underdog story this really is. Lin scored more points in his first five consecutive starts than any other player in history. It is really a phenomenon that couldn’t be ignored, particularly as Lin’s Chinese-American background made him unique among NBA players.

If you haven’t yet noticed, “Linsanity” is a portmanteau of “Lin” and “insanity.” Fans all over have jumped in the bandwagon and have had lots of fun with this simple name. There abola.pt have been countless memes, some more clever than others.

I’ve seen, Lincredible, the hash tag #Linning, Linconceivable, ThrilLin, and there’s… I guess it’s time for another Talon Top Ten. Top Ten Jeremy Lin Puns: 1. All He Do Is Lin, Lin, Lin 2. Lin-sane in the Membrane 3. Napo-Lin Dynamite 4. Played him like a vioLin 5. Lin Diesel 6. Linderella Story 7. Bil-Lin Jean is not my lover 8. Linvisibility cloak 9. Lintelligence 10. Lintensity There’s a twitter account @EveryLinPunEver that has hundreds of these, which shows how big Jeremy Lin became in pop culture. In closing this article I would like to leave you all with one fun fact: according to NBA.com, there have been eight American presidents and four NBA players who have come from Harvard. So, in simple terms, statistically a Harvard grad has a better chance of becoming the President of the United States of America than an NBA player. Just food for thought.

the talon • 25

sports

Marching Through 2012

An update on some of the year’s biggest sports stories Kevin Wolfson

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012 is going quickly: Graded students are nearing the end of their third quarter and, of course, dismal feelings regarding their Student Portal accounts are abundant. I might be sounding pessimistic here, but don’t get me wrong: terrific events have also occurred in the first several months of this year. The Graded community has been blessed with a bounty of events so far, and they’ll keep coming. In some ways one might look at the Graded community as a microcosm of the world sporting community: plenty happens, both good and bad. Here are some of the events that have influenced the international sports community tremendously this year:

tweeting about? There once was this young Harvard grad that played basketball for the Crimson during his college years. He was known as the “weakest guy on the team” by his peers and definitely didn’t show extraordinary athletic promise. Yet soon out of college he signed with the Golden State Warriors to a two-year contract. Nothing really happened until he got traded to the New York Knicks. The Knicks were in such a terrible condition that they finally gave Lin a chance to play. With only 55 previous minutes of game time in 23 games, Lin changed the Knicks’ status from a falling-down-the-stairs team to a team of hope in the NBA. He’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Lionel Messi On March 20th, 2012, Lionel Messi, regarded as one soccer’s top strikers, managed to break the Barcelona goalscoring record. Cesar Rodriguez held the previous record and remained unchallenged for 57 years until Messi came along and broke the record in a 5-3 win over Grenada. With this win, the three-time FIFA Player of the Year earned 234 goals for his club, for which he has been playing just three seasons. Messi’s new accolade isn’t just a plastic trophy he can stash in the back of his closet. The young Argentinian broke the record for one of the best clubs in the world: Barcelona has won the UEFA Champions League (five times), FIFA Club World Cup (twice), Copa del Rey (25 times) and La Liga (21 times). Lionel Messi is breaking barriers for his team and for himself, so expect to see great things from this young man in the future.

Apoel

Peyton Manning traded to the Denver Broncos It’s official. The Denver Broncos have signed Peyton Manning to a five year, $96 million dollar deal. The 11-time Pro Bowl quarterback was cut from his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, around two weeks before the signing of the new deal. Other teams that expressed interest in Manning were the Tennessee Titans and the San Francisco 49ers. Why is this trade a big deal for the sports world? Well, for starters, what’s going to happen to newbie Tim Tebow? His unorthodox playing style led Denver this year to some amazing comebacks last season, now that he’s being traded to the Jets, who knows what will be in his future?

Jeremy Lin What’s all this #Linsanity that everyone won’t stop

26 • the talon

Professional soccer in Cyprus is peculiar: on this small island with around one million people, there are fourteen teams that play in the first division of professional soccer. And while soccer isn’t even considered the national sport of this small island, one of the teams in their league plays at a ridiculously high international level: a level that is of the UEFA Champions League. Apoel, one of the main teams of Cyprus, has had perhaps the most remarkable season this millennium. The club has little money and no star players. Their history is limited to success only in Cyprus. Yet this year they have turned the tide: Apoel managed to qualify for the UEFA group stages, and then even reached the quarterfinals, eliminating Olympique Lyonnais in the last 16 against all odds. Referred to as the “whipping boys” of the tournament, Apoel supposedly had no chance of beating Lyon due to the French team’s history and skill. Yet Apoel, like a true underdog, used a traditional strategy that led them to victory: they relied on team spirit, organization, and determination to win the game. In one of the games against Lyon they only had 36% ball possession, but they defended confidently and awaited their opportunity to strike, which they took full advantage of. Sadly, Apoel was later eliminated in the competition, but sports fans all over the world can’t wait to see them in action again next year aiming for boundless growth.

The beginning of 2012 has been very exciting in the universe of sports. Fans around the world are on the edge of their seats cheering their team on, watching wonders occur on a daily basis. We can only imagine the great events to come.

Sources used in this article: uefa.com; espn.com

sports

Heart of Gold

What to watch for during the London 2012 Olympics Andrea Ferreira

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ow often do you get the chance at a blank slate after messing up? It is especially hard in sports not to get caught up in what-ifs, or changes that could have made the outcome of the game different. This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the summer Olympic games, probably the best example of a fresh start in sports. Every four years, and each time in a new city, athletes are given the chance to regroup after hard losses and train for four years in the hopes of bring home a medal for their countries.

Part of the magic of the Olympics is that no two Olympics are ever the same, and since they happen over a span of four years, there will always be new faces to watch for.

Hardly anyone remembers what happened at the previous Olympics with the exception of record-breaking performances like Usain Bolt’s 100m run or Michael Phelps’s dominating pool performance.

This year’s games in London have raised high expectations. As a three-time host of the games, the most of any city, people everywhere are buzzing about what extravagances are being planned. Even more exciting is who will be returning to represent their country and what new talent will be coming to the games.

Being of the host country, the athletes from Great Britain have a special amount of pressure to perform well at this year’s games. A blank slate might have been exactly what Britain needed to regroup and take this year’s overall medal count. Without a doubt, swimmer Rebecca Adlington will be helping Britain achieve this goal. At the previous games Adlington was a double gold medalist, winning her events and making history as the first British swimmer to do so in nearly a century.

The home advantage might be just what she needs to emerge victorious at these games. Also, Great Britain’s men’s football team has high hopes for these games, a a newly formed group of players from across the UK. Another soccer team in particular to watch out for is the Brazilian men’s team. After a disappointing third place finish at Beijing 2008, followed by their unexpected loss in FIFA’s World Cup quarterfinals, the Brazilian team is definitely one to watch out for this year. With a skilled roster including the likes of Neymar and Dani Alves, this team is one of the top

contenders to bring home a gold medal.

All eyes will once again be on American merman Michael Phelps to see if he can repeat his success. One of the stars of the Beijing Olympics, his eight gold medals helped him to shatter previous records. Currently the record holder in thirty-nine different swimming events and the Olympic record holder for most gold medals won at a single game, Michael Phelps will be trying his hand at breaking the record for the most Olympic medals won by a single person. As he is getting old for a swimmer, rumors are swirling that this will be his last appearance at the Olympics.

Phelps will also have to redeem himself in the eyes of the public after a scandalous photo of him using a bong was leaked over the internet, resulting in a three-month ban from the world of competitive swimming and many lost endorsement deals and fans.

This year, Phelps will face stiff competition from teammate Ryan Lochte. The previously invincible Phelps has lost multiple times to london2012.com Ryan Lochte in recent years.

In the world of diving, one standout to watch for at this year’s games is Tom Daley. Just eighteen, Daley already has one Olympics under his belt and was already the 2009 World Champion of the 10m event. This might be the blank slate that Daley needs after a tough year in which his father died from brain cancer.

On the track, Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest human, will be returning at age 25 in the hopes of winning more gold medals. Bolt will definitely be one to watch, especially considering that he was easily able to win gold in Beijing after slowing down at the finish and with his shoelaces untied. Another track participant with a lot to prove is heptathlon participant Jessica Ennis. The heptathlon is an event that combines the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 and 800 meter dash, long jump and javelin. Unfortunately this track star was unable to compete in the Beijing games due to an injury.

With the summer Olympic action already heating up, the London Games are definitely going to be memorable. The amount of new talent as well as returning stars will combine to create one of the most talented groups of athletes ever to compete.

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sports

Prokhorov’s Brooklyn Dream Plans to move the Nets to Brooklyn and make them contenders Rafael Rocha

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hen the words “basketball” and “New York City” are put together, the first team that comes to mind is the Knicks. It’s only logical, since the Knicks have been in the NBA since 1949, making them one of the oldest franchises, along with the Celtics, of the league. But I am not here to bask in the Knicks’ glories of the past. I want to talk about the team playing only 14 miles west of Madison Square Garden, a franchise that has no NBA championships in their history, a team that has gone a combined 50-156 in their last three years as of early March. I speak of the infamous New Jersey Nets.

It seems as if the Nets are always trying to catch up on the Knicks. After New York acquired Carmelo Anthony right before last year’s trade deadline, the Nets retaliated by trading for their share of star power in guard Deron Williams. What should have become a monster 1-2 punch in Williams and center Brook Lopez became yet another lottery season for New Jersey. Statistically speaking, it’s not as if Williams and Lopez didn’t deliver. In the 2010-11 season, they both put up some of the best numbers in their careers, but the team lacked chemistry and lost 71% of its games, something Nets fans have gotten used to in the past few years.

But the days of being under the shadow of the Knicks might be over for the Nets starting this year. The team’s new billionaire Russian owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, is opening a new $1 billion dollar facility in the heart of Brooklyn in New York City. What Prokhorov hopes for is more than just spending all those dollars. He intends to change the philosophy behind the franchise, and the way fans view it. The newly-named “Brooklyn Nets” want to be more than just ahead of their regional rival in the Knicks. They’re actually serious about winning, and winning big. As Prokhorov put it in a press conference in 2010, he wants to win a championship “in one year minimum and maximum in five years.”

28 • the talon

So far, the Nets owner’s promise looks more like a farfetched dream, but then again, he hasn’t moved the franchise to New York just yet. On a another note, the trade for Deron Williams came as a surprise for many NBA fans, since his contract expires in 2012, and there is no guarantee that he will want to stay with the Nets afterwards. However, Prokhorov firmly believes he can convince Williams to stay by not only moving the team to the largest city in the U.S, but also by bringing in complementary talent.

If that were to happen, there is no doubt that Williams would want to stay.

But that’s a big “if.”

As strange as it may seem, the Nets have not always had terrible teams.

Led by Jason Kidd, they made the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, losing to hauteliving.com the Lakers and Spurs respectively. One year later, Vince Carter joined Kidd, forming one of the best duos to never win the NBA championship.

However, that asterisk still remains: they got close to winning it all for several years, but could never really break through.

After a half decade as contenders, the Nets would fade into irrelevance the following year (2007), and they haven’t joined the NBA’s elite since then.

After bringing in head coach Avery Johnson and star point guard Deron Williams to the team, it is clear that Mikhail Prokhorov is throwing all of his chips on the table. The move to Brooklyn represents a new era for Nets basketball. Manhattan may be the flashiest and most iconic image of New York City, but the heart and soul of NYC can only be found in the most populous borough of the city, Brooklyn. And coincidentally, the last time Brooklyn actually had a sports team was back in the late 60’s and early 70’s when (guess who?) the New York Nets played there. Prokhorov knows that to spend $1 billion dollars on an arena has no point if the team that is suiting up to play can’t even make the playoffs. So watch out NBA, the Nets might be returning to the league elite soon.