The rexonian february 2015

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T he R exonian

“A l l t h e n e w s t h e y le t u s p r i nt ”

Thursday, February 12, 2015

vol. VIII … № 28

A Collective Remembrance A New Mindset for the People of Jordan By Dina Kuttab

candles in the wind Students gathered on February 10th to participate in a vigil for Lt. Kasasbeh

“I Can’t… I Have Rehearsal!” JYMC Commits to Music By Ahmed Al Khalayleh

Friday, January 30th marked the beginning of King’s Academy’s third annual Jordan’s Youth Musician’s Conference (JYMC). This entailed two days full of intense practice, with rehearsals from morning to evening, and the convergence of musicians

JYMC musicians from Commencement Lawn for

from both King’s and elsewhere in Jordan. JYMC began in the winter of 2013, back when the King’s Academy orchestra was a mere fraction of its current size. Since then, the orchestra has grown both in size and skill, tackling far more difficult and impressive pieces than before. This progress has also been made by the

across the nation convened on the customary annual JYMC photo

opinion a2–A3 Bushra Al-Sou’b on Capital Punishment

arts & Sciences A5 Suhail Nahhas on t he Lizard Man

campus a4 Tareg Hamza Profil es our Omelette Overlord

cinema A7 Amin Janjua reviews the year 2014 in film

JYMC orchestra, which has grown in size and proficiency every year since its establishment. Each year, the conference has held some theme or slogan. The first conference’s ‘punny’ slogan was “Without music, life would B-flat.” The next year followed with the phrase, “Time to play!” This year’s theme centered around the efforts and commitment necessary for creating music. The backs of the customary JYMC shirts this year read, “I can’t … I have rehearsal! Commit to music.” This year’s conference also featured an addition to JYMC, the choral component. This year, the King’s Academy Glee Club, joined by some guest singers from outside King’s, put together its own repertoire for the conference. At 6:30 PM on Saturday, the auditorium was packed with an audience eager to hear the result of the musicians’ hard work and commitment. Continued on page A4

Anyone who has been on the internet in the past week has seen them: the countless posts on the death of Lt. Mu’ath Kassasbeh. Some people write long posts detailing their sadness and anger; some change their profile pictures to the picture of the smiling martyr; Others still simply share the hashtag #‫( كلنا_معــاذ‬we are all Mu’ath). All of the posts seem to portray the same theme - the nation of Jordan is mourning the tragic death of a hero, a death that has united the country against ISIL and garnered heartwarming support from the international community. Amidst the chaos and anger that plagues Jordan, it is important for each person to reflect on their personal feelings towards the death of Lt. Kassasbeh, to take the time to mourn independently, and to ask themselves if the social media posts and signs of solidarity are representative of personal responses to the tragedy, or merely the result of pressure to conform to society’s expectations regarding mourning.

The problem with collective mourning is that it forces everyone to grieve in a standard way. The crier and the reflector, the person who believes in wearing black and the one who likes to wear color, the mourner of death and the celebrator of life, are all expected to act in a certain way, to show their solidarity through specific clothes, to cry at one time and remain composed at another It assumes that everyone in society has the same feelings on the tragedy, and that everyone expresses such feelings in the same way. Collective mourning assumes that the student who wears black cares more than the student who doesn›t, that the person who cried publically is sadder than the one who reflected privately, and that the person who sulked for three days is more empathetic than the one who Continued on page A3


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