Talon Times Chronicle 2016

Farewell

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 2

Index

Farewell p2 Advice p3 Year in Review p4 Local p5 FIRST robotics competition: internationals ThINKing global Healthy active living: just do it Senioritis: why I couldn't come up with a better title

National p7

Ottawa's tulip festival Something to be proud of Fort mcmurray: a city in flames Ottawa's mental health awareness tour Suicide crisis in northern ontario Canadian politics: updates from ottawa Global p10 Trapped at the border Beyond the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804 Panama papers: the largest whistleblower leak in history Lifestyle p12 What time is it? SUMMER TIME! How to cope with academic stress over the summer Depression: a silent epidemic ECOO: a day in the life of a competitive programmer

Opinion p14

School and sleep: a compromise?

"Don't stay in school" - lessons not taught in the classroom "POC solidarity" SeaWorld: corporate greed underwater Cultural appropriation: poc vs western-raised poc

Media and Culture

p18

Whitewashing and yellowface Top 10 most anticipated movies of the summer Back from the dead: a look at tv reboots, entertainment's hottest trend We're all beautiful...right?

Smartphone apps: looking into the latest report

Science p21 Fictional reality A new multi-industry technology Graphology: it's all in your hands Earth 2.0: the search for an earthlike exoplanet

Horoscopes p23 Comics p24

Credits

Teacher Supervisors Mr. Gordon Ms. Axon

Editors in Chief

Srobona Podder Linwan Song

Copy Editors

Julie Cho Michelle Wei Vivian Mai Jovana Pajovic Shankhalika Srikanth Ramya Eyer

Layout Designers

Evelyn Ku Saamia Ansari Suchithra Shenthil RuoBing Yu Sam Lu Christa Hu Rebecca Lee

Photographers

Munaam Naveed Khushi Nansi Farah Khan Vivian Li Tram Nguyen Sara Imam Aryan Shah Annie Zou

Cover Design

Amanda Yang

Photo : Amanda Yang

W

here do I even begin? Just being part of a newspaper has been a dream of mine since elementary school, much less being the editor in chief. It’s unfortunate that not every school has the opportunity to publish a student-run newspaper as we do, and I am beyond grateful for the passionate group of students I’ve had the pleasure of working with this year, as well as in the past. As an advocate for youth expression, I believe the Talon Times is primarily a symbol of the strength and power that exists in student voices. Every journalist and editor on my team dived head-first into discussing major issues, and it is my hope that every student coming out of the team has gained the confidence to vocalize their concerns. The education system is changing every day, and it is evident that Glenforest is headed in a completely new direction over the coming years. I sincerely hope Talon Times continues to endeavor in its goal of bringing student concerns to light and serving as a connection between every student at Glenforest.

I would like to thank my co-editor in chief, Linwan Song, for always being there to provide the support and encouragement I needed to lead such a large team.

I will never forget the extraordinary efforts and countless hours that you and your layout team put into releasing each issue.

Talon Times would not have been possible without the endless contributions of our teacher supervisors, Mr. Gordon and Ms. Axon. Thank you for your support throughout the year; we truly would not have been able to publish four, incredible issues without you.

Thank you to our team of brilliant and dedicated journalists, photographers, and artists; you never ceased to amaze me with the work you submitted for each issue. I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors, and I know that you are all more than capable of accomplishing your dreams.

For my friends that have had to listen to me talk on and on about Talon Times during lunch, thank you for always listening. I couldn’t have asked for a better support system! And finally, thank you to our amazing readers! Effective communication is a two-way street, and the newspaper would not have been what it was without your enthusiasm for reading what our team had to say. I would like to wish next year’s editors in chief, Jovana Pajovic and Amanda Yang, the best of luck!

I am incredibly excited to see the new direction the newspaper takes under your leadership.

-Srobona

F

our years ago, on a warm, sunny September morning, I walked into my first class in high school. I was nervous but excited; the ceilings were taller, the lights brighter, the expectations higher, the people less familiar. Looking back now, I chuckle at how little I knew. Not only was that the first step on my long journey through high school, but it was also the first step on my path here, writing this farewell letter to you.

While I had never imagined myself working for a newspaper when I was younger, I have been regularly reading the news for as long as I can remember. The news is a reflection of the world around us; it shows us the kind of world we live in, whether it is local, national or international. This world we are a part of influences who we are, whether we like it or not. I hope the events that we reported on this year, the articles that we have written and the opinions we have expressed have influenced you the way they have influenced me; by exposing me to new events around my community, opening my eyes to the wider world and showing me new ideas. My time at Talon Times and Glenforest has greatly changed the way I see the world and my own future, and I’m so grateful for my time here, and glad to have helped provide this great medium for student expression.

It was my absolute pleasure to be Co-Editor of Talon Times this year. I had so much fun working with all of the Talon Times staff as we painstakingly created each new issue. There were definitely sleepless nights, tight deadlines and stressful problems to solve; but they were worth it. There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a finished issue and knowing that I have contributed something positive to the school environment.

I must thank my fellow co-editor in chief Srobona, for I would not have accomplished much without her. Thank you, Srobona for providing me with support, readying all the articles so that my team and I could do our work, being so organized and having so much patience. I don’t know what I would have done without you.

Thank you to Ms. Axon and Mr. Gordon for being our teacher supervisors, proofreading, and printing the paper. I’m so grateful to have been able to help run the newspaper, which would not have been possible without your support.

Thank you to my layout designers, covers designers, photographers and comic artists for all their hard work and dedication. Your work was vital to the paper’s success and I hope to see all those who are not graduating return for next year’s paper!

Good luck to Amanda Yang and Jovana Pajovic, who will be our co-editors next year. You will have the best of times and the worst of times, but it is certainly worth it at the end. Save me a copy next year!

Finally, farewell to you Glenforest. Thank you, for reading our newspaper, holding events for us to report on and being so supportive. Now our individual journeys diverge, but I cannot wait to see where yours lead.

-Linwan

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 3

Advice D

ear Confused for the Summer,

Dear Jack, It’s almost the end of the school year, and that means being able to decide what I do for the next two months.

How do I manage my time effectively?

Sincerely, Confused for the Summer

First of all, congratulations on making it through the year! It’s been 10 months of assignments, club meetings, and improv presentations. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you head into summer vacation: Take advantage of the weather! Very few high school students actually spend time outside every day during the school year, when it’s actually one of the easiest ways to relieve stress and recharge yourself. In the summer, there aren’t any projects or practices to keep you from going outside. Use these two months to reconnect with nature ‒ Mississauga has a lot of parks and trails available for walking, biking, or having picnics. There are also outdoor events and festivals that only happen this time of year because of the nice weather ‒ look into what the GTA has to offer!

Reconnect with family and friends. High school and all the activities associated with it from September to June can often overtake spending time with family and friends. Seeing friends from other schools and distant family relatives becomes almost impossible, so consider making plans with people you haven’t caught up with in a while. Especially if you’re graduating high school, summer may be the last chance to see your closest friends for a while. It’s no surprise that spending time with people that you love and make you laugh is beneficial for your health in so many ways.

Prepare for next year. The more you prepare yourself for the new school year, the easier the transition will be. Having a summer job may help when looking for a job for the school year (not to mention covering expenses every teenager has).

There are also a lot of volunteering opportunities at hospitals, food banks, and community centres over the summer that can add to your experience. Reflecting on your strengths and weaknesses from the past year will help to make a list of personal and academic goals for 2016-2017.

All in all, plan your summer in a way that suits you as an individual the best. Whether you’re more about work or play, be sure to find time for both to truly make the most of your summer vacation.

See you in the fall!

Sincerely, Jack

D

ear Missing Her Already,

To start with, you have my heartfelt understanding. When one of my closest friends relocated to another province, I was sure our friendship was coming to an end. You say that your friend is moving away this summer; I’m going to presume that she isn’t moving away right at the start, but maybe sometime in the middle. If you both establish this in your mind, then you can mentally prepare yourselves for the physical finality to your friendship, at least for the time being. Create a list of things you want to do with your friend before she leaves (try to keep it relatively realistic), and set out to accomplish as many as possible. Once those are finished and she’s moved, you can always make a new list of places you’ll visit and things you’ll do when you see each other again. Sadly, not every friendship will last. Some will inevitably crumble because they’re simply not meant to be. Keeping it alive is a joint effort; on the other hand, you don’t just want to keep it alive, since “alive” means hi’s, hello’s, and how are you’s. You want your friendship to thrive.

It is entirely possible to keep a friendship alive long distance. You can have deep discussions, random thoughts you share, arguments when you both get sick of each other, apologies when you realize your errors, compromises, laughter, tears, squabbles; literally everything. Skyping, calling, messaging, and texting are all incredible ways to stay connected, and I’m sure you can probably list a few more just off the top of your head! Create a joint Spotify playlist! You can share and add songs to it so you both always know what music the other is listening to. Sharing musical tastes does wonders for a friendship, in the way that water and sunlight keep plants healthy.

There will be times when you’ll question whether it’s worth the effort, and sometimes you’ll just want to let it go. In those times, I think giving each other a break isn’t a bad idea. If you think you’ll be able to approach it again after some time and with a fresh mind, then go for it. But sometimes, even friendships that you think will last the longest simply don’t. Sometimes, even perfectly imperfect friendships have expiry dates. And that’s okay, because that’s life. It’s definitely not the ideal situation, but you’ll learn to move on. Every story is different, and I really hope yours works out for you.

Dear Jill, My friend is moving away to another province this summer and I really don’t want to lose her as a friend, but I don’t know how to make a friendship last long distance. I don’t know, it just seems inevitable that we lose touch. What do I do?

Sincerely, Missing Her Already

Good luck, Jill

Want to get involved with Talon Times this upcoming school year? Applications for all positions are now available! If you are highly dedicated and passionate about sharing news and events that are important to you, be sure to send in your application by Sunday, June 19. Experience is not required! If you have any questions about the application process or what kinds of responsibilities the positions entail, email them to talon.times@gmail.com. The application is available through the QR code on the right or at goo.gl/forms/nLUTDpfwVMCihFmt2

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 4

Year in Review

Photo : Macleans

Photo : Jezebel

Photo : Slate

That's a wrap! A review of the 2015/16 school year By: Jovana Pajovic

I

t’s that time of the year again. Cherry blossom trees have bloomed and showered the entrance to Glenforest with rosy petals, the hustle and bustle in the school hallways has settled to a soft shuffling, and the sunshine seems to have soothed the normally tense nature of the student body. Summer is nearing, and — though we’re only halfway through 2016 — so is the end of the school year. As such, it feels fitting to reflect upon the events that captured our attention and shaped how we view the world.

Politics and society On October 19th, after a historically long campaign session of 11 weeks, the Canadian federal election was held and the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, won 184 seats and formed a majority government. The outcome of the election brought about the resignation of Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe, the leaders of the Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois, respectively. Tom Mulcair intended to remain the leader of the New Democratic Party, but lost a party vote this spring and was forced to step down.

The Liberal victory came after a tumultuous final term from Harper, during which he was blasted for his controversial remarks on missing and murdered Aboriginal women, and on women wearing the niqab at citizenship ceremonies. The swearing in

of Trudeau and his cabinet sparked a so-called second wave of Trudeaumania, as the young politician garnered international fame for his ambitious goals and charm.

to deal with such serious societal issues as the ones that troubled last year. Though the Canadian government fulfilled its pledge of accepting 25 000 Syrian refugees, the migrant crisis reached a new peak. The Syrian citizens are fleeing from a 4 year civil war that left 250 000 dead, 6.5 million domestically displaced, and 3 million in neighboring countries. Among the violent events presently occurring in Middle-Eastern and North African countries are the terrorist attacks that left millions dead. The strife spread to parts of Europe, resulting in the November Paris attacks and Brussels terrorist bombings in April.

Canada’s southern neighbour is enduring an ongoing election campaign period, which officially began last April when Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for presidency (making the federal campaign session in the US approximately 7.5 times longer than in Canada). Not long afterwards, senator Bernie Sanders also announced that he was running for the Democratic nomination, and though 2015 polls suggested that Clinton was the Democratic front-runner, Sanders quickly Other social issues that became a challenge for the for- made the headlines were the mer first lady as he appealed to global outbreak of the Zika younger generations. virus, the debate over legislations regarding medically On the other side of the assisted suicide, and the incoin is the presumptive nom- creasing concern over police inee of the Republican Party brutality. businessman Donald Trump, who has undoubtedly become the face of the election. What Pop Culture and the Arts was once a farce unexpectedRock legends Prince and ly became reality, as Trump David Bowie, Beatles producoutcompeted his opponents er George Martin, and Harry (including Cruz, Kasich, Bush, Potter actor Alan Rickman are Carson, and Rubio), despite among the notable deaths of his tendency to contradict the past year. The tragic — and himself, his disdain for polit- in some cases, unexpected — ical correctness, and his un- news of the passing of these ceasing flow of contentious icons left the world in mourncomments about women, ing and celebrating their exother candidates, and immi- traordinary lives. grants.

Arguably one of the bigWhether they be from gest movements in pop culCanada or the US, the elect- ture in 2016 so far has been ed leaders will have to be able the demand for change in how

Photo : Shravan Vijayabaskaran

artists are treated. The Oscars, which were held on February 28th, received a great deal of criticism regarding the lack of diversity among the nominees in the major categories for the second year running. In response, several celebrities, including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee, decided to boycott the ceremony.

The legal battle between pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke brought attention to the issue of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the music industry. Kesha sought to dissolve her contract with Sony and Dr. Luke after claims of sexual harassment and emotional abuse over their 10 years of working together. Although the court ruled against her request, the trial saw an outpour of support for the artist and the campaign to support survivors of sexual assault.

In a characteristic move, Beyoncé released a new album, Lemonade, with a corresponding short film of the same title, in April. The album is the singer’s most critically acclaimed work yet, as she received praise for both the music and the subject matter.

On first listen, Lemonade is an album about grief and resurrection. Upon closer inspection, however, it is an anthem for the empowerment of the black woman that finds a perfect place in the progressive tone of music and pop culture this year.

School life

Photo : Wikipedia

The school year at Glenforest was business as usual: full of exciting events and great accomplishments from students. After hours upon hours of hard work from students and teachers alike, the STEM team successfully hosted STEM Xperience, Canada's largest student-run conference, in November. Over 1500 students from the GTA attended the conference and listened to a selection of the 40 speakers, who gave presentations on opportunities in STEM fields.

tion in Nashville in April.

The Fashion Arts Association and the United Way Committee teamed up to host their first annual Fall Fashion Show, to serve as a pay-whatyou-can fundraiser for the United Way of Peel, featuring 38 student models.

Finally, it was a big year for Glenforest's robotics club.

The hardworking team ‒ 6070, Gryphon Machine ‒ qualified to attend the international championships in St. Louis!

The Glenforest Enhanced Student Committee presented the GifTED talks, which invited students to share their words of inspiration and encouragement with the student body.

November proved to be a busy month, because along with all of the aforementioned events going on around the school, Glenforest students also participated in DECA Regionals. 166 Gryphons qualified, and over 100 top 10 ribbons and 15 top 3 medals were awarded. Students performed just as well at DECA Provincials later in the school year, and a number of them even went on to compete ‒ and win ‒ at the international competi-

Over the March break, 28 Glenforest students participated in MIST, the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament at the University of Toronto.

MIST united students from 35 schools in the GTA, who competed in categories like sports, art, debate and improv, and many more. March was also the month of Glenforest's annual talent show, and in April the Glenforest Filmmakers' Association filmed the much-anticipated lip dub.

Science NASA confirmed evidence this year that liquid water flows on Mars after detecting signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where an imaging spectrometer showed streaks. Meanwhile, astronomers detected evidence of gravitational waves, 100 years after their existence was proposed by Albert Einstein.

At the Climate Change Conference in Paris in November, parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reached an agreement that included establishing the goal of limiting the global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius, and investing $100 billion from 2020 through 2025 in efforts for the environment.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 5

Local

Photo : Kim Nguyen

FIRST robotics competition: internationals A

By: Annie Zou & Maha Kanwal

fter winning the rookie allstar award at the Greater Toronto East Regionals, Glenforest’s FRC Robotics team, Gryphon Machine, traveled to St. Louis, Missouri to compete at the international level against teams from around the world.

The curtain-wielding, shovel-jousting robot barreled its way to stand alongside veteran teams and champion robots.

The team woke before the sun to arrive early on May 1st, 2016 to Glenforest Secondary School. Looking forward to the exciting days ahead, they boarded the Coach Bus with Chinbotics, the team from Chinguacousy Secondary School in Brampton. 15 incredibly long hours, tons of fast-food, and several rounds of “Heads Up” later, both teams arrived to the quaint hotel that would be their home for the week. From the get go, strategy took top priority

as there was never time to rest during the chaos of First Robotics.

Day one can only be described as the eye before the storm. Entering the Edward Jones Arena with a cartful of supplies and the Gryphon Machine flag waving high, the game was on. For the next 5 days, the 10 by 10 ft pit would serve as ground zero for the 25 members of the team. Bumpers had to be fixed (more than once), the Iron Curtain restrung, and the Shov-

elbot’s shovel updated. With the threat of competition looming overhead, it was a race against the clock with all hands on deck. At one point, the robot’s arm, bumper, and wheel were destroyed during a tough match with a team from Czech Republic, all of which had to be re-built in under 40 minutes.

This goes to show that regardless of the numerous obstacles and challenges the team faced, they resiliently pushed forward by thinking on

their feet. “We knocked over a $20.000 robot with a $2 shower curtain,” Shaniz Shehreen, a team member, proudly states.

Between frantic days and sleep deprived nights, the team left with new friendships and lasting memories made underneath the St. Louis Arch.

Gryphon Machine already has plans for improvements next year. Reorganization, delegating tasks, and acquiring sponsors are just some on the list of pending goals. Looking back at

ThINKing global S

By: Michelle Wei

aturday, May 7th saw the debut of Mississauga’s very own thINK Global conference, presented by Ink Movement Mississauga and Rebel Week 16 Initiative.

It was an amazing opportunity that gave the youth of Peel a chance to experiment with art forms from all over the world. Those who attended could dabble in Arabic cal-

ligraphy, spoken word poetry, Indian classical dance, anime, henna, Latin dance, aikido (a Japanese martial art), Aboriginal cultural art, and Turkish water marbling – forms of art other than the traditional paintbrush and canvas but just as beautiful. They also got a t-shirt and copy of the 2015 Ink Movement anthology to take home.

All in all, the conference was an overwhelming suc-

cess, with 100 attendees and nine facilitators leading nine workshops from Turkish water marbling to Japanese aikido – all organized within the comforts of the Mississauga Central Library.

“I think that we live somewhere that is so multicultural and diverse, which makes events like these so important for our youth. They allow us to appreciate different cultures,” says Amna Zia,

lessons learned and experiences gained, the members are looking to the future. Gryphon Machine truly proved to be a classic case of the underdog, going from an amateur rookie team to a team known for their resourcefulness under pressure. If there was an award for most improved, Gryphon Machine would, undoubtedly, be the champion.

Photo : Sara Imam

a Grade 10 student at Glenforest Secondary School and the facilitator of thINK Global’s henna workshop.

More than being a stage for multicultural art, the conference also provided youth with valuable leadership opportunities to share their passions with others. Two of nine facilitators were high school students, leading workshops alongside professional Canadian artists: Glenforest’s

very own Amna, who led the henna workshop, and Katherine Tang from Woodlands Secondary School who taught anime art.

“It’s not often that I get into a position where I can teach others,” says Amna.

“But in this experience I was able to share what I’m passionate about with others and that made me really happy. There’s a certain joy in teaching, especially when it’s

something you really enjoy.”

Be sure to look out for other events hosted by Ink Movement in the future!

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 6

Local

Healthy active living: just do it

Photo : Athletic Council

By: Srobona Podder

T

he school year may be coming to a close, but our spirit hasn’t let up just yet. The Athletic Council swooped in just before May to present a spirit-filled week of healthy active living with the hopes of showing students how much fun it can be to get active. The benefits of living an active lifestyle are often underestimated, especially when it feels like there are so many other responsibilities that you think need to be prioritized. The key word in that statement is “think.” The fact is, there isn’t

always an ultimatum. It is possible to complete your day-today work and take part in fun activities that get your heart rate up.

Studies have shown that getting involved in recreational activities actually improves your mood and helps you concentrate. Now, imagine that you’ve been studying for three hours straight and your brain is just about ready to fizzle into a state of inactivity. It really doesn’t make sense to try and study any longer when your brain clearly isn’t retaining the new information that you insist on cramming. Instead, try

learning some of the choreography to your favourite music video, or even just stretch out those cramping legs. You may find that simply taking a break and watching an episode of Game of Thrones between your subjects actually hinders your ability to study effectively. Taking part in some kind of physical activity, however, helps you pay attention to your body instead of the stress that your mind is under. Exercise is just as good for your mental health as it is for maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle.

Athletic Council held Healthy Active Living Week

from April 25th to 29th to promote healthy lifestyle options and simply give students a break from all their stress.

To start off the week, students were invited to wear their favourite sports jersey. The variety of jerseys that students wore, representing teams from around the world, exemplified Glenforest’s diversity. Fitness challenges were held in the gym on Tuesday, and students competed for first place trophies in several categories.

After showing incredible effort and giving it their all, the following students were named winners in their respective

categories: Christopher Deguzman – plank; Anuj Garlapati – burpees; Lan Ta – wall sit; Andrew Xue – push-ups; Tony Liu – agility. Wednesday presented yet another chance for students to show off their wacky wardrobes with tight and bright activewear. Thursday was Gryphon-wear day, as well as the three-point shootout challenge in the gym where William Phan was deemed the champion. Finally, Athletic Council ended the week off with a healthy bake sale. Practising a healthy lifestyle doesn’t only mean getting enough exercise; it also means

Photo by: eating the right kinds of food.

The bake sale featured some surprisingly sweet snacks which doubled as tasty energy-boosters.

All-in-all, everyone who participated in Athletic Council’s Healthy Active Living Week learned what it takes to maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Being active doesn’t mean you have to run a beep test every Tuesday or do fitness challenges every Thursday. Find what you love to do and just do it – definitely something to keep in mind for exam season.

Senioritis: why I couldn’t come up with a better title S

By: Ramya Eyer

enioritis is one of those things that the Internet constantly takes a crack at, especially with the “Lazy College Senior” meme, which I have personally seen many of as I did my research for this article.

And when you search the word up on Google, it’s meant to be humorous. However, I would like to argue that senioritis is something we need to start taking seriously, as it is more than just a problem made up by the internet. In fact, it has been around for a very long time.

Before I state my case, you need to know, reader, what exactly senioritis is.

Senioritis is a phenomenon students encounter in their

final stretch of high school or a post-secondary institution, usually within the final few months, after they have received their acceptances to their post-secondary opportunities and/or have a definitive plan after they graduate. Symptoms include immense procrastination, decrease in willingness to keep up their physical appearance (usually accompanied by the excessive wearing of sweatpants), increased absences to their classes, and, most seriously, the decline in their academic performance and an escapist state of mind (i.e. wanting to get out of high school as soon as they can).

Senioritis seemed to have risen in the following years, with the prevalence of the word

Photo : Yearbook

on the internet, particularly in forums like Reddit and 4chan.

However, the term was first used as early as the 1950s, with the Merriam-Webster dictionary recording the first official use of the word in 1957. It seems that this word is a fairly new addition to the English language that describes a historical phenomenon.

The lack of motivation, the very essence of senioritis, is crippling in many ways. It is not

uncommon for scholarships to be revoked, or for work ethics to be permanently driven into the ground. A perceived lack of purpose in the lives of high school seniors slowly settles in, evoking a sense of hopelessness , the feeling of being “in a rut”, and other such depression-like symptoms.

According to Urban Dictionary, the unofficial guide to slang, the only way to overcome the issue is to graduate.

Parent-help blogs say that creating small goals helps teens get through the final stretch.

However, there are a few things you, the reader, can do to get through this. Find things to look forward to or to care about between now and graduation time by keeping yourself busy.

Make plans to do something great at the end of each week and, in between, spend time planning for said event. More importantly, reward yourself

for the small victories.

We can only do so much as we don’t have a definitive “cure” for senioritis. As a high school senior dealing with senioritis myself, I think it’s definitely something we all need to look into. We know senioritis exists.

It is an unshakeable, unfortunate phenomenon that many teenagers and young adults experience every year from March to June, and we need to do something about it.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 7

National

Ottawa's tulip festival T

By: Seyma Bulut

his May, the annual tulip festival was held in Ottawa. This beautiful festival paints hundreds of Ottawa’s flower beds in many beautiful hues as the tulips bloom.

This festival has great cultural and historical significance dating back to World War II. During May of 1940, with the Nazi’s invasion of the Netherlands, the Dutch royal family escaped to the UK and ruled in exile. Later on, Princess Juliana brought her daughters with her to Canada. In 1943, the princess gave birth to Princess Margriet in an Ottawa hospital (which was declared temporarily extraterritorial so as not to give the princess dual

citizenship which would interfere in her succession to the throne). This marked the birth of the only royal ever born in North America.

Once Princess Juliana returned to the Netherlands in 1945, she sent several gifts to Canada in a show of gratitude for her stay and the Canadian soldiers’ role in the liberation of her country. Among these gifts were 100 000 tulip bulbs, the official flower of the Netherlands. She later sent 20 500 more bulbs to be planted in front of the hospital she gave birth in, and an additional 1000 every year until her abdication from the throne in 1980.

These tulips have since become a large tourist attrac-

tion in Ottawa and have attracted admiration, curiosity, and interest amongst Canadians. Becoming an official festival in 1953, it has become a celebration of spring and Canada’s wartime connections, attracting over 500 000 visitors annually. It has also become a festival with activities for all ages and a display of artwork, with this year’s festival showcasing beautiful, larger-than-­ life tulip sculptures. We can definitely be looking forward to next year's festival!

Photo : Ottawa Tourism

Something to be proud of Photo : Pride Toronto

By: Suzany Manimaran

I

n recent decades, Canada has made enormous strides towards LGBT rights. In 2005, we were the fourth country worldwide to legalize same sex marriage with the Civil Marriage Act. In 2013, Ontario elected Canada’s first openly gay Premier, Kathleen Wynne. June 2016 marks another historic landmark for the Canadian LGBT community, as Canada will be celebrating its first official Pride Month.

The annual Toronto Pride Parade is perhaps one of the most vibrant and exciting events that takes place in

the city. Toronto Pride is one of the largest pride parades worldwide and puts Toronto on the map as a diverse, cultured city. Let’s not forget that there are pride events even closer to home. Glenforest Positive Space club held Pride Week from May 30th to June 3rd, showcasing the culture, history, and accomplishments of the LGBT community.

But with all the publicity and commercialism that surrounds LGBT pride, one might wonder why pride is so important. Why are rainbow flags and pink t shirts still important when marriage equality exists in so many coun-

tries; when gay actors, artists, and athletes are celebrated in mainstream media? Why is it still important to celebrate pride in 2016?

For one, it’s to honour and celebrate the trailblazers of the LGBT community from the 1960s, when being out and open was vastly more difficult than it is in 2016. It’s to pay respect to the victims and the survivors of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. It’s because of their resilience that basic rights like marriage equality exist today.

For another, it’s important to recognize the struggle that the LGBT communi-

ty faces daily, worldwide. It would be foolish to pretend that homophobia is a thing of the past when around the world, people are persecuted, imprisoned, even executed, for being gay or transgender.

Even in countries with laws in place to protect LGBT individuals, hate crimes are still prevalent. The transgender community, particularly trans women of colour, are the most targeted demographic, with more and more reported cases of assault and homicide being reported every year. All of this is fueled and perpetuated by a homophobic, transphobic culture that refuses to respect and

recognize the basic humanity of the LGBT community.

Although Glenforest is a diverse, accepting, and inclusive school, we are not an exception to this. Some queer students of Glenforest feel that the school environment is, as one student puts it, “In the odd spot of feeling as though one is not in direct danger, but also not in a safe enough space to talk.” Another student said, “There is supposedly a ‘don’t care’ attitude when a student comes out, but [it] doesn’t prevent people from making derogatory comments about [my sexuality] or using slurs.”

It is inevitable, that even with

many open­minded, accepting individuals, there will also be many that are vocal in their bigotry. We should be aiming to create an open environment where each and every student feels that their identity is safe, valid, and respected.

LGBT activism and the Pride Movement continues to be a very important issue today because the work is clearly not done.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 8

National Fort mcmurray: a city in flames

Photo : CityNews

O

By: Maha Kanwal

n May 1st 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta. As of mid-­May, officials have not yet determined the exact cause of the fire. Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildfires at the University of Alberta, believes humans were most likely the leading cause because of the lack of lightning strikes and the fire’s close proximity to the city. Regardless of how the fire started, the weather has exacerbated the problem. Sudden gusts of winds made the fire jump over rivers and roads on May 1st, making it spiral out of control. To make matters worse, a hot, dry air mass

was set over Northern Alberta with temperatures climbing to 32.8°C in Fort McMurray on May 3rd. The winter preceding the disaster had been unusually dry, as well, which added plenty of dead, torrid leaves for the fire to catch on to.

As of late, the wildfire has crossed the border into Saskatchewan, spanning more than 500,000 hectares of land­ almost 90% the size of Prince Edward Island. A local state of emergency was declared for the entirety of Fort McMurray on May 1st at 6:49 pm. Reports say that 88,000 people were evacuated from their homes without any fatalities or injuries. However, two teenagers were killed during the evac-

uation in a vehicle collision.

About 25,000 evacuees headed north while the majority headed south to Edmonton, Calgary, and other neighbouring towns. A wall of fire sprouted along Highway 63, the only route out of Fort McMurray, making it difficult to safely clear the area. Anthony Policicchio, who fled with his wife, three children, and two dogs, said, “It was like something out of a movie, honest to God it was. It was the scariest thing we’ve ever had to do.”

Haunting videos filmed by the residents of Fort McMurray show a sky filled with black smoke and flames blazing higher than the trees.

Cassie White, 19, said she

feared for her life as she made her way out of the city. “On the left was a big gas station; the flames jumped over the highway and blew up the gas station. It was torched.” She recalls a huge sheet of debris hitting her car and seeing civilians stuck on Highway 63 breathing through wet cloths.

“At the time, I didn’t know if I was going to make it out ...

It was very, very scary.” Cassie continues, “I felt like I was in a vacuum bag and all the air was being sucked out.” Emergency officials confirmed that entire neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray have been destroyed.

On May 16th, the heavy smoke from the wildfire

reached oil­ -sand camps surrounding Fort McMurray, causing more than 4000 workers to evacuate. The shut down on oil sites has resulted in a loss of one million barrels of oil a day, about 40% of Canada’s oil sand output. At one point, the fire was so bad that it was creating its own weather system. Believe it or not, the wildfire made its own high winds and lightning which struck the ground, erupting into more flames.

The country has responded valiantly to the situation with more than 1 000 forest fire fighters from almost every province as of May 20th.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government will

match individual donations made to the Canadian Red Cross who have already raised $86 million.

A voluntary, phased re­ entry into Fort McMurray is expected to start June 1st 2016 if the wildfire stays under control. Electricity has been restored to 90% of Fort McMurray and other outlying areas, and gas services have been restored to 74%. Canadians can still help by donating to the Canadian Red Cross online or by calling 1­-800-­418-­1111. Every dollar is appreciated.

Ottawa’s mental health awareness tour L

By: Seyma Bulut

ast month, a 15­ day bike tour throughout Canada and the US kicked off on Parliament Hill. The tour spans from Ottawa all the way to Washington D.C, which is a little under 1000 miles! The tour exists to promote mental health awareness, particularly for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who suffer from such illnesses due to the nature of their occupation.

From rescuing people from burning buildings, to helping the injured get to safety, and dealing with victims of crimes (especially violent ones) can be incredibly difficult. The types of stress

these individuals are put under are physical, mental, and emotional. It’s no wonder why some first responders are plagued with nightmares and phobias after living through such events. When working as a first responder, especially in the medical field, it’s very easy to get attached to the people you're trying to save. And first responders find it difficult to leave their jobs and work longer shifts because of their desire to keep helping people. As a result, this makes it difficult for them to take care of themselves.

PTSD and other mental health issues need to be discussed with your friends and family. However, with all the stigma surrounding mental illness, it makes it difficult to ap-

proach others about this topic. “It’s all in your head.” “Get over it.” “People all over the world have it so much worse than you; stop complaining.”

Phrases like these make people suffering from mental illnesses feel guilty for being that way, when it’s not their fault in the slightest! So make an effort to stop using this kind of language when it comes to mental illnesses because you likely have very little idea of what they had to go through up until now. And let’s all wish good luck to the 80 brave people making the grueling journey in the hopes of spreading awareness of this issue.

Photo : CBC

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 9

National

Suicide crisis in northern ontario Photo : Vivian Li

By: Shankhalika Srikanth

T

he Attawapiskat First Nation reserve in northern Ontario has declared a state of emergency for the fifth time in ten years. The small Cree community of 2000 people has been shaken by a relentless epidemic of attempted suicides.

There have been a hundred attempts since last September, and 28 in March alone. Seven of those attempting suicide were under the age of 14, and forty‐three were under 25.

The state of emergency was called on April 9, 2016, once Chief Bruce Shisheesh and the council unanimously decided that there were not enough resources to cope with the increasing number of hos-

pitalizations. The community of Attawapiskat has a single 15‐bed hospital serviced by temporary doctors who visit four days a week, three weeks a month. On the weekends and in the evenings, there are only two nurses, and there has been no regular mental health worker for nine months because of a lack of housing.

Many of those attempting suicide in need of care are forced to wait in the jails, because there is not enough room in the hospital.

The morning after the decision, seven children between the ages of nine and fourteen were taken to the hospital under suspicion of drug overdoses, thought to be suicide attempts, and by the

end of the day, there were four more attempts. The following Monday, police were forced to intervene in a suicide pact between thirteen people and on Friday, five more children attempted suicide. The youngest child in that group was nine years old. At the start of May, there were nine more suicide attempts.

Poverty and a lack of mental health support are two of the root causes of this heart‐ wrenching tragedy. There is a lack of housing on the reserve, with many homes sheltering fourteen to fifteen people.

Previous states of emergency had also been called for flooding, raw sewage, and unclean drinking water. In addition, substance abuse remains a

commonly‐used method of coping with physical and sexual abuse. When the money runs out for drugs, a person’s last resort may be suicide.

“A lot of young people nowadays feel like nobody cares for them and like, most of them feel unloved,” says Clarissa, the fourteen year old cousin of Sheridan Hookimaw, a thirteen‐year‐old who committed suicide in October.

She says that their elders aren’t to blame as it is their mistreatment in residential schools such as St Anne’s, where the electric chair was commonly used as a punishment, that continues to trace scars down the generations. “They didn’t get the love that they needed.

Instead of getting hugged, they

got beaten up, they got sexually abused.”

In an attempt to assuage the wounds of the past and the present, the youth of Attawapiskat are taking it upon themselves to help their community.

Sixteen year old Jack Linklater Jr. conducts healing marches.

Three youth attended the Activate Leadership Program run

by Motivate Canada in Ottawa this year. They learned about leadership skills and community‐building with the incorporation of sport and physical activities that they brought back to share with those on the reserve.

The province has provided two million dollars for short term aid and an emergency assistance team of thir-

teen people qualified as mental health workers, security, and nurses. Health Canada is collaborating with local agencies to create a six member team of youth support workers, counsellors, a psychologist, and a case manager for youth. The local health authority has volunteered five additional mental health counsellors.

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett visited the community and promised to build a youth centre and take a delegation of youth to Ottawa. The recently published federal budget has allocated $8.4 billion over five years for indigenous infrastructure, culture, education, health, and opportunities.

Canadian politics: updates from ottawa By: Michelle Wei

1. #Elbowgate The new Parliamentary session got off to a messy start when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to move along a vote, literally.

The Members of Parliament gathered in the House of Commons to vote on the government’s controversial physician-­ assisted dying bill on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 22nd. The serious vote was interrupted when Trudeau caused an uproar by taking opposition whip Gord Brown by the arm and attempting to physically move him to his seat, elbowing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the process. According to other witnesses, Trudeau also swore, telling a crowd of MPs to “Get the f*** out of the way.” The House in chaos, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was later caught on tape yelling "What kind of man elbows a woman? It's pathetic! You're pathetic!" at Trudeau.

Brosseau said she was "elbowed in the chest by the

prime minister” and was so upset from the incident that she had to leave, missing the vote.

Afterwards, Trudeau apologized twice, taking full responsibility for his actions and hoping to “make amends directly to the member and to any members who feel negatively impacted by this exchange and intervention."

Trudeau’s House of Commons incident inspired #elbowgate on Twitter, where Canadians scorned politicians for making mountains out of mole hills. @Yimmer commented, “For all those claiming #elbowgate is assault, you must have never ridden a crowded public transit bus #cdnpoli.” @ziyatong says, “Everybody talking about #elbowgate. Nobody talking about the assisted dying bill.” @SanneyLeung says, “The #NDP reaction to #ElbowGate does a disservice to real violence, real malice against women. Should be ashamed of themselves.”

2. Physician­- assisted dying Since being interrupted, the vote on the federal government’s physician­ -assisted dying legislation will be resumed in the last week of May. Members of Parliament will decide whether or not to pass Bill C­14, which would allow mentally competent adults who have serious and incurable illnesses to die with the help of their doctor.

The bill has encountered resistance, mostly because it contains the condition that only those whose deaths are in the reasonably foreseeable future can qualify for doctor assisted death.

A panel of judges on the Alberta Court of Appeals declared that the legislation, as written, does not comply with the Supreme Court’s Charter decision, where “Canadian adults who are mentally competent and suffering intolerably and enduringly” have the right to a doctor’s help in dying. By including the condition where a patient’s death must be reasonably foreseeable, they argue that it is excluding the

people who are sufferingfrom psychiatric conditions. Those with mental illnesses have fought to get theirconditions recognized just as a physical illness; should that not also be reflected in the law?

If Bill C­14 is approved by the House of Commons, it will be passed to the Senate.

3. Komagata Maru apology In 1914, a Japanese steamship, the SS Komagata Maru, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, British India was denied entry into Canada when it landed in Vancouver, British Columbia. The vessel was forced to return to India, turning away 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus, all of whom were British subjects.

It was evidence of Canada’s Asian Exclusion Act, in which a ship was required to make a continuous journey from where it started all the way to the country in order to dock in Canada, which was written to keep out Asian immigrants.

Now, in 2016, Prime Min-

ister Justin Trudeau apologizes on behalf of the Canadian government for the unjust treatment of the immigrants.

“Canada cannot solely be blamed for every tragic mistake that occurred with the Komagata Maru and its passengers. But Canada’s government was, without question, responsible for the laws that prevented these passengers

Photo : The Globe and Mail

from immigrating peacefullyand securely. For that, and for every regrettable consequence that followed, we are sorry,” says Trudeau to the House of Commons.

This is the second apology addressing the incident, the first having been issued by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August 2008.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 10

Global

Trapped at the border Photo : NBC News

A

By: Annie Zou

whole year has passed since the start of the European migrant crisis in 2015.

Over one million refugees and migrants have made the journey by boat, rail, and road to seek asylum in the EU. Fleeing from areas devastated by war, violence, and repressive governments, they come from countries like Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, and

Iraq. Boats and dinghies carry families as they cross the Mediterranean, while others attempt to cross on land from various routes. It is a dangerous journey and already more than 410 people have died while fleeing for safety in 2016 alone.

Yet even those who make it to Europe are often turned away. Some countries have set quotas and border controls while others have banned ref-

ugees altogether. In January of this year, Sweden rejected 45% of asylum applications meaning that up to 80 000 of the 160 000 refugees who applied for asylum in 2015 could be deported. Refugees are literally trapped at the border with no place to return and nowhere to go.

In April, camps were set up to relocate refugees congested at the border in Idomeni, Greece. Upwards of 15 000

refugees lived in despicable conditions comprised of tents set up across farmers’ fields.

However, despite the promise of better living conditions, refugees refuse to give up their position, not only because the UN had previously covered up the deplorable conditions at refugee camps, but also because the Greek government had previously turned island welcome centers into detention centers resulting in the

withdrawal of humanitarian organizations. Instead, many refugees opted to stay, waiting for the “door” to open.

“This will get worse here,” said Fatima, a refugee who was trapped in Idomeni with her family. “It will get worse, and they’ll have to open the door. So we have no choice but to wait.” But that wasn’t at all what happened.

On Tuesday, May 24th, police and bulldozers arrived to the

Behind the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804 By: Andrea Josic

A

Photo : Social News

n EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 passengers was last seen plunging dramatically into the sea before disappearing off the radar at 2:30 in the morning on May 19th. The flight crashed in the middle of the Mediterranean, almost 300 kilometers away from the Greek shoreline after crossing into Egyptian airspace. Egyptian officials say search parties have found several remnants of debris, including luggage, airplane seats, and human remains.

The exact cause of the crash is unknown, so it could be an accident or a technical issue as much as it could be the result of a terror attack.

Weather conditions may be ruled out, as the Hellenic National Meteorological Service in Greece stated that, “The weather in the area of the sea close to Egypt was good, with no winds or clouds.” Around 2:26 AM, an accumulation of smoke appeared in the cabin of the plane, and it thickened until the system shut down four minutes later. During this time, the pilot did not send an emergency signal and the recorder only picked up brief sounds of distress. This fact leads Jean­ Paul Troadec, the former head of France’s BEA air safety authority, to believe the reason behind the crash is a “brutal” one.

Troadec also stated that

planes are wired with emergency equipment in the case of a technical issue or a pressurization problem, which in both cases would aid the pilot in case of an internal issue.

The crash of Air France Flight 447 in 2009 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris took search crews two years to locate the black box. The recovery of the black box indicated that the plane entered a turbulence zone and crashed due to severe weather conditions. The search for any survivors and the EgyptAir flight’s black box continues, but only floating debris had been collected by late May. Just a few days before the plane crash, ISIS released a video as a threat towards France, featuring two French boys shooting two prisoners dead. In the video, one of the boys claim they would only return to France to “promote Islam” stating, "Islam will one day rule the world, with us or without us." The other boy promised to “kill France” to avenge Islam.

At the moment, France is widely considered as the most threatened country by Islamist terrorists groups.

The Paris bombings of last November, in which 137 civilians died, were known to be the work of ISIS, while the Charlie Hebdo shooting earlier in 2015 was the work of two gunmen who later identified themselves as members of the Al­Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

camp, clearing out the refugees. Idomeni stands as a symbol of the failure of the European migration policy.

Sadly, Idomeni is just one of many examples where the system has failed. As thousands more refugees pour into Europe, the crisis will only worsen unless serious action is taken.

In late February of this year, a flight from Sharm el­ Sheikh, Egypt to Petersburg, Russia was gunned down by ISIS less than 30 minutes after departing, killing all 224 passengers and crew members on board.

March 29 this year saw an EgyptAir domestic flight hijacked by a man claiming to be wearing a belt filled with explosives, who forced the plane to land in Cyprus. The man was demanding to speak to the European Union for the release of female prisoners in Egypt before he was arrested several hours later.

Some officials are hesitant to assume the crash was the work of any terrorist group, seeing as no one has yet to claim responsibility over it.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks a day after, and AQAP two days after the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

Paranoia and fear runs high in France as the start of the 2016 UEFA Euro Cup approaches. Stade de France, France’s national stadium and the main stadium that will be used for this year’s tournament, was targeted during the bombings in November.

Patrick Calvar, the head of France's DGSI internal intelligence agency, claims that they are expecting attacks from ISIS within the next few months and are preparing themselves for any necessary measures.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 11

Global

Panama papers: the largest whistleblower leak in history Photo : Wikipedia

By: Shankhalika Srikanth n April 3rd, the Interna-

O

tional Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) went public with what is considered to be the largest whistleblower leak in history.

Consisting of 2.6 terabytes of information and 11.5 million documents dating from the 1970s to 2014, the Panama Papers detail worldwide tax evasion by individuals and corporations, aided by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Leaked documents show how the firm set up offshore shell companies in tax havens for their clients.

Though these are sometimes used by individuals simply in order to secure privacy, storing assets in these companies is more often a means of concealing criminal activity or evading taxes. Corporations will set up firms in “tax havens” ‒ jurisdictions that impose little or no taxes on foreign businesses ‒ sole-

ly to avoid paying the taxes of their home country.

Around 214,000 shell companies were registered with the law firm, and the places with the most offshore entities were the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Bahamas, Seychelles, and Samoa.

Mossack Fonseca released a statement shortly after the leak, declaring that many of the individuals named were not their clients and had never been, and that the firm does their best to ensure their clients are not involved in tax evasion, money laundering, or other illicit affairs.

The trouble with the practice of storing funds in offshore shell companies is that while technically legal, it damages the world economy and furthers financial inequality. This is especially true for poorer countries, which lose $170 billion in taxes every year as a result of the ultra‐rich not paying their fair share of taxes.

The names of many celebrities and large corporations discovered to have shares

in offshore companies have emerged over the weeks, including soccer player Lionel Messi, Syrian president Bashar al‐Assad, former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, the X Factor’s Simon Cowell, champion chess player Bobby Fischer, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, and a large number of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s aides. There is no concrete evidence yet that they are guilty of tax evasion, but the situations are regarded as highly suspicious.

In Canada, there was $40 billion declared to be in tax havens last year. It is suspected that there could be $100 billion more that is undeclared, and therefore illegal.

Targeting these undeclared assets wouldn’t entirely solve the problem, however, as the legal actions of corporations are still largely to blame.

Large corporations will set up firms in tax havens such as Barbados, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, the United States, and the United Kingdom for foreign investment,

but instead of staying in these havens, the money simply goes through them and is repatriated without paying the tax of either country. The only way to prevent this is to amend corporate taxation law to close the loopholes, something which the government is not willing to do at the moment.

Around 625 Canadians were named in the Panama Papers, the majority of them being business people, lawyers, and oil and mining executives. The Royal Bank of Canada has 370 entities registered with Mossack Fonseca. The bank says that it does thorough background checks to ensure that their clients are not attempting to avoid taxes. The Canadian Revenue Agency has asked the Federal Court to order RBC to provide information on any clients with a connection to Mossack Fonseca. RBC has said that it would surrender the documents if asked.

The Panama Papers spurred revelations of tax evasion all around the world.

In the States, fifty of the biggest corporations are costing the country $1.4 trillion.

Apple comes in first with assets valuing $181 billion, General Electric second at $119 billion, and Microsoft in third at $108 billion. The list of the top ten includes Alphabet (Google), Johnson and Johnson, Exxon Mobile, and Procter & Gamble.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has had to explain his unsavoury connection to the Panama Papers.

It was discovered that his father, the late Ian Cameron, had established an offshore trust in the early 1980s that hadn’t paid tax on its profits for thirty years. After initially refusing to comment, then denying the current ownership of shares, offshore trusts, or offshore funds, Cameron admitted to inheriting and owning Blairmore Holdings Inc. from 1997 to 2010 just before becoming Prime Minister, at which point he sold it for a profit of £19 000.

While many countries

were enraged by the revelations about the financial dealings of their political leaders, the outrage of the citizens of Iceland arguably had the greatest effect. The papers revealed that Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and his wife had millions in investments in the large banks of Iceland in offshore companies during the 2008 financial crisis. The crisis had hit the country hard, and the banks of Iceland had collapsed. When Iceland learned that their Prime Minister owned offshore funds during this time, they immediately clamoured for his resignation.

The fury of the people was so strong as to effect his resignation within 48 hours.

The release of the Panama Papers may make some corporations and individuals question the benefits of investing in offshore tax havens, as one of their primary advantages has been compromised: privacy.

It is likely that tax havens will continue to be used, however, as long as they remain legal.

Lifestyle

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 12

Depression: a silent epidemic D

Photo: Sara Imam

By: Julie Cho

epression. To some, this word may not sound as serious as the word “deadly.”

That’s because the word “depressed” can be used in everyday settings to imply a gloomy and downcast feeling. Unlike many other illnesses, depression is generally not seen as being very dangerous or life-threatening. This certainly was not the case in an incident that was brought to attention in the news on a global scale recently.

Within the span of one year, 80 people in the village of Badi in the Khargone District of India committed suicide, causing the residents to believe that it is the act of the demons. Every household had at least one person in the family commit suicide. However, a thorough investigation by scientists revealed that the cause for this mass suicide lay in pesticides that the residents were using for their crops. The key link between the pesticides and suicides was depression.

Pesticides that the residents were using caused symptoms of depression, which eventually led to suicide. Depression may sound nonlethal but the

reality is the illness often ends fatally.

Depression, specifically Major Depressive Disorder, affects approximately 6.7 percent of Americans and around 350 million people worldwide.

Women are twice as likely to be affected by depression as men. One in eight adolescents have clinical depression, and those who have depression are four times more likely to develop a heart attack than those without and have an increased risk of death afterwards. Depression often co-exists with other medical conditions and illnesses such as cancer, strokes, or heart attacks. For example, 25 percent of cancer patients are said to have experienced depression and one in three heart attack survivors also develop depression.

Depression is the cause for two-thirds of 30 000 suicides committed in the United States every year. It is also interesting to note that for every two homicide cases, there are three suicides. Untreated depression remains the number one cause for suicide among teens and the number of deaths from suicides is higher than the number of deaths from Alzheimer’s or hyper-

tension, just to name a few illnesses. This is probably due to the fact that only around 10 percent of those who are affected by depression get treated professionally. It is believed that up to 80 percent of those treated for depression show improvements in symptoms due to receiving medication or psychotherapy. This all means that seeking professional help is vital to those with depression. But why is it that only 10 percent receive treatments?

The main reason would likely be that they do not recognize their symptoms of depression and, even if they do self-diagnose, they do not take it seriously.

Some major signs of depression that can help you identify potential risks for developing the illness in the long run vary for each situation, but here are some common ones: feeling hopeless and helpless, losing interest in activities that you used to enjoy, feeling tired constantly, experiencing sudden change in appetite and sleeping patterns, unable to concentrate on tasks that were normally easy to do, unable to control negative thoughts, and becoming easily agitated or aggressive. Some risk factors

that could make you more vulnerable to depression can be loneliness, isolation, stressful life experience, family history of depression, and early childhood trauma.

It is crucial to root out any causes for depression and make healthy lifestyle changes such as talking to someone around you about any hardships, trying out new hobbies, exercising regularly, taking in healthy nutrition, and seeking professional help. Depression can be an illness that is as life-threatening as any other illnesses or diseases. If you feel that you are affected negatively by the symptoms of depression as outlined previously and feel that you are at risk of developing depression, talk to somebody around you and ask for help. Depression is something that everyone and anyone can develop, yet it is something that needs a bit of courage to talk about. As the saying goes, “Faking a smile is so much easier than explaining why you are sad.” And while this is true, explaining why you are sad could make it so much easier to smile for real.

ECOO: a day in the life of a competitive programmer By: Christopher DeGuzman

T

he tension in the atmosphere was almost palpable. Glancing around reveals a sight repeated over and over again: teams of programmers, huddled around laptops, furiously coding their hearts out. High strung.

Anxious. Adrenaline pumping through their veins. This is what you compete for.

Over the past few months, the Glenforest Computer Science Club has been competing in a number of competitions that measure both their tenacity and skill against other schools across Ontario organized by the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO). There are three stages of the competition: boards, regionals, and finals.

The formats of all stages are identical: teams of four, who are given four problems to be solved, three hours, and only two attempts at solving them.

There is a time bonus award for completing problems ear-

ly, as well as an additional bonus for scoring perfect on the first attempt at a problem.

The board-level competition was a competition amongst school teams from other schools in the Peel District School Board. Glenforest skillfully swept away the competition, placing 1st and 2nd. Overall, 3 teams from Glenforest qualified for the regional competition – the maximum allowed for a single school. Excitement was reserved; the GTA is known as the most competitive region in all of Ontario, and perhaps all of Canada. Contest results would reflect this.

For the first time in ECOO history, no team had achieved a perfect score for all four problems in the regional competition. This alone was a testament to the determination of the problem setters. However, Glenforest is not a school known to fold in the face of adversity, and they still managed to qualify a team spot to compete at the ECOO finals.

Trying to create the finals team would prove to be a difficult task on its own degree, as it requires a number of highly qualified programmers with a wide range in skill sets while there are only four positions to a team. The inherently unpredictable nature of the contest also had to be considered – any question was fair game in terms of ECOO competitions. Eventually, the team member issue was resolved with the use of a complicated randomized algorithm.

With the team members selected, it came time to prepare for the final contest.

Preparation consisted of multiple online competition on websites such as CodeForces, TopCoder, and Don Mills Online Judge, used to prepare each member as an individual for the rigors awaiting them.

By the time the ECOO finals date rolled around, everyone was in their coding prime.

The finals round was difficult, and pushed the ECOO finals team to their limits.

The intense pressure weighed down on every competitor in the room. Part of the challenge was making it through to the end. Through clever observations, fast typing, and pure luck, the team managed to

finish third! Success was narrowly clinched thanks to the fourth problem. Glenforest was amongst the 5 elite teams who managed to score partial to full points on the problem.

This key success paved the way

to a landmark in Gryphon history, with Glenforest achieving top three in the ECOO finals for the first time in our school’s rich, competitive computer science record.

Photo : Mr. Camilleri

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 13

Lifestyle What time is it? SUMMER TIME!

Photo : Linwan Song

S

By: Srushti Patel

ummer is right around the corner and the countdown has already begun. After a long, stress-filled school year, you finally have the chance to relax and unwind as you spend two entire months without the constant worry of homework, tests, or exams.

Don't let this summer go to waste: it’s your time to go out, try new things, and have new experiences that you can proudly share with the world.

Not sure what to do? Continue reading for some great ideas; not the generic Wonderland or Playdium trips, rather the exciting adventures that you

can do with family, friends, or on your own.

1. Ready to get wet? Grab your bathing suit and go down to Toronto for its famous “Slide the City.” Enjoy the 1000 ft long slide as you skid down with the beautiful Toronto skyline whizzing past. It's a great way to brush off the hot day and it'll make an even better Snapchat story!

2. Toronto is famous for its summer music festivals. If you are looking to jam out to some music this summer, it won't be hard to find a festival that suits your style. It's also a great way to meet new people and bust out your dance moves. Afterward, it's always

a great idea to sit in the Castle Board Game Café and order some dessert to go along with your favourite board game as you wrap up your crazy night.

3. Is it raining outside?

That's okay! Don't let the day go to waste because there are several activities to turn that gloomy day into a bright memorable one. Visit the ROM or AGO, admire the exhibits, and learn something new as you roam the endless halls and step back in time.

4. Don't forget that it is important to exercise during the summer so make sure you take some time off to go for a run or join a gym.

YMCA is a great place to go for a swim, shoot some hoops, run, or work out. Take advantage of the free time you have and work towards building a healthier lifestyle. It's sure to pay off!

5. Wear red and white on July 1st and head down to Celebration Square or Nathan Phillips Square for a day full of live performances, activities, and stunning fireworks. Don't miss this day to show your Canadian pride while having fun, it's a two-in-one deal!

6. Take a walk through the beautiful village of Port Credit and enjoy its fine dining and shopping opportunities. It's your chance to escape

the city life and enjoy biking, walking, and canoeing with your friends, family, or significant other. It's a great place for a first date!

7. It's also the perfect time to put on your Blue Jays hat and go out for a ball game.

Cheer on the Blue Jays with hundreds of other fans as the Toronto Blue Jays hit a winning home run. You wouldn't want to strike out on this opportunity!

8. Watch a movie under the stars or in your car in a nearby drive-in theatre. Take advantage of the cool summer breeze as you get cozy in the car and watch some of your favourite summer flicks.

9. Put on some sunscreen, grab a pair of sunglasses and plan a trip to the beach.

Enjoy the cool waters of the several Toronto beaches and play beach volleyball in one of the hundreds of courts. It's the perfect time to practise your volleyball skills!

Last but not the least..

10. WATCH THE 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS! Watch the games live and support the Canadian athletes as they are sure to bring home the gold!

What better way could there be to spend the summer of 2016?

How to cope with academic stress over the summer A

By: Jovana Pajovic

t six years old, summer was eating cherry popsicles in the backyard, feeling the brisk ocean breeze on a day at the beach, and barely staying up past midnight for the first time only to immediately surrender to sleep, because summer was also knowing that another adventure awaited you when you woke up. Unfortunately, our perception of summer changes as we age, as what was once a blissful holiday becomes precious time to fill.

Quick as a blink, your top priority over the summer turns from relaxing and having fun to finding resume boosters: part-time jobs, volunteering positions, research opportunities, startup organizations, and leadership conferences.

While having students explore their passions in different ways should be celebrated, a point is eventually reached where these activities become stressors instead of helpful tools for the future. Balancing

schoolwork and extracurricular activities over the year is challenging on its own, so it is important to remind students that they deserve a break now and then.

The pressure that students feel to secure opportunities for the summer comes partially from the expectations of their parents and teachers, but often students overwhelm themselves. Those who arrive at the latter situation generally do so because they are intimidated by the environment they face in high school. Juxtaposed with the friendly atmosphere of middle school, high school appears frightening and overly competitive. However, when we stop viewing our peers as competitors, we can refocus on our own interests and alleviate some stress.

Students entering their senior year of high school feel particularly pressured over the summer because they hope to embellish their college applications and distinguish themselves from the compe-

tition. Who can blame them?

Universities used to admit students based purely on academic strength, but modern applications demand much more, such as information on extracurricular activities, standardized test scores, interviews, and essay responses.

Although it may seem difficult, your hectic summer schedule should incorporate some rest and recreation, at least as a reward for all the hard work completed over the school year and frankly, for the protection of your sanity. Here are a few suggestions for how you can have a a bit of fun this summer: Take up a hobby that you’ve always wanted to try.

Toronto is internationally recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world — check out what makes it so special. Visit the ROM and the AGO (the Bata Shoe Museum is pretty cool too). Climb (or conveniently take the elevator) to the top of the CN tower and

take in the beauty of the city.

Go shopping along the eccentric and renowned Queen Street West, and end your day with some Shakespeare in High Park.

Travel. You don’t have to go far to experience the culture and society of a new place.

Master your fears and do something that you’ve always been afraid of or too stubborn to try. Go bungee jumping or rock climbing! Ride the Leviathan!

Develop a new appreciation for nature. Step away from social media and technology and instead find happiness in the soil.

Revel in the little things.

Crank up some smooth jazz on Spotify while you’re cooking. Enjoy the company of your friends by hosting a patio party. Grab some popcorn, cozy up in your favourite blanket and watch that movie you’ve been dying to see!

Photo: spotlightlearning

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 14

Opinion

School and sleep: a compromise?

I

By: Ghaid Asfour

t is well known and scientifically proven that teenagers need at least 9 hours of sleep per night for mental and physical well‐being.

A study conducted in 2010 revealed that only about 8 percent of high school students receive enough sleep on an average school night. Over prolonged periods of time, this results in detrimental consequences.

Studies confirm that during the day, energy is used for daily activities and that results in the production of a by‐product called adenosine, which induces sleepiness, or sleep pressure. If adenosine is accumulated due to the lack of sleep, it overloads the brain, causing critical changes which include hormone imbalances, loss of concentration, and reduced reaction time, which collectively influence school performance.

It could also affect the ability to recall information.

"Without a proper night's sleep, it is very difficult to translate information into long term memory. This makes it very difficult to recall on tests and exams," says Ms. Drury, a social sciences teacher at Glenforest Secondary School.

However, it is not school work alone that takes up students' time; it is also part‐time jobs, volunteering, extracurricular activities, social responsibilities, and other commitments. "These activities, combined with the workload from school, barely gives us enough time to take care of ourselves and our health," says Alvira Tazmim, a grade 11 student at Glenforest.

On the other hand, teachers believe that it is possible for students to get work done while meeting the body's demand for sleep with less procrastination and some time management skills.

According to Ms. Drury, "It can be hard to juggle all the many responsibilities students have, but time management is a skill that we really needed to be developing in school."

From students' perspective, time management is definitely necessary, but certainly not enough to resolve the issue. Some students proposed having school start an hour later than the regular time to solve the problem of sleep deprivation.

Some complained that courses like gym are seen as stress relievers and are the only time students can devote towards physical exercise, but

Photo : Munaam Naveed

many grade 12 students are hesitant about taking gym because it does not count as one of their top 6 courses.

Teachers, on the other hand, recommend using organizational tools such as to‐do lists and agendas to maintain your time, and take small breaks every hour or so to maximize productivity.

One of the most effective strategies for a good night's sleep is avoiding the use of screens before going to sleep. Studies have shown that spending time in front of a screen suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that controls sleep and wake cycles. The suppression of melatonin is a very common

cause of insomnia and sleep disruption.

In conclusion, sleep deprivation among high school students is a complex problem that cannot be simply solved with time management and other skills. It can be minimized with the use of organizational tools and avoiding the excessive use of screens, but it

cannot be completely solved by implementing these strategies.

The last thing that students should be willing to sacrifice as an excuse to do work, is sleep.

"Don't stay in school" - lessons not taught in the classroom

Photo : Munaam Naveed

By: Ghaid Asfour ast year, a music video ti-

the most vital social institutions in society, their curriculums are certainly missing tled "Don't Stay in School" essential life skills, three of was released. It featured a which are listed below. frustrated young man who claimed that school focuses 1. How to do one’s taxes on teaching irrelevant lessons It is surprising to realwhile not thoroughly pre- ize that the majority of high paring students for the real school students do not know world. how to do their taxes.

He claimed that he wasn't Tania Khan, a grade 11 taught how to pay taxes, but student at Glenforest said, he knows a great deal about "Adults might argue that we Shakespeare's classics. This don't need to learn how to pay music video sparked a debate our taxes. I wish they took the that made schools reconsider fact that not every student has the curriculum they are using a parent/guardian to do it for to educate the next genera- them." tion.

Everyone has to inevita-

L

it is an integral element of the Canadian society, it is alarming that students are not thoroughly educated about it.

2. How to vote Canadians are fortunate enough to live in a democratic country, where they choose their political leaders by means of voting. Considering the fact that citizens who are 18 years of age or older have a right to vote, it is surprising that high schools students are not equipped with sufficient knowledge to effectively engage in the political process.

3. How to get a job The ultimate goal of atWhile schools are one of bly deal with taxes. Given that tending school and pursuing

a post secondary pathway is to land a job. In Careers class at Glenforest, teachers introduce resume writing and interview tips to students, but due to the time devoted for that course (half a semester), teachers cannot usually cover everything in detail.

Students are told that any blunder in a resume, regardless of how small, will most likely result in rejection from the job. At the same time, however, students are not told about these small blunders and how to avoid them due to time restraints.

Tania Khan described Careers class by saying, "I don't even remember what

I did in that class, and I got 90% in the course." Receiving 90% in a course usually means that the student has mastered 90% of the material taught in that class. But if students forget the material after a year, it is an indication that they have not applied the things they learned. Considering Careers is meant to be a class purely for the purposes of application, more stress should be put on actually applying the skills students are taught. For example, spending more time on how to get a job could be more helpful to certain students than devoting time into finding someone's Holland Code or whether their left or right

brain is more dominant.

In conclusion, after spending 14 years in school, amounting to more than 15 000 hours of schooling, graduates are still not ready for the real world. It is important to also realize the benefits of the Canadian education system, as it allows for a diverse learning experience that isn’t found everywhere in the world, but there is certainly room for improvement.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 15

Opinion

Photo : Huffington Post

"POC solidarity" By: Marquela Nunes

C

an we all please stop acting like other groups of people actually care about each other? Seriously. Enough.

As a Black Canadian, I'm tired of the lies.

I know that this is the final newspaper before the end of school, but the statement I made above is something that I feel we should all think about as we go off into another grade, or perhaps into the world of adulthood. It's a controversial idea, I know, but I feel that recent events and history have both shown that the statement above is sadly the truth, at least for now. I'll go into detail in a moment, but I feel that it's also important to explain that I'm not denying the fact that individuals might care about more than just their race, their family, and maybe catching up on The Walking Dead on Netflix.

But the question is, do enough people care for people to be making sweeping statements such as this? No. Not at all.

And there are a million reasons why. For the purpose of time, however, I'll be adopting a Black perspective with it.

The best way to start talking about why this is a myth is by saying that it is because other people of colour (POC) are antiblack. This isn't

an exaggeration. It's the truth.

In most cultures, darkness and dark skin are associated with undesirability at best, and outright evil at worst. In India, women bleach their skin because having dark skin is considered ugly. In most East­ Asian countries, people avoid the sun on clear days out of fear of getting tans. In most mythologies, the darkness and dark places are associated with evil, and in Christianity, specifically, the Devil is always connected to darkness. Adding all of these things together already puts Black people at a disadvantage when they attempt to connect with other cultures, because even if the other person tries their best to have an open mind, they're still fighting ideas that have been ingrained into them almost since birth. Anti­blackness isn't just discrimination, it's also power. If you make up something arbitrary about a group of people, you can begin to uplift another group of people.

The middle group may just end up listening to the false statements in order to prevent themselves from becoming the undesired group.

Another reason why POC solidarity is a myth is the selfish actions of a lot of so called “woke” POC. You know, some of the ones that

claim to be “aware”. Nowadays, it seems impossible for Black people to continue to speak up about their still infringed rights without someone either trying to silence us, or co­opt the movement for their own goals.

As opposed to what history class has probably told you, the civil rights movement didn't fix much for the African population. We are still unjustly abused by cops, we still face higher unemployment rates due to a multitude of factors, we still have lower education outcomes because of the skewed education system, along with several other factors.

“Black people, it's been your turn! It's never about us!

Where are our rights? What about our struggles? Black people are already so visible!”

First off, equality doesn't come in “turns” or waves of acceptances like with universities.

It can come to multiple people at the same time, and it has already. A lot of people love to forget this, but the civil rights movement didn't just bring rights to Black Americans. Do you think Asians would have been able to immigrate so freely to this country if Black Americans didn't fight for better immigration rights? Do you think some of your par-

ents would have been able to get married if a black woman and a white man didn't fight for their right to love each other? And your rights? Your struggles? How about you try fighting for them. Is there a reason why #OscarsSoWhite was automatically assumed to only be about Black people when it was calling out all of Hollywood? “Asians are even less represented on screen!” I agree, so we need to start more than one movement. “#BlackLivesMatter? What about Brown lives?” I’m not as educated in Brown lives, but I’d love to learn.

And then the visibility argument is really quite flawed.

There's a difference between hyper-visibility and visibility, and a lot people miss the key difference. Black people aren't visible, they're hyper­ visible, and for the wrong reasons. Do you really want to be as “popular” as us, to the point where the vast majority of popular Black people are criminals or rappers? Do you really want to be so popular that every 10 seconds you get hit with a stereotype that says you're an “angry black woman,” because there was a video off of Worldstar about it and, because of the lack of a good counter-stereotype, that's all you supposedly could ever be? Do you

really want to be as visible as us? To the point where our dead children are thrown on international news, so now everyone can listen to commentators debate over if it was alright for a cop to shoot a non threatening 17 year old boy in the face? It’s not easy being as visible as us, especially when our humanity is on trial every 10 minutes.

And the worst part about all of this is that we are far from achieving any real change. Ultimately, the biggest issue with this “POC solidarity” movement is the fact that the public knows what needs to happen to make it work, but they aren’t doing it. It’s the little things that help inspire racial hatred, it’s the racist uncle at the dinner table that goes unchallenged, it’s the passing verse in the Holy book that’s never explained until it’s too late. It’s the blindness and the ignorance of certain things. Little incidents just go... unchecked. Nobody has apologized for incidents such as what happened with Peter Liang, a Chinese police officer who shot an innocent Black man and got away with it. Chinese American counter protestors were too busy looking at the colour of the officer's skin to realize that what he did was wrong. And that happened this year.

Finally, if you ask me, the entire ideology is flawed. It's White people vs. everyone else to end racism when, honestly, it needs to be White people vs. White people. Most racists people require someone of their own race to call them out on it, because they simply aren't going to listen to the very same people they consider to be lesser than them. If POC really want to help end racism, then they need to do it in the only way they're going to be effective: in their own communities. Tell your aunts to stop following Black kids around convenience stores while other kids steal stuff from behind their backs. Tell your parents to stop sneering when they hear that I got a higher mark than you in class. Tell your politicians to stop passing laws against my people. I already do that on my side, but will you do the same? We can change the world, we can fix our communities. But we need everyone to do the work.Or else, our kids will be sitting here just as we are, asking the same questions and complaining about the same things as the world passes them by.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 16

Opinion

SeaWorld: corporate greed underwater Photo : Wikipedia

By: Srobona Podder

A

few months ago, I went to SeaWorld in San Diego.

Aside from the masses of eager children toppling over one another to catch a glimpse of the dancing sea lions and the oh‐so‐original “Have a whale of a day!” announcements every five minutes, I found it to be rather enjoyable. My main concern was not really to watch the shows, as much as it was to try and learn what the entire SeaWorld franchise stood for.

My family visited a couple of underground aquariums and watched a sea lion put on an SNL‐esque performance at the open theatre, but what really caught my attention, as they did for many of the visitors, were the orca whales. Shamu Stadium, named after the famous whale that died back in 1971, is the main location for both the educational and entertaining performances. It was interesting to see how the trainers at Sea World made effective use of Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory to teach the whales new tricks. By simply introducing different frequency clicks under the water, the whales immediately knew what they had to do in order to receive their reward – a fishy snack, a bucket of ice (which they rather enjoyed munching on), or a fun toy.

Naturally, after going

somewhere new, I decided to look a little further into how these whales were trained and kept at SeaWorld. The 2013 documentary, Blackfish delves deep into the lives of SeaWorld trainers and all the mistaken facts that the park almost seems to advocate. For starters, the documentary stressed the fact that the trainers were not all expert marine biologists, as the general public may assume. The major criteria for becoming a trainer were being able to correctly put on a wetsuit and swim quickly. Each of the individuals interviewed for the making of the documentary introduced their own back stories and how they all began working for SeaWorld, as well as why they all left.

All of them were astonished at the shockingly simple process of being hired at one of these popular theme parks, the main two located in Orlando, Florida and San Diego, California.

The fact that these trainers knew so little about the actual animals they were working with meant that they were more than eager to accept the “facts” SeaWorld drilled into them. One of the biggest myths they spread, which I encountered during my visit, was the fact that the average lifespan of a killer whale in the wild is about 30 years, and that the animals tend to live even longer in captivity due to the

prompt medical attention they receive. In reality, studies have shown killer whales to have around the average lifespan of a human; of course the trainers were not necessarily aware of this and simply relayed the false information they received.

Another fact I was astonished to hear during the show I attended was that many whales have a curved dorsal fin, as did almost all of the whales that were presented at SeaWorld. Again, they failed to mention the fact that majority of whales found in the wild do not have curved dorsal fins, and it wasn’t actually normal for so many of the captive whales to have developed this trait. The documentary went even further into describing the life of one particular whale named Tilikum. Tilikum was separated from his mother in Iceland at the age of just 2 and was taken to Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia. Trainers that have worked with Tilikum all agree that he was very enthusiastic and eager to please. The head trainer at Sealand, however, was insistent on using punishment to train the young bull orca. Tilikum trained with experienced whales but when he was unable to perform a command, none of the whales would receive food. Over time, the other whales began to resent Tili-

kum and bullied him regularly out of frustration. The whales were kept in a pool that was 20 ft by 30 ft, a far cry from theregular 100 miles that whales are accustomed to swimming daily. It was in this cramped setting that Tilikum was physically and mentally abused by his peers until one day, whether it was out of playfulness, anger, frustration, or whatever else, he grabbed the head trainer by the leg and pulled her underwater.

That park was closed down shortly afterwards and Tilikum was transferred to SeaWorld in Orlando. Now, it may seem normal to hear about these kinds of accidents happening at parks like SeaWorld, and in fact, they happen far more often than the public gets to know. The corporation passes off each horrifying incident as an accident in which the trainer was at fault. They can never admit that the whale simply showed aggression, because that would support the statement that captive whales become aggressive over time. Instead, even though every cover‐up story they created may have resulted in a few hundred thousand dollars’ worth of legal fees, their operations remained afloat. Some progress has come from the several lawsuits that SeaWorld has faced, such as the relatively new rule

that all trainers must remain behind a barrier when working with the whales. Although this decreases the chance for an accident to occur between the trainers and the whales, it doesn’t help the whales. Tilikum, one of the largest captive whales in the world, remains in a closed off pool with little to no social interaction. His spontaneous and abnormal bouts of aggression have made him too dangerous to train for shows. Still, he is kept at the back and comes out twice a day to wave hello to the crowd before going back into solitary confinement.

Documentaries like Blackfish speak to the many issues facing wildlife. It’s important to keep in mind that productions like these only present one perspective of the situation, but at least they encourage the viewer to think about the potential problems, rather than creating a false image of perfection like many of the large corporations do.

What one of the trainer’s from Blackfish said, in particular, struck a chord: “I’m not at all interested in having my daughter, who is three and a half, grow up thinking that it’s normalized to have these intelligent, highly evolved animals in concrete pools. I don’t want her to think that’s how we treat the kin that we find ourselves around on this planet. I think

it’s atrocious.” When the employees and individuals who found themselves inspired by SeaWorld at a young age say that they wouldn’t want their own children to experience that kind of involvement in captive training, it really emphasizes the severity of the issue. This isn’t a problem concerning SeaWorld, but also hundreds of zoos and other institutions that capture perfectly healthy animals from the wild for their own entertainment. Institutions like these should be rehabilitative in nature; their main goal should be to rescue injured animals, nurse them back to health, and then release them into their natural environment.

The world is a genuinely diverse system that can only survive on the relationships that we build within our species and among others. There is a sort of codependency that exists in order to keep the mutual balance, but taking advantage of other animals effectively shifts the balance in our favour, and it has to stop.

Think about what you’re really looking at the next time you visit the zoo or an animal theme park. These corporations thrive on our obliviousness and willingness to believe everything we hear. Don’t be afraid to ask the real questions; that’s what Blackfish did, and now we are better off for it.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 17

Opinion

Photo : Dailymail UK

Cultural appropriation: poc vs. western-raised poc A

By: Vivian Mai

few weeks ago, I saw a video trending on Facebook of Japanese people reacting to Asian­American claims of cultural appropriation, in response to foreigners wearing kimonos. For the most part, they seemed indifferent, if not supportive of others wearing the kimono “just for fun.”

Since it seems that the general consensus among those of us in the western world is that all forms of anything that may be considered cultural appropriation is bad, it was interesting to see how greatly our opinions differ from theirs. Japanese people living in Japan are those that live and breathe the culture, so are their opinions inherently more “right?”

Historically, culture has always been a thing to be shared. No culture exists in

isolation; every single culture that exists today is a result of a multitude of different influences over thousands of years, so why are we now so much more sensitive to anything that may remotely be perceived as cultural appropriation? Is the movement against “cultural appropriation” baseless and irrational? You begin to doubt yourself when the people from the culture you’re trying to defend so adamantly against “ appropriation” tell you there’s nothing to be defended from.

From a Canadian perspective, it’s like being offended by an Italian person wanting to try poutine without fully appreciating its significance to Canadian culture. It sounds a bit ridiculous, but less so when you consider the feeling of isolation from living in a country where you aren’t the majority.

While those living in Asia may be deemed “more Asian,” because they do live and breathe their own culture, they don’t know what it’s like to be a racial minority in a whitedominant society. There is an immense difference in the racial makeup of Asia and North America, so something which may not be as big a deal in one country may come across as extremely offensive in another. In a best case scenario this brings in a lot of tourism, but they don’t feel the everyday effects.

Speaking as a Vietnamese­-Canadian, I know what it feels like to be territorial over the part of your identity that makes you unique in a society where the white kids used to make fun of you for eating “worms” for lunch, or pressured you into telling them your ethnic name, but

then proceeded to laugh because Tram isn’t a “real name.”

But now they’re “trendy and cultured” because they know what “foh” is and because they posted a picture of themselves on Instagram wearing rice hats in Ho Chi Minh City, promising to “bring back Buddhas” for all their friends.

Don’t get me wrong, I love when my friends ask me to take them out so they can try Vietnamese food (something that’s not pho) for the first time. I would love to share that part of myself with those I care about. But when all you seem to be interested in is the “foh,” or the rice hats, or the funny names that sound like swear words, I get defensive and territorial. When you reduce Asian culture into a costume or stereotype, and show interest just because it’s trendy, Asian­ Americans feel like a

gimmick, and even more isolated than they were before.

While those in Asia may be “more Asian,” they sure don’t feel the ramifications like we Asian­Americans.

Similarly, interviews have been surfacing recently of the publisher of Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell, responding to the controversial casting of Scarlett Johansson in its live action film adaptation. Surprisingly, he seems supportive of the casting decision, as he believes that it’s a good way for the story to be shared with western audiences. Several Asian­ American celebrities, such as John Cho and Ming­Na Wen have spoken up against the whitewashing of Asian roles in Hollywood, but when the publisher himself is in support of casting a white actress in a Japanese role, who is right?

Again, it is not the Japanese that are affected by the whitewashing. It is the Asian-American actors that have had yet another role taken away from them; it is one less role in an industry already limited to “dragon lady” or “tech geek,” and one less opportunity for diverse representation on screen for the Asian­ American populace.

At the end of the day, cultural appropriation is not always as black and white as you might believe it to be. Despite what you may have seen online, you can’t accuse every little instance of what may be cultural exploration as being appropriation; likewise, you shouldn’t dismiss the opinions of Asian ­Americans in favour of the opinions of those you deem “more Asian.”

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 18

Media and Culture

Photo : Screenrant

Whitewashing and yellowface By: Suzany Manimaran

F

ollowing the casting choices in the film adaptation of Ghost in a Shell, the internet exploded with outrage over the whitewashing that seems to plague Hollywood.

To give some context, Ghost in a Shell is a Japanese manga franchise. The film adaptation casts the very non-Japanese Scarlett Johansson as its protagonist, Mokoto Kusnagi. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the directors went a step beyond the normal levels of white washing that is so prevalent in Hollywood today and debat-

ed using CGI effects to make Johansson “look more Asian.”

All of this instead of casting an Asian actress to play the role of an Asian protagonist in a popular Asian franchise.

This is not an isolated incident. A few months ago, British actress Natalie Dormer was cast to play the lead role in the film, The Forest in which the storyline revolves around the Aokigahara Forest, also known as the Suicide Forest, a destination that is known to be a common suicide site.

The film takes a very tragic epidemic in Japan and turns it into a horror-thriller that is

more than a little disrespectful to the memory of those who have died in the forest. There is also Marvel’s Doctor Strange, casting Tilda Swinton playing a Tibetan monk in the upcoming film. Needless to say, there are many cases of anime live action films with all white casts like Death Note and Dragonball: Evolution. It is the combination of all these casting choices that result in poor representation of Asians in lead roles and erase the importance of Asian narratives in film.

But why does Hollywood only ever cast white actors in lead roles? The simple explana-

tion would be for profit. A high budget sci-fi or fantasy film that costs billions of dollars to make needs to make money, and they can ensure that by casting famous actors like Scarlett Johansson. Casting some Asian indie actor with no name brand recognition, like Lucy Liu, for example, would no doubt ensure a box office failure. It’s not as though anyone remembers her roles in Charlie’s Angels or Kill Bill.

But there is also the issue of whiteness being the default; it is the “colour-blind” blank slate without a political agenda. You often don’t question

why many of the characters you see on screen are white because you can easily identify with them, whereas many Asian roles in film are stereotypical, over used tropes. Often, Asian actors struggle to find roles with good storylines and complex characterization that are the opposite of the roles they’re called for. For example, Chloe Bennet of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D changed her last name from Wang to Bennet to be considered for the roles she wanted to take.

Lack of representation today can have negative impacts on the people who have the

ability to make bad representation a non-issue: the writers of the future. When young writers don’t see themselves as the Captain Americas or the Katniss Everdeens, it’s difficult for them to imagine a world where a person like them could be in roles like that. I can say, from personal experience, that it leads to years of writing white protagonists and brown sidekicks before you realize that it’s possible to write characters that have all the same experiences you do.

Top 10 most anticipated movies of the summer 2

By: Srushti Patel

016 has proven to be an exceptional year for blockbuster movies. The ones that send chills down your back.

The ones that keep you awake at night. And the ones that you can watch over and over again. However, 2016 is not over yet and some of the biggest blockbusters will soon hit theatres this summer. Take a trip down to Cineplex and grab some popcorn, a good seat, and a drink to enjoy some of the most anticipated movies of the summer.

1. Bad Moms – Want a comedy to start off your summer? This is the perfect moie to crack some laughs while munching on popcorn!

2. Ice Age: Collision Course – Take a trip down memory lane and watch one of your classic childhood movies

with all your favourite, unforgettable characters!

3. The Legend of Tarzan– Watch a remake of Disney's Tarzan with a different, darker perspective. Maybe it's time to rethink what really happened.

4. Independence Day: Resurgence – Strap in as “they” return and the world fights back.

5. Nerve – This nail biting sci-fi thriller will leave you in a daze as you follow the characters in a suspense-filled story.

6. Star Trek Beyond – Grab your favourite seat in the USS Enterprise as you watch this classic story told through a new lens. Like Star Wars, this sci-fi movie is sure to catch your attention and propel you past the moon and to the stars, discovering new galaxies.

7. The Shallows – Liked Jaws? Give this movie a chance because the great white shark is returning to the big screen this summer. Be careful at the beach this year!

8. Lights Out – You were right to be afraid of the dark.

This horror movie will make you want to sleep with the lights on. Beware, not for the weakhearted.

9. Suicide Squad – Watch the comics come to life once again with DC’s new group of anti-heroes.

However, the most awaited movie of 2016 is sure to be....

10. Finding Dory – After 13 years, Dory has finally returned along with Nemo and Marlin. The theatre is sure to be full of teenagers more than children as they reunite with their favourite childhood characters.

Photo : Bustle

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 19

Media and Culture

Back from the dead: a look at tv reboots, entertainment's hottest trend

Photo : Today

T

By: Jovana Pajovic

o the money-grubbing network executives of the entertainment industry, “cancelled” is a loose term. While it is heartbreaking to learn that your favourite TV show has been cancelled, the recent string of television reboots reveals a growing trend on the small screen which suggests that “the end” might not actually mean something is gone forever.

The concept of the movie sequel is not unfamiliar but, historically, it has proven to be mostly unpopular. The remake becomes the black sheep of the cinematic realm: odd, unkempt, and never matching the glory of the original or fulfilling dutiful fans’ expectations. At its best, it is a confused copycat trying to orient itself in the rule of the re-

markable few. Of course, there are some spin-offs that deviate from this schema (ahem: The Godfather II, Toy Story 2, The Dark Knight, etc.), but overall, both the perception and execution of film remakes is bleak. This affirms the current enigma of show business that has given rise to much speculation and inconsistencies: if movie sequels are so poorly received, what makes television revivals profitable?

This year has seen a sudden outpour of comebacks from a wide variety of TV shows, including the family comedy Full House (turned Fuller House), the science fiction series The X-Files, and the heartwarming classic Gilmore Girls. The common quality that these three particular shows share — which exemplifies the fuelling factor of this phenomenon — is

that they all originated in the nineties! What powers these shows is nostalgia. Full House embodies the nineties, from the fashion to the laid-back atmosphere. The show was a symbol of comfort for the generation that was raised watching it, who are now ambitious adults facing the challenges of the new decade. People tend to adhere to things that they are familiar with, and being reminded of this warmth and happiness again is reassuring in this complex time.

Making a reboot is also economically logical. Networks already have the aforementioned built-in fanbase of devotees who watched the original series that are familiar with the storyline and the characters, along with an opportunity to charm a new generation of viewers. However, it is easier to justify the

Photo : TVLine

revival of a drama than that of a comedy. When it comes to drama and sci-fi, it can be argued that there were plot holes or cliffhangers that can be addressed in new content, whereas the plot of a comedy or a sitcom changes episode by episode and a series finale can be adequately explained.

A good combination of the cast, directing, and writing is what makes a good comedy — not simply one of those components individually. Getting a comedy right the first time doesn’t warrant a hilarious reboot because it is never guaranteed that this combination will remain unchanged.

These flaws beg the question: after the initial nostalgia wears off, will television revivals last or are they destined to disappoint like movie remakes?

The burden of the built-

Photo : Independent

in audience is that they have expectations that are impossible to fill, and while many of them are loyal fans that will stand by their show anyway, other fans have changed and so has television. What was once popular may not be anymore because of a natural, gradual change in culture or a misjudgement of target audience.

Many negative reviews of remakes come from reviewers who have watched the original show as adolescents, but return as sophisticated adults who don’t enjoy the content anymore. For instance, The Muppets reboot wasn’t as successful as it was projected to be because producers targeted the show at viewers who had watched the show as children by overlaying a mature tone and humour, but the audience disliked these additions. Ulti-

mately, the success of a revival is determined by its ability to recreate what appealed to the audience in the first place and generate a new element that will allow the show to adapt to the new culture and audience.

Whether you enjoy reminiscing in television reboots or wish that cancelled shows be dead and buried, the trend raises a serious concern about originality in the entertainment industry. Sequels, adaptations, and remakes are what bring in the cash these days, and while it’s all well and good for viewers pining for the past, artists who create unique work are being overlooked.

Media and Culture

Photo : Netflix

We’re all beautiful...right?

By: Sarini Kumarasinghe

Hollywood has made miraculous advancements in its casting decisions in recent years. The standard of beauty is no longer thin and white, and society has worked hard to convince publishers to open their eyes to the beauty that exists in other weight groups, races, and cultures.

The world’s image of beauty needs to change, especially for

a person of colour, or someone above a size 2, as it can be very difficult to find an accurate representation of oneself in mainstream media. These stereotypes are only now changing because of the demand for change from viewers. People have fought to see themselves on TV, in magazines,and on posters, and they’ve won! Except they didn’t. This vision of beauty, that eye with which we see ourselves, is inaccurate,

and unlike in previous cases, society is not banding together to change it.

Though beauty standards change, one thing remains the same: beauty is never a neighbour, a co-worker, or a classmate. Beauty is a slim nose, a chiseled jawline, a tan (but not dark), and curvy (but still toned) body. Even while representing different types of people, beauty is a definitive construct with which very few

can identify. The media is not promoting different types of beauty; it is creating another unattainable ideal under the guise of equality, and everyone is falling for it.

Take a look at famous celebrities that are above the standard Hollywood weight; they fall into one of two categories: curvy and other. In “curvy” we have women like Nicki Minaj and Christina Hendricks that are fetishized and cast to play beautiful and desirable woman. Within the “other” category are women like Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy who, though just as talented, are constantly given the roles of awkward, embarrassing characters whose personalities revolve around their weight. And yet, all of these actors are mentioned in regards to the media’s apparent body acceptance.

In terms of race, while the media is beginning to embrace different backgrounds, it is embracing its own versions of these backgrounds rather than what is true to life. People of colour are appearing all over mainstream media, with Caucasian features. It is important to ask: what good is racial representation if those representing the general public do not look like their race?

Skin is lightened, noses are slimmed, and a once diverse

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 20

looking group of people are converted into cookie cutter copies of a European ideal.

With the new release of the Nina Simone biopic Nina, many fans were disappointed in the casting of Zoe Saldana to portray the revered singer and musician. Zoe Saldana and Nina Simone are both black women, which in Hollywood seems enough of a reason for that casting decision; however, they failed to consider an aspect of Nina that made her so unique. Nina Simone is so cherished by her fans not only for her work, but for the fact that she was beautiful when society told her she wasn’t. She possessed all of the features that the media frowned upon; dark skin, a wide nose, textured hair, and full lips, and yet she was viewed as beautiful nonetheless. Zoe Saldana complies completely with the industry version of beauty and thus, by casting her to play Nina Simone, Hollywood effectively erased that aspect of her being, that casual defiance of societal norms. In the modern day, one of these women would have been envied for her beauty, and the other shamed, and that is the difference.

People look at beautiful celebrities on TV and models in magazines that have the same skin tone or body type as

them and believe that they are well represented, but are they really? The media is constantly pushing these images upon the public, distracting them with flashy frames of false equality, knowing full well that by making small compromises with the public, they can hold onto their obsession of an unattainable, European standard of beauty. We, as a society, need to reevaluate our requirements for acceptance in the media and realise that we are not seeing ourselves on the silver screen, but instead a version of ourselves that has been handpicked to satisfy our desire to be accepted, while not compromising the media’s desire to always hold the standard of beauty beyond the reach of the common consumer. We need to be aware of the fact that the media does not want us to feel confident in our appearance, and that if we continue to settle for a shoddy opinion of what beauty diversity is, we’ll never see ourselves eating yogurt seductively on the cover of a magazine or lifesized and glaring on a movie theatre poster. If we learn to be conscious of the media’s deceit and false acceptance, however, maybe one day we can all be “beautiful.”

Smartphone apps: looking into the latest report Photo : Sara Imam

A

By: Julie Cho

s the March break has finished, the holidays have gone by, and winter has reached its extremity with, presumably, no more snow days, a student’s key devotion is toward the summer. Some may simply be looking forward to achieving compensation for lost sleep and an unrestful mindset from stress. Although summer vacation might be many students’ dreams amidst the reality of nine months of school, the end of a usual summer vacation is bound to leave a few doubts, especially for those in their senior year.

This can happen to anyone, and it is probable that almost every one of us has had times

in the beginning of September when we got a little depressed, perhaps because of lost time or lost academic aspirations.

It is, therefore, crucial that we know what is open for us in order to plan ahead and not be saying, “I never knew that.”

For some, the start of summer may begin with something like binge watching missed television episodes, sitting on a couch for the entire day, sleeping before breakfast and waking up at dinner time, or playing video games from dawn ‘till dusk. Of course, you know all the while that this is no more productive than being at school studying. If you think that this just naturally happens because you are at home all day, how about

finding an excuse to not be at home all day? Making plans with friends to go out could be a start, but if you want to work towards something more of an achievement, why not search for a summer job or volunteer opportunities?

This would mean that you have to plan before summer is over and start applying for positions you want before spots fill up. You may need to get reference letters from teachers and go on interviews once considered for the position, which would all need to take place before June. There are many different opportunities in both the job and volunteering field, but it would all depend on your likes and dislikes. Think about where

you would like to work in the future or what experiences you think would be helpful in your academic career and narrow down your choices. Working or volunteering can bring you far more than money or volunteer hours if you start on a path that is tied to your goals and ambitions.

There are other choices for those who want something that is more academic rather than experience. You could sign up for summer school courses for July, which you would use as an advantage during the next school year.

If you don’t want to visit your high school during the summer and would rather be as far off from it, you could take part in university summer

programs like University of Toronto’s Youth Summer Program which lasts for one week per course. SHAD is another popular summer youth program that entails a one-month stay at a university, as well as study abroad programs like YES Canada or Explore which offer 5-week French language bursary programs. Whatever it is that you want to take part in, it would require thorough planning and willingness to go above and beyond on your part.

If you feel like summer is the time to keep away any academic blueprints and have fun, you can engage in various summer camps, make new friends, discover your passion, or maybe learn a new skill. In

a competitive world of university applications, standing out from others can be a hard task, but it could be overcome by using the spare time during the summer to develop a new talent. This can include trying out a new musical instrument, learning how to use a computer program, learning to code, or learning a new language.

Most importantly, summer vacation is the time to find your motivation, your passion, and yourself, but this all depends on what you plan from now on to make the most out of your summer and make it a little bit more special than usual.

As Ralph Marston once said: “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 21

Science Fictional reality

Photo : zmescience

By: Lily Li hat if there was an es-

W

cape from nightmares?

A swift passage to triumph without the commitment or, perhaps, the thrill of conquering the unknown? Welcome to lucid dreaming, a popular trend in the subconscious world of sleep.

Unlike regular dreaming, lucidity is characterized by the potential to recognize that one is in a dream, therefore having a significant amount of control over it. In some cases, the dreamer is able to visualize, or prophesize the coming events in their dreams. The most vivid lucid dreams hap-

pen during the fourth and fifth cycles of a night, each totalling up to approximately 90-110 minutes. This process progresses at around six hours of sleep, during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage, distinguished by the body’s partial inability to regulate its temperature, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, as well as irregular delta brain wave patterns, followed by high frequency gamma waves.

Interestingly, lucid dreaming is not rare, as an estimated one in five individuals who experience it on a regular basis. One part of the brain responsible is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which regu-

lates relationships, trust, memory, mood, and decision-making. Once activated during slumber, the dreamer walks a tightrope between consciousness and the dream realm. In a variety of reported cases, the dreamer was able to escape from an undesirable situation by simply closing their eyes, to return back to the real world.

The opposite is also certainly possible - unintentionally awakening from a lucid dream.

Experienced dreamers hold the ability to retreat to their Dream Exit Induced Lucid Dream, or DEILD for short.

This phenomenon requires an immense amount of visualization and concentration, simi-

lar to that of meditation, hence allowing the dreamer to return to their previous dream.

Similar to that of meditation, maintaining a state of lucidity has known side effects which include, but are not limited to: an inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, difficulties waking up at a consistent time, mental exhaustion, and distancing from the world. In severe cases, people who admitted to lucid dreaming on a regular basis showed symptoms of having multiple personalities or bipolar disorder, from extensive practices of building a specific persona in a dream – usually linked to status, wealth, hap-

piness, or a combination of the three. This further extends into criminal behavior and insanity if taken to extreme measures.

However, there are many more positive effects that stem from the practise; for instance, a deeper connection and understanding of oneself, overcoming anxiety and fears, improved memory, development of the right brain, greater self-control, and regaining self-confidence, just to name a few. The most sought-after benefit, however, is the ability to escape from nightmares by changing the entire setting through half-conscious visualization.

At the end of the day (quite literally), the subconscious mind governs most of the decisions made whilst one is asleep or awake. The art of dream lucidity remains, on the most part, a mystery to the world of oneirology, the study of dreams, as direct, visible evidence is nearly impossible to obtain. In the future, certain over-the-counter drugs may be made available to induce this certain state of mind. A new age for virtual reality may just be on the rise (pun intended).

A new multi-industry technology N

By: Rebecca Ma

anotechnology is engineering systems at the molecular scale. The idea works on the principle of building things from the bottom up, essentially creating perfect functions from the atomic level. A nanotechnologist works in the range of one to a hundred nanometers, manipulating the particles to improve the overall effectiveness of the function.

The term was first coined in the 1980s by Eric Drexler,

Photo : i.ytimg

who wanted to build machines only a few nanometers wide.

He spent 10 years explaining and analyzing these devices, while dealing with accusations of describing science fiction.

However, unknown to the critics at the time, nanotech had already been used for centuries when medieval artists produced different colours in stained glass for church windows. Of course the artists never knew that nanocrystals, created when the glass is heated and cooled, were responsible for the different colours.

So, how big is a nanometer? In perspective, one nanometer is one billionth of a meter; in other words, if a marble was one nanometer, the Earth would be the meter. At the nanoscale, materials take on significantly different properties than would the large clumps of the material at the visible scale. For example, nano-sized bits of metal blends have extreme solubility and reactivity, which contradicts the insoluble and non-reactive properties of metal alloys on a scale visible to the naked eye. This

has proved to be an advantageous discovery, as currently, the bits are used to detoxify hazardous waste, such as polluted groundwater.

While success in nanotechnology ranges in every field, the medical field has witnessed the most significant success in medical research.

The University of Southern California has successfully created synthetic neurons using nanotubes which can be used to repair brain damage; a huge advance in medicine.

Researchers at Yale have also

managed to stimulate the killer T-cells of an immune system with plastic nanospheres; simply one injection is enough to help fight infections and diseases.

While nanotechnology can be advantageously used in medical research, studies have shown that it can be disastrous as well. Because of their size, nanoparticles can travel into the bloodstream and cells, and can also travel past the bloodbrain barrier; the selectively permeable membrane that protects the brain and spine

from harmful substances.

While nanotechnology is still considered a fairly new discovery, the industry has already grown into a multibillion dollar market. Experts predict that by 2020, nanotech can be used for developing trillions of dollars’ worth of products. As consumers, this introduces a variety of possibilities from super-quality and efficient products to advanced tech gadgets. You should definitely keep an eye out for them.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 22

Science

Graphology: it’s all in your hands N

By: Lily Li

o, it has nothing to do with mathematics, nor is it rocket science.

The hybrid of arts and science dates back to 3000 BCE and became popularized in the eighteenth century. Graphology is the study of handwriting based on features of pressure, loops, slants, margins, spacing, dots, conjointment, and size. It has been criticized in the past by the human resources department for being a pseudoscience due to the lack of a direct correlation between a certain feature and a personality trait. However, with rising research, especially in the medical field, scientists are discovering more correspondance between individuals with a pronounced physical or mental disorder and their handwriting, which typically adjusts over time according to

the severity of the illness.

For instance, clients with severe depression or schizophrenia were reported as having defined handwriting with varying slants (though mostly slanting downwards), crossedout pieces of one’s signature, and end strokes curved up.

Additionally, these individuals seemed to hover over letters like a protective umbrella, and make large loops in the ‘d’ and ‘p’ stems. Another pronounced disease is high blood pressure, and the signatures formed by these patients all have one feature in common, which is varied pressure. Alzheimer’s disease, a well-known mental decline, is easily recognizable through indecipherable writing that gradually deteriorates over time.

The only complication with handwriting analysis is the vast grey area of personality. It is certainly possible for

an individual to simply exhibit abnormal traits in their handwriting without themselves having significant health problems, and vice versa. Also, the handwriting of most adults tends to change over time and with certain stages of life (e.g. pregnancy, falling in love, external stressors, etc.), making it very difficult to reliably predict if an individual has true problematic characteristics.

In addition, women are more likely to write in cursive than men, with dramatic loops and rounded letters, demonstrating a significant gender discrepancy. Men, on the other hand, typically have short, spiky letters that are usually less legible than that of their female counterparts and are jumbled closely together.

Regardless of the size of one’s handwriting, the font can be categorized into three sections: the upper (starting from

the highest part of one’s printing), middle, and lower zone (lowest bound). The ratios between the three parts supposedly dictates the proportions and thus imbalances of one’s head, heart, and health, respectively. Letters that very clearly differentiate from the norm in terms of balance alone depict abnormality, being the root to everything that follows, such as pressure, angling, and spacing in-between.

Whether it be the next web font or utterly indistinguishable chicken scratches, graphology, the art of printing, extends its roots far back and propels forward into the future. From decoding lines, loops, and swirls, handwriting could potentially distinguish inherent behaviour and, more importantly, a state of being.

Photo : BestChoice

Earth 2.0:

The search for an earth-like exoplanet E

By: Rebecca Ma

ver since man first walked on the moon in 1969, there has been a growing curiosity about landing on other planets. When the Hubble Space Telescope took its first picture of a stellar bystander planet photo-bombing a binary star system in 1990, researchers began to look for other interesting planets. One of their main focuses was Earth-like planets where researchers hope to be able to colonize after the death of our sun and solar system.

The first Earth-like planet discovery occurred in 1995, and since then, NASA has continued to search for the true “alien Earth.” More than 2000 such planets have been discovered, and more than half were found by the Kepler

Space Telescope, which was launched in 2009 to determine how common Earth-like planets are in our galaxy.

Kepler has shown that small, rocky, planets similar to Earth are abundant throughout the galaxy, and some could even be capable of hosting life. In order to qualify as a capable host of life, the planets must be small and orbit in the “habitable zone” of their parent star. The habitable zone is generally described as the region in the star’s system where an orbiting planet can hold water in its liquid form on the planet’s surface.

As of January 2015, 1000 planets discovered by Kepler have been verified and the team has identified six exoplanets to be candidates for Earth 2.0. Three of those plan-

ets are confirmed to be located in the habitable zone of their sun, and two of those three exoplanets are likely made of rock similar to Earth’s.

The first exoplanet, Gliese 667 Cc is about 22 light-years away from Earth. It is at least 4.5 times larger than Earth and orbits its host star in a mere 28 days. Its star is also a red dwarf that is notably colder than our sun; therefore, scientists believe the planet is located in a habitable zone. However, this puts the planet in danger of being baked by the hot flares from its red dwarf sun.

Kepler-22b is a more significant discovery, being the first Kepler planet found in the habitable zone of its solar system. More than 2 times the size of Earth with an orbit of 290 days long,

it is unclear if this planet is rocky, liquid, or gaseous.

Another exoplanet, Kepler-69c, is the furthest contender from Earth. It is a whooping 2700 light-years away from us and 70% larger than our planet. Researchers are unsure about its composition, however, it is located in the habitable zone of its host star. The star is 80% as luminous as our sun and the planet completes an orbit around it in 242 days, which makes it comparable to the Venus in our solar system.

Kepler-62f lands perfectly in the habitable zone in its solar system. This planet is only 40 percent larger than Earth compared to the sizes of the previous Earth-like planets discovered and orbits its sun in 267 days. Its only fault

would be its distance from Earth: about 1200 light-years away from Earth, which makes it the second furthest exoplanet on the contender list.

Kepler-186f is the first, truly Earth-sized exoplanet found in the habitable zone of its host star. While other planets are at least 50 percent more massive than Earth, Kepler-186f is at most 10 percent larger than our planet. However, it only receives one-third of the energy from its star so scientists have identified this planet as an “Earth cousin” rather than an Earth twin.

The last contender is Kepler-452b and, according to NASA officials, this exoplanet bears the most similarities to Earth. The planet is 1.6 times larger than Earth and is likely rocky. It has already spent

Photo : i.kinja-img

6 billion years in the habitable zone around its parent star, a sun very similar to our own. Its system, Kepler-452, is located in the constellation Cygnus which leads to the disappointing fact that the exoplanet lies at least 1400 lightyears away from Earth.

While scientists at NASA continue to search for more exoplanets to be Earth 2.0, the closest discoveries so far are the six already discovered.

Perhaps with technological advances in the future, humans could be travelling more than thousands of light-years away from Earth to collect data from these exoplanets first hand.

Until then, good luck to the humans that remain on Earth.

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 23

Horoscopes

Zodiac Signs as Superheros/Superheroines Aries

MAR 20 - APR 19

You are Iron Man! He is a rich, arrogant genius. Like most Aries, his confidence is his most outstanding personality trait, but he tends to be a little too cocky. Iron Man is a natural born pioneer and seeks adventure.

Taurus

APR 20 - MAY 20

You are Wolverine! Although he’s as adamant as his Adamantium laced skeleton, he can be patient and reliable in his own way. He gets the job done even if he is very difficult to deal with at times. Underneath, he has a warm heart.

Libra

You are Jean Grey! She is one of the original X­Men, a powerful psychic host to the Phoenix Force. She is diplomatic, charming, easygoing, sociable, and idealistic. Despite her SEPT 22 - OCT 23 numerous positive traits, she can be gullible, indecisive, and easily ­influenced. Jean is often overwhelmed by her powers

Scorpio

OCT 24 - NOV 21

MAY 21 - JUNE 20

NOV 22 - DEC 21

JUNE 21 - JULY 22

DEC 22 - JAN 19

JULY 23 - AUG 22

JAN 20 - FEB 18

AUG 23 - SEPT 21

You are Deadpool! The ever so humorous Wade Wilson is original and inventive in taking down his enemies. He is a patient and fast­thinking individual who likes to work alone, avoiding the X­Men as much as he can. Despite his ruthless nature, Deadpool is friendly in his own messed up little way.

Pisces

Virgo

You are Mister Fantastic! Leader of the Fantastic four, he is arguably one of smartest heroes. He is reserved and modest by nature.

Mister Fantastic is meticulous, reliable, as well as practical. He is also a big perfectionist which causes him to be fussy and overly critical.

You are Artemis! She is incredibly determined and loyal to her friends. Artemis’ ideal weapon of choice is her crossbow. Regardless of her deathly aim, Artemis doubts herself and has a hard time trusting others.

Like most Capricorns, Artemis can be a little insensitive.

Aquarius

Leo

You are Thor! He’s Prince of Asgard, banished to earth for his lack of humility. Lionhearted like Leos, he learned his lesson becoming one of the most fearless warriors in Marvel history. However, Thor has high expectations for the people around him and tends to be critical when they fall short.

You are The Wasp! She is fun­loving, jovial, honest, and optimistic. As a matter of fact, she can be a little too optimistic, so much so that she is careless and lacks a sense of responsibility. She is often underestimated but always proves her great skills and dedication.

Capricorn

Cancer

You are Ms. Marvel! Being an ex agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, she is shrewd and cautious. Ms. Marvel has incredible willpower; resilient, no matter what comes her way. Unfortunately, as a result of her Cancer traits, she has a very bad temper.

You are Black Widow! Trained in the art of espionage and martial arts, Black Widow is an Olympic class athlete who fights just as fiercely as her superhuman counterparts. She is cunning, intelligent, stoic, and unpredictable. A mystery to those around her, she can be very hard to read.

Sagittarius

Gemini

You are Nightwing! After he had assumed Batman dead at the end of Final Crisis, he took the initiative to leave his Robin days behind and become Nightwing. He is serious but easy-going. Nightwing is genuinely attentive to the people around him.

Sign Symbols by Icons-Land

FEB 19 - MAR 20

You are Spiderman! He is imaginative, sensitive, compassionate, and kind. Let’s not forget his resourcefulness; after all, he made his own web shooters from scratch. He has grown to be very secretive about his life and suffers from an identity problem which has caused him to be somewhat anti­social.

Comics

VOLUME 25, Issue 4 Summer 2016 PAGE 24

For the students, by the students.

By Christa Hu

By Tony Liu

By Kate Sanchez

By Jeffrey Xu

Want to get involved with Talon Times this upcoming school year? Applications for all positions are now available! If you are highly dedicated and passionate about sharing news and events that are important to you, be sure to send in your application by Sunday, June 19. Experience is not required! If you have any questions about the application process or what kinds of responsibilities the positions entail, email them to talon.times@gmail.com. The application is available through the QR code on the right or at goo.gl/forms/nLUTDpfwVMCihFmt2