Yoga Berra: Death of a Legend

There was a sign at my old school that read: “You better cut that pizza into six pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat eight.” - Yogi Berra. I always chuckled a little bit when I read it because of its absurdity. Yogi Berra was one of the best catchers in the history of baseball, but that’s probably not what he will be most remembered for. His famous quotes have a quality to them that is irreplaceable and has earned him a spot as a cultural icon.

The Restrictions of an Empty World

The Restrictions of an Empty World

Station Eleven, written by Emily St. John Mandel, opens with the death of an actor during his performance; suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Station Eleven is a novel about a group of actors called The Traveling Symphony, who perform Shakespeare’s plays and music for those who still remain after a flu pandemic, which wiped out ninety-nine percent of the population. This novel takes place 15 years following the flu pandemic, but civilization is nowhere near the same as it once was. Mandel chooses to focus on the new society and culture that forms 15-20 years after the pandemic hit, going in depth about the characters’ lives and illustrating the differences between the world they live in now versus how it used to be. With close to nothing left including borders, police, and other necessities, the characters seem to have the world to themselves; however, its appears that they are even more restricted than before the pandemic stuck.

The novel focuses on The Traveling Symphony, giving us background information about each of the members and often flashbacks of life before the Georgia flu pandemic. The symphony travels from town to town avoiding the dooms-day cults in fear of being killed, while attempting to restore civilization to the way it was prior to the breakout. Throughout the novel the characters seem to grow more and more comfortable with the post-pandemic world, which allows the reader to believe that they are getting closer to the rebuilding stage.

If ninety-nine percent of the population was wiped out, one may think that those who remain would be able to roam free, be unbothered, and live nothing other than a lonely life. In Station Eleven, life following the pandemic is the complete opposite. The characters in this novel live with even more restriction on their life than before the pandemic. Other than having communication, travel, food, medicine, and many other necessities restricted, the characters are also restricted to where they can and cannot go in fear of being harmed. Many times in the novel, The Traveling Symphony is forced to make decisions about where to travel based on the fear of being killed if they weren’t considered “welcome” in one of the survivor towns. At one point the symphony is trying to decide where to travel next, when the conductor suggests a route, there is almost always a horrifying response. “A town that had been known to shoot outsiders on sight” (Mandel 65), even in a world occupied by so few people, there are still restrictions on how they choose to live. Not only are the characters restricted to where they travel, but also how they travel. As gasoline quickly expired following the pandemic, those who remain are forced to walk or use a horse-drawn carriage as way of transportation.  Without cars or planes, the characters face restrictions yet again – making their life even more difficult.

With close to nothing left, how could such an enormous area seem so limited and restricted? Station Eleven is an incredible novel that will draw you in within the first couple of pages, and wont let you go until the very last. Emily St. John Mandel feeds your imagination with her writing. The possible reality that this novel was written about provides for an intense read; it makes the reader question his or her own feelings toward the subject and consider how they may react differently. Overall, Station Eleven is a wonderful dystopian fiction book that includes aspects that other books of this genre often overlook.

Yell “Penis” For Password

This past week some students discovered a wi-fi network on campus called “yell ‘penis’ for password.” @TwaltWhitman retweeted a tweet from @Buzzfeeders: “19 ridiculous wi-fi names that have been spotted in the wild http://bzfd.it/1KyDkuF.” One of those “ridiculous” wi-fi names was named “Yell ‘penis’ for the password”: almost the exact same as the one at Choate. The weight of social media is immense; opinions, jokes, and pictures can be communicated to a variety of audiences instantly, and with impact. At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Arcand told his English class that they would be using Twitter in their assignments for that reason. Though making a wi-fi network with this name is not admirable, it demonstrates that audiences of all types are reached and inspired by social media. Until I started tweeting for English class, I underestimated this influence. A few weeks ago, I tweeted a news article about a sport played in Italy and within a day it was featured on a stranger’s website. Since tweeting, I have taken note on other situations where Twitter has influence. One finding was that Donald Trump uses the power of Twitter to his advantage. He currently has 4.35 million followers, and his Twitter account alone is discussed in news articles and talk shows and has unquestionably given him supporters. Twitter, for better or worse, affects the world in big and small ways.

#IStandWithAhmed

A few weeks ago, in a high school in Irving, Texas, a 14 year-old student named Ahmed Mohammed was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school that administrators believed looked like a bomb. Since the arrest, the question that’s had the media buzzing was: was Ahmed’s arrest a result of  inveterate racism? Some argue that Ahmed’s arrest was unrelated to anti-islam beliefs, but the fact that Ahmed, a young muslim boy, was suspected of bringing something like a bomb to school, is too much of a coincidence to disregard. The ugly truth is that, since the tragic events of September 11, America’s perception of Muslims has been dramatically shaped to the point where Islamophobia is beginning to be ingrained into our society. Contrary to popular belief, Islam is a peaceful and embracing religion, and it is important to remember that groups like ISIS do not define Islam or its virtues. For Ahmed’s case, the fact that he was punished because he tried to express his creativity is appalling, and goes against the provisions of the American school system. Since when did creativity become synonymous with danger or terrorism? Students should be educated about Islamic religion at an earlier stage because education spawns awareness, and awareness spawns acceptance. Ahmed’s arrest was clearly a result of anti-Islam belief, and his case is one of many Muslims around the world, who face this reality as well.

I stand with Ahmed.